need to simulate some battles

[buzzard]

OK, I have a friend who's writing some fantasy books, amd I'm doing a bit of editing/consulting/proofreading or whatever you want to call it. In the books there are some substantial battles. However their present form as written is rather, shall we say, sparse on detail. I suggested to him that we might be able to improve the final story by playing out the battles, and then writing that up. I, myself, always find it much easier to write something up that I've seen rather than to make a story out of whole cloth. He was quite in favor of the idea. Of course he then asked me what system to use. I told him I'd look into it, but made an initial suggestion of Chainmail since all of the engagements are of a fairly small scale (100 a side max or so).

So, to provide a question rather than to continue blathering- is Chainmail a suitable recommendation , or is there a far better choice out there?

buzzard

 

[Kesh]

Actually, the best solution might be to simply ignore the overall battle. Use vague descriptions for the battle itself ("the left flank was barely holding ground against the ferocious hordes on horseback"), and focus instead on the perceptions of one character in one part of the battle. It not only makes the writer's job easier, it gives the reader a more personal feeling to the conflict.

That being said, Chainmail is good for skirmishes of up to 20 figures to a side. Beyond that, it gets bogged down badly.

 

[Kibo]

It's funny, I've always stolen the way I simulate large battles in DnD adventures from books. Unless the battle takes place in the story where evil holds disproportunate sway, ie early on where evil has something akin to script immunity, the battle turns with the PC's fortunes. The PC's do well, their allies do about as well.

But I suppose if I was going to write about it, I might goto reenactments of large civil war battles, and SCA tournements. I figure the civil war reenactments would be more of the scope of a large battle.

 

[Xeriar]

The annoying thing about SCA battles is that they're still spear-walls, last I checked.

And there's no magic... Magic is heavy artillery and Mobile Strategic Adjustment, where one 16th level mage can tank a small army on his own before they even reach the battle they're meant to reinforce.