| Soldier Types | Militia Footman - 1 point
- Peasants and burghers, armed with spears and billhooks, protected by padded armour or leather at best. Though they lack the protection and staying power of heavier infantry, they are highly mobile and flexible.
- +5 in Rough, Marshy, Hilly, and Wooded Terrain.
Yeoman Footman - 2 points
- Armed with billhooks, voulges, axes, and hammers, these troops operate in tightly grouped formations to present a prickly wall of sharp spears to both cavalry and infantry alike. They are moderately trained and decently armored and serve as the bulk of the armored infantry raised from the land by the king in times of war.
- +10 against Cavalry if in a stationary formation. -2 in Rough and Wooded Terrain.
Dismounted Man-At-Arms - 3 points
- To dismount Men-At-Arms, declare so in battle orders.
- Men-at-arms come from the lowest scores of the landed elite and from those who sell their military skill to lords as retainers and private soldiers, while some may be legally knights. They are the best armed, armoured, and trained warriors on the battlefield. Like other heavy infantry they are relatively slow and easily exhausted, but will prove a solid force in any stand-up fight.
- +10 against Cavalry if in a stationary formation.
- -5 after 2 Battle Rounds in action.
Mounted Man-At-Arms - 2 points
- Men-At-Arms are mounted by default.
- Men-at-arms come from the lowest scores of the landed elite and from those who sell their military skill to lords as retainers and private soldiers, while some may be legally knights. They are the heaviest cavalry available, excepting true knights and lords bedecked in the finest plate, but have worked best as infantrymen since the wars of Edward I.
- +10 if coherently charging across open ground (a coherent charge requires the Cavalry to have been unengaged in the previous Battle Round). -10 in Rough, Marshy, Hilly, and Wooded Terrain.
- -5 after 2 Battle Rounds in action. Cannot charge in Rough or Marshy Terrain, can only charge out of Wooded Terrain.
Militia Archer - 1 point
- These are the regular huntsmen and sportsmen of England, but thrown into battle straight from the village hedge via a call to arms.
- -10 if firing into Wooded Terrain.
Yeoman Archer - 1.5 points
- These longbowmen are the regular and most numerous foot soldiers of the late medieval English military, and most engagements in the Hundred Years War were fought with these well-trained, well-equipped, ranged killers.
- +10 if clean line of sight to massed target formation
- -5 if firing into Wooded Terrain.
Mounted Archer - 1 point
- These are selectively chosen longbowmen taken into the retinue of a lord, or otherwise have found and acquired horses. They are intended to combine the mobility of mounted warfare with the power of the longbow.
- Halve all casualties caused on these men in a rout or retreat
- Halve all casualties caused on these men from archer fire
- +10 if clean line of sight to massed target formation
- -5 if firing into Wooded Terrain.
- Can move across 2 Flanks, or move across 1 and fight in it, per Battle Round.
- -5 in Rough, Marshy, Hilly, and Wooded Terrain.
- +2 to raid rolls
Hobelars - 1 point
- Often employed as scouts, raiders, or in harassing roles, hobelars ride largely unarmoured horses and are protected themselves by chainmail at best. This lack of weight makes them by far the most mobile force on the battlefield.
- Can move across 2 Flanks, or move across 1 and fight in it, per Battle Round.
- -5 in Rough, Marshy, Hilly, and Wooded Terrain.
- +4 to raid rolls
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| The Battlefield | The battlefield is divided into 3 Flanks: Right, Centre, and Left. Forces will begin the battle arrayed in one of these three Flanks, but can move throughout the battlefield over the course of the battle.
The Battlefield may have different terrain types covering some or part. For example, a battle in a valley is likely to have Rough Terrain on one or both Flanks, a battle near or within a forest may have Wooded Terrain in some or all areas. For complex battlefield, a basic map may be posted.
Units will perform drastically differently depending on terrain. Cavalry, for example, will operate very poorly in Rough or Marshy Terrain, while Light Infantry will excel in these areas. In addition, heavy units (Heavy Infantry, Heavy and Elite Cavalry) will quickly tire and, as such, must be used to maximum effect in decisive strikes. |
| Fighting the Battle | Fighting a Battle
Armies will be divided into Battalions, commanded by a Character. This Character may be player-controlled or NPC. Characters with Traits that give them bonuses commanding certain troop types only gain their bonuses if their Battalion is all or mostly (90%+) of that unit type.
These Battalions will be posted to a specific Flank to start the battle, and given orders by the Army or Flank commander, or both. It is up to players whose orders, if any, they follow. It is up to players whose orders NPC characters sworn to them follow (eg a Reach Lord will do what a Tyrell tells him to do, regardless of whether the Tyrell is the appointed Flank or Army commander). If no orders can be sources(eg the Army, Flank, and Battalion commander all fail to suggest a movement in a reasonable amount of time) then the moderator will decide a reasonable course of action, which may be to remain stationary.
A Battle will last for a maximum of 5 Battle Phases. How many Flanks and Battle Phases are used will be decided by the controlling Moderator, depending on how important the battle is, how large the armies fighting are, how many players are participating, and whether the wider game is lagging behind real time or not.
In each Battle Phase, the players controlling Battalions will decide their next move and tell the moderator, who will take each Battalion's moves and decide what the outcome will be (eg if an infantry battalion is trying to charge into the enemy archers, but enemy light cavalry has been told to attack the infantry, it is most likely that the cavalry will intercept the infantry). After each Battle Phase, the moderator will decide whether troops engaged in combat will break and run, or continue to fight. Casualties suffered, the weight of numbers pressing against them, the quality of the troops, and the skills of their commander will all be considered. Levied light infantry is far more likely to break and run if the odds are stacked against them, while a Lord's personal bodyguard will almost always fight to the death to preserve their liege's life.
Casualties per Battle Phase are limited to 10%. In small battles where there are only one or two phases, the standard cap of 25% will be used.
Assigning more than 1 Battalion to the same task may result in penalties as coordinating multiple independent units in the chaos of a Medieval battlefield is inefficient. This will depend on the task, the units being used, and how they might interact in attempting to complete the task. For example, assinging both Archers and Infantry to attack enemy Infantry may result in some of your own soldiers being hit by the arrowfire, but assigning several Battalions of Infantry to attack the same enemy unit is unlikely to cause detrimental clashes. Heavy Cavalry, if charging into the rear of already-engaged enemy units, may run through them and into your own forces, causing casualties. So on.
Concluding a Battle
At the end of the battle, when the last Battle Phase is concluded, a winner will be declared if both armies are still on the field fighting. It may be declared an inconclusive draw if both armies control significant parts of the battlefield and are not being threatened with a rout or with becoming surrounded and cut off from retreat. In this case, the end of the battle comes with nightfall and both forces break off and retreat to their camps, and may either electively withdraw in good order or resume with a new battle the following day. Night raids may be considered, depending on whether there are any troops fresh enough to mount one.
If the battle reaches a point where one army is clearly overwhelmed or broken apart, the Moderator will halt the battle and declare one army the winner. The losing army will then retreat, either in a rout (causing casualties) or in good order, depending on whether the victor is able and willing to pursue. As such a hard-fought battle may not result in the defeated force being routed, as the victorious enemy may have fully committed to the battle itself and his Cavalry may be exhausted and disorganized.
Whether a rout occurs will depend on the victor's Cavalry: Men-at-Arms with the -5 malus for exhaustion will not chase down routing troops. Hobelars and Mounted Archers bogged down in any type of non-Open Terrain will not chase down routing troops. d20*[Pursuing Cavalry] casualties will be inflicted in a rout, capped at 50% of the routing troops. |
| Post-Battle Condition Rolls | Post-Battle Initial Condition table, not modified by +Survival.
1-2 - Dead.
3-7 - Wounded. Roll the Wounded table.
8-12 - Captured.
13-20 - Free and unharmed.
If the character is Captured, but is on the winning side of the battle, roll d20 where 6+ liberates the character.
Wounds table, modified by +Survival.
Natural 1 - Permanent Wound, do not modify with +Survival. Roll the Disability table.
2-5 - Permanent Wound. Roll the Disability table.
6-10 - Major Wound. (Mod pick: coma or bedridden for 2 RL days)
11-15 Serious Wound (Mod pick: -3 to Duel, Survival, or all Battle Traits, for 2 RL days)
16-20 Minor Wound (Mod pick: -1 to Duel or Survival, for 2 RL days)
Disability table, not modified by +Survival. Trait points made redundant by rolls here are not refunded.
1-5 Disfigured. -10 Charisma. Character's face is badly maimed (on a level similar to Sandor Clegane's), making them unsightly.
6-10 Crippled (Arm). Cannot Duel, -10 Survival if participating in a Battle. One of the character's arms is rendered useless, rendering them unable to effectively defend themselves.
11-15 Crippled (Leg). Cannot Duel, can still Joust. Cannot command Infantry, only Cavalry.
16-20 Old War Wound. Begin death rolls every year henceforth. Starting at 2/20, with +2 every 5 years. If the character is already of age for death rolls, +2 henceforth.
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2.3: New Battle Rules Proposal
Originally Posted by Poach
Gents,
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