Making a Difference: Mass Battle for small Groups

The Order of Battle
Just like any conflict, a mass battle is completed in a series of steps.  Here, ways to integrate with the current battle systems are available.
Overall Battle
  1. The GM determines the Composition, Size, and Morale of each army in the Mass Battle.
  2. The Players form themselves (or are assigned) into one or more squads: Command, Combat, or Ritual.
  3. The order in which the armies do battle is determined.  The aggressor in the conflict goes first barring special circumstances.
  4. The overall Commander selects the Strategic Objective for the Player Squad(s)/
  5. The GM determines the amount of Advantage the player squad(s) must win in order for them to win their Strategic Objective.
    The GM determines the amount of Advantage the Opposing Army must win in order to prevent the player squads from winning their Strategic Objective.
  6. Each squad leader rolls Squad Initiative in Stance of their Choice: 
    Strategists roll TN1 Command for Initiative
    Gunso roll TN1 Tactics for initiative
    Shugenja roll TN1 Meditation for Initiative
    This determines the order of battle actions between opposing squads, opportunities, and the general approach they have to the battle.
  7. Each Hero (Leaders and Followers) rolls Individual Initiative in the Stance of their Choice.  This determines their initiative in any subsequent Skirmishes that should occur, beginning opportunities, their approach to fighting in the combats to come, and their starting stance until their first action.
  8. Battle turns begin until a Strategic Objective has been achieved or lost, or until Morale for 1 side is reduced to 0.
  9. Once a Strategic Objective/Goal has been achieved, a commander may assign another Strategic Objective to the PCs.
  10. Battle turns continue until all Strategic Objectives are won or lost, or until Morale for 1 side is reduced to 0.
  11. The results of the conflict are tallied and final honor and glory are awarded.
Hybrid 5th Edition Rules
Order of Battle
  1. The GM creates each army, their strength, discipline, and abilities.  From these, derive the Size and Morale. 
  2. Determine if any players are going to be Commanders or Leaders.
    If all players are Commanders and Leaders, use 5th Edition Rules only. 
    If no players are going to be Commanders or Leaders, do not use the 5th Edition mass battle rules. Use these rules only.
    If a player will be the overall Commander for all of the forces, use the Hybrid 5th Edition Rules, but the rest will not, use the Hybrid 5th Edition Rules here.
  3. If one or more players will be leaders, then have each Leader become the Strategist for a Command Squad.  It is strongly recommended that only 1 player be a Leader and the rest of the Players become Staff in that Command Squad, but for very large mass battle games with multiple GMs, multiple command squads can be created.  These should be run simultaneously under different GMs if used. Alternatively, One leader can run a Command Squad, while another leader does their rolls without a command squad.  If additional PCs wish to form a Combat or Ritual Squad under that Leader, they may choose to do so, but there must be a Command Squad for Hybrid 5th Edition rules.
  4. The commander of each army rolls a TN 1 Command check to determine Command initiative. The commander with the higher initiative result decides if their army makes the first move or waits. If the commanders have the same initiative result, the one with the lower honor must have their army make the first move.
  5. Each commander determines a Strategic Objective for the round.  A PC commander may make a Tactics check with TN equal to the enemy commander’s vigilance to gain insight into their foe and what sorts of moves they could use to gain the upper hand.
  6. Each PC Commander, Strategist, and Staff member rolls a TN1 Tactics check for Skirmish Initiative.  This will determine their initiative in any skirmishes the squad encounters.
  7. Starting with the army that makes the first move, each commander nominates a Strategist or NPC Leader who has not acted yet that round to act, alternating back and forth until all leaders have acted.
  8. Each Strategist uses their Action to act as a Leader (per 5th Edition Rules) using either their 5th Edition actions or their normal Strategist actions to acheive the assigned Strategic Objective.  Each Advantage point won by the Strategist or the associated Combat Squads is considered to accrew an equal number of Momentum points.
Hybrid 4th Edition Rules
  1. The GM creates the composition of each army and selects a General for each army
  2. The Players form themselves (or are assigned) into one or more squads: Command, Combat, or Ritual.  If one of the PCs is the General, they should form a Command squad.
  3. Each General should make a contested Battle (Mass Combat)/Perception check. If one general wins the roll by 5 or more, that general is considered to be winning while the other side is losing.  If the difference is less than 5, the battle is even.
  4. Each Squad Leader (Strategist, Gunso, Shugenja) should decide what level they should deploy at: Reserves, Disengaged, Engaged, or Heavily Engaged.  All members of the Squad will be deployed at this level.
  5. Each Squad Leader rolls Water + Battle on the Battle Table.  If they encounter a duel, a duel is initiated for the entire squad as though it were encountered as an action type for opening for that Leader (see Combat Squads) .   If they encounter a Heroic Opportunity, the entire squad enters the Heroic Opportunity as if it were an Opening.  Advantage won from Openings is added to the General's Battle (Mass Combat)/Perception check as a permanent bonus to the roll. Other squad members assist the squad leader per these rules as normal.
  6. If the General wins rolls 3 rounds in a row by 5 or more, the battle is considered won.
Within a Battle Turn
  1. In Squad initiative order (unless using Hybrid 5th Edition Rules) each Squad begins their Battle Action.
  2. Each leader (Strategist, Gunso, or Shugenja) attempts one of the actions allowed by their role.
  3. Then, in Individual initiative order, each Hero within the squad takes a turn at their support action.  If successful, they provide bonuses which are applied to the team as appropriate.
  4. If a skirmish is started, it is played out for 1d4 rounds as determined by the Action type.
  5. After each squad has acted,

Turn Resolution

At turn Resolution, the following steps occur:
  1. Individual Damage is applied:
    Each hero who takes the role of gunso, heishi, shugenja, or yojimbo takes 3 Fatigue and 2 strife
    Each hero who takes the role of commander or staff takes 2 Fatigue and 3 strife
    These effects, plust fatigue or strife taken during skirmishes in the turn, are mitigated by the actions of Followers during the turn.
  2. Battlefield threats from Terrain are applied
    As described in Battlefields,  additional fatigue or other effects can be applied.
  3. Morale is assessed and Advantage is resolved.
     Advantage gains and losses made during the turn are added up and applied to the Advantage total needed to acheive the Goal. The first army to meet or exceed its Advantage requirement wins the field and gains its goal at turn resolution.
  4. Morale is assessed
    All Armies engaged in the battle subtract 2 Morale.  When an army reaches 0 Morale, it can no longer contest the field.  The opposing army adds its remaining morale to its advantage.  If the result is enough to achieve the Advantage goal it takes the field. If both armies fail to reach their Strategic objective/goal during the battle, neither side conclusively defeats the other and the battle is a draw.
  5. The next turn begins and turns continue until the strategic objective/goal is won or one or the other armies quits the field.