Rules Fragment: Nightfall Tactics

 Today I had a thought and had to write it down, so here we are.  This is the design fragment of a tactical wargame using the basic core of the Nightfall Engine (from Against the Fall of Night).  Rules terms that are referenced, but not defined here, are the same as in Against the Fall of Night.

Nightfall Tactics

A wargame/SRPG/tactical game built off an extension of the Nightfall Engine.

Tactics Skill:  Your default Tactics Skill is equal to half your Combat Skill.  Tactics Skill is used as the basic resolution roll for this layer (for example, if you're determining the effect of your infantry attacking, you roll Tactics Skill instead of an attack roll).

Strategic Skill:  Your default Strategic Skill is equal to half your Mind.  Strategic Skill is used to determine starting setup, layout, limits of units you can command, and so on.  It would be tested to determine if you can successfully ambush someone, get to the high ground before combat starts, etc.

Units can be actively commanded, or just on your team.  The number of units you can actively command is determined by your Strategic Skill, but you can have as many units on your team as you can hire (see the note on Wealth and Economy later).  You can only use your Tactics Skill to benefit units that you’re actively commanding.  (Thus a character with very high Tactics Skill, but low Strategic Skill is a fantastic sergeant or lieutenant who commands a single unit; a character with high Strategic Skill but low Tactics Skill is still useful as a commander of a large number of units to prevent them from default-stats.)

Feats can increase or affect both Tactics Skill and Strategic Skill.  (For example, a feat Magical Tactics:  You can use your Magic Skill instead of Combat Skill to calculate your default Tactics Skill.)

Strategic Spells:  Big battlefield versions of magic.  They take 10 minutes to cast (which is 1 round at this combat scale) and require the support of a company of mages (60 people who each have Magic Skill +1 or higher).  (Optionally, a total Magic Skill of 60+ is required, so you could have ten 6th-level thaumaturges cast one, if you somehow have those available.)  Caster characters can learn strategic versions of spells that they know with a feat.

Strategic Techniques:  Combat techniques scaled up to battlefield scale.  Martial characters can learn strategic versions of combat techniques that they know with a feat, and then units they command can use those techniques.

Units would be designed like monsters, with levels, stats, and basic attack and defense techniques.  The commander stats can replace certain stats here (like the unit would have a Combat Skill of its own, but a commander can use their Tactics Skill in place of it).

Units have Cohesion and Health in place of Vitality/Wound.  Cohesion reflects their ability to keep it together, Health is how many of them are still alive.  Like AFN, melee attacks that are not defended against deal damage directly to Health, while those that are defended against attack Cohesion first.  Ranged attacks always deal damage to Cohesion first, unless their attack test is a modified 21+ and the attack was not defended against.  Undead, constructs, and other mindless/controlled troops have Cohesion -, because they never break Cohesion and need to be actually destroyed.  Cohesion is also the Morale rules; when a unit hits 0 Cohesion, they need to make a check of some kind to stay on the field or else they disperse.  Whatever the check is by default, it can be replaced with a Tactics Test if the unit is being actively commanded.

Initiative phases are Ranged, Cavalry, Infantry, Magic.  (Flying cavalry, as a special ability, get to act in the Ranged phase.)

Strategic spells can’t be cast if the unit has been attacked that round, though the mage unit can still use their normal techniques.  Only a character with Magic Skill +1 or higher can actively command a magic unit; they just use their default stats if you don’t have at least Magic Skill +1.

Economy:  For balancing units against each other, there is some form of economy.  Units cost Wealth.  You can only keep a number of units supplied with total Wealth cost equal to your Wealth.  Default Wealth cost is Level, double for cavalry, but specific units may be more or less expensive.  (Note that multiple people can combine their Wealth to supply an army.)  (Note:  This makes it difficult for normal players to bankroll an army, and right now I don’t care, integration can get figured out later.)

Units don’t use Attack Points, Defense Points, or Magic Points, because a round is 10 minutes long and they have a ton of all of those points.  Instead, every technique or spell they have is very situational with distinct strengths and weaknesses.  If the unit has something that’s always useful?  That’s their special ability, being generically useful.  Each technique can only be used a specific number of times per round, usually once unless specified otherwise.

Units normally can’t do things that would make them Vulnerable while in melee.  Unlike individual characters who get to choose that kind of thing, units just aren’t given the choice.  A successful Tactics Test can get them done, or units with – Cohesion can do so automatically.

Damage is generally the same thing as on personal scale.  Rough default is 1d6 + Combat Skill, reduced by Armor which is usually approximately equal to Level.  Aura for undead, constructs, and anti-magic units.  Cohesion/Health is roughly half what Vitality/Wound would be on personal scale; units die faster than heroes (but it’s rounded to even numbers to make things easier to track).  Like personal scale, units can be ogre-sized or giant-sized as well, which makes them terrifying.

Units have facing.  We’re making a square-based wargame because I’m a heretic.  A unit has three front squares, two flank squares, and three rear squares.  Attacks from a flank have slight advantage, attacks from the rear have high advantage.

Weapon triangles:  We’re adding weapon triangles based on weapon qualities.  Cunning, Brutal, Reach.  Brutal > Reach > Cunning > Brutal.  If you’re on the good side of the triangle, you have slight advantage.  If you’re on the bad side of the triangle, you have slight disadvantage.

Basic unit statblock:
Wealth Cost, Level
Combat Skill, Magic Skill
Armor, Aura
Cohesion, Health
Attack Techniques/Defense Techniques/Spells

Two example units.

Militia (Infantry)
Wealth Cost 1, Level 0
Combat Skill +0, Magic Skill +0
Armor 0, Aura 0
Cohesion 2, Health 2
Attack Techniques
Swarm – The militia make a melee attack.  1d20+0, 1d4 damage.  On a miss, the militia take 2 damage.

Spearfighters (Infantry, Reach)
Wealth Cost 1, Level 1
Combat Skill +1, Magic Skill +0
Armor 1, Aura 0
Cohesion 4, Health 4
Attack Techniques
Long Strike – The spearfighters attack a target one square away from one of their front squares.  1d20+1 to hit, 1d6+1 damage.  This technique cannot attack adjacent targets.
Defense Techniques
Brace – The spearfighters set their spears to defend.  If the attacker misses, they lose 1 Cohesion.