Which mass combat systems do you use for D&D game?

[Imruphel]

I've yet to run a mass battle but as my next campaign features plans for a couple I'm planing on using the rules presented in Heroes of Battle (and demonstrated in Red Hand of Doom) and Power of Faerun.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

War Machine from the D&D Companion set (or Rules Cyclopedia).

 

[Vague Jayhawk]

I did not vote on this. I have not had a chance to incorporate mass combat in a game since AD&D 1ed Battlesystem. But I so want to. I just purchased The Black Company and it looks good, but I have not played it yet.

 

[Psion]

Sort of surprised to see OMCS not being a more popular choice. It was one of the first and best AFAIAC.

 

[EricNoah]

DM (me) wings it/ makes it up. I would love to see 3E Birthright done right -- integrate domain rulership with mass combat rules.

 

[harmyn]

For my part I have gone back and forth between two methods depending on the nature of the campaign in question. I use either the mass combat rules from GURPS Conan for campaigns that only rarely have a major battles to resolve.

If it is an ongoing war or series of campaigns I use the War Machine rules from the D&D Companion boxed set. Works quite nicely and I have yet to see another system work out so cleanly for handling a major war while leaving the clashing armies portion of it in the background so that the PCs remain the primary focus.

 

[Imruphel]

Sort of surprised to see OMCS not being a more popular choice. It was one of the first and best AFAIAC.

Which book was it in? I'm keen to see another mass combat system.

My problem with Mongoose is that I missed some of the good things because most stuff until a little while ago was abysmally bad (normally I would add "IMO" but I doubt too many would disagree).

 

[arwink]

A combination of ODnD's War Machine and a bunch of hand-waving.

 

[Psion]

Which book was it in? I'm keen to see another mass combat system.

There was a version in Quintessential Fighter and in Strongholds & Dynasties. There was a nautically-bent version in Seas of Blood.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

DM (me) wings it/ makes it up. I would love to see 3E Birthright done right -- integrate domain rulership with mass combat rules.

I made an effort at that for my previous campaign, but it didn't work out as well as I would have liked.

I use Cry Havoc for my mass combats, now. As long as you let your players know that you are doing so at the beginning of the campaign (so that they can invest in things like the Profession (military commander) skill and the Battle Leader feat) it seems to work pretty well. Mass combats under that system run very much like regular combats in regular D&D, which is nice.

Later
silver