Mass Combat: Player Actions

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Using Player Characters
Player characters should be able to affect the outcome of a battle, with clever tactics and skill. There are a few ways to do this:

Generals
In some styles of game, the player characters are responsible for coordinating the actions of an army’s various units. The players are responsible for assigning actions to the units under their command. In this type of game, many unit turns or even an entire war can pass in a single game session.

Spec Ops
Another option is to have the player characters act as a special unit. In most RPGs, an adventuring party is a small band of specialists. A unit of player characters would likely have Low or Base Quantity, High Quickness, and a large Quiver. Instead of Quality and unit skills, the player characters use their own abilities to handle unit actions. Each unit action is handled as a small adventure or a downtime project, depending on the difficulty; the success or failure of this adventure or project determines the results of the action.

More Meat For The Grinder
A final option is to have the player characters be part of a large unit, either commanding from the front or acting as frontline troops. This works best either early in the game (as the player characters all started in the same unit) or in a game focusing on the horrors of war. In this style of play, orders come down from the side’s leaders, and the player characters are expected to carry them out.

Modified Actions
Regardless of how player characters interact with the battle, certain situations are handled differently with player characters present. For all purposes, player characters are treated as commanders even if they have no actual authority.

Banding
If a unit adjacent to a unit containing player characters has the Banding ability, add ((its Quantity) dice) extra characters to any combats.

Detect/Stealth
Use the normal rules for spotting concealed characters.

Out Of Supply
Normally, a unit restocks any supplies expended during the battle (within reasonable limits). Once Out Of Supply, the unit cannot restock; use inventory and deprivation rules.

Attack
If a unit containing a player character is involved in an attack on another unit, handle it as a normal combat. Each unit fields (Quantity) dice of characters plus commanders, placed as appropriate to the situation; if either unit suffers at least (Quantity) casualties, it loses one point of Quantity.

Decapitate
Handle the Decapitate action involving any unit containing a player character as a combat lasting (one die) in-game minutes between the chosen commanders.

Mop Up
If a unit containing a player character is involved in the Mop Up action, handle it as a normal combat. The attacker places three characters per die not showing a 1 plus commanders, and the defender places all commanders. The combat lasts (one die) in-game minutes. If the attacker loses at least (Quantity) characters, it loses one point of Quantity.

Punch Through
If a unit containing a player character is involved in the Punch Through action, handle it as a normal combat. The defending unit fields (Quantity) dice of characters plus commanders; the attacker fields (Base) dice of characters plus commanders, with advantages based on Discipline. If at least (Quantity) characters on the attacking side cross the map within (one die) in-game minutes, the action is successful.

Surrender
A unit led by a player character is not required to offer a surrender if it has [Quality<Base]. If the player character refuses to offer surrender at an appropriate moment, begin an encounter as the unit mutinies. Putting down the mutiny prevents the unit from needing to surrender for (1 die) turns before it risks mutiny again. Roll one die for each non-commander character killed, wounded, or deserted in putting down the mutiny; if any dice come up 1, reduce Quantity by 1.

Hazard
Use the normal rules for terrain hazards.