SOBH Combat Question

[Dentatus]

So we've been running one-of games to familiarize ourselves with the (advanced) rules, and we encountered a strange problem last night: we just couldn't kill each other.

The previous three games were super fast and bloody, but 90+% of the combat rolls last night were firmly in that middle range, generating only Recoils or Knock Downs. No matter what we did. It was like some kind of weird twilight zone dice doldrums. Combat see-sawed all over the table, every model engaged, but it took an hour to finally put someone down for good. Anyone else encounter this?

Thanks. 

[Hobgoblin]

I can't say I have.

One question: how come the knockdowns didn't lead to kills? Any "win" against a downed foe is an automatic kill, and you get +2 on the roll, so you would expect knockdowns to lead to kills in short order.

Also, were you always following up the recoils? In many games I've played, a recoil result can be pivotal, because it allows a victor who doesn't follow up to use a remaining action (or reaction) to dash into another melee and tip the balance there.

[YPU]

One question: how come the knockdowns didn't lead to kills? Any "win" against a downed foe is an automatic kill, and you get +2 on the roll, so you would expect knockdowns to lead to kills in short order.

That was my first thought as well, I think we missed this rule also in our first few games, but its rather important.

[Hobgoblin]

One other thought: were you applying the "extra combatants" modifier to everyone? This can be overlooked, but if a group of miniatures are locked in combat, everyone who's in contact with more than one opponent gets a -1 to C for each additional foe - even if those foes "pair off" neatly. This means that big melees are automatically deadlier than one-on-one encounters.

[Dentatus]

Thanks for the speedy replies.

We remembered the +2 bonus vs downed foes but not the auto-kill. OK. I'll make a big note.

Yes, we did Follow Up to Recoils, as well as the mod for Outnumbered, but the more I reflect on last night, the weirder it seems. There were toe-to-toe brawls everywhere, but the dice were consistently rolling low. Opponents would get knocked down, only to stand up and keep slugging away turn after turn. There were constant 2+ failure turnovers, endless 'not quite double' combat scores, a bunch of tied scores/no result, incessant reaction failures, just bleah....

We're going to label it a Bad Dice Night and keep going, but man, it was strange. 

[Aerendar Valandil]

When you play regularly, you roll such incredible numbers of times that strange things happen. Even very small chances mean that - they may happen.

Monday during D&D 2 20's fell in a row on two crucial rolls. That is a chance of 1 in 400. It should happen, because during the last 2 years we have been playing I am really sure a multiple of 400 rolls have been made: with 7 players, each and every gamenight d20's are used probably during 50-100 rolls. 

[Hobgoblin]

Could just be a statistical anomaly, but the auto-kill might have made a big difference. +2 and Lethal (effectively) gives you a very good chance of slaying a downed foe. And then of course you'd have the knock-on effects: other foes being outnumbered by the victors.