So, after yesterday's game, I need a mass combat system to resolve the results of what my players (Magnificent Bastards, the lot of them) have set in motion.  Requirements are as follows:

1) Freely available online (can't emphasize this enough - there's no way I can justify making a RPG purchase at the moment)

2) Compatible with, or at least adaptable to, AD&D (2nd edition)

3) Doesn't require miniatures (although we could probably kitbash some tokens if necessary)

If you got $5 there the official 2nd edition Battlesystem rules. Doesn't fulfill #1 and it is a minature rule set so you will need token at least to use it.

I prefer AD&D 1st Edition Battlesystem for any edition of D&D because the heart of it is a combot result table that abstracts the effect of X guys with Y chance of hitting with Z damage with a single 2d6 dice roll.

I tried figuring out the math behind the chart and made a series of post on the effort.

There this for D&D 5th edition. For AD&D 2nd Edition and CR. Download Swords and Wizardry and look at its CR ratings. Or use this and plus in the AD&D 2nd stats.

There are plenty of inexpensive paid alternative including the the D&D Companion Set, Chainmail, and GURPS Mass Combat. But free that are worthwhile are few and far between.

Found this, it's called By This Poleaxe and is free.

From the blurb "By this Poleaxe is a four-page set of rules to allow a GM to run small-scale battles or skirmishes involving 15-120 combatants on each side without miniatures. The rules have been specifically designed to work with Labyrinth Lord or similar well-aged fantasy game. Can also be used in conjunction with By this Axe, a simple set of fantasy miniatures rules."

I would second By This Poleaxe and Battlesystem 1st edition.

However, a third option (also free AFAIK) is Hordes of Things. It may require a bit of work if you absolutely must convert stats, but I found it actually reduced my workload.

http://grognardia.blogspot.it/2010/08/hordes-of-things-for-free.html

For miniatures you can print tokens on stock card which are freely available with a quick search on images or oyu can make your own with Token Tool (also free)

http://www.rptools.net/downloadsw/.

1: The free Mass Combat rules for 5e over at WOTCs UA page: It isnt the best. But it gets the job done.

2: Warmachine from BECMI D&D: either get the PDF cheap or ask someone to send you a scan of the pages. Which are 6 pages. Could have swore it was released as a free pamphlet way back but cant find it.

3: Any given system that can be easily plugged into D&D. And theres several free ones. Some very basic. Some more robust. Some REALLY robust like Magic Realm.

Some freebies. YMMV on viability.
Crom: http://www.matakishi.com/crom.htm
Legio VIII: http://www.panzer8.weebly.com/uploads/4/6/7/2/4672947/legio_viii__pz8_fantasy_wargame_rules.pdf
Simple Fantasy Skirmish: https://petervodden.wordpress.com/portfolio/simple-fantasy-skirmish/
system 100: http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/d100-system-core

And many more.

I recommend the Domains at War free starter download. Largely because I can vouch for d@w: I just ran a really great little war one-shot using these rules last night, and they worked splendidly.

Granted, I used the full version since I backed the kickstarter. I did a quick read through and it seems like a decent if stripped-down representation of the d@w content.

Which again, was awesome. The players made a heroic foray and fought a giant and three regiments of goblins, collapsing the right flank of the goblin army and allowing a slim but substantial victory from their forces. This in what amounted to a single combat and one additional round of war combat resolution; really great, gameable stuff!

After 30+ years of looking for the perfect RPG mass combat system, and several disasters, I recommend Free Kriegsspiel (c) Prussian General Staff ca 1824.

Which works as follows:
Players say: "We do A (eg Our heavy cavalry charge the Orc flank)"
GM says: "OK, on an X+ on d6, B happens (eg on a 3+ the Orcs break and run)"

Basically the GM uses a mix of common sense, knowledge of the D&D game stats, and chance, to resolve player & NPC actions, typically on a 3-10 minute cycle depending on battle scale. Meanwhile PC personal combat is resolved using the standard rules, and will affect their side's chances on the d6 checks.

Quote from: Tulpa Girl;1023748So, after yesterday's game, I need a mass combat system to resolve the results of what my players (Magnificent Bastards, the lot of them) have set in motion.  Requirements are as follows:

1) Freely available online (can't emphasize this enough - there's no way I can justify making a RPG purchase at the moment)

2) Compatible with, or at least adaptable to, AD&D (2nd edition)

3) Doesn't require miniatures (although we could probably kitbash some tokens if necessary)

Quick and dirty system: Treat a "unit" of multiple soldiers/creatures as one soldier/creature. For example, fighting 1000 goblins versus 100 giants. Each "goblin" represents 100 goblins. Each "giant" represents 100 giants. (Be sure to divide by the same number for all units.)
So you've effectively turned 1000 vs 100 into 10 vs 1. Much more manageable. After the battle, if casualties are an issue to consider, divide a "damaged" unit by it's total hit points to determine how many individuals are left.
If the 100 giants unit took 50% hit points, it would have 50 giants left standing.

*Edit* First sentence. The idea is to treat multiple combatants as one combatant to reduce the number of soldiers/creatures to track.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1023789Quick and dirty system: Treat a single "unit" as mulitples. For example, fighting 1000 goblins versus 100 giants. Each "goblin" represents 100 goblins. Each "giant" represents 100 giants. (Be sure to divide by the same number for all units.)
So you've effectively turned 1000 vs 100 into 10 vs 1. Much more manageable. After the battle, if casualties are an issue to consider, divide a "damaged" unit by it's total hit points to determine how many individuals are left.
If the 100 giants unit took 50% hit points, it would have 50 giants left standing.

This can work well, especially if you use frequent morale checks (2e AD&D has a good 2d10 based system derived from B/X D&D's 2d6) and have plenty of d20s to roll, so your units are not too big for the battle scale. Eg if a front of 100 goblins is attacking, better to treat it as 10 units of 10 & roll 10 d20s for the attacks. Then if say 4 hit, roll 4d6 for damage. If they hit men at arms units averaging 5 hp, remove 1 for every 5 damage.

1e-2e AD&D is still very close to its wargame roots, with eg the movement rates in inches. Back-conversion is very easy.

If converting at 10-1 scale, I recommend 3 minutes per combat round (as per 1e/2e Battlesystem). At 100-1 use 10 minutes (1 AD&D Turn) per combat round. Basically you take the square root of the conversion ratio (10>3.3 or 100>10), and it all works out nicely. For massed fire missile ranges & movement rates just use the listed " ranges on the tabletop, this keeps everything in balance.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  By This Poleaxe is pretty much the sort of thing I was hoping for.  I don't know yet if we're going to have it handle the entire battle, or just all the 1HD grunts while the more heroic/dangerous entities present get played out using the normal rules.  Will see if my players have a preference.

(also, the Hordes Of Things link from the Grognardia page is dead)

Well, if you can scrape up $5 you can get the PDF for CHAINMAIL, the game that started it all, from DriveThruRPG.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17010/Chainmail-Rules-for-Medieval-Miniatures-0e?it=1

I'm not really a wargamer - no experience there - I just wanted something to simplify a 75 vs 125 figure combat.

By the end of the year I should hopefully have the last of the medical debt paid off, and after that I'll allow myself the occasional gaming splurge.

Quote from: Tulpa Girl;1023909I'm not really a wargamer - no experience there - I just wanted something to simplify a 75 vs 125 figure combat.

By the end of the year I should hopefully have the last of the medical debt paid off, and after that I'll allow myself the occasional gaming splurge.

You should be just fine. Run it as Free Kriegspiel, using poker chips or paper bits - Post-it notes are one of my favorites - and use your own judgement. Maybe look at some YouTube videos on medieval combat - the Vyborg Swedes vs. Russians are very good - and you'll sail right through it.

Agreed.  Just think "Are they light, medium, or heavy," and "are they particularly brave or particularly timid?"

And just make reasonable decisions.  A unit of heavy foot hits about the same number of light foot?  Bad day for the light foot.

That sort of thing.

Really, D&D can handle 75 v 125 quite easily.  Break them down into units of 5 -10 men.

Roll initiative by side but allow units to be held in reserve to go after the other side's turn.  Use AC and Movement as is.  Roll 1d20 per guy in the front rank, +1 per level or hit dice to hit.  Roll damage as d4 per hit for tiny weapons, d6 for small weapons, d8 for medium, d10 for large, d12 for huge.  Remove tiny guys on damage rolls of 2+, small on 3+, medium on 4+, large on 5+, and huge on 6+.  Check morale if a unit loses more than half of its guys in one round.  D20 + Leader's Charisma value + Leader's Level or skill or whatever.  +1 per supporting unit not engaged in combat but within one turn's movement. -2 if engaged on the flank, -4 if engaged on the rear.  Conscripts make it on 13+, regular troops 11+, elite troops 9+.  On a failure a unit is shaken and can't move until rallied.  A shaken unit breaks and flees if it fails a morale check.  Broken units can only run away and drop any weapons or shields in the process, thus losing any benefit from them even if they are rallied.  A leader can attempt to rally a unit after it moves, allowing it to make another morale check.

You can handle hundreds and even thousands of men by the same basic set up.  Just treat every ten or hundred men as one guy.

If you want a simple movement and range system, I'd suggest a movement rate of 1 space for slow troops, 2 spaces for average troops, 3 for heavy cavalry, and 4 for light cavalry.  Thrown weapons have a range of 1, Slings have a range of 2, bows have a range of 3 and long bows and crossbows have a range of 4.  Anything over half range has whatever long range penalty your D&D uses. Use a hex grid or one inch squares and simple counters for each unit.

With larger units, formations are possible.  A block is the standard formation and must sacrifice half of its movement to turn.  A square or circle moves at half speed but has no flank or rear.  A column has a narrow front but can move along winding roads and scenery at full speed where a block would have to slow and turn.