Your argument isn't making sense to me here. You say that this won't let you march farther, because the damage it can repair is so limited. But if it can't repair damage from marching enough to let you march farther, then how can it repair damage from doing... anything else? Damage is damage. It's not like marching damage is different than sitting around damage, which is different than battle damage. So how does your system let you repair enough damage to stay in the field longer, but not let you repair enough damage to march farther?
It's simple military logistics, a marching army can sustain it self longer than one under constant battle and ties into simple mathematics.
Army A: takes on 1-3% damage marching through 5 regions per region considered they make through each region per turn.To make it to an enemy city before receiving any damages the man amount of damages would realistically tie into boots, horse shoes, saddles, and sandles and food supply (food is already drained if a army compasses the region.) the traveling blacksmith can only repair 1-3% as well now considering he's never going to be perfectly lucky the damages of the army has totaled up to 10% the black smith unable to repair a perfect 3% each turn only happen to make enough repairs to lower damage by 4% leaving the army still with 6% damages
Now you are left with another pickle, pay time you need to pay the blacksmith 20-40 gold.
Suddenly you're in battle and suffer 15-20% damage now at bare minimum you're looking at 21% damage, plus wounded.
At 21% damage you're still looking at the possibility of 1-3% damage on the return trip alone which could total up to 36% again at a lucky minimum lets say he consistently repairs 2% per turn at 5 turns upon returning that's 10% damage he repairs, you're still stuck with 26%.
UNLESS you decide to stay and man it out, then since you're at a city they enemy can easily refit and recruit and now you're facing another battle. 1-3% for hanging around (this is also considering you haven't put your men through training for the entire trip.) You're face with another 15-20% damage now elts say you play it smart and if you happen to win you forage the battle field and gain 2% repairs, the black smith during this one turn only repairs 2% lets look at the equation.
Current damage without returning: 35% plus the recent battle of luckily: 15% through smart actions you only manage to repair 4%, that leave you with 46% now it's prolly time to go home and refit now.
Either way you have to return to the capital but if you manage to march long distance by the time for example across and continent you get there you'll be too tattered to be worth a fight. By the equation of 1-3% marching per turn across 10 regions minus the possible training aspect and considering you make it across each region per turn you're faced with 30% damage now running a random number generator on a d6 where 1-2=1, 3-4=2, and 5-6= 3,
Blacksmith repairs per turn
- 1% Repaired
- 3% Repaired
- 2% repaired
- 3% Repaired
- 3% repaired
- 1% repaired
- 3% repaired
- 1% repaired
- 1% Repaired
- 2% Repaired
Made it there with only 10% marching damage to answer for, now for battle 18% (randomized again)
current damage total 28%, stick around and it adds up.
See how it works?
