Note: This is an observation, not a complaint.
I have just purchased MA boxed version and have started playing through the initial training scenarios. And looking forward to some online playing against humans.
One thing puzzles me though:
Why no random element?
You can see how many hp enemy units have left, you know how many hp damage you're going to inflict, how far you can move before firing and that a hit - in range - will always cause a set amount of damage. This makes the game like chess.
For someone with a MENSA kind of mentallity (and this isn't me), they can predict all moves just about to the end game and see how to win (or that they can't win).
I suppose a counter argument is that a random element is introduced by not knowing what the other guy is gonna do next.
What do other people think? Would having something like a "percent chance to hit based on range" etc be a good or a bad thing?
Currently the game is a VERY calculated one (as I say above this is not a complaint). There's no "I'll put a unit in there, it's a bit risky but hopefully he'll miss when he fires at me". That kind of thing.
I've only played a few games. When I've had more battles I may think that the absence of a random element in the combat-resolution mechanics is a very good thing. Who knows?
Anyway - hello everyone. Looking forward to meeting some of you on the battlefiled soon