Maybe. If you have 4-8 static blocks vs 16-32 attacks that would be fine, but if you need to calculate what happens when 16-32 attacks run into the same 16-32

Maybe. If you have 4-8 static blocks vs 16-32 attacks that would be fine, but if you need to calculate what happens when 16-32 attacks run into the same 16-32 attacks you have a combinatorial explosion problem which you then need to simplify. One of the reasons I like going straight to the linear algebra approach is that you do a batch of basic arithmetic which the CPU does quite fast without branching, and then you do one branch to determine hit vs not-hit. Pairing zones with zones sounds like nested if/else statements, but I hadn't dived into considering that approach.