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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmu1" data-source="post: 473546" data-attributes="member: 319">One problem I have with the idea of massed armies in D&D (assuming that you're staying even remotely close to the DMG in terms of the numbers of PC classes present in the population, and their levels) is that, even with counterspellers present, any such army will still get massacred by the "artillery" type of spells.For a successful counterspell, you generally have to have a readied action, and you always need to be able to make a Spellcraft check to identify the spell being cast. In case of a series of Fireballs cast from a long distance away in cover, or an invisble flying caster, this is not going to be an option, because while it's easy enough to boost Spellcraft,  no caster will have the Listen and Spot checks high enough to pull it off - and once the little pellet is racing towards the massed troops, it's too late.Regardless of that, even if you make your troops tough enough to survive this, unless it's a very strange world, you're not likely going to be able to do the same for the hundreds of draft animals and wagon drivers needed to supply the army, making the cutting of supply lines laughably easy, unless you have the manpower to provide them with heavy troop escort and multiple spellcasters.As a result, even with a large amount of spellcasters present, I would think D&D warfare would see a very quick switch from massed formations to smaller groups of skirmishers (veterans often being the ones with both good CON and Reflex saves), living off the land, and hit-and-run tactics.Which reminds me, anyone here read Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos books, specifically the ones in which he mentions the evolution of warfare in his world? I always thought it was a very good take on one way things might turn out in a very high magic world...</blockquote>

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