Troop Type Chainmail combat-does it speed things up?

[alvordian]

I know the subject of using Chainmail for combat has been really analyzed and discussed on these boards. I personally have always had a soft spot for the rules and have always looked for any excuse to incorporate it in OD&D.

My question for those with experience- if I would use the Troop Type combat, the kind discussed in Jason Veys Forbidden Lore and around the inter webs, would it have the effect of speeding up combat? This is of interest as I wish to use it for a play by post game, and combat always bogs things down.

Any experiences or opinions?

[rsdean]

By troop type combat, do you mean the table with entries like "Light foot vs. heavy horse 1 die per 4 men, 6 kills"?

That seems like it would be difficult to do in a adventure party context...

[Finarvyn]

The thing is this … using the troop combat table changes combat a lot as it's designed to be all d6 attack rolls and there are very limited options. For larger scale combats I kind of like it, particularly if you want to simulate the contest that Gimli and Legolas had in The Two Towers when they were trying to out-do one another in terms of orc kills.

The standard combat system reduces itself to a single attack against everyone and makes fights against "mook" opponents slow, so getting multiple attacks against them as per the "Fighting Capability" used in the troop combat table can speed things up. Or, you could use the "Fighting Capability" rating to grant additional attacks versus "mook" opponents and just use the standard combat and achieve pretty much the same thing. I guess it comes down to a matter of preference.

I've run a few campaigns using the Chainmail combat system as my go-to and it's sometimes fun to roll handfuls of d6's when you go into battle against a bunch of normal creatures.

[derv]

Here's how I do it>>> Using PC's with Chainmail Mass Combat

If you want quick, don't use hit points. Each hit is a full HD of damage. Otherwise each hit is worth d6 hp's damage.

[Finarvyn]

Aug 26, 2018 13:07:37 GMT -6 derv said:

If you want quick, don't use hit points. Each hit is a full HD of damage. Otherwise each hit is worth d6 hp's damage.

That's pretty much the way I do it, too. Since hit dice are all d6's, and damage is mostly d6's, they tend to cancel each other out. If a unit as a plus on its HD (e.g. elves are 1+1 HD) I "round up" to 2 HP.

Somewhere on the web (Maybe the Comeback Inn site? Maybe K&KA?) I remember seeing a nice file uploaded by a guy who calls himself "Radagast the Brown" which organizes this stuff really well.

[alvordian]

That’s been my line of thinking; monsters take 1hd of damage, PCs take 1d6 points of damage.

Much of my plan has been influenced by the Forbidden Lore pdf. Using all three forms of combat in Chainmail for different situations may be a bit iof work but it does make sense. I just like the idea of the players being more heroic, mowing down bad guys in big battles instead of the standard I hit you hit method.

[Malchor]

Just went down this road of thought.

This is where I was heading: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YXhHupu2PInwF8TR0G4rzMKiaGJk-hu2VZpFoDUx_wc/edit?usp=sharing

It could work at lower levels but would break down at higher levels.

What I do like about it is how HP affects how well you can fight, adding a little bit of simulation without complexity. The problem is the insane number of dice at higher levels (and HP), which is likely why Steven Winter used HD here: drive.google.com/file/d/0BwEXQbnhO7TRajdIQV9CYmFaVmM/view (If you look at Info, you can see the owner is Steven Winter, yes THAT Steve Winter).