25 thoughts on “So I did another thing based on the houserules I posted for Mass Combat on my blogspot.”

  1. Yeah, I also considered adding the Terrifying tag, but I didn’t want to make a special quality (the automated system wants you to do that by default). I may do that anyway.

  2. My first thought is to say I wouldn’t use Terrifying because it may not be terrifying to a much larger force. But then, it probably wouldn’t “Break the morale” of a much larger force either LOL.

    Which brings up a question:

    Do you have to apply a tag or move that is written? Or can you say to yourself “well, this has the terrifying tag, but because the other force is twice as large I’m going to ignore it”.

  3. I got some inspiration for some other moves (including one called Hold the LInes to suggest they’re immune to a “Break their Morale” from any smaller force.)

  4. Just looked… I love the Special Quality LOL. Yeah, those are all really good moves that befit an army.

    Also, can you give me a link to your Mass Combat rules? I don’t believe I’ve seen them.

  5. Having not read the Mass Combat rules yet, this may be a stupid question: What do you think about segregating certain moves out to different unit types? I.E. Infantry doesn’t get “Loose!” and Artillery doesn’t get “Surround Them!”, etc. Or would that make it too tactical for what you’re going for? I’m getting off here now so I won’t be able to read the Mass Combat rules until sometime tonight.

  6. Also, HP is a bit low for The Whole Damn Army, but that’s what the automated result got me, so… I actually probably would prefer that HP for one unit, and just give each unit one of the moves. (Infantry Shatters Morale because they’re up front, Archery Looses, anything mobile would Surround Them, Cav would Crush the Opposition, Pikes would Hold the Line, and the Commanding Officer would Sound the Reinforcements)

  7. Josh C: #1 you’re right, this is The Whole Damn Army, not s single unit!

    #2 yeah I was thinking HP was a little low.

    #3 I just read your Mass Combat rules and am intrigued (I played a weekly Warhammer 40K game for about 2 years straight). Have you gotten to do any play testing?

  8. 2) I considered boosting it to around 30, because that seems to be the gold standard for badass monsters, but I could see up to 60 with 15 each for Infantry, Archery, Cavalry, and Pikes (maybe some I haven’t thought too deeply about at 15 per?)

    3) No, I haven’t. I’ve started a discord server in an attempt to get some sort of gaming going, because I’m working on a couple projects outside DW (A DW hack, and two originals I wrote from the ground up). The biggest problems I have with DW are

    a) that people are less enthusiastic as I am.

    b) I have 2 character ideas I would like to try out as a player,

    c) I kind of also want to run a campaign that starts inside a dragon large enough to swallow a village, but I haven’t finished the setup yet.

    I’d totally be up for some people that are more enthusiastic about DW joining my server though: discordapp.com – Discord – Free voice and text chat for gamers

  9. I can’t get into too much more gaming.

    IRL I have a weekly DW game with some friends, and we’re going to try adding a Fate Accelerated game once a week as well, and a mostly weekly one-on-one DW game with my son. I try to keep up with a Hangouts DW game once a week too and I hope to have a Fate Star Trek: TNG game going soon online, which just came up today. I also have a board game night that gets shuffled around a lot because of scheduling. AND I travel for work quite a bit so I have to skip some games one week every month.

    I don’t want to get into another game, but I’d be down for spit-balling and play testing quick encounters and mechanics. If that’s something you’d be up for let me know. I’m heading to bed in a few but I’ll check back with you tomorrow.

  10. I think 30 might be the sweet spot for a mixed army. I feel 60 would be too high and I’d be more apt to field 4 specialized “units” with 15 HP rather than 1 “army” with 60. That gives more tactical options:

    I’m fielding 2 units of cavalry followed by 1 of Pikemen and 1 Infantry… I don’t have any archers because fiction

    OR 2 Archery Units, then a cavalry charge, then infantry for mop up, etc…

    But that’s just how I feel with my Warhammer Fantasy and 40K background; it all comes down to playtesting and the feel you’re going for.

  11. Also, do you have plans to write an “Army” playbook for players to choose units to field in a pitched battle? Maybe rather than Playbook it’s a Warbook, and each race, faction, etc. has their own Warbook (again, I’m going back to WH Fantasy). I also loved doing narrative campaigns with 40K and this would provide a cool way to effect the world around the characters while still sticking to the conversation and fiction-first aspects of DW. That’s something I’d be super interested in developing and playtesting!

  12. Can’t say I have plans, but it’s an interesting thought. I’m not sure how I’d expand the scope except to base the number of units on the number of hirelings the player could field, and give each race a racial Mass Combat move. I would have no idea where to start except possibly environmental bonuses. I’m not sure what those would be. I will probably go ahead and use your 30 HP option.

  13. On the subject of a 30 HP mixed army, maybe I have “Pick two moves plus Shatter their Morale as your Army moves”?

  14. Yeah that would work. The default is Shatter their Morale, plus “choose two from this list”. That still gives you options but isn’t overwhelming.

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