OD&D The one man army is awesome.

[Croesus]

"The ratio of figures to men assumed is 1:20 "

Ah, I see what you're saying. My understanding from various articles Gygax wrote decades ago is that a Hero is equal to four men, not forty. How that worked on the table using the Chainmail rules... you're guess is as good as mine. (Such confusion is why I never used the Chainmail rules, preferring the later ones.)

 

[Garthanos]

Personally, I always preferred the rules in Swords and Spells.

I was reading the core Chainmail rules where 1 figure was 20 men and that just fits way better with the one man army flavor text

 

[Garthanos]

"The ratio of figures to men assumed is 1:20 "

Ah, I see what you're saying. My understanding from various articles Gygax wrote decades ago is that a Hero is equal to four men, not forty.

The translation mismatches with the original (intentionally or not) cause a one man army is not 8 men nor does his presence send armies of the enemy running from the field.

 

[Coroc]

I was reading today because I have been finding Chainmail inspiring for D&D actually - I haven't played Chainmail so bear with my ignorance.
The Superhero piece in Chainmail who got identified as a One Man Army his piece on the battlefield represented one character and is valued as 8 figures (edited not units) which is referred to as having a 1:20 men ratio am I right in thinking that means a One man army == 160 typical soldiers?
That is awesome it fits with gets within charge distance and induces morale checks

The combat value of a knight on foot in full plate was about 10 normal soldiers, (mostly due to his armor, and if mounted he and his trained horse would have an even higher ratio)

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Archers with low bows could kill a knight, and even war wagons could cause the end of the chilvary.

And in medieval fantasy magic is expensive, but it is worth against the main enemy champion or monster.

 

[Garthanos]

The combat value of a knight on foot in full plate was about 10 normal soldiers

a peasant was a cost of 1/2 and the highest normal type heavy mounted was cost 5 (10 peasants)... with the hero being 4 times that (cost 20) and the superhero being 10 times (cost 50). If we are using the costs directly different results come out. I was using the figure to man ratios and approximate worth presented in the text though which gives a bit higher results.

 

[Beleriphon]

And here I was going hoping ot see a discussion of adapating the M&M 3E rules from the Gamemaster Guide about Captain Freedom fighting the entire 13th Panzer Battalion by himself to AD&D. C'est le vie.

 

[Garthanos]

And here I was going hoping ot see a discussion of adapating the M&M 3E rules from the Gamemaster Guide about Captain Freedom fighting the entire 13th Panzer Battalion by himself to AD&D. C'est le vie.

Mutants and Masterminds eh? Hitpointless D&D?

 

[Beleriphon]

Mutants and Masterminds eh? Hitpointless D&D?

It's more how one could adapt the idea of a one man army, which is entirely possible in M&M (in fact trivially easy if one chooses), and then having them fight well an army without rolling every single possible soldier's attacks. I'd have to check the GMG, but it has something to do with turning a whole army into particularly large monster.

 

[Garthanos]

It's more how one could adapt the idea of a one man army, which is entirely possible in M&M (in fact trivially easy if one chooses), and then having them fight well an army without rolling every single possible soldier's attacks. I'd have to check the GMG, but it has something to do with turning a whole army into particularly large monster.

Yeh It does sounds pretty much like the swarm mechanic.