Proposed new battle system: Tick the Boxes
As you can see, the armies are divided into flanks, and flanks of flanks, and so on, side-to-side. Each division breaks the force into four roughly equal parts, a left, right, center, and reserve. The reserve functions to replace and cover the retreat of a forward flank that has broken. It may or may not be an actual unit with its own commander, it reflects the general principle that larger armies tend to be arrayed deeper rather than simply wider. Note that this diagram doesn't serve to show what formation the units are actually arrayed in, simply the status of the respective armies. The diagram should be detailed near where the players are fighting, and vague farther away. This is not only realistic, but saves the GM from having to bother over irrelevant details.
Be sure to label where the players are, as well as the general locations of important NPC's, such as allies or enemies.
As the forces are broken up into Flanks horizontally, each Unit is broken into Ranks vertically, generally two each; the Front Rank made up of front-line fighters such as knights, and the Back Rank made up of back-line fighters such as spearmen and archers.
By doing well in combat, you break subsequent 'Ranks' of the enemy units, front to back. By breaking the 'Ranks' of the enemy units, you break subsequent 'Flanks' of the enemy forces, side to side. ' Breaks' are displayed as Ticks, or red diagonal lines in the boxes denoting the various units in the battle. This is why I call the system "Tick the Boxes". The Object of the system is to Tick as many of the enemy's boxes as possible.An ordinary overall success in combat awards one "Tick", which is drawn onto the first Rank of the unit you're facing. This means that you have broken the front line of enemy knights, and the next round will have you hacking into their infantry, as well as the scattered dregs of the knights you'd just fought.
A Unit's second Rank generally has an advantage in combat, as it generally more populous than the first, which usually manifests for the players as having to face two enemies at once. If the players do poorly in this second combat, the enemy unit is awarded a "Tick" instead, which is shown by erasing the tick that had been drawn on their first rank. What this means is that the Player-Knights have been driven back, and the Knights of the enemy unit have been able to re-form against them. If on the other hand the players win the combat with the second rank, they are awarded another "Tick", which is drawn across the Unit's second rank. This shows that the unit as a whole has been broken, and eliminated from the battle.
If there is an intact Reserve Flank behind the Unit you have just broken, then that Reserve Force moves up to take its place. Demonstrate this on the diagram by crossing out the Reserve Flank and erasing the Ticks on the unit in front of it.
It takes 1 Battle round for the Reserve to get fully into place to advance against the victorious unit. The player unit can choose to do one of the following:
1) Attack the reserve immediately
2) Prepare for a Charge against the Reserve
3) Await the enemy advance, during which time the players can:
--3a) Take a defeated enemy ransom
--3b) Go back to camp for medical attention
4) Attack an adjacent (engaged) enemy unit in the Flank. The Flanking unit is given a significant advantage, but if the maneuver fails to break the enemy unit, they stand to be counter-flanked by the Reserve Unit in the subsequent round.
Conversely, players of a Broken Unit who aren't dead or unconscious can do one of the following:
1) Join the incoming Reserve, or some other adjacent unit.
2) Go back to camp for medical attention.
3) Try to rescue a friend from being captured.
4) Charge out alone (or with a few friends) against the enemy. Massive disadvantages associated, death likely, but if successful, very glorious.
A Company as a whole breaks when one of the following conditions are met:
a) It has lost two Units without the enemy losing any.
b) It has lost three Units while the enemy has only lost one.
c) It has lost all four of its units.
The Battle more or less proceeds in that formula, when a company breaks, it may be replaced by a reserve company, and so on.
Step 1, Compare the situational modifiers for the battle:For example, which side is outnumbered, which side has superior troops, and which side is better maneuvered (if desired, determine this by making an opposed Battle roll between the two Army commanders).
Step 2, Have the commanders of Player Units roll Battle unopposed:Apply the modifiers determined in step 2.
Crit: Maneuvered Brilliantly
Success: Maneuvered Well
Failure or Fumble: Maneuvered Poorly
This result corresponds to how well the players have to do in the combat phase (step 4) to achieve what outcome in step 5.
Step 3, resolve combat:Look at the modifiers in step 2 again. If they can be meaningfully applied to combat, then apply them to combat. If the entire army is outnumbered 2:1, then the players should each be facing two opponents.
The first round of a combat between two units is always a charge, subsequent rounds devolve into melee.
For the first round of combat, the respective frontline fighters of the two units are fighting each other, so enemies should be found by rolling 2d6+8. Second-Rank opponents should be determined by a simple d20 roll.
3a, Player options:
Fight normally
Fight an extra enemy (Check Valorous)
Fight one fewer enemy (Check Cowardly)
Roll weapon skills as normal, but you don't need to worry about rolling for damage unless it's against a player-knight or a special enemy. Record the results as follows:
Crit: +2 (x2 glory)
Win: +1
Tie: +0
Loss: -1 (x0.5 glory)
Vanquished (K'Oed or Killed): -2 (x0.1 glory).
Then average the sum combat scores of all the players in a given unit, and compare it with the table below:
Triumph: Avg >1
Victory: Avg >0
Draw: Avg=0
Loss: Avg<0
Crush: Avg<-1
Step 4: Determine the Unit result
Consult the Maneuver result from Step 2 and compare it to the combat result in Step 3.
By default, a Triumph awards 2 ticks, a Win awards 1 tick, and Draw awards 0 ticks. If the Unit Maneuver was brilliant, treat the combat result as one better than it was, if the maneuver was poor, as one lower than it was. For example, a Brilliant Maneuever allows a Win in Combat to be treated as a Triumph for the purposes of awarding ticks.
Step 5: See how the rest of the army is doing.Updates on the Units either side of the player Unit should be delivered at the end of every round.
Updates on the Companies either side of the Player Company should be delivered at the end of every third round.
Updates on the Battalions either side of the player Battalion should be delivered every sixth round.
These can either be simply decided by GM Fiat, or by a 1d6 roll.
<= 0: Broken
1-2: Being pushed back
3-4: At a Draw
5-6: Pushing the enemy back
>=7: Broken the enemy
+1's should be awarded to the d6 roll for every +5 of modifiers determined in step 1 of the battle.
The Battle ends either when one Army is broken conventionally (a Decisive Victory), or when 12 rounds have elapsed without either Army Breaking (a Stalemate).