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After the
superb "Ultimate Rulership", this would be the second one of
Legendary Games‘ offerings to expand the rules of „Ultimate Campaign“. Page-count-wise,
this pdf is 38 pages long, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page
SRD, 1 page ToC, 1 page introduction, 3 pages of advertisement, 1 page back
cover, leaving us with 28 pages of content, so let’s take a look, shall we?
So, what do
we get here? Essentially, an expansion of the mass combat rules used in
Ultimate Campaign. We begin with a short summary of four zones: Camp zone,
which is the “base” of the army, command zone, from where the battle is
dictated, melee zone and ranged zone – said zones are abstract and not
geographically distinct entities. Now first, we get a fixing of strategy – 5
types of strategy may be changed in lesser degrees without morale checks, in
greater degrees with a morale check penalized by a number equal to the steps a
strategy is changed. Each strategy has positive and negative influence on OM
and DV (Offense Modifiers and Defensive Value) and also includes a
casualty-modifier that applies to damage dealt to you and your enemies – best
of all, this system fixes the doubling effect in the default standard rules for
a more concise and strategic flux of battle. Two thumbs up!
Now the
battle is grouped in phases – a tactical phase in which commanders issue
strategy and special tactics followed by the ranged phase, the melee phase and
finally, the rout phase, where morale may see units routed and broken. In the
tactical phase, commanders compare their Profession (Soldier)-skill-checks: The
winner reveals his strategy after the loser, allowing the commander to better
adjust on the fly to an opponent’s gambits. Furthermore, by exceeding an enemy
commander’s check by 5 or more, the commander can force the hostile army to
reveal one of the tactics available to the army. In the ranged phase, armies
may attack (via ranged weapons), advance or hold their position. Rather awesome
– concise, easy to use information is given on how to handle difficult terrain
like trenches, cities etc., with the DV of the structures determining the
challenge. We also, thankfully, get rules for friendly fire with ranged weapons
– nice catch here!
The rules
for the melee phase have been changed as well – unlike in the standard rules,
melee is not a constant whacking, but instead sees both armies checking for
routs after attacking each, with the next round approaching. THANK YOU. The
default made no sense and resulted in bland exchanging of whack-a-mole-rolls
until one army falls – I much prefer this solution! Now on to the rout phase:
At the end of a melee phase, the bashing is not repeated: Instead, armies check
for morale – those that fail have their morale score reduced. Upon reaching
zero morale, a loyalty-check may reset the score to 1, but sees the army
fleeing, whereas a failed loyalty check sees the army disband – and yes, said
loyalty-checks come with heavy cumulative penalties. Now being routed is bad –
as any Warhammer-player knows, and while in these rules, the fleeing army has a
chance to regroup to the camp zone, said escape is anything but guaranteed.
Sounding a general retreat is also possible, but also carries a morale penalty
with it – still, fighting another day is preferable to annihilation… Also neat:
Mercenary armies and their lack of penalties for the kingdom upon being routed
also get a sort mentioning. This chapter fixes just about all of the rough
edges the system in Ultimate Campaign had in favor of a more dynamic and
versatile combat – AWESOME!
Now, as you
probably know, historic armies almost never fought until total annihilation –
hence, we are introduced to the army conditions: Bloodied, Defeated, Destroyed
and Disbanded. Bloodied armies can only be “cured” by reforming it and the
condition is applied every time an army drops below half its hit points,
reducing the ACR by 1 for all intents and purposes – and yes, this penalty is
cumulative. Defeated armies have 10% dead, 1d4x10% severely wounded members and
can be taken prisoner – these armies had their hp reduced to 0. Destroyed
armies result from defeated armies – upon being attacked by the enemy (at -2 to
their DV, ouch!) and if the enemy is at least half its size, the battered,
defeated army is destroyed for all intents and purposes – 1d6x10% dead, 1d4x10%
severely wounded and the rest deserted. To add insult to injury, the kingdom
incurs a penalty of 1 to fame and the city from which it was recruited may
demand a monument for the fallen. Now disbanded armies (failed morale and
loyalty checks) have a devastating effect on morale of allied armies and also
result in population-loss for the kingdom – 50% leave for safer, greener
pastures. The kingdom also loses stability, fame and loyalty and the
recruitment city incurs a penalty of -2 to law. OUCH!
Now fatigue
in battle is covered as well as the topic of healing after battle- all tied
neatly together with available buildings (herbalists and alchemists help just
as cathedrals etc. do – neat!) and disease as one of the great agents of the
reaper also becomes a factor: The factor of plagues is detailed as well herein
and results in even more death – and strategy, of course! Holding that hospital
suddenly seems like a very worthwhile endeavor! Have I mentioned the concise
and cool rules for Parley (and breaking the temporary truce?) – nice indeed!
Now we also
get tactics – quite a few of them, actually: Want to execute a cavalry sweep,
for example? It allows you to have your army attack two hostile armies in one
battle phase, but at OM – 4 and DV -2 and only half the damage – still, at
times surely an option that proves to be useful. Covering Fire, an onslaught
that is particularly reckless (and casualty-prone/bad for DV, but also superb
for offense), pursuing foes, initiating pincer-maneuvers, creating
"Landsknechtshaufen", i.e. pike hedgehogs, strafing skirmishers – the
tactics available should more than positively influence engagements, allowing
for a much more varied and cool combat between individual armies and also offer
cool additional incentives to keep well-trained veteran units around.
Now sooner
or later the die has been literally cast and the battle won or lost – so in the
aftermath of victory, further options abound: From the historically accurate
paying of ransom money to the execution of enemy leaders, the attrition of
manpower and the option to pillage and plunder the countryside, intern soldiers
or recruit forced labor – a lot of different options allow an army to follow
distinct lines in their conduct with others, potentially shaping the reputation
of the kingdom they adhere to. And yes, for the more morally, let’s
say…flexible commanders, committing massacres is also a distinct possibility,
though one that should be well contemplated.
Now another
issue of mass combat as displayed in the standard-rules would be that it breaks
apart as soon as an army e.g. consists of few, but powerful adversaries – be
they dragons or stone giants. Thankfully, the pdf actually offers an incredibly
easy and yet concise, sensible solution to the issue by allowing for even
armies of one and similar small-sized armies – complete with equipment,
camouflage and ACR-modification. This is not only brilliant; it is all but
REQUIRED. Thank you so very much!
The effect
of a general of other great leaders present on the field of battle and a
kingdom’s overall disposition also now feature in the complex equation of
mass-combat, with the superb rules from Ultimate Rulership thankfully also
being addressed – this is synergy of the type I love and expect. How is the
influence of great commanders displayed? Via the leadership bonus, which
depends on the skill ranks in Profession (soldier) and e.g. the leadership
score, but less so on magical improvements – headbands of intellect and similar
ways of metagaming the skill up only are half as effective.
Now the
easiest way to expand these rules may be the addition of new boons since they
are based on the capabilities of characters and soldiers – and hence we also
get an array of boons. And oh boy, are they oozing flavor – Take "Death
before Dishonor" or the offense specialists that benefit from an
"Implacable Advance", AoE/channel negative energy adding the option
for magical barrages or allowing units to heal themselves: These boons are
awesome, even more so since they can be made permanent for a vast array of
different tricks, specializations and distinct elite-units.
Now armies
don’t grow on trees as you might know and while Ultimate Rulership has
delivered vastly superior recruitment rules (both standard and UR are covered
here), this book adds another facet: Recruits are not yet soldiers – they cost
a kingdom and need to be equipped, trained etc. And yes, equipping chariots,
howdahs, mounts, magical armors, siege weaponry, weapons of different quality –
all that and so much more becomes possible with these rules – all while
remaining sensible with building-requirements, fitting all together like a
concise, well-oiled rules-machinery. This is not all, though – reserve armies
by building and yes, even a vast array of special abilities, from spawn
creation to breath weapons await your command, resulting in even more varied
armies that should bring the wonder and distinct differences between forces to
the front.
Now whether
it’s for a "Chain of Dogs"-like scenario or simply for a situation
akin to Sabaton’s "The Price of a Mile" – marching armies and pushing
them forwards is no easy task and this supplement also covers rules for
marching armies: Camouflage, ambushes, supply trans, living off the land – all
covered! The same holds true for difficult terrains, rules for visibility and
even weather and high altitudes! The pdf concludes with an index of the pdf’s
tables.
Conclusion:
Editing and
formatting are top-notch, I didn’t notice any significant glitches. Layout
adheres to Legendary Games unobtrusive two-column standard and we get beautiful
full-color one-page spreads of three artworks by Tim Kings-Lynne and Mike Lowe
alongside depictions of various banners and crests. The pdf comes fully
bookmarked and in two versions, with the second one being more
printer-friendly.
Jason Nelson,
as one of the masterminds behind Ultimate Campaign’s rules and head-honcho of
Legendary Games dives head-first into a supplement that had me skeptical at
best on first sight: The page-count is simply not that impressive. Add to that
the fact that the rules in Ultimate Campaign, by virtue of the limited space
available and the variety of topics covered fell short of their potential and
we have a supplement that had anything but an easy standing with me. I’ve long
been into mass combat, coming to pen and paper roleplaying via the route of
Warhammer, but so far, neither Adamant Entertainment’s mass combat rules, nor
3.X’s Cry Havoc did it for me and Ultimate Campaign, while better, also fell
short of my expectations in that regard.
Until now.
This pdf is PLATINUM. Not gold, platinum. It irons out many of the issues of
the basic system. It provides superior synergy with both standard rules and
Ultimate Rulership. It expands the tactical options exponentially. It covers
all the topics, from marches to commanders to special qualities and manages to
end the rather trite attrition-rolling of mass combat melee in favor of a much
more rewarding and tactical solution. This, ladies and gentlemen, is not only
required. Anyone using mass combat without this book should really contemplate
to stop now and shell out the bucks. I have almost never in my career as a
reviewer witnessed a pdf so densely-packed with crucial coolness -
concisely-written, Jason Nelson delivers mass combat as it ought to be:
Abstract, but challenging and strategic – with this supplement, true strategic
showdowns, complex military operations and desperate gambits all become
possible. This pdf allows you to create brilliant battles of wits between enemy
commanders and the PCs on a level that was, with the basic system, unthinkable.
What we have here is a candidate for my Top Ten of 2013, a required purchase
and a book that should be part of any PFRPG-DM’s library if s/he is only
remotely interested in either Kingmaker or any other form of mass combat –
final verdict? Unsurprising 5 stars + seal of approval, given without even the
remotest hesitation. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!
You can get this superb supplement here on OBS and here on d20pfsrd.com's shop!
Endzeitgeist
out.
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