Reworking Of The Battle Rules

[Stildawn]

Hi All

So I have been looking at some of the rules, and I'm going to start reworking some, filling in blanks etc... Here is the first lot, battle rules.

Here is what I considered when designing the follow battle rules:

- Keeping the unit classifications we are all currently using
- Allowing for as much dynamic as possible
- WHILE keeping it as simple as possible
- Making it segmented to allow more rich and involved RP.

And without further ado my proposed Battle Rules:

Segments/Engagements:

Each battle will be played by segments, this meaning individual engagements of different units interacting on the larger field itself.

For Example. A simple Cavalry charge into Footmen, that is one segment and it will get all the rolls below.

From now on, I will be referring to these as "Engagements" below

Engagement Battle Rolls:

When two forces engage in combat there is an "Attacker" and a "Defender". The Mod in charge will perform these rolls:

Engagement Score Roll
This is done for each side both attackers and defenders each get a Engagement Score Roll as follows:

Engagement Score = (D20 + Type Matrix Modifier (only applied to Attackers roll) + Mod Modifier (only applied to Attackers roll)) x Numbers of Troops Involved

This will give a large number depending on the results of the roll and the numbers of troops committed.

The "Winner" of the engagement is simply the side with largest score, and will be RPed as such.

Casualty Roll
This roll of course determines the lives lost, the general maximum % is 50% however Mods are allowed to exceed this if they feel the RPed situation calls for it (especially in siege assaults for example). Casualty percentage is determined by the following formula:

Winners Casualty % = Losing Score/Winning Score x 0.5
Losers Casualty % = Winning Score/Losing Score x 0.5 (up to the general maximum of 50%)

Casualties are then simply: Number Of Troops Committed x Casualty Percentage = Lives lost.

Rout Rolls
We all know that when the hits the fan, people get scared. Thus if the losing percentage reaches the 50% maximum this happens:

D20 Rout Roll
1 - 10 = Losing Force Routs (leaves battle)
11 - 20 = Losing Force Rallys (can be RPed again in the battle)

What are the modifiers you ask??? Well here they are:

Type Matrix Modifer:

This didn’t post in here, so here is a link to a google spread sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

This basically sets out the difference in styles and effectiveness of troop types against other troops. These values are free to mess with, it’s just my basic idea we can change them up.

When using this, I remind you that the modifier is only added to the "Attackers" engagement score roll, so as to not apply the modifiers twice (which would be way OP)

Mod Modifier:

This is where tactics come in, the Mod in charge of the battle reads the RP (both attackers and defenders) and then applies a modifier to the engagement score roll IF HE FEELS it is REQUIRED. To keep the values in balance I suggest a range of -5 to +5 meaning that one side can at most get 25% extra effectiveness by whatever it is that they are doing.

A simple example would be charging into a units flank (+ modifier for attacker)

Archery Volleys:

Archers are super weak if used as infantry (as you can see by the matrix above), but they have bows so yeah are good to have, this is why:

Archery Volley Matrix
Again, didn’t post in refer to google spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

These modifiers is basically armor, Footman having arrow neutral armor, spearmen having a bit worse armor, Bowmen having little to no armor and Knights having the best etc

Archery Volley Effect Roll
Here is how we determine what happens when bowmen volley at someone else:

Death % = ((D20 + Volley Matrix Modifier) x 3) / 100 (to get a decimal)

The " x 3" bit basically means that at most a perfect volley against enemy bowmen will result in 69% casualties. That is the highest effectiveness possible. It can be as low as nothing happening at all (for example if rolled a 1 vs Knights or Men at Arms)

Then casualties in the target unit would be simply:

Target Deaths = Number Of Bowmen Who Volleyed x Death %

So for example if 500 Bowmen shot at 1000 Spearmen it would be like this:

Death % = (Roll of 8 + 1) x 3 / 100 = 0.27

Spearmen Deaths = 500 x 0.27 = 135 deaths

And that is about it, I think it covers most things, gives the Mod's and the players freedom to be creative and have good tactics reflect in their outcomes.

In a second I’ll post another spreadsheet with just a full run down of the Battle of Margat as an example of the above in action.

Further amendments were to limit max Archery Deaths to 75% of the target unit’s numbers.

[Stildawn]

Here is my full spreadsheet that I used to track the battle...

Not everyone needs to do this, I just like having things organised and set out so I know whats going on.

To explain it a little.

- The top bit is the armies at the start of the battle, you'll notice a "Stildawns %" column, this is just my portion of each troop type which is used later on.
- Then the running totals, just for my reference during the battle.
- Then the Battle box, this is where I drag around the units on the field, based on what Eredin commanded and what I did as Muslim commander, just gives a simply visual picture of what is going on... The state it is in currently is the last position of the troops cause the battle is over.

- To the right is the phases, each is a post by myself in the thread, and details all the engagements fought with their rolls etc, if you know excel a bit you can probably follow the formula's in the cells (ignore all the rounding formulas haha that just give nice whole numbers).
You'll see here whenever the Christians took casualties I refereed to the "Stildawns %" to determine the amount of troops we each lost (Eredin and I).
In regards to engagements with combined troops (like most of the later stages infantry battles), you'll notice I have % off to the side for the dominate troop type, this again is used so I can determine the casualties of each unit based on their amount in the larger number.
In regards to troop modifiers, in combined units I mainly negated them due to the fact that at this point the battles were blood melee's and often the troop types offset each other.

Anyway, here is a link to the spreadsheet if you want to have a look:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

So discuss the rules and let me know your thoughts, eventually I'll run a vote on them for official adoption.

Cheers