Quote:
Originally Posted by David L Pulver
I thought of Savage Worlds which has decent systems for mid-sized PCs and allies melees, but 100+ engaged seems a bit much for it; presumably one would want to have a brute squad-time mechanic as well. Any other games that do this well?
|
I have vague memories of running a Savage Worlds game where the PCs and their post-apocalypse militia allies fought most of a time-traveling Wehrmacht company. It was 4-5 PCs, maybe 20 PCs allies, versus 18-24 half-squads of Nazis and a couple of tanks, I think? Something like that. The PCs' allies were probably organized into squads of 4-9.
Savage Worlds does initiative by playing card, so I think I dealt each platoon a separate card, Then each platoon was 6 half-squads of 6-7 soldiers each, represented on the table by an index card. On each platoon's turn, I'd maneuver their cards and roll a handful of dice for each half squad's attacks. When they were attacked, I'd just note any casualties on the index card until the half-squad was destroyed.
I remember it being a little chaotic and hectic, but Savage Worlds is often chaotic and hectic.
If I was going to run a pirate boarding combat in Savage Worlds, I'd do something similar: organize each side into a manageable number of squads, and then toss dice as needed. Savage Worlds is good for this, because mooks only ever roll one die and there are relatively few opposed rolls. Simplifying the initiative (dealing out and collecting the cards always took too much time) would make it even faster.