Imperialus
Explorer
Really I see 3 options.
1) Suck it up and be damned with the casualties. This is fairly well described in the first Mazatlan Book of the Fallen (the author escapes me) where a half dozen battle wizards duke it out with the army standing in between, the protagonists bulloxed it up and I think the end casualties were something like 20,000 dead. Admittedly the wizards in this book are D&D wizards on steroids and PCP but the concept is sound. This is a particularly viable option for armies where the value of an individual troopers life is relatively low and they can be easily replaced. Mages would defiantly be a minority in a military structure like this or they would simply overpower any resources that you were able to throw at them, the bulk of the fighting and dieing would be done by grunts. I'd say 95% of the army would consist of non spellcasting classes with only the odd mage or cleric to support them.
2) If you like formations but want to minimize casualties then the most important training a soldier should receive would be various formations and marching drills. This would lead to battles closely resembling a Napoleonic (or even Roman) battlefield where troops would get into line formation if they were up against artillery and square to repel cavalry charges. This is an intensely ordered military style however and would likely be inappropriate for chaotic cultures. Mages would likely be more prevalent in such a military culture as their presence on the battlefield would have led to the tactical doctrine in the first place. These troopers would likely be significantly more professional then their example 1 counterparts and is better suited to armies with a professional officer corp and standing armies. Due to the expense of maintaining professional armies the battles would likely be much smaller but the troops would likely be higher level and generally more capable of surviving a given attack. A given regiment would likely have a mage or two in support to aid in counterspelling along with a number of clerics present throughout the ranks and bards serving as regimental pipers/general support.
3) The furthest departure from D&D cannon is one that has been discussed before, small units capturing specific objectives is probably the most effective way of mitigating magic’s effect. These units would require more training than their example 2 counterparts but not necessarily more discipline thereby allowing chaotic cultures to also take advantage of them. Small units would be heavily supported by battlecasters and their ilk but mages and the like would likely be used more for battlefield control and troop support than direct attack. This would more closely resemble 20th century battlefields than anything else and some people might have a problem with that. Still though there is something to be said for a group of infantry casting message and calling in a draconic airstrike on enemy positions or opening a summoning circle deep behind enemy lines and allowing a pit fiend to rampage through an enemy encampment. This is best suited to small armies with an inordinate number of powerful spellcasters, like elves. Many other armies might keep a single elite unit trained and equipped in such a manner, which gets committed to particularly tough battles. This is a key spot that PC’s can fill in an army and can often be filled by professional (and expensive) mercenary companies as well.
Keep in mind that these are broad military traditions and generalized tactical doctrines. In my own campaign the actual structure of an army varies from race to race and culture to culture. The dwarves for example specialize in a method similar to the British tactical doctrine late in the first world war called “bite and hold” where small units capture objectives and example 2 infantry move to re-enforce them and hold the position. Elves rely almost entirely on small units backed up by impressive magical support, and Orcs have huge hoards of ill trained Orc and Gobin barbarians with elite unites of “black-blades” operating behind enemy lines to eliminate enemy spellcasters and disrupt command and control.
1) Suck it up and be damned with the casualties. This is fairly well described in the first Mazatlan Book of the Fallen (the author escapes me) where a half dozen battle wizards duke it out with the army standing in between, the protagonists bulloxed it up and I think the end casualties were something like 20,000 dead. Admittedly the wizards in this book are D&D wizards on steroids and PCP but the concept is sound. This is a particularly viable option for armies where the value of an individual troopers life is relatively low and they can be easily replaced. Mages would defiantly be a minority in a military structure like this or they would simply overpower any resources that you were able to throw at them, the bulk of the fighting and dieing would be done by grunts. I'd say 95% of the army would consist of non spellcasting classes with only the odd mage or cleric to support them.
2) If you like formations but want to minimize casualties then the most important training a soldier should receive would be various formations and marching drills. This would lead to battles closely resembling a Napoleonic (or even Roman) battlefield where troops would get into line formation if they were up against artillery and square to repel cavalry charges. This is an intensely ordered military style however and would likely be inappropriate for chaotic cultures. Mages would likely be more prevalent in such a military culture as their presence on the battlefield would have led to the tactical doctrine in the first place. These troopers would likely be significantly more professional then their example 1 counterparts and is better suited to armies with a professional officer corp and standing armies. Due to the expense of maintaining professional armies the battles would likely be much smaller but the troops would likely be higher level and generally more capable of surviving a given attack. A given regiment would likely have a mage or two in support to aid in counterspelling along with a number of clerics present throughout the ranks and bards serving as regimental pipers/general support.
3) The furthest departure from D&D cannon is one that has been discussed before, small units capturing specific objectives is probably the most effective way of mitigating magic’s effect. These units would require more training than their example 2 counterparts but not necessarily more discipline thereby allowing chaotic cultures to also take advantage of them. Small units would be heavily supported by battlecasters and their ilk but mages and the like would likely be used more for battlefield control and troop support than direct attack. This would more closely resemble 20th century battlefields than anything else and some people might have a problem with that. Still though there is something to be said for a group of infantry casting message and calling in a draconic airstrike on enemy positions or opening a summoning circle deep behind enemy lines and allowing a pit fiend to rampage through an enemy encampment. This is best suited to small armies with an inordinate number of powerful spellcasters, like elves. Many other armies might keep a single elite unit trained and equipped in such a manner, which gets committed to particularly tough battles. This is a key spot that PC’s can fill in an army and can often be filled by professional (and expensive) mercenary companies as well.
Keep in mind that these are broad military traditions and generalized tactical doctrines. In my own campaign the actual structure of an army varies from race to race and culture to culture. The dwarves for example specialize in a method similar to the British tactical doctrine late in the first world war called “bite and hold” where small units capture objectives and example 2 infantry move to re-enforce them and hold the position. Elves rely almost entirely on small units backed up by impressive magical support, and Orcs have huge hoards of ill trained Orc and Gobin barbarians with elite unites of “black-blades” operating behind enemy lines to eliminate enemy spellcasters and disrupt command and control.
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