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These rules for Hero Wars mass combat are not meant to be a realistic simulation of large scale battles. Instead they are intended as a tool for narrators and players to make interesting, exciting and manageable combat a part of their games. They are based on the Warfare section in Hero Wars, Roleplaying in Glorantha, pages 151-152. I have used several other sources for inspiration and ideas, and they are listed below.
Basics
A large scale battle is handled as an extended contest between the battle leaders. If there are more than two sides involved in the battle, it should be considered an extended group contest. Each round of battle is conducted in two phases: Leader Phase, and Hero Phase.
Order of Action (see HW p 132): Since the outcome of the battle is decided only by the extended contest between leaders, any non-leader heroes act immediately after their leader (this is the Hero Phase), regardless of their individual APs.
Lenght of Round: Depending on the size of the battle, each round could represent somewhere between ten and thirty minutes of fighting.
Bonuses and Penalties: Several factors can give bonuses or penalties to a leader. Calculate these before the battle begins. See below for further details.
Leader Phase
The leader uses uses a relevant ability to lead his forces, such as Mass Combat, Military Strategy, or Lead Troops. The outcome of this roll usually results in an edge (for the winner) or a handicap (for the looser). This is handled similarly to the carryover rules of a heroquest, i.e. they are cumulative throughout the battle. For example, a leader getting two major victories in a row will have a total edge of 6 for his next action. The total edge or handicap at the end of the contest has absolutely no relevance whatsoever on the final outcome of the contest. Victory or defeat is determined solely by APs, as usual.
Edge Complete Victory
^4 Major Victory
^3 Minor Victory
^2 Marginal Victory
^1 Tie
no effect Marginal Defeat
^-1 Minor Defeat
^-2 Major Defeat
^-3 Complete Defeat
^-4 Any handicaps or edges that a leader recieves during this phase, also applies to the individual hero in the Hero Phase. Other leader bonuses, augmentations, or AP loans, does not effect the individual hero, however.
In larger battles, each participating side can be broken down into smaller units, if the narrator wishes. In this case, the battle is handled as an extended group contest. Each unit has its own leader, and each leader makes separate rolls. If there is an overall leader, commanding all the units of one side, she can use her abilities to enhance her subcommander's actions, giving augmentations, edges, or lend APs, as appropriate. This is considered an unrelated action.
Remember that the multiple opponents rules does apply, with each unit counting as one participant in the battle. The narrator should use common sense, however. Sometimes assigning multiple opponent penalties is just ridiculous.
Hero Phase
The purpose of this phase is to determine the fate of the individual hero in the battle. This is handled as a concurrent contest. However, only the hero's, not the opponent's, APs are kept track of. The hero may get an edge or a handicap, depending on her leader's level of victory (see above).
Any opponent should be decided by the narrator, based on the individual circumstances. For a few examples of opponents, click here.
If the hero wishes fight a specific enemy during battle, locating her is an unrelated action. Depending on the size of the battle, it may take one or several rounds to reach the enemy in question. Perhaps the hero will have to fight her way through hordes of nameless warriors before reaching her chosen foe.
Battle Events
Battles should be chaotic and unpredictable events. Just rolling dice to see whether you loose or win APs, tend to become boring, unless handled correctly. Here are a few ideas, to get you started. Make up your own. Have a ball!
- An innocent kid is trapped in the midst of battle, and must be saved in order to survive.
- An enemy warrior has singled out a hero for personal combat.
- It is raining, and the battlefield gets wet and muddy. -3 (or ^-6) to all actions involving movement.
- A group of hungry [trollkin/ghouls/menace of your choice] tries to rob/eat the wounded. Must the fighting sides unite in order to drive the menace away?
Bonuses and Penalties
Several bonuses and penalties can be taken into account in the Leader Phase, if the narrator wishes. A battle leader recieves a bonus if she has an overall advantage over the enemy. All modifiers, except size bonuses, are worked out for each unit in a force separately.
Relative Size��
Note that only the larger force gets the modifier, if any. Being the outnumbered party does not incur any penalty.
Factor
Modifier Outnumbering foe 2:1
+5 Outnumbering foe 3:1
+10 Outnumbering foe 5:1
+20 If the narrator has decided to break down a larger force into smaller units, the total number of warriors in the force is counted. The units should not be counted separately. In this case he bonus is applied only to the overall leader, not the subcommanders.
Quality of Troops
Average the armour and weapon ranks of the warriors in the unit, and apply it as an edge to the leader's roll. In a large scale battle, there is no point in keeping separate tallies for offensive and defensive values.
Example: The majority of the Black Rock clan warband are wearing armour with an edge of ^3 and weapons with an edge of ^5. The total edge for the warband will be ^4 (3+5 / 2).
Morale
A unit with higher or lower morale than usual, recieves a bonus or penalty ranging from +2 to -2. A leader may, of course, use an appropriate ability to enhance this.
Other Bonuses
Other modifiers, such as terrain advantages, or the effect of surprises, may be taken into account. Use your imagination and your common sense.
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Hughes, J., Laws, R. D., Robertson, R., and Stafford, G. Thunder Rebels. Issaries, Inc., 2001.
Petersen, Sandy. Army of the Lunar Empire, Art of Ambush in Prax, and Art of War in the Western World.
Petersen, S. "Warhamster," in Tales of the Reaching Moon #12. Reaching Moon Megacorp, 1994.
Stafford, G. Pendragon. Green Knight Publishing.
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