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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bagpuss" data-source="post: 2667444" data-attributes="member: 3987">The Heroes of Battle details the best way to run a mass battle in a RPG, IMHO. In that you don't turn the RPG into a wargame.Many of the other "war" themed books go into detail about setting up units, moving troops, etc. and the whole thing turns an RPG into a wargame. Personally if I want to play a wargame I'ld play a wargame. Heroes of Battle instead is about putting the heroes in the middle of a battle over which they have some influence, it breaks a battle down like combination of site based and event based adventure.It suggest that the GM decide the outcome of the battle in advance, as if the PC's weren't there, then introduce key events or locations in the battle where the PC's can have influnence. For example holding a bridge against an orc assault (site/event), or raiding the enemy's artillery to destroy cataputs (site), rallying a group of fleeing troops (event).The GM then works out a best case senario for the battle, assuming the PC's achieve the best results on all the events they are involved in. A worst case, if they fail terribly in all those events. And a couple of results, either side of the average but not a dramatic as the very worst or very best.It could be the very best result could still mean the PC side lose the battle, but instead of being a terrible rout for the armies of light, it is a controlled retreat with minor loses as the PC's were able to hold the bridge long enough, etc.It has a Victory Point System to give a better idea as to how influencial player's actions might be and a Reputation Point System for how the players actions might effect any reward or chance of promotion.It is full of ideas for a GM sample encounters (prisoner exchanges, raids on supply conveys, king of the hill, etc), tips like flowcharts to map events and decisions points in a battle, or maps to show the flow of the battle.It's a very refreshing change from the War books previously released which tend to either need a spreadsheet to calculate everything, and/or end up being a wargame more than a roleplaying game.There isn't really a comparison between Heroes of Battle and Warhammer, as one is an RPG focused on individual players and their actions, the other is a wargame focused on large units and individual trooper doesn't really matter that much.If you wanted to play a wargame I'ld imagine you'ld play Warhammer, when you are playing D&D then I'ld recommend Heroes of Battle method for putting the PC's in the middle of a huge battle and yet keeping it character focused.</blockquote>

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