Abstract Combat Statistics: Heroes on the Mass Scale and ACKS
Not long ago, I was thinking about the necessity of abstracted combat resolution and remembered that GURPS Mass Combat exists, and that it probably can be applied to small-scale combat with some minor adjustments. However, one of the questions remains - how do you derive abstract combat statistics from the non-abstract combat characteristics of a creature? In my GURPS Monstrous Compendium, I calculated the Combat Effectiveness Ratings for all creatures but for a slightly different reason. And now I remembered about the existence of Heroes on the Mass Scale from Pyramid #3-84 that is... basically 90% the same thing, but I believe that these 10% of difference make it much better. I've already dabbled with this article in the past, but I had much less experience back then, so now let's revisit it.
Before I do, however, I have to note something - why don't I approximate creature/adventurer statistics using preexisting mass combat elements with Hero, Quality, and Equipment modifiers? The answer is that I want more variety. I want dwarven troops to be different from human troops, goblins being different from bugbears, etc. In addition, mass combat elements are abstract in scale - for example, a Light Infantry element can represent 10 people, 12 people, 15 people, etc., but I need more precision here. I'd like to be able to have an element of three goblin light infantry and seventeen bugbear archers. (This is getting very similar to the ACKS Battle Rating, doesn't it?)
Option #1 - Heroes on the Mass Scale
What is the difference between It's a Threat! that is used to calculate CER and Heroes on the Mass Scale? The actual CER/TS calculation differs only in three places:
1. When taking Move into account, It's a Threat! tells you to take your highest Move and subtract six, while Heroes on the Mass Scale tells you to subtract five.
2. When accounting for HP, It's a Threat! tells you to subtract 10 from HP, while Heroes on the Mass Scale tells you to take a square root from that value in addition to subtracting 10.
3. Heroes on the Mass Scale has a campaign austerity multiplier that ranges from x0.1 to x2. This modifier only makes sense if you are combining these new elements of your own creation with those from GURPS Mass Combat.
Since Heroes on the Mass Scale also lets you derive other mass combat statistics, and the HP component is, in my opinion, better, I think that it's a strict upgrade from It's a Threat! However, last time I had some problems with how insanely high TS values are, but I did make some mistakes in my calculations. I'd like to run this article through some other examples to see how they compare to the elements from GURPS Mass Combat.
First, let's have a very simple spearman with ST 11, DX 10, HT 10, Spear-12, medium layered leather armor on the torso (DR 3), medium light shield (DB 2), and a spear.
Such a spearman will have TS 20. If we apply the x0.1 multiplier for a gritty/realistic campaign, we get TS 2, which is equivalent to Light Infantry from GURPS Mass Combat. However, this is one spearman, and not ten! Perhaps, TS should be divided by 100, not by 10. If we look through the other monsters with calculated CER values (that are usually very close to what TS would be), we will see that there isn't really a point in adding new modifiers to bring everything in line with the GURPS Mass Combat elements. Mass Combat ogres have TS 8, while my ogre has TS 15.45 (before dividing by an additional 10). Sure, my ogres and what the book assumes probably are different, but they should be pretty much in the same ballpark. And now you can see that an individual ogre after division by 10 should have TS 0.1545, while that puny spearman had TS 0.2. Ain't that strange? For the most part, this stems from the DB 2 shield providing an additional TS 4 and the impaling damage type of the spear also giving a hefty increase.
However, even if we create the entire element lineup for the sake of consistencies, it will not work becaose HotMS is not a design system. Its purpose is to quickly estimate TS of a hero with a character sheet for use with GURPS Mass Combat. It even says so in the back, in the Monsters and Motorcycles box (where it immediately proceeds to tell you to disregard the assumption and design elements with the system, so it's a bit of a questionable box, isn't it?) Even if you do use it as a design system, how do you, for example, design a mounted warrior from scratch? Sure, you can factor in the Move statistic that probably will give you the Mounted element class, but how does everything else factor in? Cavalry is one of the simplest such examples - what about something like an elephant with an archer platform on its back? What if the platform carries wizards instead of archers? What if it carries a mix of archers and wizards? Why was I even dividing everything by an additional 10 aside trying to fit a square peg of HotMS into a round hole of existing mass combat elements? How do you factor in morale? This is not working.
People have been pointing me towards this article many times, but it seems that they either know something that I don't, do not understand what I'm looking for, haven't actually used the article themselves, simply do not care, or all of the above. However, I do admit that this article has decent enough guidelines for determining element classes and all other stuff - just not actual TS.
Option #2 - GURPS Mass Combat as a design system
Giving credit to GURPS Mass Combat, I will say that it already provides a good list of combat elements and a relatively long list of customization options, which were expanded in some Pyramid articles as well. By using preexisting elements and applying these optional features, you can create many different fantastical and mundane new elements. However, it isn't very granular and runs into the vague scale of GURPS Mass Combat. For example, goblin light infantry definitely is weaker than human light infantry, but it able to fight at night. You apply the Night feature and, possibly, poor equipment and troop quality. However, this does not take into account the number of combatants, as everything is counted in tens. For GURPS Mass Combat - that's actually okay, because you can just take more elements of goblin light infantry, but for my purposes, it is not, because I want to use these rules on a small scale, where every single combatant matters. Technically speaking, I could treat an element as a single fighter, but the elements are balanced against one another assuming that one element of light infantry is 10-15 troops, one unit of cavalry is around 5 mounted warriors, etc., so things can get a bit weird. Anyway, that's a decent enough option that's probably better than Heroes on the Mass Scale, but I want "good", not "decent."
Option #3 - Combine with ACKS
Why does it always come to this? A few months ago, I posted some rough conversion guidelines between GURPS and Domains at War: Battles. However, Domains at War: Campaigns and ACKS II also have a much more abstract mass combat system that uses Battle Rating (BR). Calculating BRs does require a spreadsheet, but it's actually quite simple. I ran it through some GURPS examples - light infantry, ogres, trolls, etc., and the result was surprisingly good.
Aside from this, if you use BR instead of TS, you can straight up use the mass combat system from ACKS, if you prefer it, or use the abstract combat mechanics from ACKS II Judges Journal. However, since I wanted to make something of my own, something that is closer to GURPS Mass Combat, then why... why don't I simply use BR instead of TS and add the other features/classes from GURPS Mass Combat? This way, you will have a universal approach that works in both systems and as a bonus plays well with the economics, as you can use BR to work out the wages of troops, when you use the 1 gp = $40 conversion rate (check this new blog out, it's great).
However, one thing to keep in mind is that you will have to work out some BR modifiers due to the two systems being so different combat-wise. For example, the skill/to-hit roll plays no role in the BR calculation. I would high skill as a "special ability" for the purpose of BR and increase it by, let's say, 10% for each level past 10. This is just a number off the top of my head - do not use it. I will definitely play around with this idea more, but it seems that this option gives you the best of both worlds: granularity, variety, consistency, economical integration, and applicability on different levels of abstraction.
I was using HotMS, and I thought it was pretty decent. I did make some expansions and changes though. First, using an austerity modifier of 1/50, and second, adding some extra sources of TS:
ReplyDeleteFor calculating TS from character sheets:
Health:
Also add +1 per 5 character points in other Health advantages, rounded up, and +1 per level above 10 in Breath Control.
Move:
Also add +1 per 10 character points in other movement advantages, rounded up, +1 per level above 10 in skills such as Navigation, Flight, Hiking, Riding (If Mounted!), Stealth, Camouflage, Swimming (If a naval element!), Teamster (If driving a wagon!), Driving (If driving an appropriate vehicle!), Acrobatics and Climbing (Count encumbrance!), etc. If the character has 15% or more of their TS from this category, and the ability to move and fight on the ground, they may qualify as a cavalry element.
Will:
Also add +1 per 5 character points in other combat Will advantages, rounded up, and +1 per level above 10 in skills such as Mental Strength, Mind Block, and Autohypnosis.
Luck:
Add +1 per 5 character points in luck advantages, rounded up, and +1 per level above 10 in luck skills. (Do not count skills or advantages twice! If they were already added to another category, count them there or move them here, but not both!) If the character has 15% or more of their TS from this category, they may qualify as a luck element.
Other Combat:
Add +1 per 10 character points in other combat advantages, rounded up, -1 per 5 character points in direct combat disadvantages, like Cowardice, Aichmophobia, Pacifism, Confused, -1 per 10 character points in indirect combat disadvantages, such as Bully and Bloodlust, and +1 per 2 levels above 10 in other combat skills, including weapon skills not otherwise counted, unarmed combat skills, Intimidation, etc.
Perception:
Add Perception - 10, +1 per 5 character points in advantages that give improved perception, rounded up, and +1 per level above 10 in skills such as Observation, Tracking, Survival, Search, Lip Reading, Shadowing, Camouflage, etc. If the character has 15% or more of their TS from this category and/or Move, with at least 5% in each category, they may qualify as a recon element.
Intelligence:
Add Intelligence - 10, +1 per 10 character points in advantages that give improved intellectual, communication, or command ability, including rank, rounded up, and +1 per 2 levels above 10 in intellectual skills that could be useful on the battlefield, such as applied mathematics, skills for communicating, Tactics, Leadership, Intelligence Analysis, Strategy, Interrogation, Forward Observer, etc. If the character has 15% or more of their TS from this category and/or perception, with at least 5% in this category, they may qualify as a C3I element.
Engineering:
Add +1 per 10 character points in engineering advantages, rounded up, and +1 per 2 levels above 10 in engineering skills like Engineer, Electrician, Explosives, Forced Entry, etc. If the character has 15% or more of their TS from this category, they may qualify as an engineering element.
Support:
DeleteAdd +1 per 10 character points in support advantages, rounded up, including reputation and other relevant social advantages, -1 per 5 character points in support disadvantages, and +1 per 2 levels above 10 in support skills like Soldier, First Aid, Scrounging, Administration, Diplomacy, Armoury, Mechanic, Engineer, Machinist, Politics, Electrician, Public Speaking, Savoire-Faire (Military), Survival, Packing, etc. If a character has a large enough score here, even after adjustment for the austerity modifier, they may receive it as logistics strength. If the character has 15% or more of their TS from this category and/or Intelligence, with at least 5% in this category, they may qualify as a logistics element.
Do not count skills or advantages twice for overall troop strength! For combat reflexes in particular, note that it is already counted for both active defenses and will, do not count it anywhere else. Additionally, in all cases, if a unit is unused to using their skills in combat, it may make sense to apply familiarity penalties. If a unit is lacking in direct attack and damage - less than 15% it's TS - it may count as a support element.
Of course, depending on the battle, the value of all these might vary a lot. Perception and stealth don't matter a ton if your units are just doing basic shield wall combat, but they become super important in stealthy urban ambushes and jungle combat, for example.