I played through this scenario and it was the least enjoyable scenario that I've ever experienced. Most of my issues are with the mass combat and in no particular order:
-Scenarios are supposed to be played in a 4 hour time slot. During our run through, we spent about half of our time running through the mass combat rules (this was due to a variety of issues ranging from identical nomenclature, to a lack of simplification of the mass combat rules. The remaining time was largely spent in the mass combats with the actual Pathfinder taking just under 10 minutes to finish.
-I didn't get to play my character. I come to PFS to play my characters, not to march armies around. Players should not be required to set aside the character they put time and effort into, just to play a scenario. Out of a 4 hour time slot, over 90% was devoted to the mass combat system which just sucks for a table of more than 2 people.
-Mass Combat is not suited to more than 2 players. On my run through, one player had enough time not doing anything during the mass combats to completely revise and level up a character, get a drink and sit around twiddling his thumbs. He got to move his army once, then got a 40 minute downtime which is unacceptable for any pathfinder. The mechanics exclude everyone from playing which is not the point of Pathfinder Society.
-The Mass Combat was rather detached from the rest of the scenario. You didn't fail if you lost both battles; the society simply put competent commanders in charge...which raise the question of why put the players in charge of armies in the first place? We aren't generals, we are society agents, two very, very different things. I hope that Mass Combat is stuck from the list of things that are put into Society Scenarios in the future.
What I would've preferred to have seen in this scenario is to have the PCs pitted against troops. The troops would've been a great way to have the PCs participate in the assault, would've fit how the Society would fight during times of war (small teams of combat spec'd agents), and enabled everyone to most importantly PLAY THEIR CHARACTERS. I don't come to Pathfinder Society to command an army or to play a hex-map minigame. I come to play my Pathfinder Society Agent! To kick butt, take names and catalog artifacts and history!
