Post by derv on May 29, 2016 11:50:02 GMT -6
After some discussion about how mass combat was vastly abstracted in the original games, I thought it might be helpful to try to offer a frame work for GM’s who are either unfamiliar or simply uninterested with the particulars of war gaming, yet still interested in the aspects that involve building strongholds and wilderness exploration with large forces. This is meant to be a tool to help the GM determine and describe what is happening on the battle field. It is also an attempt to prevent unintentional bias for or against the players.
Furthermore, this approach takes for granted that all conflicts between fantastic monster’s and player characters will be resolved separately using whatever preferred combat system is at hand.
Feel free to add to the discussion with your own approaches to down and dirty mass combat at the gaming table.
Down and Dirty Mass Combat Resolution
The troop types will be classified using those found in the LBB’s and Chainmail.
The first thing to do is to imagine or quickly sketch the field of battle by dividing it into nine equal “tic-tac-toe style” quadrants. Armies will be entering the field of battle from opposite sides. Each quadrant will be considered roughly the size of 60 yards. This gives you a field of 180 x 180 yards. To help visualize this, a unit of approximately 1000 footmen or 500 cavalry could fit into the space of a single quadrant. If you intend to abstract battles in excess of this proportion, it might be easier to break up the conflict into separate manageable battles of fewer than 1000 men. It goes without saying, you can use this method to resolve conflicts with armies in the 100’s as well. Battles of fewer than 50 men could be resolved in the traditional manner, instead.
As for time measurements, it is inconsequential. It can be whatever a GM wants it to be. Consider time to represent a turn, a round, or a move.
The order of play will consist of:
1. Initiative
2. Maneuver
3. Chance of casualties
4. Morale
Each phase can be resolved in any way the GM prefers, or skipped entirely. Below are suggestions.
Initiative: roll d6 for each side. High roll goes first.
Maneuver: Footmen may move in straight lines only. Cavalry may move straight or diagonally. Light foot and heavy horse troops may move 2 quadrants. Heavy and armored foot troops may only move one quadrant. All other cavalry may move up to 3 quadrants. Direction changes are considered to cost a move (this includes turning left or right and about facing). Cavalry should be judged on a case by case basis whether to impose a change of direction cost. Obstacles and terrain effects should also be considered.
Mixed units of different types will maneuver at the lowest quality/type troop.
Maneuver might grant an “advantage”. This will have to be decided by the GM. An advantage will rank the unit at the next higher troop type and/or add 5% to chance of inflicting casualties for the duration that they can maintain the advantage.
Units that are 2x or greater in number of their opponent will gain an advantage. No further adjustments are warranted for units 3x or more the size.
Chance of Casualties: This is a very abstract representation that casualties are sufficient to have an influence on outcomes. Troops must be brought into contact (occupy same quadrant) for this to be considered. The exception would be missile troops. Use the AF row to determine odds for missile fire, only consulting % for footmen columns for both foot and horse chances. See the table below.
In all cases, these odds can be adjusted if necessary.
*Losses should be considered in proportion to the two forces engaged and should not exceed half of any unit at one time. It’s up to the GM to decide how he would determine exact numbers of casualties and when to impose the outcomes. Two suggestions follow.
Quick Casualty Calculator: when “% chance” has been successfully rolled, consider enemy losses to be equal to 25% of attackers current total force (ex- if 200 HF attack 150 orcs, consider casualties to equal 50 orcs). This may trigger a morale check.
After battle casualties should be approximately d10% per turn that the battle raged, rounding to the nearest five and ignoring all 1’s through 4’s rolled (ex- it took the 200 HF three turns to force the orcs from the field. So, rolling 3d10 resulted in a 3, 5, and 8= 13 ignoring the three, rounded to 15%, for a total loss of 30 men). It’s possible to have no casualties as a result and casualties should not exceed 50% losses.
Morale: More emphasis should be placed on this aspect of the resolution, then whole sale slaughter, for determining the outcomes of a battle. Use Chainmails Excess Casualties or the LBB’s Reaction Table. Check morale whenever it is deemed necessary (ex: lost of leader, casualties of 30+%, allied units routing from battle, surrounded, attacked from flanks or rear).
Effects of failed morale should be determined by the GM, but might include panicked retreat or surrender.
A simplified morale system would be to rank each units morale from 1 to 5, with a roll under mechanic on a d6. Average units would have a morale of 3. A shaken unit might have it’s ranking reduced by 1 or 2.
Furthermore, this approach takes for granted that all conflicts between fantastic monster’s and player characters will be resolved separately using whatever preferred combat system is at hand.
Feel free to add to the discussion with your own approaches to down and dirty mass combat at the gaming table.
Down and Dirty Mass Combat Resolution
The troop types will be classified using those found in the LBB’s and Chainmail.
The first thing to do is to imagine or quickly sketch the field of battle by dividing it into nine equal “tic-tac-toe style” quadrants. Armies will be entering the field of battle from opposite sides. Each quadrant will be considered roughly the size of 60 yards. This gives you a field of 180 x 180 yards. To help visualize this, a unit of approximately 1000 footmen or 500 cavalry could fit into the space of a single quadrant. If you intend to abstract battles in excess of this proportion, it might be easier to break up the conflict into separate manageable battles of fewer than 1000 men. It goes without saying, you can use this method to resolve conflicts with armies in the 100’s as well. Battles of fewer than 50 men could be resolved in the traditional manner, instead.
Quadrants
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
As for time measurements, it is inconsequential. It can be whatever a GM wants it to be. Consider time to represent a turn, a round, or a move.
The order of play will consist of:
1. Initiative
2. Maneuver
3. Chance of casualties
4. Morale
Each phase can be resolved in any way the GM prefers, or skipped entirely. Below are suggestions.
Initiative: roll d6 for each side. High roll goes first.
Maneuver: Footmen may move in straight lines only. Cavalry may move straight or diagonally. Light foot and heavy horse troops may move 2 quadrants. Heavy and armored foot troops may only move one quadrant. All other cavalry may move up to 3 quadrants. Direction changes are considered to cost a move (this includes turning left or right and about facing). Cavalry should be judged on a case by case basis whether to impose a change of direction cost. Obstacles and terrain effects should also be considered.
Mixed units of different types will maneuver at the lowest quality/type troop.
Maneuver might grant an “advantage”. This will have to be decided by the GM. An advantage will rank the unit at the next higher troop type and/or add 5% to chance of inflicting casualties for the duration that they can maintain the advantage.
Units that are 2x or greater in number of their opponent will gain an advantage. No further adjustments are warranted for units 3x or more the size.
Chance of Casualties: This is a very abstract representation that casualties are sufficient to have an influence on outcomes. Troops must be brought into contact (occupy same quadrant) for this to be considered. The exception would be missile troops. Use the AF row to determine odds for missile fire, only consulting % for footmen columns for both foot and horse chances. See the table below.
In all cases, these odds can be adjusted if necessary.
| % chance | Defender | ||||||
| Type | LF | HF | AF | LH | MH | HH | |
| LF | 15% | 10% | 5% | 10% | 5% | 5% | |
| HF | 30% | 15% | 10% | 10% | 5% | 5% | |
| Attacker | AF (M) | 50% | 30% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 5% |
| LH | 50% | 25% | 20% | 15% | 10% | 5% | |
| MH | 60% | 50% | 35% | 30% | 15% | 10% | |
| HH | 80% | 70% | 50% | 50% | 30% | 15% |
*Losses should be considered in proportion to the two forces engaged and should not exceed half of any unit at one time. It’s up to the GM to decide how he would determine exact numbers of casualties and when to impose the outcomes. Two suggestions follow.
Quick Casualty Calculator: when “% chance” has been successfully rolled, consider enemy losses to be equal to 25% of attackers current total force (ex- if 200 HF attack 150 orcs, consider casualties to equal 50 orcs). This may trigger a morale check.
After battle casualties should be approximately d10% per turn that the battle raged, rounding to the nearest five and ignoring all 1’s through 4’s rolled (ex- it took the 200 HF three turns to force the orcs from the field. So, rolling 3d10 resulted in a 3, 5, and 8= 13 ignoring the three, rounded to 15%, for a total loss of 30 men). It’s possible to have no casualties as a result and casualties should not exceed 50% losses.
Morale: More emphasis should be placed on this aspect of the resolution, then whole sale slaughter, for determining the outcomes of a battle. Use Chainmails Excess Casualties or the LBB’s Reaction Table. Check morale whenever it is deemed necessary (ex: lost of leader, casualties of 30+%, allied units routing from battle, surrounded, attacked from flanks or rear).
Effects of failed morale should be determined by the GM, but might include panicked retreat or surrender.
A simplified morale system would be to rank each units morale from 1 to 5, with a roll under mechanic on a d6. Average units would have a morale of 3. A shaken unit might have it’s ranking reduced by 1 or 2.