Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana - The 5E "Battlesystem" Mass Combat Rules Are Here!

The mass combat rules have been posted in the latest Unearthed Arcana. "The D&D combat rules in the Player’s Handbook are designed to model conflict between small groups—an adventuring party of perhaps three to six characters against monster groups that rarely exceed a dozen creatures. Combat on this scale keeps the focus squarely on the adventurers. In some D&D campaigns, though, the story might hinge on battles involving dozens or hundreds of monsters and warriors. In this second installment of Unearthed Arcana, we build on the standard combat rules to model conflict on a much larger scale, allowing players and DMs to control whole armies. At the same time, these rules for mass combat allow individual adventurers to lead an army’s charge against an enemy regiment, rally dispirited soldiers to rejoin the fray, or defeat powerful enemy monsters or leaders."

Find it here! It's a 9-page PDF by Mike Mearls.

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[transtemporal]

Unfortunately, it doesn't have the same results as playing out the battles; AD&D's Battlesystem was closer to an RPG fight match. Still, it's a fun way to resolve it, and get it out of the way for story purposes.

Thats exactly why I like it. For battles of up to 20-30, I'll just use the normal combat rules. For anything bigger, I'll abstract it because at that point, its no longer about small scale heroic RPG action. Its a wargame.

 

[SkidAce]

So I "think" the battle will be evenly matched. So far no one has engaged, they all want to occupy key terrain and make the enemy come to them.

The fact that goblins just wheeled in mangonels may change things up. (DMG siege weapons)

Here's a question...it says in the description of mangonels that it "takes one action to load them, one action to aim them, and one to fire them". Setting aside the fact that battlesystem rounds are a minute each...if you were in standard combat, and the mangonels were manned by 3 or 4 goblins, could each use their action and fire the siege weapon once every round?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Setting aside the fact that battlesystem rounds are a minute each...if you were in standard combat, and the mangonels were manned by 3 or 4 goblins, could each use their action and fire the siege weapon once every round?

Yes. I know, it's a weirdly-fast pace for mangonels, but that's D&D for you.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

D&D and realistic medieval warfare are not really on the same planet.

 

[SkidAce]

While that's true, its still loads of fun.

We satisfy our itch for "realistic" warfare with the Total War game series.


The battlesystem rules are just simple enough, with variations, that it allows us to RP and let the dice/tactics determine the outcome of battles, leading to more RP.

 

[Zaran]

So I "think" the battle will be evenly matched. So far no one has engaged, they all want to occupy key terrain and make the enemy come to them.

The fact that goblins just wheeled in mangonels may change things up. (DMG siege weapons)

Here's a question...it says in the description of mangonels that it "takes one action to load them, one action to aim them, and one to fire them". Setting aside the fact that battlesystem rounds are a minute each...if you were in standard combat, and the mangonels were manned by 3 or 4 goblins, could each use their action and fire the siege weapon once every round?

I would actually disagree. With every attack from a siege weapon you are doing 10x the damage you normally would. It should act the same way it normally would, except the rounds are 1 minute long instead of 6 seconds.

 

[SkidAce]

But [MENTION=56710]Zaran[/MENTION], thats what I am asking.

If I have a three goblin crew, can they each use an action, and fire it every round.

Or does Wizards REALLY mean...it takes one round to load, one round to aim, and one round to fire?
Not concerned about the six second/one minute shift..which is what I was trying to say...

They said actions. Not rounds.

So can three goblins use their actions in one round.?..I don't know...

 

[Tormyr]

But [MENTION=56710]Zaran[/MENTION], thats what I am asking.

If I have a three goblin crew, can they each use an action, and fire it every round.

Or does Wizards REALLY mean...it takes one round to load, one round to aim, and one round to fire?
Not concerned about the six second/one minute shift..which is what I was trying to say...

They said actions. Not rounds.

So can three goblins use their actions in one round.?..I don't know...

If a mangonel has a five person crew, it can be fired once per round in a regular D&D game. 2 actions to load. 2 actions to aim. 1 action to fire. So a regular mangonel could fire once every 6 seconds or potentially even faster with a bigger crew. Realistically, 6 seconds per shot seems quite fast. That is probably good enough.

The same would go for a mangonel in mass combat, although I think I would make a mangonel a solo that had to be operated by a stand. So the stand moves and operates it and can fire it once per round. The one difference here is that the stand would move onto the solo instead of the other way around. Another way would be to make the mangonel have a built in crew so it can move and fire on its own. I like the first way better though. That way siege equipment could be captured and used by the other side.

 

[SkidAce]

Yeah, that's how I interpreted it also. Thanks for the discuss.

 

[SkidAce]

The PCs and their infantry slaughtered the goblins. Setting up explosives in the river ford and blowing up half the first unit of goblins might have tweaked the odds in their favor. If I can cut and paste a summation I will.