Large battles [Archive] - Wizards Community

Large battles [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
evilnumberlady
07-05-07, 01:23 PM I was wondering where I could find some rules and guidelines for large battles. I have a game situation where there will soon be a lager conflict, about 55 creatures vs 80 of another group.
Phrennzy
07-05-07, 04:56 PM Figure out what the odds of each side hitting the other is.
Each round, remove opposition of that amount. Soldiers who are hit are usually out of combat.
Go from there:

Side A: 50 men AC 17 +3 to hit
Side B: 100 men AC 10 +1 to hit

Side A hits side B on a 7 or better. That is a 70% chance.
Side B hits side A on a 16 or better. That is a 25% chance.

70% x 50 men = 35 hits.
25% x 100 men = 25 hits.

Reduce each side by half the number of hits (doubling up on some targets)

So next round it's

Side A: 38 men
Side B: 83 men

And go from there.
WackyOne
07-05-07, 04:56 PM There should be some in the Heroes of Battle book... other than that... you could call for champions to fight it out, or simply have the situation around the PCs get "too messy" (a big fight, an infiltration mission, or even fighting out infiltrators from the other side) to even think about looking around, to the whole battlefield... and then DM-fiat how the battle went (maybe well if the pcs got the enemy general's head, and so on...)
edit: and I know, that's avoiding the problem, not solving it - but still, has a minimal elegance as a solution :)
the_real_orcus
07-06-07, 04:46 PM Agreed, Heroes of Battle is indispensible for mass combat situations. However, in the interest of simplicity (and the infinitesmal attention-span of my players), I generally have the PCs slug it out with the major NPCs of the opposing side (with the occasional peon getting caught in the crossfire), and just arbitrarily remove several low-level grunts from both sides each round. The occasional death of a higher-level NPC can be useful for taking the emotional pitch of the battle up a notch, too. "Oh no! We couldn't come to the aid of High Captain Whatshisname in time!"
mvincent
07-09-07, 07:08 PM Agreed, Heroes of Battle is indispensible for mass combat situations. However, in the interest of simplicity (and the infinitesmal attention-span of my players), I generally have the PCs slug it out with the major NPCs of the opposing side (with the occasional peon getting caught in the crossfire), and just arbitrarily remove several low-level grunts from both sides each round.That's kinda what Heroes of Battle recommends (although your post is much more succinct). It's good advice.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
evilnumberlady 07-05-07, 01:23 PM	I was wondering where I could find some rules and guidelines for large battles. I have a game situation where there will soon be a lager conflict, about 55 creatures vs 80 of another group.
Phrennzy 07-05-07, 04:56 PM	Figure out what the odds of each side hitting the other is. Each round, remove opposition of that amount. Soldiers who are hit are usually out of combat. Go from there: Side A: 50 men AC 17 +3 to hit Side B: 100 men AC 10 +1 to hit Side A hits side B on a 7 or better. That is a 70% chance. Side B hits side A on a 16 or better. That is a 25% chance. 70% x 50 men = 35 hits. 25% x 100 men = 25 hits. Reduce each side by half the number of hits (doubling up on some targets) So next round it's Side A: 38 men Side B: 83 men And go from there.
WackyOne 07-05-07, 04:56 PM	There should be some in the Heroes of Battle book... other than that... you could call for champions to fight it out, or simply have the situation around the PCs get "too messy" (a big fight, an infiltration mission, or even fighting out infiltrators from the other side) to even think about looking around, to the whole battlefield... and then DM-fiat how the battle went (maybe well if the pcs got the enemy general's head, and so on...) edit: and I know, that's avoiding the problem, not solving it - but still, has a minimal elegance as a solution :)
the_real_orcus 07-06-07, 04:46 PM	Agreed, Heroes of Battle is indispensible for mass combat situations. However, in the interest of simplicity (and the infinitesmal attention-span of my players), I generally have the PCs slug it out with the major NPCs of the opposing side (with the occasional peon getting caught in the crossfire), and just arbitrarily remove several low-level grunts from both sides each round. The occasional death of a higher-level NPC can be useful for taking the emotional pitch of the battle up a notch, too. "Oh no! We couldn't come to the aid of High Captain Whatshisname in time!"
mvincent 07-09-07, 07:08 PM	Agreed, Heroes of Battle is indispensible for mass combat situations. However, in the interest of simplicity (and the infinitesmal attention-span of my players), I generally have the PCs slug it out with the major NPCs of the opposing side (with the occasional peon getting caught in the crossfire), and just arbitrarily remove several low-level grunts from both sides each round.That's kinda what Heroes of Battle recommends (although your post is much more succinct). It's good advice.