War-Oriented Campaign Advice

[Captainspork]

Hey fellow DMs and PCs. I am currently running a 3.5 campaign in a custom world which has been running for quite a while now. Without getting into the entire story, the focus is going to shift in the next session or two to a large scale invasion of orcs into the elven lands. The only real problem with this is I haven't really been in or run a campaign involving large scale troop movements or battles before. While I am aware a book exist (I believe in 4th edition..?) I would like to hear from DMs and players who have been in campaigns like this, and have some ideas as to what types of things add flavor, make for good challenges, and ultimately make it feel real. By the way, pcs will be on the elves side.

Thanks in advance!

[Kelb_Panthera]

No specific advice. I haven't done a war campaign in a while and I feel rusty. I did however want to point out that the book, Heroes of Battle, is a 3.5 supplement. A good one too.

To borrow from there, keep the action centered on the PC's. Orcs invading the forest sounds like a guerilla campaign anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard. Just keep the war in the background while the PC's run into patrols as they go for some sort of mcguffin: a piece of strategically important intel, a magical device that the elf king needs to awaken the forest's fey and plant defenders, etc. Or perhaps you could have them strike out on a mission of assassination to take out the enemy commander or command group. That sort of thing.

[Marthinwurer]

I second HoB - it is an excellent supplement and almost all of the advice in it is good.

[Captainspork]

I'll see if I get a copy of that and check it out. Thanks!

[Laserlight]

Figure out what the orc general is trying to get, that's worth the cost in warriors he's going to expend.

A major problem in most wars is simply getting all the stuff you need, where you need it, when you need it. There are never enough supplies, never enough roads.

A typical exercise is "You have enough force to cover two invasion routes adequately. There are three (or four, or five) invasion routes. Do you split up your forces, or pick two and hope you guessed right, or do something else?"

Read some military history for a similar era and terrain.

[Saintheart]

Probably the straight-out-of-the-Heroes-of-Battle campaign that basically says "How to have the heroes part of a war" is The Red Hand of Doom. Heroes of Battle basically shows you how to make it or something a lot like it, but if you need an example in how it works out in reality.