Warfare
~Count Ferril Baines, Lion Age 561
War is inevitable, even in the Throne where ostensibly all mankind is one. During these conflicts, mighty forges produce massive shipments of armaments, huge trains of food are rallied and great hosts are put to field. The following systems are used to adjudicate these massive conflicts, which take place between game sessions at the direction of orders that in game commanders give to their soldiers and captains in the field.
Warfare is the domain of the mighty – nobles, knight orders, and other great powers that have built their wealth and authority on force of arms. However, there are others on the field. Heretical armies of the risen dead, the dreaded Warriors of Kuarl who make whole armies look weak by reflection, the savage Orc, raiders and warlords from foreign lands, and of course, other great powers who vie for control over the same resources.
Military Organizations have the ability to train, equip and levy forces and bring them into local theaters to do battle for their own purposes. Each so-called Force, a large army of soldiers, is made up of individual Units, squadrons of soldiers, sometimes with special roles like Archers, Heavy Infantry or Dragoons, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. Commanders, the characters giving out the Orders and using Tactics, use all of these factors together to achieve their military objectives.
Giving Orders
At the end of each event, warfare commanders will be presented with a number of possible Engagements (insert new term). Each commander may attempt only one Engagement per event, but multiple commanders may attempt the same Engagement. Only commanders with at least one unit under their command may attempt an Engagement.”
At the beginning of each Engagement, a battle map will be laid out with terrain, enemy units and other points of interest marked on it. Terrain will be influenced by the dominant terrains in the area of the Engagement. Occasionally, certain points of interest may be hidden until encountered by a unit entering that space. Commanders will have certain spaces they may place their units at the beginning of the Engagement as dictated by the circumstances of that Engagement. Only one unit may ever occupy a space.
Once battle commences, commanders will take turns giving Orders. Each unit may be given one Order per Round. A Round ends when all units have been given Orders and a new Round begins.
Advance
Move up to the Unit’s Speed. Non-Ranged Units may Attack an adjacent Unit at the end of their movement.
Fire
Flee
The only Order that may be given to Retreating units. The Retreating unit moves its full Speed away from all enemy units.
Unit may not move, but pre-empts any Attack against it by Attacking first. This Order lasts until the unit receives another Order.
Forced March
New Terms
New Term: Fortification– Fortifications are advantages on the battlefield in certain circumstances. They may not accept Orders, but do have Reactions.
Logistics and Strategy
The outcome of a battle is often determined long before the first attack. Managing all of the strategic factors of Warfare is difficult, and many factors influence the results. As mentioned above, various Status effects may cause crippling disadvantages to troops, or vastly change the outcome of battles. A Commander that can take advantage of all of the different factors that go into Warfare would be a nearly unstoppable force, even with meager Units, but likewise, attacking these infrastructural points so carefully managed is a viable strategy for similar reasons.
Tactics are abilities of a particular commander that can sway a battle. Unless otherwise stated, Tactics may be played any time. A commander may play up to their Morale in Tactics per Engagement. Some Tactics may only be played a limited number of times. Every commander has access to a Tactic of their Culture and other Tactics may come from Oaths, Boasts, Techniques, magic or other sources.
The following are some additional factors that influence a battlefield.
Terrain
Each space on the battle map has a different kind of Terrain. Each Terrain has unique effects. Other Terrain may exist and its effects will be described in Intel or during the Engagement.
Plains
Hills
Swamp
Forest
Mountains
Tundra
Season
Spring Rains
Autumn Wind
Summer Heat
Heavy units lose 1 Strength
Winter Cold
Levying and Supply
Units are levied from the local population by Law Organizations. When an Officer calls the Levy, population from the local region become soldiers of the appropriate Culture. Social class and home location are also noted in case the unit is ever disbanded. Expending Military Supply alongside this Levy can create soldiers of different types. If Military Supply is acquired later, either through plunder or production, it can be used to change the type of soldiers before any Engagement.
All Levied Forces in the Theater and all Warlord Minions need a constant supply of Food. Each Military Unit needs 1 unit of Food in order to stay fit. Units that are not fed are unusable for one Chapter. After this Chapter if they are still not fed, they disband. Forces that disband due to lack of Food usually become a rogue army and raid to get food or express their discontent.
Loot and Plunder
When a unit dies in battle, a Charnel Field remains behind full of twisted corpses and rusting armor. These sites can be rich with the grim harvest of war, but also tend to attract corpsers, ghosts, hags, and necromancers who make ghastly use of the place as well. If a Labor Downtime Action is spent at a Charnel Field along with a Horse and Wagon, one of the Military Supply can be stolen from the corpses and a Corpse Heap is created instead. Labor for each Charnel Field can also be spent to bury the dead in a mass grave and remove the Charnel Fields at the cost of adding 1 Darkness each. The Mithrihim Ritual Battlefield Ceremonies can also be used to bury the dead with their equipment and forgive the sins of the Commander who sent the soldiers to their deaths. Charnel Fields that are not buried within one Chapter become Corpse Heaps and are much more difficult to manage.
Cultural Tactics
Not every Commander is the same. There are many military theories and doctrines, and these take advantage of different aspects of warfare and emphasize different kinds of tactics and strategies.
Gothic
Play to give a contiguous line of 3 or more allied units the benefits of the Defense Order
Rogalian
Play to give an Order to a unit in your force that has already received one this Round. This Tactic may only be used once per Round.
Dunnick
Any number of units under this commander gain the Ambusher trait as the Engagement begins.
Hestralian
Play to remove the effects of the Defense Order from all enemy units adjacent to a single unit in your force
Njordic
Capacian
Play to gain Intel on the engagement after it begins. You may then remove any number of units that are not adjacent to enemy units from the Engagement. They may not return. Alternately, play to make one unit ignore the negative effects of terrain for the length of its activation.
Shariqyn
Intel
Intel represents advanced information from scouting and spy activities about various possible warfare engagements. The exact information gained is related to commanders during warfare resolution, and comes in roughly three types.
Force Disposition is information about the units in the Force and any specific terrain they are utilizing such as walls, cliffs, hills or tree cover.
Command Detail is information about the commander of the force, including their Morale, Tactics, and any personality details that may be relevant to how they command their men- such as insanities or honor codes.
Consequence Detail is information about what will happen if the enemy force is not engaged with or if they are victorious in battle against you, as well as any spoils or positive consequences if they are defeated. Common warfare consequences are the raiding and destruction of stockpiles and landmarks in the Reich, or the death of important individuals or groups.
Intel may be gained by Scouting with Survival 4 as well as other abilities and circumstances.
