TACTICAL CONFLICT
Ever wanted a way to run large-scale battles that got your players involved and required very little minutae? Here’s the Beta for Crystal Geyser’s new narrative Tactical Conflict System. It’s largely based on the Social Conflict system from Black Crusade’s Tome of Excess, with modifications made to represent mid-scale battles involving various squads of people. This system is ideal for a group that prefers story over the bureaucracy of moving and supplying units, but doesn't want to oversimplify things.
In any given Tactical Conflict, every player has a number of characteristics. One Tactical Conflict is roughly equivalent to one military battle or engagement. Wars are made by linking multiple Tactical Conflicts together.
Forces: Forces is a measure of how much manpower, materials, armor and munitions a commander can muster. When a Tactical Conflict starts, a number of points taken from a character’s Influence, Profit Factor, Infamy or Reknown can be committed. Leaving some uncommitted is useful for two reason – first, it provides a reserve to draw upon for later battles. Second, during a Tactical Conflict or War a character suffers a penalty to his Acquisition Tests equal to the current points’ worth of Forces deployed.
Stages to a Tactical Conflict
1. Note Values. The GM and the participants in a Tactical Conflict note down their Forces. For enemy NPCs such as Space Marine Captains, Eldar Archons and Tau Commanders, the GM should assign a Inf/PF/Inf/Rk using the example tables and ten determine how much of their forces are committing to this battle.
2. Bid Forces. From the total of Forces points each side has to spare, each character commits a narrative amount of his force in points. The player and the GM keep this secret from each other, as neither general necessarily knows what the other is doing. The amount of points bid should be a representative of what the player is trying to do - for instance, a team of ratling scouts trying to gauge enemy positions would take few points, whereas a massed deep strike terminator assault would be a hefty point bid.
3. Roleplaying Tactics. Each character describes their tactical Maneuver. The characters roll initiative, using intelligence bonus instead of AG, to see who's forces go first. Whoever has better tactics - this can be arbitrated by the GM or
Put up to a vote - gets a +20 bonus to the opposed tactics test.
4. Opposed Tactics Test. If both fail, the bid Forces are lost and a new round begins. If there is a tie of DoS, whoever bid more Forces wins. The number of forces points bid is dealt to the other in Damage. This encourages one to ration their forces wisely, as a general who commits too much without knowing what he is up against could suffer the devastating loss of both his own troops and the damage caused by his foe.
5. Tactical interception. If the losing participant lost more than 10 forces in a round, his attacker can make a Logic test to suss out his movements. In this case, the GM should reveal one clue about enemy movements, providing a narrative bonus to next rounds Tactical Roleplaying as the player is better able to outmaneuver his opponent. Other Skill Tests, such as Tracking or Interrogation can also provide this bonus.
8. Triage phase. If a winning player chooses to figure out new tactics, this gives his enemy time to regroup. If a player uses the Tactical interception action, the enemy gains the benefit of a triage action, allowing a relevant skill check to restore a number of forces points equal to the characteristic bonus plus one for every degree of success. A relevant check should be different per faction - for example, Necrons would use tech-use made by a Necron lord, while
Space Marines would use Medicae performed by an apothecary.
Additional Action: Feat of Heroism. One per battle, a player character or notable NPC may call a Feat of Heroism, triggering a roleplaying encounter. GMs should limit these to one per player, as otherwise combat can become tedious with encounter. Canny players might also use their Feats of Heroism in tandem with each other to double their effectiveness. Feats of Heroism are useful for groups that share one Profit Factor and therefore all command one force, such as Rogue Traders, as therefore while one character may be more suited to commanding the others won’t miss their time to shine.
9. Next Turn. Complete the previous stages until one side withdraws or is destroyed. A war is considered over once either side no longer has any Forces left to draw upon. At the Gm’s discretion, slaying an enemy commander through a Feat of Heroism may prevent that foe regrouping for a subsequent battle, even if they till possess Forces points – factions that are suitably destabilized should be those prone to disorganization or leader idolatry, such as Chaos Space Marine warbands or Dark Eldar Kabals.
+EXAMPLE+
General Marcus (Influence 70) of the Death Korps of Krieg has declared war on the Black Legionnaires of Lord Khjarlzax, who has come to attack the Vladic Sector. The battle is taking place in the ruins of Hive Vimalus. In this case, General Marcus uses the Profile for an Imperial Guard Senior Officer, whereas Khjarlzax uses the Profile for a Chaos Lord, although either could be represented by a player character depending on the circumstances. The following battle is an example of a conflict where each side only has one source of Forces, such as a Rogue Trader group with shared Profit Factor or an Only War squad with shared Reknown.
1. Note Forces. Marcus has other elements of his regiment off-world that he must sustain, so he only commits 40 Influence into his forces. Khjarlzax, on the other hand, has nothing to lose, committing 50 of his Influence. In the bidding sage, the GM rules that Marcus has access to various specialized units such as Inquisitorial Storm Troopers and armored vehicles, but no extremely elite forces such as Grey Knights or Titans. Similarly, while Khjarlzax possesses many hordes of Chaos Space Marines, he only possesses a few suits of Terminator Armor and little armored support.
2. Bid Forces and Roleplaying. Marcus sends a light crew of scouts ahead, trying to guage a position on the enemy forces. He points out that the scouts are lightly armored and moving in the cover of the ruins, forgoing armored support for stealth. For this reason, he only bids 5 Forces. In contrast, Khjarlzax is sending a first wave of Chaos Space Marines through the ruins, rushing to get into melee. He bids 15 Forces. After roleplaying, the GM arbitrates that Marcus’s tactics are superior, maximizing both cover and size to his advantage, while the marines’ movements are hindered by the ruins and their power armor. Marcus gains the +20 bonus to his Tactics test.
3. Opposed Test. Marcus rolls against a 90 (Int 45+ Tactica Imperialis+20 +20+5) whereas Khjarlzax rolls against a Tactics (Assault Doctrine+10) Skill of 70 (Int 45+10+15). Marcus rolls a 34 whereas Khjarlzax rolls a 65. Khjarlzax suffers 5 points of Damage, taking a total of 20 damage to his Forces! The scouting party has used all of their advantages, throwing grenades into tight locations and maximizing choke points. It appears Khjarlzax has bet too much too quickly.
4. Tactical Interception. Marcus decides that this is an excellent time to gauge the enemy position, using his Logic Skill to deduct the enemy base from the attackers’ trail. In this instance, because he does not have Logic Trained, he asks the GM if he can instead try to interrogate a surviving Chaos Space Marine. The GM rules that a small scouting party would not have the resources to adequately extract information from one of the Angels of Death, and no Tactical Interception is made.
5. Feat of Heroism. Marcus spends his Feat of Heroism to personally interview the survivor. This is conducted as an encounter, pitting his Scrutiny vs. the Black Legionnaire’s Deceive Skill. During the roleplaying, Marcus rolls a 92 on his Scrutiny Test, a failure of 3 degrees, while the Traitor Marine rolls a 27 on his Deceive Skill. The GM arbitrates that, because the Chaos Space Marine devilishly deceives Marcus, he tells General Marcus that the Black Legion is planning to send a scouting wave of human cultist auxiliaries. Also, due to the time taken to escort the prisoner back to the Guard base, the GM decides that the Black Legion gains the benefit of a Triage action.
6. Triage. Khjarlzax makes a Forbidden Lore (Daemonology Test) to summon daemonic reinforcements, but fails his Skill Test, resulting in nought.
The final Forces count is Marcus at 40 and Khjarlzax at 30.
NEW ROUND! DING DING!
2. Bid Forces and Roleplaying. Marcus “knows” that the Black Legion is sending teams of cultists, so decides that the best way to thwart their small-arms fire is with an armored fist. As such, he bids 15 forces, representing teams of rank and file guardsmen in Chimera APCs. However, Khjarlzax, believing cover-camping scout teams to be his foe, deploys a fleet of elite Raptors into the fray, committing 10 Forces. The GM rules that Marcus has been totally wrong-footed by his false intel, and that his lasgun infantry are ill prepared for an armored aerial attack. Similarly, the maneuverable raptors have the advantage over the slow, large Chimeras. In this round, Khjarlzax gains the +20 Bonus.
3. Roll-off. Marucs rolls against a 80 (45+20+15) while Khjarlzax rolls against an 70 (45+20+10). Note that Khjarlzax does not use his Assualt Tactics+10, instead employing his Aerial Assualt Tactics which has no bonus. Marcus rolls an 89 while Khjarlzax rolls a 14 – ouch! The Raptors tear into the sides of the Chimeras with grenades bombs and handheld metlas – after that, the unfortunate guardsmen are eviscerated by their tearing claws and chainblades. Marcus suffers 25 damage.
4. Tactical Intercpetion. Khjarlzax intends to give Marcus no time to regroup, preferring to press inwards with a second wave of traitor legionnaires. Khjarlzax does not use a Tactical Interception action.
5. Marcus is unable to use a Triage Action.
The final forces count is Marcus at 15 and Khjarlzax at 30.
NEW ROUND! DING DING!
2. Bid Forces and Roleplaying. Marcus can see that Khjarlzax has no intent of slowing down his attack and cries for a fall back, fortifying the hive ruins with trenches and gun emplacements. He bids all of his remaining 15 Forces, setting up as many defensive heavy weapon teams and Leman Russ battle tanks as he can. In contrast, Khjarlzax opts to deploy the remainder of his 30 forces in a final charge, making an assault consisting of the remaining Chaos Space Marines and his own retinue of Terminators. After much deliberation, the GM grants Marcus the +20 bonus, for the guardsmen have time to set up superior defenses, while Khjarlzax’s choice of a Terminator vanguard is slow and allows extra time for them to fortify.
3. Roll-Off. Marcus makes his Tactica Imperialis+20 Roll of 100 (45+20+20+15), while Khjarlzax rolls his Assault Doctrine+10 against an 85 (45+10+30). Marcus rolls an 88, while Khjarlzax rolls a 68. It’s a slim margin with tied degrees of success, but due to the superior size and equipment of Khjarlzax’s wave, Khjarlzax wins the roll-off! Against the tactical odds, Khjarlzax’s terminators move up and decimate Marcus with 30 damage, destroying his forces.
4. Feat of Heroism. Seeing his chance to prevent future battles by killing the enemy commander, Khjarlzax uses his Feat of Heroism and appears at the forefront of his vanguard, challenging Marcus to a duel of arms. Marcus denies and attempts to flee, resulting in an intense chase to a nearby Valkyrie gunship. The Gm forces many rolls, including opposed Agility Tests between Marcus and Khjarlzax, and Tech-Use tests to repair a damaged Aquila lander. In the end, the attempt it successful and Marcus escapes.
The Final Draw: Khjarlzax 30, Marcus 0.
Next Time: If Marcus wished to draw the remainder of his forces and attack again, he could commit any of his remaining Influence to a second battle, along with both sides benefitting from a Triage action in between.