So in the last two sessions our kingdom has fought it's first war!
We're using my heavily modified Mass Combat rules which you can find Here. These rules include movement rules, scouting rules, more complex tactical choices and more. Many of the ideas in them came from others here on these boards.
We actually turned Module 4 into Mass Combat. We've gotten over the point where hexploration is still fun and are trying to focus more on the large story. So I created a series of armies that Drelev could make use of to attack the PCs. (A 13 headed pyro-hydra ensorcled by Nyrissa's magic to serve as an army, a host of bog mummies controlled by the Clerics behind Armag, some Tiger Lord armies, and a few Drelev formations.)
The players had been building up their kingdom and recruiting a few armies, just in time to stop the assault on Tatzelford. Then they threw the entire kingdom economy into recruiting armies and preparing for war. Both sides spent two months gathering allies and resources before launching into a full-scale battle.
The modified Mass combat rules use fog of war. I had the PCs who's characters could command armies in one room with the big map we put our kingdom on, and then I had all the Players who's PCs were useless in commanding armies take control of the bad guys and play the opposition with their own map in the other room. I refereed between the two sides. It was fascinating watching the two sides hunt for each other then clashing in big battles. There were some very tense moments as the fate of the kingdom hung in the balance for a time.
Here's a summary of the events.
Year 5 Month 1 Arodus
Military Support: All resources were spent on strengthening the military
Military Expansion: Tatzlford built additional barracks and expanded the militia. The Leveton militia were also expanded. The first regiment of Pike, one of Cavalry and one of Archers deployed. Roch’s scouts deployed for action. A second regiment of Pike, Cavalry, and Archers began training. The Emerald Knights had a troop of Bards join them and were given improved weapons. The Pike were also given improved weapons.
Reserve: 100 BPs are being held in reserve
Withdrawals to the party treasury have been put on hold, unless the council orders otherwise.
The kingdom economy continues to be healthy despite the vast resources being spent on the military.
An uneventful month elsewhere in the kingdom.
Year 5 Month 1 Arodus
War begins!
The first week of operations (Our first session)
The Emerald Knights with the 1st Pike and 1st Archers in support moved boldly towards the northern town in Drelev. There they engaged units of Pike and Barbarians in a series of successful combats and captured the small town in the north.
Roch’s Rangers moved out into the forest alone and were caught in an ambush by a tribe of Pixies led by the Mite Sorcerer. Roch has not been heard from since.
The Kobolds moved to Tatzleford.
The Pixies scouted deeply into the Jewelled Kingdom only to be caught in a pincer move by Opal’s Cavalry and the Emerald Knights led by Slag.
Slag, Opal, Twitch and their armies returned to the North and engaged more Drelev troops and defeated almost all of them.
An enemy cavalry force with siege engines comes out of the forest and lays siege to Tatzleford defeating the Kobolds and trapping them and the militia inside the town. The siege engines begin smashing the town’s walls.
The second week of operations (Our second session)
While Slag, Twitch and Opal were planning on moving their troops deeper into enemy territory they are surprised by the arrival of a fearsome 13 headed, fire-breathing hydra at Tatzleford. There the kobolds are defeated and the militia flee the scene leaving the town in the enemy hands.
What’s more the enemy cavalry force moves to the capital of Emerald and starts throwing rocks at the city’s walls reducing the city’s defenses.
In desperation the kingdom’s armies gallop back towards the capital. Slag’s Knights manage to drive off the Hydra, but it heals up rapidly and returns the very next day, this time accompanied by a horde of Mummies led by evil clerics. Slag wisely concedes the field.
What follows over the next week are a series of movements and skirmishes as the Jewelled kingdom gathers its forces and the Hydra and mummies move inexorably forward. A group of Tiger Lord Barbarians camps in Tatzleford and begins to raze the town. Many of the citizens are turned into mummies and the town is in ruins.
The enemy Hydra, mummies and cavalry attack the Kobold town of Aurite catching some of the Jewelled kingdom forces out of position. Slag leaves the field to fight another day and Twitch leads his brave and skilled 1st pike in a desperate defense of the town supported by the 1st Archers and town militia. But his brilliant combat skills are no match for the unstoppable undead horde. The hydra flees the battle, but the mummies overwhelm the stubborn defenders and slaughters them to the last man, leaving the town in enemy hands. Twitch is rescued in the last moments by Ember and is recovering from his wounds in the castle.
However, the hydra had fled the field and was all alone not far from the capitol. Slag takes this chance to throw everything they’ve got at the hydra. 8 armies converge on the hydra including the recently recruited 2nd Cavalry, 2nd Pike, and 2nd Archers along with Slag’s Knights, Opal’s Cavalry and the kobolds, plus the survivors of the Tatzleford militia who had escaped the death of their town. In a desperate hard-fought battle the Hydra is finally brought down by the thousand soldiers that fought it. Losses are heavy on the Jewelled kingdom side, but no army is destroyed.
The Drelev forces hole up in Aurite where the Jewelled kingdom attacks with all they’ve got. In a long drawn-out battle the last of the enemy troops threatening the capitol are hunted down and destroyed.
One group of Tiger Lords remain in Tatzleford, but they can easily be dispatched by the remaining Jewelled armies.
However, the economy of the kingdom is stretched thin. The losses of so many armies have disrupted the kingdom, the damage done to Tatzleford, Aurite, and Emerald itself, and the desperate mobilization of so many armies has emptied the treasury. (Only 12 BPs remain!) The kingdom cannot even keep the existing armies in the field in the next month. Most of the armies need to be stood down and put into quarters in order to save costs and avoid bankrupting the kingdom.
The kingdom cannot field an army powerful enough to assault the fort in Drelev. At most they could send Slag and two other armies. Which will be enough to bottle up the remaining Drelev forces in the town, but not enough to take it. What’s more supplies are being sent in to the town so it can’t even be starved out.
The war has ended in stalemate.
However, the great Barbarian warlord has not been seen.
Other means must be found in order to bring Drelev to its knees before the warlord appears again.
