Post by Raithe Nightwalker on Nov 18, 2014 3:54:09 GMT
The rules of warfare are specifically designed to be a natural extension of the combat system for seamless change of perspective from player characters and their individual battles to describing the movements and heroics of entire armies. While the rules here are designed to reflect the ebb and flow of large-scale battles, many of the peculiarities of combat hide inside necessary actions to enable the game to proceed in a manner where the players and their characters remain the focus of the game and prevent it from devolving into a war game.
The Basics
Scale:
Warfare occurs on a scale beyond the individual combat rules, involving hundreds or thousands of fighters instead of tens; rather than dealing with single combatants, the battle rules involve units, which are groups of 100 men each. When the game “zooms” in to deal with individual player characters, the players don’t face entire units, but they may face squads—groups of 10 men.
Commanders:
For a fighting force to be effective in battle, it needs a commander, a visible leader on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of issuing orders and directing the troops in battle. A force’s actions all derive from the commander, and without a clear leader, an army is in danger of collapse or routing. As a general rule, the Character with the highest Status rank (the Captain) is the army’s commander, however, depending on how competent he is, he may choose to turn command over to the character with the highest Warfare rank. A commander who wades into the fighting himself, rather than remaining in a command position with a view of the battlefield, will roll all Warfare test with a -2d penalty, for the duration of the time he spends fighting; this does not apply if an enemy Hero attempts to cut his way through to the commander's position.
Orders:
The commander’s primary function on the battlefield is to direct the units under his command. Each commander achieves this by issuing orders to attack, charge, move, and so on. Supporting the commander are a number of sub-commanders (the individual unit commanders), made up of officers, aides, advisors, and other characters who possess some skill at leadership. Before the battle begins, each side must select a single commander, who has overall command. Depending on the size of the engagement this could be the company captain or a single unit commander. That commander can issue a number of orders equal to his Warfare rank, in each round. Appointed sub-commanders may give one order each. Thus, a commander with 4d in Warfare can issue four orders unsupported, but with two sub-commanders they would each also be able to issue an order, so their side would be able to command a total of seven units to action in a given battle round.
Issuing Orders:
Issuing an order is not as simple as telling the unit where to go and what to do. It requires a commander with some tactical sense and force of personality to cut through the fog of war and properly instruct the unit to do as desired. Any time a commander or sub-commander would issue an order, the character must roll a Warfare test. The Difficulty of the test is determined by the unit’s Discipline level, plus any modifiers based on the order given. Complex orders can increase the Difficulty, while simple orders rely on the unit’s Discipline alone.
Activating Units:
Whenever you first successfully issue an order to a unit, that unit becomes activated. Until a unit is activated, it takes no action during the conflict. Once a unit is activated, though, you do not need to issue new orders to the unit, for it follows its first instructions each battle round until its objective is met, it breaks, or you issue a new command.
Heroes:
In addition to commanders, armies often have heroes, notable individuals that can influence the outcome of a battle by their mere presence. A hero can rally troops, lead charges, or even attack units if desired. Heroes differ from commanders in that they have more freedom and can act independently of a unit. Heroes do NOT add to a commander’s orders. Generally, a hero acts during the player character steps of battle, taking turns independently from the developments of the battlefield. Heroes can, however, join units to improve their abilities and shore up flagging defenses.
Anatomy of a Battle
The Battlefield
The battlefield is the scene of the engagement, the stage on which the drama of war unfolds. All battlefields have five components: scope, terrain, visibility, weather, and fortifications. At the outset of the battle the admin will describe each component in turn, though may also mark them on a map or sketch them out for the players.
Parlay and Terms
Before any battle is engaged, the attacker has the option to offer terms by sending forth an envoy under the peace banner to treat with the enemy. Likewise, the defender may also send forth an envoy to parlay with the attacker. This step is skipped in the event of an ambush or surprise attack.
Step 1: Initiative
Initiative sets the order in which each commander issues his or her orders. To determine initiative, each commander rolls a Warfare test (plus Strategy bonus dice). Unlike combat, the order of initiative in battle is determined each round to account for all the unquantifiable elements that alter the tenor of the battlefield, including botched orders, set-backs, smoke, noise, and numerous other factors.
Step 2: Siege Weapons
Each side, starting with the side that won initiative, may spend an order to fire a number of siege weapons equal to the commander’s Warfare rank. Once a siege weapon is fired, it cannot be fired again on the next battle round. Effectively, a siege weapon can fire every other round. Specific rules for siege weapons are listed in the Siege Weapon Section.
Step 3: Issue Orders
Each commander gets a number of orders based on his Warfare rank, while each sub-commander gets 1 order. In order for an order to be successful, the commander must pass a warfare check (plus command bonus dice) based on the difficulty of the order and the unit's discipline. Multiple orders may be given to the same unit in a single round, but the difficulty increases by +3 for each additional order.
Repeat until one side is routed, destroyed, or surrenders
The Basics
Scale:
Warfare occurs on a scale beyond the individual combat rules, involving hundreds or thousands of fighters instead of tens; rather than dealing with single combatants, the battle rules involve units, which are groups of 100 men each. When the game “zooms” in to deal with individual player characters, the players don’t face entire units, but they may face squads—groups of 10 men.
Commanders:
For a fighting force to be effective in battle, it needs a commander, a visible leader on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of issuing orders and directing the troops in battle. A force’s actions all derive from the commander, and without a clear leader, an army is in danger of collapse or routing. As a general rule, the Character with the highest Status rank (the Captain) is the army’s commander, however, depending on how competent he is, he may choose to turn command over to the character with the highest Warfare rank. A commander who wades into the fighting himself, rather than remaining in a command position with a view of the battlefield, will roll all Warfare test with a -2d penalty, for the duration of the time he spends fighting; this does not apply if an enemy Hero attempts to cut his way through to the commander's position.
Orders:
The commander’s primary function on the battlefield is to direct the units under his command. Each commander achieves this by issuing orders to attack, charge, move, and so on. Supporting the commander are a number of sub-commanders (the individual unit commanders), made up of officers, aides, advisors, and other characters who possess some skill at leadership. Before the battle begins, each side must select a single commander, who has overall command. Depending on the size of the engagement this could be the company captain or a single unit commander. That commander can issue a number of orders equal to his Warfare rank, in each round. Appointed sub-commanders may give one order each. Thus, a commander with 4d in Warfare can issue four orders unsupported, but with two sub-commanders they would each also be able to issue an order, so their side would be able to command a total of seven units to action in a given battle round.
Issuing Orders:
Issuing an order is not as simple as telling the unit where to go and what to do. It requires a commander with some tactical sense and force of personality to cut through the fog of war and properly instruct the unit to do as desired. Any time a commander or sub-commander would issue an order, the character must roll a Warfare test. The Difficulty of the test is determined by the unit’s Discipline level, plus any modifiers based on the order given. Complex orders can increase the Difficulty, while simple orders rely on the unit’s Discipline alone.
Activating Units:
Whenever you first successfully issue an order to a unit, that unit becomes activated. Until a unit is activated, it takes no action during the conflict. Once a unit is activated, though, you do not need to issue new orders to the unit, for it follows its first instructions each battle round until its objective is met, it breaks, or you issue a new command.
Heroes:
In addition to commanders, armies often have heroes, notable individuals that can influence the outcome of a battle by their mere presence. A hero can rally troops, lead charges, or even attack units if desired. Heroes differ from commanders in that they have more freedom and can act independently of a unit. Heroes do NOT add to a commander’s orders. Generally, a hero acts during the player character steps of battle, taking turns independently from the developments of the battlefield. Heroes can, however, join units to improve their abilities and shore up flagging defenses.
Anatomy of a Battle
The Battlefield
The battlefield is the scene of the engagement, the stage on which the drama of war unfolds. All battlefields have five components: scope, terrain, visibility, weather, and fortifications. At the outset of the battle the admin will describe each component in turn, though may also mark them on a map or sketch them out for the players.
Parlay and Terms
Before any battle is engaged, the attacker has the option to offer terms by sending forth an envoy under the peace banner to treat with the enemy. Likewise, the defender may also send forth an envoy to parlay with the attacker. This step is skipped in the event of an ambush or surprise attack.
Step 1: Initiative
Initiative sets the order in which each commander issues his or her orders. To determine initiative, each commander rolls a Warfare test (plus Strategy bonus dice). Unlike combat, the order of initiative in battle is determined each round to account for all the unquantifiable elements that alter the tenor of the battlefield, including botched orders, set-backs, smoke, noise, and numerous other factors.
Step 2: Siege Weapons
Each side, starting with the side that won initiative, may spend an order to fire a number of siege weapons equal to the commander’s Warfare rank. Once a siege weapon is fired, it cannot be fired again on the next battle round. Effectively, a siege weapon can fire every other round. Specific rules for siege weapons are listed in the Siege Weapon Section.
Step 3: Issue Orders
Each commander gets a number of orders based on his Warfare rank, while each sub-commander gets 1 order. In order for an order to be successful, the commander must pass a warfare check (plus command bonus dice) based on the difficulty of the order and the unit's discipline. Multiple orders may be given to the same unit in a single round, but the difficulty increases by +3 for each additional order.
Repeat until one side is routed, destroyed, or surrenders