That
D&D has its roots in wargaming is an old story. Thirty years down
the road support for running battles larger than party-sized remains
surprisingly and woefully uneven. A small not terribly spectacular
range of compatible miniature and abstract large battle rules exist.
But
holes stubbornly persist. The biggest gap I have encountered time and
time again in the campaign is the lack of simple and fun ways to run
battles that are larger than the standard kind involving the party
and also too small scale or tactical to run with a wholly abstract
system say like the Warmachine rules from the D&D Companion set.
What
follows is the first part of what I tongue in cheek am calling By
this Poleaxe, an adaption and extension of pen and paper small
battle rules Deep Evan and I have been using in the Feudal Anarchy
playtests into a more oldish D&D format. I plan on testing them in the heat of battle in the nasty brutish border war currently brewing in the Hill Cantons.
It's
intended to allow a GM to run small-scale battles or skirmishes
involving 15-120 combatants on each side in a hour or so without
miniatures. (If you want or need battle rules for miniatures you might want to check out By this Axe rules).
If
you would like to see the rest of the draft (this first part to give
readers a sense of where this is going) give me a holler at my email
address or on good ole Google Plus.
By
this Poleaxe: Pen and Paper Oldish D&D Small Battle Rules
Each
“squad” is made up of up to 5 combatants. A squad is represented
by a single figure in a miniatures game and will generally be part of
a battle or conroy (a larger unit) in battles involving more than 100
combatants. A squad must be at full strength (five combatants) if
possible.
Squad Attributes
Attack
Value (AV)
The
measure of the squad's ability to hit on a d10. Total Hit Dice and
divide by 5.
Base
AV
1
|
0-level
Human, monster under 1 HD
|
2
|
Man
at Arms-1st
level, up to 1+1 HD
|
3
|
2-3
HD
|
4
|
4-7
HD
|
5
|
8-10
HD
|
6
|
11+
HD
|
Mounted
+1
Crappy
weapon (dagger, club, hoe) -1
Two-handed
weapon +1
Fighter
or Trained Leader over 6th
level/HD “stacked” in unit +1
Attacking
from the flank, rear or from surprise +1
Minor
Special Offensive Ability +1
Medium
Special +2
Major
Special +3
Defense
Value (DV)
The
measure of the squad's ability to shrug off hits, used as a savings
throw. Average the AC of the party.
Base
DV
| 1 | Unarmored (AC 9 or 10) |
| 2 | Light AC (AC 7-8) |
| 3 | Medium AC (AC 4-6) |
| 4 | High AC (AC 1-3) |
| 5 | Very High AC (AC 0 and lower) |
hard
cover +2
soft
cover +1
Minor
Special Defensive Ability +1
Medium
Special +2
Major
Special +3
Morale
(MV)
The
measure of a squads ability to not break and run.
Typical
Base MV
Peasant
levy, kobold, rabble
|
4
|
Average
soldiery, orc
|
6
|
Veteran,
hobgoblin, white ape
|
7
|
Knight
or other elite
|
8
|
Fanatic,
berserker
|
9
|
Undead
|
10
|
Modifiers:
+1
in a “secure position” (behind cover, in a pike phalanx, bless
spell etc)
+1
leader CHA 15-17 (non-stackable)
+2
leader CHA 18 (non-stackable)
Hits
to Kill (HTK)
The
number of hits the squad can take before being Out of the Fight.
HTK
Human
levy or half hit dice
|
1
|
1
HD or Man-at-Arms
|
2
|
2-3
HD
|
3
|
4-5
HD
|
4
|
6-7
HD
|
5
|
7-8
HD
|
6
|
9-10
HD`
|
7
|
-1
if squad has 4 members.
-2
if squad has 3 members.
Movement
(M)
The
number of abstract “move spaces” that a squad can move per combat
turn. Movement is with the by-the-book standard rates if a map grid
is is in use.
60
feet or less
|
1
|
90
feet
|
2
|
120
feet
|
3
|
150
feet or more
|
4
|
