Below is a system that I have developed for quick warcard battle resolution. It is based on the D&D War Machine rules. Special thanks to James Ruhland for his comments and suggestions.
Each unit starts having a base value of 1. This value is modified for each unit as follows (use all that apply):
| Characteristic | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Melee 3-4 | +1 |
| Melee 5+ | +2 |
| Defense 3-4 | +1 |
| Defense 5+ | +2 |
| Missile 1-3 | +1 |
| Missile 4+ | +2 |
| Charge 1-5 | +1 |
| Charge 6+ | +2 |
| 3 morale icons | +1 |
| 1 morale icon | -1 |
| 3 or more hits | +1 per hit over 2 |
| Only 1 hit | -1 |
| Has special ability* | +1 per ability |
| Has constant special vulnerablity | -1 |
| Has spellcasting ability or similar effect | +1 if can be used 3 or less times per battle, +2 if constant |
| Special movement ability** | +1 per ability |
| Movement rate 3+ | +1 |
| Affected by Bless Army or similar realm spell | +1 per spell |
* such as ignoring F and R results (note that this is counted
as two separate abilities). Bonuses vs. specific units do not
count here.
** flying, no terrain penalties, etc.
Examples of values of basic units:
| Unit | Base Value |
|---|---|
| Archers | 3 |
| Infantry | 3 |
| Pikemen | 3 |
| Elite Infantry | 5 |
| Irregulars | 2* |
| Cavalry | 6 |
| Knights | 7 |
| Scouts | 2* |
| Artillerists | 3 |
| Levy | 1 |
* Although irregulars and scouts would have a base value of 3 under this system, it is recommended that it is artificially lowered to 2, to reflect these units' lack of good combat ability.
Add up the modified values of each unit to find the total army strength. If characters are accompanying the army, they add bonuses as follows:
| Character* | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Warrior | +1 per level |
| Rogue | +1 per 4 levels |
| Has Battlewise | +1 per unit commanded |
| Has Strategy NWP | +5 |
| Can turn undead** | +1 per enemy undead unit |
* For multiclasses characters, apply the best class bonus in
full, half of the next best one, and nothing for the third class
(if any).
** If a priest faces undead in battle, he must choose whether he
will spend time turning them or casting other battle spells.
Consequently, the priest only gets one bonus - either for his
spells or for the undead turning ability.
Character bonuses of spellcasters
A spellcaster has a base bonus equal to the number of spells he
can memorize. Thus, a 5th-level wizard (4/2/1) would be worth
4+2+1=7 points. Bonus spells received by priests with high Wisdom
are counted into this value. Note that a spellcaster must know at
least one spell usable in battle at each level in order to
receive the points for that level. Spellcasters receive further
modifications to their value as described below.
Versatility
| Spellcaster knows spells from 2 or fewer categories | -5 |
| Spellcaster knows spells from 3-4 categories | +0 |
| Spellcaster knows spells from 5-6 categories | +5 |
| Spellcaster knows spells from 7-8 categories | +7 |
The categories include Transmutations, Fogs, Massmorphs, Walls, Blesses, Hallucinatory Terrain, and Attack Spells in land battles; Crew-Affecting Spells, Illusions, Fogs, Movement Spells, Barriers, Bless, Turn Wood, and Attack Spells in sea battles.
Spell Power
| For each researched improvement to battle spells | +1 |
| For each known "D"-result spell | +1 |
| For each known spell in War sphere | +1 |
Note that this bonus considers the spells that the spellcaster has in his spellbook (or that are granted to him by his Immortal), not the spells he has memorized.
Enemy Magic Resistance
If at least 50% of the enemy unit is immune to F and R results
from spells, the spellcaster's total value is reduced by 25% for
that battle.
Unit Costs
The muster cost should generally be about 2 GB for every 3 points
of a unit's base value or part thereof.
Maintenance costs:
Basic units (base value less than 9): 1 GB
All mounted and mercenary units: 2 GB
Flying and elite units (base value 9+): 3 GB
Situational Modifiers
These are applied to the total army strength before each battle,
based on the situation. Note that these are applied
simultaneously, rather than in order given; thus, all percentages
are counted off the base army value (including character
bonuses).
Troop Ratio (applied to the larger force):
| 1.5 to 1 | +2% |
| 2 to 1 | +4% |
| 3 to 1 | +6% |
| 4 to 1 | +8% |
| 5 to 1 | +10% |
| 6 to 1 | +15% |
| 7 to 1 | +20% |
| 8-10 to 1 | +30% |
| 11-15 to 1 | +40% |
| 16+ to 1 | +50% |
Morale (use all that apply):
| Army in home realm | +5% |
| Army has beaten this foe before | +5% |
| Attacking an enemy which has used its full movement point allotment to get to the battle | +10% |
| Any friendly forces were defeated in the same round (and the army is aware of this) | -5% |
Environment (use all that apply; note that this is not a terrain bonus):
| Extremely favorable environment (e.g. orogs at night) | +10 |
| Extremely unfavorable environment (e.g. Khinasi in a snowstorm) | -10 |
| Entire army has infravision/night vision in a night/darkness battle* | +10 |
* Not applied if the enemy army also has it.
Terrain (use all that apply):
| Army is on higher altitude (e.g. defending in mountains or hills) | +10 |
| Army consists mainly of units with appropriate terrain advantages (e.g. elves in forests) | +10 |
| Army with mounted troops fighting in mountains, forest, or castle | -10 |
| Army is in mire/marsh/mud (unless this is its natural environment) | -10 |
| Army is on shifting ground like snow or sand (unless this is its natural environment) | -5 |
| Modifiers for defenders only (determine defender as per BR war move rules)* | |
|---|---|
| Defending a province with friendly holding (any type) | +5 |
| Defending a narrow pass, defile, or bridge | +20 |
| Attacker just crossed a river to get to the province | +15 |
| Defending in mountains, hills, or other rough terrain | +10 |
| Defending in a castle or fortification | +3 per castle level |
| Modifiers for attackers when assaulting a castle | |
| For every artillerist unit | +2 |
| If Engineering NWP is available | +2 |
| If Siegecraft NWP is available | +5 |
* These modifiers are ignored if all attackers can fly, and halved if at least 10% of the attackers can fly.
Immunities (use only one per force):
| Force completely immune to enemy attacks | +50% |
| At least 10% of the force immune to enemy attacks | +20% |
| Force immune to a significant number of enemy attacks | +20% |
Special Bonus:
+10% if a sizable part of the force consists of units with
bonuses against a sizable part of the opposing force (i.e. a
force with a large amount of pikemen fighting against a force
with a large amount of cavalry)
Diversity:
+10% if the army consists of three or more general unit types
(mounted, missile, melee, flying missile, flying melee, etc.)
-10% if the army consists of only a single general unit type
Note that some units can be considered as belonging to more than
one general type (e.g. irregulars are both melee and missile). In
that case, the army commander can assign them to different tasks
and avoid the penalty. However, he cannot gain the bonus in this
case either (because mounted and melee are mutually exclusive,
and flying and walking are also mutually exclusive; thus a single
unit type could have at most two functions).
Battle Results
Calculate the total value of each army. Each side then rolls d100
and adds that to their army value. The side with the higher
modified value is the winner. Subtract the loser's modified value
from the winner's modified value, and check the result in the
following table:
| Difference | Winner's Casualties | Loser's Casualties |
|---|---|---|
| 1-10 | 70% | 30% |
| 11-15 | 60% | 30% |
| 16-20 | 70% | 40% |
| 21-25 | 60% | 40% |
| 26-30 | 70% | 50% |
| 31-35 | 60% | 50% |
| 36-40 | 50% | 40% |
| 41-45 | 50% | 50% |
| 46-50 | 50% | 60% |
| 51-55 | 40% | 40% |
| 56-60 | 40% | 50% |
| 61-70 | 40% | 60% |
| 71-80 | 30% | 50% |
| 81-95 | 30% | 60% |
| 96-110 | 20% | 70% |
| 111-130 | 20% | 60% |
| 131-150 | 10% | 70% |
| 151-200 | 10% | 80% |
| 201-250 | 10% | 70% |
| 251-300 | 5% | 80% |
| 301-400 | 5% | 90% |
| 400+ | 5% | 100% |
Note that the casualties are calculated from the total value
of army units, not the amount of units. The character and
situational bonuses are not considered when calculating
casualties. Also there is a special attrition modifier - the
winner takes a minimum of 20% of the loser's casualties.
Assume that half of the casualties are routed and damaged units.
These units cannot fight in the current round, but will be up to
full strength in the next. The winner can always recover his
routed units; the loser can as well, but some of these may be
captured by the winner at the DM's discretion.
After the results are determined, the winner can, at his option,
destroy some of the remaining units of the loser, as per the
cavalry pursuit rules.
Tactics (optional)
Each side can submit a battle plan. The plans are then compared
and the following modifiers are applied:
| Side A Plan | Side B Plan | Effect for Side A | Effect for Side B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full charge | Full charge | Cas +20% | Cas +20% |
| Full charge | Normal attack | Cas +20% | BV -10% |
| Full charge | Encircle | BV +5% | Cas +10% |
| Full charge | Trap | Cas +20% | BV +10% |
| Full charge | Hold | Cas +20% | BV -15% |
| Full charge | Withdraw | BV +10% | Cas +30% |
| Full charge | No plan | Cas +10% | BV -20% |
| Normal attack | Normal attack | Cas +10% | Cas +10% |
| Normal attack | Encircle | Cas +10% | BV -5% |
| Normal attack | Trap | Cas +10% | BV +5% |
| Normal attack | Hold | - | Cas -10% |
| Normal attack | Withdraw | BV +5% | Cas +20% |
| Normal attack | No plan | - | - |
| Encircle | Encircle | - | - |
| Encircle | Trap | Cas -10% | BV -10% |
| Encircle | Hold | BV +10% | Cas +20% |
| Encircle | Withdraw | BV +5% | Cas -10% |
| Encircle | No plan | - | Cas +30% |
| Trap | Trap | - | - |
| Trap | Hold | BV -10% | Cas -10% |
| Trap | Withdraw | Cas -10% | Cas -10% |
| Trap | No plan | - | Cas +10% |
| Hold | Hold | No battle | No battle |
| Hold | Withdraw | No battle | No battle |
| Hold | No plan | Cas -10% | - |
| Withdraw | Withdraw | No battle | No battle |
| Withdraw | No plan | Cas -20% | - |
Full charge: all units will rush forward to attack.
Normal attack: units will move forward, using both melee and
missile combat.
Encircle: units will try to move along the sides, encircling the
enemy.
Trap: units will present a weak center and try to lure the enemy
into moving forward; then they crush him from the sides.
Hold: units will maintain a strong position and avoid moving
forward.
Withdraw: units will retreat at the first opportunity, trying to
avoid the battle altogether.
No plan: units just generally mill about, doing what they can in
the circumstances (this is the assumed choice).
Note that the casualty modifiers for battle plan are cumulative with the attrition modifier for the winner. Thus, if one army uses a Hold plan against another army with no plan and wins, it only suffers a minimum of 10% of the loser's casualties.