New Battle Rules

[The Stranger]

To give Player Characters who specialize in combat and battle more options, we've created some new rules for Battles.

1. Like Character on Character Fights, Damage is determined by the difference between the Battle Skill rolls of the two commanders:

0-10 margin of Damage
11-25: light damage to unit (Unit loses 5% of its troops)
26-50: average damage to unit (Unit loses 15% of its troops)
51-100: heavy damage to unit (Unit loses 25% of its troops)

110 Legendary
100 Grandmaster
90 Master
80 Expert
70 Noteworthy
60 Apprentice
50 Novice
40 Beginner

Whenever a unit loses 25% of its troops, either by accumulative hits or a single heavy damage hit, its commander must roll a Battle skill roll. Failure indicates the unit breaks and flees from the battlefield. There are no minuses to skill rolls from damage however.

Battle Modifiers: There are a number of modifiers to skill based on the situation.

Bonuses for size disparity.:
The difference in the number of troops the units facing each other. For purposes of calculating Size disparity, Knights are considered worth 10 conscripts and Men-At-arms are considered worth 5 conscripts.

1:1:0
Greater than 1:1:+5
2:1=+10
3:1=+20
4:1=+30
and so on.

Example: Talyn Thatcher has 200 Knights, and 1,000 Traitors' Sons (Men-At-Arms) in order to put down a rebellion of 10,000 Rebel conscripts. When calculating size disparity, Talyn's force is considered to be equal to 7,000 conscripts (200 Knights is equivalent to 2000 conscripts, and 1,000 men-at-arms is equivalent to 5,000 conscripts for a total of 7,000.) The Rebels have a greater than 1:1 advantage, so they get a +5 to all battle skills. If the Rebels had 14,000 Conscripts, they would have had a 2:1 advantage, and would get a +10.

Bonuses for Fortifications: The Defender gets a bonus if he is fortified.

Holdfast or temporary fort: +5
Small Castle: +10
Castle: +20
Large Castle: +30
Legendary Castle: +40

Bonuses are accumulative. The Attacker and Defender's bonuses are subtracted to equal the total bonus.

Example: The 10,000 rebel conscripts are attacking Talyn Thatcher's 200 Knights and 1,000 Men-At-Arms, who are in a Castle. The Rebel Conscripts get +5 for having more troops, but Talyn gets +20 for defending from a Castle. 20-5=+15. Talyn gets a +15 to his Battle Roll, and the Rebel Conscript commander rolls his normal roll.

# of Units: The army with more commanders has more independent units which can maneuver and destroy the enemy. Just like each additional opponent in hand to hand combat gives a -10 to the character who is outnumbered, a Commander who is facing more units, suffers the same penalty.

Example: Talyn Thatcher has his 200 Knights and 1,000 Men-At-Arms together in 1 unit. He is facing two Grandmasters with 4,000 conscripts each. Because his opponents have two units to his one, Talyn has a -10 to his Battle roll.

[The Stranger]

Heroes and Challenges:

One of the more enjoyable elements of previous battles I think has been the duels between characters during battle. I had intended to continue this tradition in the current battle system. To reflect the idea of skilled heroes (PCs or followers usually) cutting bloody paths towards the opposing generals (like Jaime Lannister at the Whispering Wood), I offer the following rules:

When a character posts a battle, in addition to listing their commanders and the number of men under their command, they may also designate characters as "Champions," and list that character's WEAPON skill only. These "Champions" command NO troops, but will be able to target enemy commanders for duels.

Champions will roll their weapon skill, against the opposing Commander's Battle Skill. If the Champion wins, the Champion is able to force the Commander into a duel. If the Commander's Battle skill exceeds the Champion's Combat Skill, then the Commander is simply to clever and wily to be sucked into a dangerous gambit like dueling a champion fighter!

EXCEPTION: If the Opposing side also has a Champion, this Champion will take the place of a challenged commander, acting as a kind of bodyguard to protect the commander from being challenged and slain.

Example:
Talyn Thatcher-Legendary Land Battle (6,000 Men-At-Arms)
Champion: William Hill- Grandmaster Mace

Euric Dayne: Grandmaster Land Battle (400 Knights, 3,600 Men-At-Arms)
Champion: Garion Koh- Master Sword

Vs.
Lord Aaron Royce- Master Battle (1750 Knights)
Champion- Selwyn Stone- Master Sword
Lord Armand Royce- Expert Battle (500 Knights)


Round 1:
Talyn Thatcher-139 (6,000 Men-At-Arms)
Champion: William Hill- 160
Vs.
Lord Aaron Royce- 157 (2000 Knights, Outnumbered -5)
Champion- Selwyn Stone-97 Sword

In this example, Aaron's battle skill has defeated Talyn's, and so Royce's troops will do damage according to the normal rules. Hill's Roll exceeds Royce's however, so the bastard knight is able to put himself in a position to challenge Royce. Because Royce has a Champion, Selwyn Stone will now fight William Hill. If Royce did NOT have a Champion, he would have to personally fight Hill.

IF A COMMANDER IS SLAIN/Captured: A unit will AUTOMATICALLY break. Neighboring units which have additional space to command more troops will incorporate as many men as they can, and the rest will flee the battle field.

EXAMPLE: Armand Royce is challenged by Garion Koh, and is forced to yield, thus being captured. His 500 men automatically begin to rout. However because Aaron Royce has space under his command for an additional 250 troops, 250 of Armand's troops join Aaron Royce's unit, and the remaining 250 flee the field. If Armand had a Champion, even if the Champion lost his battle, his troops would not be routed. Thus a Champion can give his life to keep his unit on the field and fighting.