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General Tabletop Discussion
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[OD&D] Questions on BECMI/RC mass battle rules
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<blockquote data-quote="Blacky the Blackball" data-source="post: 5989732" data-attributes="member: 6688526"><p>Don't forget that what you are calling a "round" there is a day's worth of battle - so being pushed a few miles isn't unrealistic.</p><p></p><p>I'd always say that the movement is at the discretion of the winner of the fight. Just because you <em>can</em> force the enemy back doesn't mean you can't choose to remain on the original battlefield.</p><p></p><p>I usually assume that armies split like this are no longer considered to be in the same battle, and instead are in two smaller independent battles.</p><p></p><p>When I've used the rules, the only time people have wanted to press the advantage and push their opponent back is when there's just a one-on-one fight. In any multi-army battle the winners almost always want to stay on the battlefield and help their allies rather than chasing down retreating enemies.</p><p></p><p>I normally let each army choose its own tactics.</p><p></p><p>I don't stack them, in fact I rarely bother with them at all. I don't think they add enough to be worth tracking.</p><p></p><p>I'd assume that a rout result could be roleplayed as an army surrendering against its general's wishes. I also see no reason why a general couldn't order a surrender (or a parley) to stop the battle before either side have completely lost.</p><p></p><p>The Tactics table in BECMI (and the RC - which has the same table) can be a bit confusing as you have to decide which army is army 'A' and which is army 'B', look up the modifiers, and it gives you both at the same time. You then have to remember which modifier is for army A and which is for army B, and which of your armies you had labelled A and B, before you can apply those modifiers.</p><p></p><p>When I was writing Dark Dungeons I noticed that the table was symmetrical - e.g. if the first army is attacking and the second army is holding position, the first army gets no modifier and the second one receives 10% fewer casualties <em>regardless of which army is chosen to be 'A' and which is chosen to be 'B'</em>. If you choose it one way the result is 'C-1/-' and if you choose it the other way the result is '-/C-1'.</p><p></p><p>I therefore simplified the table, losing the whole "Army A and Army B" business and just having the two axes labelled "Tactic" and "Enemy Tactic".</p><p></p><p>Therefore in the same example, the first army is attacking and their enemy is holding - and the table shows them getting no modifier.</p><p></p><p>The second army is holding and their enemy is attacking - and the table shows them getting -10% casualties.</p><p></p><p>The results are exactly the same (in all cases) but - my lengthy explanation aside - the process is much quicker and there's less confusion about which result applies to which army.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Blacky the Blackball, post: 5989732, member: 6688526"] Don't forget that what you are calling a "round" there is a day's worth of battle - so being pushed a few miles isn't unrealistic. I'd always say that the movement is at the discretion of the winner of the fight. Just because you [I]can[/I] force the enemy back doesn't mean you can't choose to remain on the original battlefield. I usually assume that armies split like this are no longer considered to be in the same battle, and instead are in two smaller independent battles. When I've used the rules, the only time people have wanted to press the advantage and push their opponent back is when there's just a one-on-one fight. In any multi-army battle the winners almost always want to stay on the battlefield and help their allies rather than chasing down retreating enemies. I normally let each army choose its own tactics. I don't stack them, in fact I rarely bother with them at all. I don't think they add enough to be worth tracking. I'd assume that a rout result could be roleplayed as an army surrendering against its general's wishes. I also see no reason why a general couldn't order a surrender (or a parley) to stop the battle before either side have completely lost. The Tactics table in BECMI (and the RC - which has the same table) can be a bit confusing as you have to decide which army is army 'A' and which is army 'B', look up the modifiers, and it gives you both at the same time. You then have to remember which modifier is for army A and which is for army B, and which of your armies you had labelled A and B, before you can apply those modifiers. When I was writing Dark Dungeons I noticed that the table was symmetrical - e.g. if the first army is attacking and the second army is holding position, the first army gets no modifier and the second one receives 10% fewer casualties [I]regardless of which army is chosen to be 'A' and which is chosen to be 'B'[/I]. If you choose it one way the result is 'C-1/-' and if you choose it the other way the result is '-/C-1'. I therefore simplified the table, losing the whole "Army A and Army B" business and just having the two axes labelled "Tactic" and "Enemy Tactic". Therefore in the same example, the first army is attacking and their enemy is holding - and the table shows them getting no modifier. The second army is holding and their enemy is attacking - and the table shows them getting -10% casualties. The results are exactly the same (in all cases) but - my lengthy explanation aside - the process is much quicker and there's less confusion about which result applies to which army. [/QUOTE]
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