Mass Combat

While combat between small groups can be handled in a fairly simple manner, applying the same system to a larger battle would be tedious in the extreme. As such, we'll be generalizing much of the combat. This system will also be used going forward for Siege! battles.

Mass combat is broken up into the following aspects: The center, the flanks, the reserve, skirmishers, siege engines, and allies. The center is the most vital part of any army because if the center buckles, the army is routed. As such the bulk of most armies are deployed in the center, but this is not necessarily the case. Experienced generals have far more leeway in this regard. Following at a close second are the flanks. Enemies attacking an army that has lost one of its flanks get a massive bonus, so it's important to protect the flanks.

Reserves, skirmishers, siege engines, and allies are less important but can still determine the outcome of a battle. Reserves serve to replace a broken flank or reinforce a weakened center. However, reserves also reduce the strength of the center. To establish a reserve, the commander must withdraw manpower equal to the manpower of an additional flank from the center.

Skirmishers may take the form of either ranged units, Vatis, or cavalry. Skirmishers can be used defensively to reinforce either the flanks or the center, but they're better as offensive fighters. They're useful for maneuvering around the sides or behind an enemy army since they can move twice each round of battle, where other units can only move once or not at all. Thus, it's very easy for skirmishers to gain a flanking bonus.

Siege Engines are stationary units that must be set up before the battle begins. They're incapable of movement and have almost no defense, but they're very powerful attackers. They're typically stationed well behind the front lines and used to bombard an approaching enemy. It's important to note that siege engines are not necessarily feats of engineering. Teams of vatis may also serve as siege engines.

Allies are armies or in some cases single units that aren't under the direct command of the main army's leader. Allies could take the form of a small division of cavalry split off before the battle begins to wait in ambush just as easily as they could take the form of a massive ten thousand man strong army joining the battle to aid your forces. Allies are not necessarily stronger nor weaker than the army they're helping.

Speaking in mechanical terms, these aspects of an army are broken up thus:
	Center:		1 move/rnd, +4 Defense, +2 Attack
	Flanks:		1 move/rnd, +2 Defense, +4 Attack
	Skirmishers:	2 move/rnd, -2 Defense, +4 Attack
	Siege Engines:	0 moves/rnd, -4 Defense, +6 Attack

Each of these aspects of an army are commanded individually by someone either appointed by the overall commander of the army or simply higher ranked or more experienced than any of the other soldiers, if no leader is appointed. A character's talent for leadership is represented by a bonus applied to the overall commander's rolls for that flank of the army.

As an example if the left flank is led by a grizzled old veteran Pudhari and it's being pressed by the opposing army's left flank, then the commander will add +6 to his rolls to defend that flank. If the overall commander is in turn a Karnala, he will have a cumulative bonus of +14 from leadership alone for defending that flank.

Leadership Traits:
	Janarala:	+10 to Leadership Rolls
	Karnala:	+8 to Leadership Rolls
	Pudhari:	+6 to Leadership Rolls
	Adhikari:	+4 to Leadership Rolls
	Senapati:	+2 to Leadership Rolls

Finally, I've mentioned Manpower several times now but I've yet to explain how manpower works. Manpower is determined by rounding the number of soldiers in an army to the nearest hundred and dividing by one hundred. Thus, if an army has 563 soldiers it has 6 manpower. Manpower is distributed at the start of battle to each aspect of the army. Manpower acts as a sort of HP system, determining the number of rolls that element of the army can fail before breaking. Reserves can add their manpower to a flank or the center to increase the number of rolls it can fail.

It's also important to note that for every point of manpower one side has over the other in combat, the side with superior manpower receives a +2 bonus to both attack and defense. So if one army has a left flank with 3 MP and the other army has a left flank with 5 MP, the other army will receive a +4 bonus to both attack and defense on its left flank. This can make keeping a reserve undesirable, as those troops might better serve as an additional point of manpower at the center or at the flanks.

A typical, 'safe' distribution for an army of 1000 men (ie, an army with 10 MP), would look something like this:
	Center:		4 MP
	Left Flank:	2 MP
	Right Flank:	2 MP
	Skirmishers:	1 MP
	Reserve:	1 MP

Now then, much like regular combat mass combat has maneuvers which can alter the way a part of the army behaves. For now, I'll only use this pastebin to list the maneuvers that Mik understands and is familiar with as a leader of men.

	Press: Mik orders the men forward, abandoning any notion of defense in the process. Conveys a +4 to attack rolls and a -4 to defense rolls.
	Hold!: Mik commands that the men stand strong in the face of the enemy, hunkering down and forgoing any idea of attack. Provides a +4 to defensive rolls and a -4 to attack.