UWDA is now live! If you haven't been keeping up with discussion on the topic, this update is meant to distribute damage in a more reasonable manner - so your fodder units will take the brunt of damages before your more elite units.

I've setup an initial weight value for every race based on some factors - cost to produce, maintenance, att/def, basically how valuable the unit is. Most races have a pretty standard setup of high-value units and low-value "fodder", so it's pretty easy to figure what needs a lower weight (allocate less damage), or higher weight (allocate more damage). We can tweak these values to be more or less, but for simplicity I started with a basic 1-2-3 assignment.

Some important notes:

The math doesn't care what mix of units you throw into battle, sending less fodder units won't give your elites any advantage - the incoming damage is gonna hit something.
Overkill situations where weight-3 units take more damage than they can absorb gets pass on to the next weight, and so on. We call this Trickle-Down Fuckyounomics.
Each unit type also has a “defense per unit” value. When damage is allocated to a unit type, you divide by that defense to figure out how many individuals die.
A small random factor (±5–10%) means you never get exactly the same casualty numbers every battle, keeping things feeling dynamic.

Weights I've initially assigned, and we can tweak depending on what the race experts think:
Dwarf Shieldbearer: 3
Dwarf Hammer wheilder: 2
Dwarf Axe Man: 2
Dwarf Runner: 2
Dwarf Light Crossbowman: 2
Dwarf Heavy Crossbowman: 1

Elf Mage: 1
Elf Swordman: 3
Elf Lanceman: 3
Elf Caragous: 2
Elf Archer: 3
Elf Elite Archer: 1.5

Gnome Catapult: 1
Gnome Infantry: 2
Gnome Militia: 3
Gnome Rider: 2
Gnome Rock thrower: 3
Gnome Balista: 1

Human Knight: 1
Human Infantry: 3
Human Pikeman: 3
Human Heavy Infantry: 2.5
Human Archer: 2
Human Mounted Archers: 1

Orc Shadow Warrior: 1
Orc Rusher: 3
Orc Slother: 3
Orc Wolf Master: 2
Orc Slinger: 2.5
Orc Axe Thrower: 1.5

Undead Dark Knight: 1
Undead Skeleton Warrior: 3
Undead Wraith Pikeman: 3
Undead Abomination: 2
Undead Phantom Archer: 3
Undead Wraith Rider: 1

We can tweak these values to be more or less dramatic, we can use decimals to make the differences less, we can use 1 | 1.5 | 2, as a weighting system. If there's one unit you think should get totally clapped we could give it a 4 (need community input for such drastic change). These initial starting points are just me shooting from the hip.

Real World Test #1

1:1 human v human, 80% defense via castle rule.

Before UWDA:
We managed to kill : 637 Knight 800 Infantry 800 Pikeman 695 Heavy Infantry 622 Archer 800 Mounted Archers
But we lost : 646 Knight 440 Infantry 452 Pikeman 503 Heavy Infantry 610 Archer 630 Mounted Archers
Result: Win, both sides pretty much losing around same numbers of troops 500-600 of each unit.

After UWDA:
We managed to kill : 381 Knight 800 Infantry 800 Pikeman 800 Heavy Infantry 800 Archer 700 Mounted Archers
But we lost : 212 Knight 1000 Infantry 1000 Pikeman 605 Heavy Infantry 1000 Archer 343 Mounted Archers
Result: Win, both sides getting zeroed out for the lowest weighted 'fodder' units, elite units have better survivability.

Technical analysis

Total casualties inflicted
Before: 6,635 total kills (Attacker 4,354 + Defender 2,281)
After: 8,441 total kills (Attacker 4,281 + Defender 4,160)
+1,806 more units fell once we switched to weighted damage

Balance of losses (kill differential)
Before: Defender suffered 1,073 more losses than Attacker (4,354 − 3,281)
After: Defender suffered only 121 more losses (4,281 − 4,160)
*swings 952 points back toward parity

Per‐unit shifts in total casualties
(Kills + Losses summed for both sides)
Knight: 1,283 → 593 (−54%)
Infantry: 1,240 → 1 800 (+45%)
Pikeman: 1,252 → 1 800 (+44%)
Heavy Infantry: 1,198 → 1,405 (+17%)
Archer: 1,232 → 1,800 (+46%)
Mounted Archers: 1,430 → 1,043 (−27%)

What this tells us
*Closer match. The walloping the defender took before (–1 073) is almost gone (–121), so neither side dominates purely by having weak units soak the hits.
*Elite units live longer. see far fewer total casualties, while mid and lower weighted tiers pick up the slack.
*Pulls attrition off elites, spreads it more evenly through the army, and turns a one-sided rout into a much tighter, more tactically interesting fight.
*Mid-tiers now soak up more of the damage - the weighted system shifts attrition “down the line.”
*Light skirmishers see a boost in both kills and losses, reflecting their middling weight.