War
I love the concept of wargaming. When I was a kid I used to think I'd go to West Point. Kids sure are crazy. Of all strange things to be interested in, military strategy has always been one of mine. I used to read military strategy books, military history, play Total War, Europa Universalis IV, and the like.
So when I started to get deep into the TTRPG hobby, war games such a Chainmail obviously sounded appealing. Upon trying them, however, I found them tedious, boring, slow, and not even very representative of real combat for all the work it involved.
Maybe a day will come where I come around (I still haven't tried Warhammer), but until then I've looked for alternative ways to scratch that itch. I've come to realize that, in a TTRPG context, I actually enjoy the consequences and big-picture of army versus army more than the minutia of playing out every single order.
Enter BECMI's War Machine! I read these rules a while back and felt pretty inspired by what I saw, but recently I had a good reason to use it in my own AD&D 1e game. Below are the results of using it. The results probably makes more sense if you have a copy of War Machine rules in front of you. You can find them in either the Companion Set of BECMI or the Rules Cyclopedia. I modified some of what I originally wrote below so that it's more readable for those not actively looking at the rules. What's nice about these rules is I think you can still get an idea of what's happening at a glance.
You'll also note that the timelines aren't well-defined. This is intentional. War Machines suggest timelines of days, but I'm running these major battles being sometimes a week or two out, carrying over the "exhaustion" of each army between battles. I assume that small skirmishes and raids may be occurring between these bigger set-piece battles. One could also interpret that each roll is the sum result of a stretch of time, accounting for major battles, minor skirmishes, raids, and so on.
In the spirit of this blog's title, I want to first share the big takeaways and what it tangibly added to my game before getting into the details:
- Meaningful drama and consequences were quickly generated.
- Players were engaged with the entire process even as I was just streaming me writing/rolling all this out on Discord. They actively participated in the process, helped strategize as both sides (even though they wanted House Ran to win), and actually cheered or cried out with every roll.
- The results were plausible and accounted for factors war games often struggle to consider.
Hopefully you find some inspiration (or if nothing else entertainment) from this post, and happy gaming!
Background: As succession wars loom in the south Dyrland, wars for conquest and survival wage in the north. Flaming Dragon Keep's House Ran find themselves attacked on two fronts: to the north by the strange city-state of Ravenna and their strange sorcerer-court; to the east by the Skulatan barbarian Tetachos and his coalition of Athrysian tribes.
As winter turns to spring and the war season begins, House Ran makes perhaps the most consequential decision of the war: they will split their force in two. The strongest force will be led by the Lord General himself and march against Ravenna; the weaker force will be led by the Marshal and Master of Horse and defend on the eastern front. The hope is that the east can hold out long enough for the north to win a decisive victory, then turn back around, combine forces, and crush Tetachos' army.
The participating player characters and what forces they mustered to the aid of House Ran are sent to the eastern front.
Levy size 10-15%. Rarely does each side ever field their total potential force immediately or unless forced.
Flaming Dragon Keep
Total population: 25,000
Urban population: 6,500
Troops: 2,500 - 3,750 + 100 + 50 = 2,650 - 3,900
- 10% (250) heavy cavalry, wearing plate mail, with maces and lances
- 60% (1,500) heavy infantry, wearing lamellar, with long spears and short swords & shields
- 20% (500) light infantry, wearing leather, with short swords, spears & shields
- 10% (250) archers, wearing leather, with short bows and daggers
Additional forces: - 50 spearmen, wearing scale, with long spears and short swords (from Amaril)
- 50 heavy infantry, wearing laminar, with long spears and battle axes & shields (from Tanco)
- 50 priests of Belisama, wearing scale, with spears & shields
- 1 freak
- Player characters: Tobar, Amaril
House Val
Total population: 5,000
Urban population: 1,250
Troops: 500 - 750
Ravenna
Total population: 20,000
Urban population: 6,000
Troops: 2,000 - 3,000
- 10% (200) light cavalry, wearing leather, with maces and lances
- 15% (300) heavy infantry (Court Guard), wearing lamellar, with swords, spears & shields
- 25% (500) medium infantry, wearing chain mail, with battle axes, spears & shields
- 25% (500) light infantry, wearing leather, with hand axes, spears & shields
- 15% (300) archers, wearing leather, with short bows and daggers
- 5% (100) slingers, wearing leather, with slings and daggers
- 4% (80) cultists, wearing leather, with short swords
- 1% (20) monsters
Tetachos
Total population: 22,000
Urban population: 0
Troops: 2,200 - 3,300
- 50% (1,100) archer cavalry, wearing scale, with swords and short bows
- 10% (220) heavy cavalry, wearing plate mail, with maces and lances
- 30% (660) light infantry, wearing fur, with hand axes, spears & shields
- 9% (198) medium infantry, wearing scale, with battle axes, spears & shields
- 1% (22) beasts of war
Outcome
Flaming Dragon Keep:
- Leader: +3 (Int)
- Experience: +24 (average level 8)
- Training: +10 (training), +8 (with the men), +1 (on duty)
- Equipment: +15 (excellent), +5 (two weapons), +5 (50% AC 5 or better), +1 (against Ravenna only)
- Battle Factor Rating: 71/72 (8)
- Troop class: Average
- Battle Rating: 71/72
- Troops: 2,650 (1,500 to Ravenna, 1,150 to Tetachos)
Ravenna:
- Leader: +3 (Int/Wis)
- Experience: +15 (average level 5)
- Training: +7 (training), +8 (with the men), +1 (on duty)
- Equipment: +10 (good), +5 (two weapons)
- Special: +2 (monsters)
- Battle Factor Rating: 51 (6)
- Troop class: Below average
- +6 (20% missiles), +6 (magic)
- Battle Rating: 63
- Troops: 2,000
Tetachos:
- Leader: +2 (Cha)
- Experience: +15 (average level 5)
- Training: +5 (on duty), +5 (with the men)
- Equipment: +5 (average), +5 (two weapons)
- Special: +2 (monsters)
- Battle Factor Rating: 39 (4)
- Troop class: Below average
- +4 (20% mounted), +4 (50% mounted), +4 (20% missiles), +4 (speed)
- Battle Rating: 55
- Troops: 2,200
F: Holds the field after battle.
R: Retreats from the field after battle.
| House Ran vs. | Tetachos | House Ran vs. | Ravenna | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troops | 1,150 | 2,200 | 1,500 | 2,000 |
| Bonuses | - | - | +10 (dominion) +10 (troop class) +10 (low hills) |
+15 (1.5:1) |
| BR | - | - | 102 | 78 |
| d100 | - | - | 92 | 58 |
| Result | - | - | 194 (58) | 136 |
| Casualties | - | - | 20% | 50% |
| Fatigue | - | - | M | S |
| Location | - | - | F+1 | R+2 |
| House Ran vs. | Tetachos | House Ran vs. | Ravenna | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troops | 1,150 | 2,200 | 1,200 | 1,000 |
| Bonuses | +1 (Amaril) +10 (dominion) +10 (troop class) +20 (hills) |
+30 (2:1) +45 (immune) |
+10 (troop class) +15 (1.5:1) +10 (victory) -10 (fatigue) |
+10 (low hills) +10 (dominion) -30 (s. fatigue) |
| BR | 112 | 130 | 97 | 53 |
| d100 | 77 | 13 | 34 | 78 |
| Result | 189 (46) | 143 | 131 | 131 |
| Casualties | 0% | 30% | 0% | 0% |
| Fatigue | N | S | - | - |
| Location | F | R+2 | - | - |
The war leaders of the east, frustrated with their secondary role as a defensive force and bolstered by unexpected success, seek to capitalize on their advantage. House Ran goes on the attack!
| House Ran vs. | Tetachos | House Ran vs. | Ravenna | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troops | 1,150 | 1,540 | 1,200 | 1,000 |
| Bonuses | +1 (Amaril) +10 (troop class) +10 (victory) |
+15 (1.5:1) +45 (immune) -30 (s. fatigue) +20 (hills) |
+10 (troop class) +15 (1.5:1) +10 (victory) |
+10 (low hills) +10 (dominion) -10 (fatigue) |
| BR | 92 | 105 | 107 | 73 |
| d100 | 80 | 55 | 59 | 57 |
| Result | 172 (12) | 160 | 166 (36) | 130 |
| Casualties | 0% | 20% | 20% (960) | 40% (600) |
| Fatigue | N | N | M | S |
| Location | F | R | R | R |
House Val joins Ravenna! In the confusion of war, it's unclear in the records whether House Val betrayed House Ran or House Ran used some pretext of sabotage to declare them an enemy, forcing them to side with Ravenna. Had House Ran managed to break them and cause a full rout, Ravenna wouldn't have been able to muster more troops after such a string of defeats. (Amaril rejoins the party.)
Reinforcements:
- House Ran North: +1,140
- Tetachos: +1,100
- House Ran East: +110
- Ravenna: +1,500 (+500 from House Val)
| House Ran vs. | Tetachos | House Ran vs. | Ravenna | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troops | 1,260 | 2,332 | 2,100 | 2,100 |
| Bonuses | +10 (troop class) +10 (victory) +20 (hills) |
+15 (1.5:1) +45 (immune) |
+10 (troop class) +10 (victory) |
|
| BR | 111 | 115 | 92 | 63 |
| d100 | 19 | 31 | 72 | 22 |
| Result | 130 | 146 (16) | 164 (79) | 85 |
| Casualties | 20% | 10% | 30% | 60% |
| Fatigue | M | N | M | S |
| Location | R | F | F+1 | R+3 |
This puts the war on the same rough date as the party's adventures in the eastern mountains.
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