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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8362148" data-attributes="member: 29398">I dreamed up a homebrew system for this a while back.  It's not for 5e (I think 3e was still brand new at the time!) but the general idea in it that might be of use to you is that it's unit-based, with 4 types of units:Specials - this includes all PCs and any other named or significant individuals (generals, major monsters, etc.) in the battle. Unit size is almost always 1 and damage etc. is tracked for these by hit points as usual.Elites - these include special forces, flying squads, scout or stealth groups, groups of elite warriors or noteworthy monsters, etc. Unit size varies, usually in the 5-10 range but could be more, depending on the situation.Regulars - these are the common soldiers. Unit size varies; for big armies it's often simplest just to take the larger army and say it has 20 units each of size [total regulars/20]; then take that same unit size and apply it to the smaller army to see how many units it has. In other words, the larger army will always start with 20 units worth of regulars no matter how big that army actually is. If both armies are quite small (e.g. the largest has less than about 200 regulars) then just set the unit size as 10 and divide normally to see how many units each side has.Irregulars - these are levies, peasants, camp followers, mundane field medics, and other untrained types.  Easiest just to use the same unit size as for regulars.All units are assumed to be comprised of similar-grade individuals; there's no provision for "mixed" units.  For example, if an army consisted of 1 Stone Giant, 20 Ogres and 500 Orcs the Orcs would count as regulars (at 25 per unit if they were the larger army) and I'd make the Ogres into maybe 3 elite units even though realistically the Ogres would probably be scattered among the Orcs on the field.  The Stone Giant would be its own "special" unit; there's no irregulars here, thus this army would have 24 units total.A couple of common types of warrior can fall into different categories depending on the battle:Mounted cavalry - in a real-world battle these would always be elites; in a fantasy battle with lots of magic and flight etc. they might just count as regulars with better move speed.Archers - these can fall under regulars or irregulars, again depending on the battle.I've got several pages of rules on how these all interact during a battle, and on what effects magic might have.  The very short summary is that every unit in the field gets an attack roll against one other unit it can reach; then the effects are sorted out (unit by unit though it's all simultaneous in the scene), then units are recombined or disbanded etc., then mobile or disengaged units can move, then it's all done over again.I don't worry about formations; that's up to the players/DM to decide.  Terrain can give a bonus or penalty to individual units based on where they are.</blockquote>

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