Mass Combat Encounter: am I doing it right?

[Dralnu]

A town is going to be attacked by an undead horde. Assuming the PCs are going to stick around to defend it, I want to give the option of Mass Combat.

Can anyone tell me if I'm doing things right or if I'm missing something?

Village Fortifications:
- moat circling the village, 10 feet wide, shallow water
- 20ft tall wall, units can walk on top, 300hp (? no idea what the HP should be)
- 20ft wide gate, wood reinforced with steel, 200hp (? no idea)
- any make-shift barricades, auto-hit, 50-100hp (? also no idea)

Village Side:
- PCs = each a solo, can be commanders
- 30 guards = 3 stands of guards, work as regiments
- 2 thugs = 2 solos, can be commanders
- 3 scouts = 3 solos? Or do I let the PCs find 7 more scouts and they become a stand? Work as skirmishers
- 100 commoners = 10 stands of commoners
- 1 priest + 10 clergy = 1 solo and 1 stand


Zombie Horde side:
- 400 zombies = 40 stands
- 20 skeleton archers = 2 stands
- 3 ogre zombies = 3 solos, deals triple damage to structures, can't be commanders
- 1 cult fanatic = 1 solo, can be commander
- undead are fearless in battle, auto-succeed morale checks
- zombies have nerfed undead fortitude, it only works once


Village Objectives:
- destroy a ogre zombie = 1 VP, max 3
- destroy all skeleton archers = 2 VP
- destroy 100 zombies = 1 VP, max 6
- defeat the cult fanatic = 5 VP


Horde Objectives:
- destroy a wall = 5 VP
- destroy the gates = 5 VP
- defeat a PC = 1 VP
- defeat 4 stands = 1 VP
- defeat 3 non-PC solos = 1 VP


Village Tactics:
- follow PC commands
- PCs given rings that permit telepathic communication amongst them and the other solos/commanders


Horde Tactics:
- the main unit comprised of 2 ogre zombie solos and 33 stands of zombies heads for the gate
- a unit of skeletal archers (2 stands) moves behind the main unit to fire at defenders on the walls
- a secondary unit of 1 ogre zombie solo and 5 stands of zombies heads for a back wall, regiment
- the cult fanatic commands her own unit of 2 zombie stands and hangs back until the Villagers gain 5 VP, and then she moves into combat



Is that good enough or am I missing stuff?

[asorel]

It looks good to me. Only 1 VP for 5 stands seems a bit low for me, but it seems fine otherwise.

[jkat718]

You could use the DMG's rules about objects in order to find a good basis for wall/gate HP. Make sure you're prepared to run a combat with nearly 80 stands, and keep track of them all. Are you sure you need 600 zombies? That's a hell of a lot. Maybe drop it to 400, or make it 300 zombies and 100 cultists (it makes sense for a cult fanatic to have followers; otherwise, it's not much if a cult). I have to double check the Mass Combat rules, but I think those scouts can form a stand by themselves. How are you splitting the stands into units?

[JFahy]

What's the morale state for the commoners? Any non-obvious events
that will rally them, or cause them to break, or cause them to ignore
orders?

Anything that would cause the fanatic to call off the attack? Does the
horde's behavior change if the fanatic dies?

What time of day does the attack happen? What's the weather?

(All things you can ad lib, of course, but it might not hurt to think about
them ahead of time.)

[Dralnu]

It looks good to me. Only 1 VP for 5 stands seems a bit low for me, but it seems fine otherwise.

I changed it to 1 VP for 4 stands. I don't want to make it too easy since I'm assuming either the wall or gates will be breached.


You could use the DMG's rules about objects in order to find a good basis for wall/gate HP. Make sure you're prepared to run a combat with nearly 80 stands, and keep track of them all. Are you sure you need 600 zombies? That's a hell of a lot. Maybe drop it to 400, or make it 300 zombies and 100 cultists (it makes sense for a cult fanatic to have followers; otherwise, it's not much if a cult). I have to double check the Mass Combat rules, but I think those scouts can form a stand by themselves. How are you splitting the stands into units?

DMG rules seem to be at odds with the Mass Combat rules. Mass Combat says assign 10 to 100 HP and melee hits auto-connect, DMG says give the object an AC based on its material, possibly a damage threshold, and pretty low HP.

Actually, I think the DMG rules are better. Zombies and skeletons should do any damage to a wall. Big hulking brutes should.

600 was a random number. Good point, I'll make it 400 instead. The cultist is merely named such after her MM stats. It's a necromancer herding the horde forward to slaughter. She's working with a necro-alchemist, slaughtering everyone in the area and then shipping the bodies back to the alchemist as raw materials to build abominations.


What's the morale state for the commoners? Any non-obvious events
that will rally them, or cause them to break, or cause them to ignore
orders?

Anything that would cause the fanatic to call off the attack? Does the
horde's behavior change if the fanatic dies?

What time of day does the attack happen? What's the weather?

(All things you can ad lib, of course, but it might not hurt to think about
them ahead of time.)

Good ideas to think about.

PCs have two days prep time. They can do any of these things and anything else they come up with:

1) Anyone proficient in Religion can help power up the protective wards on the walls. If successful, no zombies climb over.

2) Anyone can attempt to boost morale. If successful, the villagers fight harder, gaining a +1 to hit and damage.

3) New recruits (commoners) don't know how to use their weapons. X amount fight with disadvantage. If a PC shows them the basics they ignore disadvantage.

4) Anyone can go scout the zombie horde. This gives them a better indication of numbers and direction they're coming from.

5) Deserters and whatnot can be straightened out.



Fight comes at night. Oh. So villagers will have sight issues! Weather is cloudy with a chance of rain.

Fanatic is a crazy teenaged necromancer. She's messed up in the head and won't back down.

If the fanatic dies, some of the undead scatter, while others continue with their final orders (noted by the VP boost)

Great questions to spur more ideas. Thank you!

[JFahy]

Where are the noncombatants? Are all the children and elders in one
building? (This is the kind of thing I was thinking about with 'ignore
orders' - will defenders rush off the wall if the kids' shelter is under attack,
half-solving one problem while creating another?)

If the fanatic's threatened - did she keep some bodyguards nearby? Will
she call undead away from the attack to protect her?

[TrexPushups]

I have always wanted to Xena some villagers in a game.

Turn them into a rag tag militia and help them defeat the superior force.