[Burning Wheel] Mass Combat Playtesting

[Bill Cook]

Had the chance to playtest a mass combat variant for Burning Wheel at a roleplayers meetup group tonight. Two guys played. Both were organizers, no less. One played Orcs; the other, a coalition of Elves and Humans.

This is the third round of changes, and I'm pleased to say, it really satisfies. Below is the list of updates:

[*]Using Scrabble tile trays and tiles with printed Avery labels for scripting. The tiles are handily organized in an ice cube tray.
[*]Restricting use of Risk game pieces to soldiers for multiple markers and cannons for target markers.
[*]Using printed unit cards as templates from the Badguys and Monsters section. (BW, p. 219)
[*]Placing unit cards behind the tile tray, and placing the target marker in the center of the table.
[*]Leaving multiples deployed and requiring Withdraw + Advance to re-deploy them. Now, only range-attackers may freely target, as it should be.
[*]Using two-sided assignment via target markers where non-deployed multiples may be targeted but may not target.
[*]Reverting to a fixed exchange of three volleys.
[*]Drop all wound penalties by retiring a multiple marker.
[*]Implementing tactics of movement (i.e. Field of Fire, Blockade and Breaking Away).
[*]Stuffing micro combat into the black box (i.e. Inside, martial moves, variable reach, dismounts, etc).
[/list:u]

I've forgotten how tough it can be to train scripting, initially. But Ron and Chris picked it up quickly. Ron played in my BW one-shot and Chris has played a lot of Stratego. Their untroubled adoption of movement tactics really confirmed my approach, to me.  There were three units to a side. For the Orcs, Warg Riders (8), Archers (3) and Axe and Shield Infantry (4); for the coalition, Elvish Archers (4), Elvish Lancers (2) and Human Knights (3) (i.e. equestrians). Each multiple represented 25 individuals.

We made it through one complete exchange and covered nearly every twist in the procedure. They both recommended that I use some kind of battle mat or otherwise improve the center space. I didn't really gain any insight from those suggestions, though. The two-sided targeting achieves one of my most important goals: track a one-to-many unit disbursment.

I use the disclosed elements of Revised (i.e. wound penalties, armor rules), with some modifications. The one design goal that has yet to be achieved is harnessing the waves of bodies as a field of influence for the PC's. I see two approaches: (1) scope in and out, running two cameras, or (2) assign PC's to particular units and rollover the impact, one to the other. The system in TROS: TFOB uses the first method; a binary of large-scale action punctuated by handfuls of heroic action. I think the second way, while less cinematic, will better satisfy my goal, and better integrate to BW's task-centric perspective.

I'm going to playtest again tomorrow night, hopefully. Need to confirm that.

[Bill Cook]

Well, I got in another round tonight. Capsule review, and I quote: "It worked." I spray-painted two handfuls of Risk soldiers white and purple to get enough colors for eight units. Cory had some trouble working with the tiles and tile tray, but he fell in line after a few corrections. They adapted to the target markers after a few brushes. We completed two exchanges and called it. I'm starting to internalize the order of the procedure fairly well, now.

Using standard units and printed scripts really sharpened the visual. It's easy to get lost on the sea of processing at this level of volume. I could keep track of it, but Cory and Luke stalled out a couple of times. Play benefits from having a dedicated caller, having no units to control. And, I speculate, the more controllers, the better.

We got to experience the hardiness of Orcs, shrugging off scrapes below Superficial, impenetrable Elvish mail, the bone-smashing blows of Great Troll stone hammers and the swarming of numerous Warg Riders.

The only thing that caught me flat-footed was resolving many Advances, all at once. I finally realized that one Advance doesn't compete with another, so it's free targeting, essentially. (e.g. Human Knights Advance on Great Trolls; Great Trolls Advance on Human Soldiers; Human Soldiers Advance on Warg Riders; Warg Riders Advance on Elvish Lancers; Elvish Lancers Advance on Great Trolls. Unbelievably, no one is attacking their attacker; but that doesn't impact resolution of movement.)

I guess the only thing is, you'd have to pass up the opportunity to engage Advancers to Advance your units on a different target. So it'd be like this:
[list=1]
[*]Human Knights Advance on Great Trolls.
[*]Great Trolls decline to meet the Advancing Knights.
[*]Great Trolls Advance on Human Soldiers.
[/list:o]

Wow. Ok, writing that out helped me see the middle step.

Another thing: it's only worth doing if you're completely set up beforehand. When we play the third session of our ongoing BW campaign, I'm going have a separate table arranged for mass, which I assume there will be some large-scale battles.