Why is trample good?

[1337Dude]

From what I read, trample seems to be an effective attack. I think I've read that it's not easily resisted or ignored (or it's not even possible). I've read post from people saying they've lost or won matches due to this ability. But why? I thought it only does up to 1 damage to one unit per turn. It seems like a nice bonus but nothing to get excited or worried about. Is there something I'm missing? I suppose if you get 20+ units with trample, an extra 20+ damage per turn towards the enemy is a nice boost...but is it really that nice? I've played many games and never really paid attention to if it ever really turned the tide of battle.

[Zonk]

It's 1 damage if the trampled units pass the defence check. Otherwise it's 5 + trampler's size damage that's armor piercing and ignores shields.

Tramplers have weaknesses (notably, when routing they can trample your own troops), but they can also be quite effective.

[1337Dude]

Originally posted by Zonk:

It's 1 damage if the trampled units pass the defence check. Otherwise it's 5 + trampler's size damage that's armor piercing and ignores shields.

Tramplers have weaknesses (notably, when routing they can trample your own troops), but they can also be quite effective.

Seems I missed that very important detail. Per turn, that's a lot. Thanks.

[Silence]

They can also be very effective on thugs based on Vine Shields given tramplers are not affected by it. So your super thug with 25 def and a vine shield that would be able to wreck any conventional army would just be crushed to death by elephants or even chariots.

[Alias]

It's not.

[nicknight7]

It's not 5 + size AP, it's 8 + double size AP. It also hits 3 squares per turn, 6 if quickened. It's amazing therefore on things with 0 enc, less amazing on thing that have encumbrance. It is also generally unimpressive against things with base 13+ Def or that are ethereal.

Edit: as noted, dominions 5 nerfed the damage by 3, so now it is 5 + double size AP.

[Zonk]

Sorry, was misquoting the Dom4 manual (which is obsolete, as IIRC Dom5 changed the formula).
EDIT: Dom5 manual claims " If they fail this check, they take 5 + 2xSize trample
damage.".

During the beta I remember a release note saying trampling damage had been lowered by 3.

[DasaKamov]

Tramplers also "push" enemy units they contact, meaning that they can break up enemy formations and cause large holes that your other troops can exploit.

[Zonk]

Originally posted by DasaKamov:

Tramplers also "push" enemy units they contact, meaning that they can break up enemy formations and cause large holes that your other troops can exploit.

This is not always good for the tramplers, though - it also means they can be surrounded very easily.

[BATTLEMODE]

I've yet to try out trampling units, although they've made a mess of my lines a few times though!

[Arkrow XIV]

Not mentioned, but it was pretty good to avoid blood vengeance