Massive Battle

Lemme roll 3 attacks for this army... and they have this many people... so add that bonus. And then they have these abilities... oh spells?! I forgot about spells!

When dealing with massive battle, it becomes a hassle to manage every single unit. Some massive battle systems try to maintain some level of cohesion between small and large scale battle. This system does not attempt to do so. This is to make combat between large armies, easier to deal with and quicker to resolve. When an adventuring comes into contact with the larger units, combat should zoom into as we normally experience it.

This system is inspired by Warhammer 40k: Apocalypse and Unearthed Arcana: Massive Battle

Unit Statistics

In this system, a unit is a group of creatures that is working together in combat. A unit has the following information:

• Name. This is an identifier for the unit
• Melee Rating. This is how well the creature fights in melee
• Ranged Rating. This is how well the creature fights at range
• Leader Rating. This is the Charisma modifier of the Commander of the unit
• Morale. This is how well the army is doing. The lower the morale, the more likely the army is to rout
• Movement. This is how far can a unit move and how what movement options are available to them

Name

Assign any name to identify a unit. This can be a temporary code name like Striker Alpha, Stiker Beta and Striker Gamma or even a more permanent squad name. If the unit is headed by a commander, include the commander's name in the unit name as well.

Melee & Ranged Rating

Melee and ranged rating is calculatd using the Challenge Rating (CR) of the creatures within the unit. For every creature within a unit, increase the Melee and/or Ranged Rating if the creature has access to to melee and/or ranged attack by a number described in the table below (rounded down).

Whenever the unit makes a ranged or melee attack, they must make a Melee or Ranged Rating check by rolling a d20 + Melee/Ranged Rating. The Rating also depicts the fighting capability of the unit. As the battle goes on and its men gets wearier, their Melee/Ranged Rating will drop.

Leader Rating

Leader Rating is equal to the current commander assigned to the unit. This leader rating will be used in Initiative and Morale checks.

Morale

Morale shows how motivated the army is to fight that ranges from -10 to +10. Morale can be altered over the course of battle due things like death, fighting against insurmountable odds or being inspired by a commander. Morale affects your Morale check and can cause the army to rout if not careful.

Movement

Movement shows how far a creature can move in a turn and what movement options are available to the unit. The unit's speed would be equal to the slowest creature within the unit and a movement option

Running Combat

Massive combat should only be done if the players will be in charge of several units. If the players are merely soldiers in the war, it is better to zoom in and experience the battle using standard mechanics. Before the start of combat, each player needs to determine which unit will be under their command.

When in war, you cannot react as easily as in normal combat. Sometimes the order you give is obsolete by the time your army can act to it. To simulate such a feeling, combat in this system takes place in 1 minute rounds which goes through several phases:

1. Command Phase
2. Initiative Phase
3. Action Phase
4. Morale Phase

1. Command Phase

In the command phase, players must decide on which order they wish to give to their men. These commands are assigned in secret and done all at the same time. The players have an option of 6 actions that will restrict what their unit can do:

Charge

Command your unit to charge forwards and strike with deadly force
Move your unit, then make an Attack against a unit within range. If the Attack is a Melee Attack, it is made with advantage.

Retreat

Command your unit to move away from the enemy
Move your unit. Any attacks made against you this round is made with disadvantage. If the unit is not within 100ft of any enemy units, you may exit the battle.

Rally

Inspire your unit with a rousing speech
Make a morale check against DC 15. On a success, increase the army's morale by 1 up to 10.

Hold

Command your unit to wait for the right moment to attack
Make an Attack against a unit within range. If the Attack is a Ranged attack, it is made with advantage.

Attack

Command your unit to continue fighting the enemy
Make a Ranged and a Melee Attack against a unit within range.

March

Command your unit to march in your chosen direction
Move your unit a distance equal to twice the unit's move speed.

2.Initiative Phase

Now, it is time to determine the order for the unit to move. Each unit must make a d20 + Leader Rating check. Units with higher results will move first in the initiative order. If tied, units with higher Leader Rating will move first.

3. Action Phase

Each unit must now perform their actions based on their orders in the order of the initiave. From the top of the initiative, reveal the Command given and perform the actions that are possible under the command.

Moving

Move the unit a distance equal to its movement speed. Certain terrain may slow down or outright stop a unit from moving through the terrain.

Attacking

A unit can attack an enemy unit reducing its attacking power. When the unit does so, both the attacker and defender must roll d20 + Melee/Ranged Rating.

• If the attacker succeeds but the difference is less than 5, the defender loses 3 Melee and Ranged Rating
• If the attacker succeeds and the difference is at least 5, the defender loses 1 Morale and 3 Melee and Ranged Rating plus 1 additional for every 5

Regardless if the attacker succeeds, they still lose 1 Melee and Ranged Rating as they use up abilities and lose health.

Advantageous Circumstances

If you are fighting in circumstances that are advantageous to you, the defender loses 1 additional Melee and Ranged Rating. Some circumstances are only advantageous to Melee or Ranged but not both. Advantages stack with each other allowing you to potentially deal a massive blow to the enemy's unit. The following are examples of advantageous circumstances you can take advantage of.

Inspire

You can try to inspire your unit to prevent them from routing and fight till the bitter end. Roll a d20 + Leader Rating of the unit. On a 10 or higher, the army is rallied. Increase the unit's morale by 1. If you rolled a Natural 20, increase the morale by 2 instead.

4. Morale Phase

Armies for a long team and morale degrades over the course of a battle. If a unit loses any Melee or Ranged Rating this round, they must roll a d20 + Leader Rating + Morale. The result of this roll will determine the state of the unit.

• On a 5 or lower, the unit is routed and is removed from battle
• On 6 - 10, some member starts to run away and affects the unit's morale. Lose 1 Melee and Ranged Rating and 1 Morale
• On 11 - 15, some members are weakend but are still willing to fight. Lose 1 Melee and Ranged Rating
• On 16 or higher, nothing happens.

End of Battle

During the Command Phase, you can choose to pull your units out of the battle by giving the Retreat command. This is usually done after the side's objective is completed. As the battle dies down, you are able to take stock on what has happened and most importantly, assess the casualties.

Creature that are lost in battle are selected in the order of their CR. Creatures will lower CR will die first before creatures with higher CR. This usually means leaders are the last one to die in a unit.

Extracted Units

If a unit exits the battle voluntarily, they can lose between 5-15% of their men. Roll 1d10+5 and the result is the percentage of men that was killed during the battle (rounded down). These men were outright killed and you must be revived will spells like Raise Dead to return.

Routed Units

If a unit is routed, they can lose between 20-30% of their men. Roll 1d20+10 and the result if the percentage of men that was jukked during battle (rounded down).