I designed an alternate combat system that could be used on any A&A map. The primary goal is to provide an intermediate amount of luck – more luck than low luck (where you are guaranteed a hit for every 6 pips of strength), but less luck than full dice (where you can roll a large fistful of dice and hit absolutely nothing). I also wanted to properly reward combined arms; players who attack with a well-balanced mix of infantry, artillery, tanks, and planes should get better results than players who attack with a similarly-priced stack of nothing but tanks.
At the start of combat, players assign each of their units to a particular color. Players then roll dice based on how many units they have in each color. You typically need 3 units to receive 1 die, but you always round up. This means that if you have 1, 2, or 3 tanks in the red column, you’ll roll 1 red die. If you have 4, 5, or 6 tanks in the red column, you’ll roll 2 red dice. If you have 7, 8, or 9 tanks in the red column, you’ll roll 3 red dice, and so on up to a maximum of 6 dice per color per player per round of combat.
Players then compare the dice they rolled in each color, matching up high dice to high dice as in RISK. For example, if I rolled [5, 4, 3] and you rolled [6, 3, 2], then we would match up your 6 against my 5, your 3 against my 4, and your 2 against my 3. Each pairing that you win causes your opponent to take one casualty. In this example, I would take one hit (because your 6 beats my 5), and you would take two hits (because my 4 beats your 3, and my 3 beats your 2).
If two dice are tied, then both sides take a casualty. If I have extra dice, then they automatically beat your missing dice. For example, suppose I roll [6, 3, 2] and you roll [6]. Our 6’s tie each other, so we each take one hit. Then, my 3 and my 2 are unopposed, so they both hit you. I take a total of 1 casualty, and you take a total of 3 casualties.
Your opponent can generally choose which unit to take as the casualty within the guidelines set by the current color. This is referred to as “victim’s choice” because the player who is losing the unit (the victim) gets to choose which unit is lost. The only exception is that the player who scores a hit with a red die is entitled to choose which unit will be killed by that die. This is referred to as “winner’s choice” because the player who won the red die roll gets to choose which unit is lost.
Some colors allow a unit to be assigned to boost a particular type of die. This means that the die’s value is increased by 1. Each die can only receive each kind of boost once per round. Most dice can only receive one type of boost, so the maximum possible value on those dice is a 7. White dice can receive a boost from artillery and another boost from airplanes, so the maximum possible value on a white die is an 8. If you have enough dice and enough boosting units, you can boost multiple dice once each. For example, a stack with 9 tanks and 3 mech. infantry would roll 3 red dice, each of which would be boosted by +1. If you roll [6, 5, 4] on your red dice, then you would treat them as showing [7, 6, 5] instead. You assign boosts to your dice after seeing everyone’s dice rolls in that color. If both sides have a boost in a color, the attacker must assign boosts first.
The same unit cannot be used to both boost a die and roll a die – you must assign each unit to exactly one function at the start of a battle, and then those units stay put and keep performing that function all throughout the entire battle. You may never move units between colors in the middle of a battle, not even between rounds of that battle. If you have extra boosts that you cannot use, those boosts are simply wasted. For example, with 3 artillery and 1 infantry, you would roll 1 white die and then boost it by +1. The extra 2 artillery don’t accomplish anything, although they may still be taken as casualties.
Each color is resolved in order, from the top of the chart to the bottom of the chart. Attackers and defenders roll simultaneously within each color, but a unit that is killed by an earlier color is not available to contribute its strength to a later color. For example, a bomber killed during the yellow dice roll does not count toward your “1 die per 3 bombers” in the black dice roll.
All rounding takes place within the same type of unit, not across multiple units types. For example, if you have 1 battleship and 2 bombers in the black die row, you would roll 2 black dice: one for your battleships (rounded up), and one for your bombers (rounded up). You would not combine 1 battleship + 2 bombers to get 3 units.
Chessex and many local gaming stores will sell you a block of 12 dice of the same color for about $4, so you can buy a custom set of all 6 colors at a reasonable price, but you could also play without any particular color; just roll whatever dice you have for the “yellow” category, then re-roll those same dice for the “black” category, and so on. The colors are just to enhance the theme and make it easier to remember what part of the combat round you’re in.
I would love to get your feedback! Let me know what you think. 
