War Machine options
by Jamie BatyI saw a similar thread started on the listserv about additional tactics for War Machine and thought I'd post some of my campaign's options. I'd be interested to see what other's have come up with.
7. Field Artillery
When a force uses field artillery, apply the following adjustments:
a. If the force is using the Hold tactic, the field artillery adds the full BR bonus and the enemy's casualties are increased 50%.
b. If the force is using any other tactic, there are two options: the first is the artillery adds only 1/4 the BR bonus, the enemy's casualties are increased by +30%, but due to misfires the forces casualties are increased by +10%. This represents firing the artillery only before the forces engage. The second adds the full BR bonus and the enemy's casualties are 50%, but the force's casualties are doubled. This represents using the artillery as much as possible during battle.
8. Field Fortifications
When a force uses field fortifications (mantlets, timber forts, etc...) apply the following adjustments:
a. If the force is using the Hold tactic, the field fortifications add the full BR bonus and the force's casualties are reduced by 20%. At the DM's discretion, this option may be applied to the trap or envelopment tactics.
b. If the force is using any other tactic the field fortifications adds only 1/4 the BR bonus, the force's casualties are decreased by +5%. This represents using cover only before the forces engage in melee and to shield rearguard troops from missile fire.
The force commander may order his troops to concentrate their attacks against a specific enemy troop type. 75% of all casualties inflicted in the battle affect these troops first, with the remaining 25% casualties then affecting the rest of the army equally. If the 75% causalities would result in more causalities than targeted troops, the leftover causalities are added to the 25% affecting other troop types.
Thus, when facing an army of 2,000 infantry and 500 archers, if the archers are the primary targets, they will take the casualties first. The archers take 75% of the casualties, while the remaining 25% affects the infantry. If the battle results indicate 400 casualties, 300 of them will be inflicted on the archers and 100 on the infantry. If the results indicate 800 casualties, all 500 archers are wounded or killed, and the remaining 300 casualties are inflicted on the infantry.
The force commander may also order his forces to target the mounts of enemy cavalry. This results in a reduction of the enemy's casualties by 10%, but it triples the number of mount casualties.