Fantasy melee combat

 From the WARLEADER rulebook:

6.3  ATTACK RESOLUTION:  Melee combat attacks are resolved by adding together the total number of AF belonging to all attacking units in the hex.  This total is then modified by the Attack Facing modifier, when applicable, to determine the final AF strength of the attack.  Subtracted from this final AF strength is the total number of DF belonging to all the defending units in the hex being attacked, modified by any applicable Defense Facing modifier.  Make a DR, add any applicable DRM from the effects of terrain, spells, leadership, or other combat modifiers, then cross-index the adjusted DR with the applicable AF-DF column on the CRT to determine the results of the attack.  The attacker uses the rightmost column of the CRT containing a number that does not exceed the AF-DF number of the attack.  Any extra AF have no effect and are lost.

6.31  #CAS:  As many defending units as the number indicated (#) take Casualties, (defender’s choice); all other units in the attacked hex must take a Morale Check equal to the number of casualties indicated.  

6.32  NMC:  Normal Morale Check. Each defending unit must attempt to pass a Morale Check by making a DR less than the Morale of the unit, best leaders first; those which fail take Casualties.  A unit which rolls exactly the number of its Morale suffers a Pin/Retreat result instead.

6.33  #MC (1,2,3,4):  Same as the NMC, but ten times the number preceding the MC are added to the DR.

6.34  NPR:  Normal Pin/Retreat Check. Each defending unit must attempt to pass a Pin/Retreat Check by making a DR less than or equal to the Morale of the unit, best leaders first; units that fail this DR must Retreat if the NPR was a result of being attacked in melee combat.  Units which fail an NPR as a result of a ranged combat attack are Pinned.  

6.35  #PR (1,2,3,4): Same as the NPR, but ten times the number preceding the PR are added to the DR.

In the interest of comprehension, I'll include a sub-section from the next section. 

7.13  CASUALTIES (CAS):  Casualties are considered to be automatically failed MCs.  A Casualty is a negative one level change in a unit’s status, progressing downward in four levels for GC: Fit, Shaken, Broken, and Fleeing.  It takes four Casualties to completely eliminate one Fit GC.  Since there are only two status levels for IC: Fit and Broken, it takes two Casualties to eliminate one Fit IC. 

The objective here is to simulate the degradation of the unit's fitness for combat, which is ultimately more related to morale and a willingness to hold its position than the mere number of dead and wounded. One thing that rapidly becomes clear from reading military histories is that it was much more common for defeated armies to fade away than be slaughtered in their ranks; the dreadful lethality of Cannae was a rare exception, not a rule. In Machiavelli's History of Florence, he records many battles between thousands of soldiers in which the dead could be counted on two hands.

This system also allows for fairly rapid counter updates without requiring any additional counters being added to the stack, with the exception of the Pinned state.