Mass Combat

Mass combat is adapted from Chainmail (Gygax & Perren, 1971). One figure represents approximately 20 soldiers. Distance is measured in inches on the table: 1" = 10 yards. One turn represents roughly one minute of action.

Troop Types

Six troop classes are used. Armor, training, and weapon determine a unit's class.

Pike or halberd: Heavy Foot and Armored Foot armed with pikes or halberds add one extra die per figure to their melee rolls.

Turn Sequence (Move / Counter-Move)

1. Initiative — Both sides roll 1d6. The higher roll chooses to move first or last.
2. First side moves its units and resolves any missile fire (including split-moves and pass-through fire).
3. Second side moves its units and resolves any missile fire.
4. Artillery fire is resolved.
5. Missile fire from stationary units is resolved.
6. Melees are resolved.
7. Morale checks are made as required.

Morale checks may trigger at any point during fire or melee — not only at the end of the turn.

Movement

† Javelin-armed light horse only.

Charge moves are only permitted when melee contact is expected during the turn. Charging cavalry must move in a roughly straight line (up to 45° curve permitted). Victorious charging units must continue their charge move out to full distance.

Terrain effects on movement:

Missile Fire

Resolve missile fire before melee. Divide missile troops into groups firing at the same target. Groups may not exceed the maximum shown on the table — larger forces must split into two or more equal groups.

Roll 2d6 for each group. The lower die and the higher die each produce casualties independently from the table below.

vs Unarmored targets (no armor, no shield):

vs ½ Armor or Shield (leather, shield, or light protection):

vs Fully Armored targets (mail, plate, or equivalent):

Rate of fire: Archers, crossbowmen, and longbowmen may fire every turn. If they did not move and are not in melee at the end of a turn, they may fire twice. If moved up to half their normal movement, they fire once; if moved over half, they must beat their opponent's die roll to fire at all.

Cover: Soft cover (brush, woods, waist-high fences, walls) halves casualties — drop all fractions. Hard cover (walls, roofs) prevents indirect fire; missiles cannot reduce casualties further if indirect fire is the only possibility.

Arc of fire: Footmen — 45° left or right. Horsemen — 180° left or right. Two ranks of missile troops may fire, provided the front rank is also missile troops.

Melee Combat

How It Works

When units make contact, each side rolls a pool of d6s. The size of the pool and the kill threshold are determined by the attacker's type and the defender's type — look them up on the Combat Table below.

• The left number is how many attacking figures are needed to contribute one d6 to the pool. Example: "2" means 2 attackers share 1 die.
• If the entry shows ×2 or ×4, each attacking figure rolls that many dice instead.
• A die result meeting or exceeding the kill score kills one defending figure. Killed figures are removed immediately.
• Only one rank of figures fights in melee.

Combat Table

Read: figures-per-die / minimum score to kill. A plain number with no "/" kills on 6.

Example: 10 Heavy Horse attack 20 Heavy Foot. The table shows ×2 / 5+, so each HH figure rolls 2d6 — 20 dice total. Each die showing 5 or 6 kills one HF figure. Expected result: ~7 kills. The 20 HF return fire on the HH (HF vs HH = 2): 20 ÷ 2 = 10 dice, killing on 6 only — expected ~2 kills.

Special Melee Rules

Pike or halberd: HF and AF armed with pikes or halberds add one extra die per figure (over and above the table entry). This applies against all target types.

Impetus bonus: Heavy Foot, Armored Foot, and all cavalry receive one extra die per figure when charging across smooth, level terrain or moderate downhill slopes.

Flank attack: A unit attacking from the flank is treated as one class higher for both attack and defense. Example: Heavy Foot attacking from the flank are treated as Armored Foot on the Combat Table.

Rear attack: A unit attacking from the rear scores casualties without receiving any return attacks. The same class-upgrade bonus as flank applies.

Cavalry — standing defense: Cavalry defending in place (not having moved that turn and not charged) returns casualties at one class lower. Heavy Horse standing still defends as Medium Horse.

Missile troops in melee: Missile troops interspersed with a defending foot unit may "refuse" combat — falling back 3" out of melee range. If the other foot are driven away or if the attacker can continue a charge move, the missile troops must fight.

Cavalry Charge Morale

Any unit in the path of a cavalry charge must pass a morale check before melee is resolved. Roll 2d6 and meet or exceed the score shown or the unit retreats 1½ moves and must rally.

Swiss and Landsknechte armed with pikes or pole arms automatically stand against any cavalry charge.

Units charged in the flank subtract 1 from the 2d6 roll; units charged in the rear subtract 2. If both sides are charging, both must check, adding +1 if foot, +2 if horse.

Post-Melee Morale

After each melee is resolved, the side with the fewer casualties determines the outcome as follows:

1. Take the positive difference between kills scored and kills received. Multiply by the result of 1d6.
2. The side with the more surviving troops notes the positive difference between its own survivors and the enemy's.
3. Each side multiplies its total survivors by its unit's Morale Rating.
4. Both sides total their scores from steps 1–3. The side with the lower total must react:

Morale Ratings:

Loss Table

Separately from post-melee morale, whenever casualties from any cause (missile, melee, or routing) exceed the threshold percentage of a unit's original strength, that unit must immediately roll 2d6 and meet or exceed the listed score or be removed from play.

A unit that fails this roll is removed from play immediately. Surrounded units with no retreat route automatically surrender.

If the loss is brought about by missile fire, check morale before the melee portion of the turn. If by melee, check after all melees are completed.

Routing and Rally

A routing unit moves its full movement away from the nearest enemy each round. Units in retreat or rout may attempt to rally on subsequent turns:

A rallied unit may fight again but treats its current strength as its new "original strength" for Loss Table purposes. If a routing unit contacts a formed body of friendly troops, its retreat stops — but both units must then attempt to rally. If a routing unit contacts another friendly unit, it causes that unit to rout as well.

Any unit that retreats or routs off the table is removed from play for the remainder of the battle.

Heroes and Monsters

Hero-type characters do not check morale. They add +1 to every die their unit rolls (the army commander adds +2). They are always the last figure killed in their unit, and they may be targeted individually only by other hero-types or fantastic creatures. Heroes may act independently of their unit to engage another fantastic creature.

Fighting Capability

When meleed by regular troops, four simultaneous hits must be scored on a Hero (eight on a Superhero) to eliminate them — individual hits are ignored until the full count is reached.

Monsters in Mass Combat

Monsters use their Hit Dice as their fighting capability. Match them to the nearest equivalent:

Large creatures (giants, dragons, treants) are impervious to normal missile fire and may attack multiple adjacent figures. See the Chainmail Fantasy Supplement for detailed creature rules.

Army Commander

The army commander figure adds +1 to every die rolled by any unit it is with (or +2 to 2d6 morale rolls for that unit). Any unit within 12" of the army commander also receives a +1 bonus on any morale die or dice roll it must make.

The army commander automatically rallies any unit it joins, but if it leaves before spending three complete turns with that unit, the unit reverts to its former unrallied status. If the army commander is killed or captured, all units on that side must immediately check morale as if they had taken excess casualties, at −2 to the roll.

Derived from Chainmail by Gygax & Perrin.