My PCs are coming to a point in the campaign where large-scale battles will be occurring. To facilitate this, I am looking for some rules for dealing with mass combats.
The only two products I know of that touch on this subject are the recent 'Heroes of Battle' by WoTC and 'Cry Havoc', which was released a couple years back by Malhavoc Press.
I was wondering how they compare, what the buyers thought of the products, and what recommendations might be made in handling large-scale combats
Heroes of Battle doesn't really handle large-scale combat. It presents rules that a DM can use for determining how the PCs can affect the battle going on around them. The battle is basically a flexible "setting" and how the PCs overcome the challenges presented to "them" affects the outcome of the battle.
I don't know about the other book you're asking about. Heroes of Battle is okay--it wasn't what I was looking for either, but it has some good stuff in it.
Fields of Blood is another one with mass combat rules. I have Cry Havoc, it's good basic stuff for handling mass combat.
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I gotta say that Heroes of Battle does a better job of making large-scale combats amenable to D&D adventuring. Taking the huge battles away and instead giving the PCs schievable goals WITHIN those battles is a articularly innovative, and with the Victory Point rules, easy-to-use mechanic. Heroes of Battle gets my vote ALL THE WAY.