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Copyright © 2005 Simon E. Phipp
Created On 19 March 2005
Last Updated On 19 March 2005

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# Army Combat

One of the advantages of the HeroQuest system is that is is scaleable using the same basic rules. So, you can use the same rules to describe Hero-Hero interaction as you can with Army-Army interaction. Since there are times when a Narrator needs to decide the outcome of a battle, I thought that some simple rules on army combat would help things along.

I used these in one of our sessions and they worked reasonably well, at least they didn't have massive holes.

1. Each unit is treated as a single entity with basic combat ability approximately equal to the average member's ability.

2. Only magic/skills that affect an entire unit will increase/decrease combat ability.

3. Powerful heroes may augment a unit at equivalent APs / 50. Normally, Heroes may augment using up to 2 augmented skills, for instance Close Combat and Warband Tactics.

So, Zhara has Close Combat 12W3 but has + 16 with augments, giving her 8W4 = 88 / 50 = 2, so she augments a unit with +2 (Close Combat).

Rangali has Close Combat 17 (??!) (+42) = 19W2 = 59 / 50 = 1, so he gets +1 (Close Combat). But he has Warband Tactics 5W with +4
augments = 9W = + 3, so he has +1 (Close Combat) + 3 (Warband Tactics) for a total of + 4.

Hallarax has Close Combat 18W (+10) = 8W2 = 48 / 50 = + 1 and Uplifting Anthem 5W (+24) = 9W2 = + 5, so he gives a +1 (Close
Combat) + 5 (Uplifting Anthem) = + 6. (I am aware that someone using magic to affect a group of people should take a modifier, perhaps 20, but I wasn't sure whether to use that here.)

4. So, breakpoints for augmenting are 5W (+1), 15W3 (+2), 5W6 (+3). Are these too high? Should we use a lower divisor?

Divisor +1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5
50 5W 15W3 5W6 15W8
40 20 20W2 20W4 20W6 20W8
30 15 5W2 15W3 5W5 16W6
25 13 18W 3W3 8W4 13W5

5. Only someone with augmented skill more than 1 Mastery above the base ability of the unit may augment the unit as above. Otherwise
they are considered a normal part of the unit.

6. Units with a Guardian that helps in combat may use their Guardian's magic to augment their skills. So a unit with Stand Fast 19 and Men of Courage 2W could use these to augment, adding +2 and +2 = +4. Note that many regiments are made up of HeroBands, each with its own magic.

7. Each unit here is considered a separate entity. Allunits should be of similar numbers, if a unit is particularly big then treat it as two or more units. The actual size of the unit is irrelevent as these rules work equally well with small scale and large scale combat.

8. Treat combat as either a Simple Contest or an Extended Contest, depending on the scale and importance of the battle. For example, a lightning raid on an opposing clan might be rolled as a Simple Contest, but a full scale battle involving magic regiments and many units might be better as an Extended Contest.

9. Depending on the rolls, you may have to roll to see if any participants have been injured or not. Basically, this is a roll of your ability vs 20, with
a bump down for every level of failure of the army roll. If you fail then every level of failure is a level of hurt. So, if Zhara is at 8W4 but her unit has suffered a Major Defeat (3 levels, equivalent to W3) so rolls at 8W4 vs 20W3, she rolls a 10 (failure bumped to worse success) against a 4 (success), so she has a marginal defeat and loses 1 level of health, to Hurt. Clearly, this only needs to be rolled for player or important Narrator Heroes.

## Strengths of Units

It is always difficulty to determine the basic strengths of units, so the easiest way is to take the typical stats of a member of the unit and use those as the unit's ability. Many of the following are taken from published supplements. I took most of them from combat statistics from the Sartar Rising series and a few other places. They seem to be fairly consistent and should give an idea of the relative strengths of the units.

Where a unit is enhanced by heavy armour or weapons, I have included these as they give an advantage over units without them.

Unit | Close Combat | Ranged Combat | Other Combat | Spells/Abilities
Typical Clan |  |  |  |
Fyrd | 13 | 13 |  |
Shield Thanes | 18 | 15 |  |
Ancestors |  |  | 2W |
Tribal Thanes | 4W |  |  |
Tribal Cavalry | 4W |  |  |
Standard Soldiers |  |  |  |
Tarshite Shieldwall | 18(+3) |  |  |
Imperial Soldiers | 20(+3) | 1W(+3) |  |
Sun Dome Peltasts | 12 | 3W(+3) |  |
Heavy Troops |  |  |  |
Diavizzi Guards | 4W(+3) | 10W(+3) |  |
Lasadag Lions | 10W(+4) | 10W(+3) |  |
Scorching Swords | 6W | 11W |  |
Tarshite Heavy Foot | 10W(+4) |  |  |
Beryl Phalanx | 14W(+4) |  |  |
Granite Phalanx | 10W |  |  |
Sun Dome Pikemen | 19(+11) |  |  |
Shock Troops |  |  |  |
Red Tribe | 10W(+10) | 10W(+10) |  |
Black Horse Troop | 12W2(+6) |  |  |
The Army Villians | 3W2(+5) |  |  |
Black Leopard Mandate | 1W2(+3) |  | Terror Tactics 20W |
Chaos Thing | 5W2(+10) |  |  | Cause Panic 10W
Exotics |  |  |  |
Luathelan Heavy Foot | 10W2(+10) | 10W2(+10) |  |
Luathelan Cavalry | 15W2(+10) |  |  |

[End]