Hey all, this is totally unrelated to my previous post (about 16 Bit).  I am running a Hackmaster game and was looking for a good mass battle system.  I found some options in other RPG's (OD&D's old "War Machine", L5R's "Tides of Battle" etc etc), but even though abstract, they all ended up a little crunchy.  Don't get me wrong, I play Hackmaster because I like it crunchy, but when you are trying to do mass battle abstractly, it just doesn't make sense that you an entire company of infantry is represented by super precise stats.  L5R came very close to what I wanted, but it also demanded you play out a half dozen skirmishes, which would take several sessions in Hackmaster (at least 2 or 3).

So I began to think of a narrative combat system.  A general map could be drawn, with general troop positions.  You wouldn't know the exact specifications of your units or the enemies.  Instead, the GM and the players would label lots of things with call-out traits (similar to Burning Wheel).  Then, during the game, the players would dictate their orders to their army and the GM would assign bonuses on the fly.

The actual resolution would still involve simplistic dice rolling.  I was thinking of snagging the core mechanic from De Bellis Antiquitatis (it's been a few years, so correct me if I have them wrong).  Basically, figure out bonuses and penalties (in the 0 to 3 range) between two opposing units, each side rolls 1d6 and the side that rolls higher is winning that fight.  Roll twice as much as the opponent and you are soundly defeating the enemy.

The bonuses would be figured out entirely by the call-on traits.  Basically, when one unit is engaging another, the player's call out their traits ("Our spears are good against their cavalry!  They are in the woods which breaks up their cohesion!"), the GM announces his traits ("The cavalry have heavy armour, have better discipline than your spearmen and also have the high ground") then the GM assigns a +1 or -1 for each advantage or disadvantage (perhaps +1 for the spearmen and -1 for the cavalry for the player's suggestions, and a +3 to the cavalry for the GM's suggestions).  The player side then rolls 1d6+1 and the GM rolls 1d6+2.  When one unit has been on the losing side for a certain number of consecutive rounds (or if they are soundly defeated), they will break, surrender or be cut down to a man (whatever is right for the narrative).

Things like movement will be entirely narrative.  If the GM wants, he could even work it like an opposed test (one side is charging, one is avoiding).  Each army would consist in multiple units (maybe 5 to 10 for a small battle).  When a PC's unit meets combat, they can choose to lead from the front, play out a regular RPG skirmish to gain a +1, +2 or even +3 on the test if they win (or a penalty if they lose).

So, what does everyone think?  I really dislike checking charts and tables during purposefully abstract combat, and think the "call out traits" mechanic could act as a nice fog of war, as you have to guess what advantages your opponent could claim.  It also, by nature, covers every eventuality, which is kinda neat.

Are you familiar with Matrix Games? They work very similar to that.

And yes, it's a fine system.