So I popped ROTK in and worked on some ideas for fixing the mass combat system. Here's what I have, though it's incomplete. Maybe we can work it out.
Mass Combat
All units have the following attributes:
Size
Strength
Toughness
Mobility
Morale
Damage
They mean essentially the same thing as listed in the core book. Damage is the amount of damage the unit inflicts on a successful hit (the unit's strength and size mods will be added to the total damage).
When you create a unit, you assign them a rating in each attribute, and record both the attribute value and that attribute's modifier per usual. (Meaning, a 10 attribute would have a +2 modifier, a 12 attribute would have a +3 modifier, etc.).
Each unit should also have a PC or NPC serving as its leader. Record the leader's Siegecraft skill score (or his Bearing modifier if the leader doesn't have Siegecraft) and initiative modifier.
Conducting a Battle
Roll initiative as usual. Winner gets to attack first. To attack, roll 2d6 and add the attacking unit's Strength modifier and the leader's Siegecraft or Bearing modifier. Defender rolls 2d6 + Toughness modifier + leader's Siegecraft or Bearing. Compare the results.
If the attacker beats the defender, the attacker inflicts damage equal to the unit's damage rating + Str mod + Size mod. The defender subtracts his Toughness score from the total damage and takes the remaining damage and subtracts the total from his Size score (adjusting down the modifier as needed). All successful attacks inflict a minimum of 1 point of damage (so if you inflict less damage than the defender has Toughness, you still inflict 1 point).
If the defender beat the attacker's roll, the defender successfully defends themselves and no damage is inflicted.
Then, the defender gets an attack, and the attacker must defend.
Then on to the next round and so on.
Attrition
Combat in ME is deadly and attrition almost always plays a role. After every combat round (representing about 10 minutes of game time), each side in the conflict must succeed at a TN 8 Toughness test (2d6 + Toughness mod, beat a 8). Success means the unit suffers no attrition, failure means the unit suffers attrition. The unit takes 1 point of damage (-1 to size attribute).
Example
Not sure if this is making sense, so let's try an example.
Dwarf Warriors: Size 10 (+2), Strength 7 (-), Toughness 7 (-), Damage 1d6+1. Leader has Siegecraft +8.
Orc Warriors: Size 20 (+7), Strength 6 (-), Toughness 8 (+1), Damage 1d6. Leader has Siegecraft +5.
Round 1:
Dwarves win initiative and attack first. They roll 2d6 and add +8 from the leader's siegecraft roll. They roll a 6 and have a total of 14.
The Orcs roll 2d6+6 (from the leader's siegecraft and from Toughness) to defend, and get a total of 12.
The Dwarves beat the Orcs defense, so they inflict 1d6+3 damage. They roll a 2 and inflict a total of 5 points. The Orcs have a Toughness of 8, though, so the damage is absorbed. However, since the minimum damage is 1, the Orcs will reduce their Size by 1 at the end of the round.
The Orcs attack. They roll 2d6+5 and get a 16. The Dwarves roll 2d6+8 and get a 15. The Orcs beat their defense and inflict 1d6+7 damage. They roll a 5 and inflict a total of 12, but the Dwarves Toughness absorbs 7 of it. The Dwarves subtract 5 points from their Size at the end of the round.
It's the end of the round, so both sides must make an attrition roll. Both manage to beat the TN 8 test. The Dwarves subtract 5 from their size while the Orcs subtract 1.
The stats are now as follows:
Dwarf Warriors: Size 5 (-), Strength 7 (-), Toughness 7 (-), Damage 1d6+1. Leader has Siegecraft +8.
Orc Warriors: Size 19 (+6), Strength 6 (-), Toughness 8 (+1), Damage 1d6. Leader has Siegecraft +5.
Looks bad for the Dwarves.
Round 2:
Dwarves win initiative again and attack first. They roll 2d6 and add +8 from the leader's siegecraft roll. They roll a 11 and have a total of 19.
The Orcs roll 2d6+6 to defend, and get a total of 9.
The Dwarves beat the Orcs defense, so they inflict 1d6 damage. They roll a 6 and inflict a total of 6 points. The Orcs have a Toughness of 8, though, so the damage is absorbed. However, since the minimum damage is 1, the Orcs will reduce their Size by 1 at the end of the round.
The Orcs attack. They roll 2d6+5 and get a 12. The Dwarves roll 2d6+8 and get a 19. The Dwarves manage to defend.
It's the end of the round, so both sides must make an attrition roll. The Dwarves make the TN but the Orcs miss it. The Orcs will lose -1 Size at the end of the round.
It's the end of the round. The Dwarves didn't suffer any damage. The Orcs suffer -2 to Size due to the damage from attrition and the damage from the Dwarves.
Stats at the end of the second round are:
Dwarf Warriors: Size 5 (-), Strength 7 (-), Toughness 7 (-), Damage 1d6+1. Leader has Siegecraft +8.
Orc Warriors: Size 17 (+5), Strength 6 (-), Toughness 8 (+1), Damage 1d6. Leader has Siegecraft +5.
Still looks bad for the Dwarves, though there's a bit more hope.
And so on.
With this set up, the advantage is to the larger unit, though having a good leader certainly helps.
To add more variables to this, I envision a series of maneuvers and tactics you could attempt, each maneuver or tactic would have a TN to succeed at. Success means you get the effect. Effects would include doing more damage on a successful attack, adding to attack, adding to defense, and otherwise affecting the results. I envision the tactics as a series of cards you could use as needed, maybe bringing a bit of a guessing game element to the battle.
I haven't added in Morale or Mobility yet, and I haven't gotten to fortifications or the like yet either. Mobility would be used to move the unit on a map and used to succeed at certain tactical options.
Morale would be as it is in the book, but various tactics could affect it.
It's still a work in progress. Anything here worth keeping?
