Adventure on the High Seas

Scenarios 1:

Now, finally the part I have been wanting to test out this entire time. Mass Combat!

Here's the setup: Lord Turin has decided to launch a raid on the mines of House Durand in an effort to not only win back some wealth but also strike a blow at his hated foe. Lord Turin leads his ships south from Stonetide with his Ironmen on board. They sight the shore just as the morning sun feebly rises up out of the ocean. the coast is swathed with fog, Turin blesses the Drowned God for the this boon, which should give them plenty of cover as they ambush they mines garrison. But wait, what's this. There sailing past the shore is House Durand's fleet of brand new warships doing their best to give a sense of protection to the realm. Turin decided to try and ambush the ships as well, if he can capture them he can add them to his own.

To sneak up on them the fleet must pass a stealth test against the enemies passive awareness. (A passive score is your ranks times 4, so in this case it is an 8). Turin rolls 2d6 getting a 5, they are spotted. Combat ensues.

House Stif's goals are either the capture or destruction of the warship. House Durand just wants to get away to warn their Lord to the east.

Round 1:

Each round begins with a number of steps such as parley, seige, weapon, etc. since some of these do not apply I will only spend time on the actions currently involved. Now for the initiative, each commander will make a warfare test any strategy bonus die count as well. Initiative is rerolled at the beginning of each battle. 

Turin has Warfare 4(Strategy 1B) he rolls a 3,5,4,3,6 dropping the lowest from the bonus die his initiative is 18.

The opposing force only has a simple captain with Warfare 2 (the most basic level) he rolls a 6.

Turing will start off.

Each commander can give a number of orders equal to their Warfare ranks, they will alternate turns giving orders until all orders have been given.

In this combat both the warship units have a Defense of 6, Health of 6, Damage 3 and Armor Rating of 5 and a Movement of 60 yds. Each square on the map represents 10 yds in mass combat.

Commands:

1. Stif(1)- Turin commands his ships to charge the enemy. He must make a command test against their discipline of 9. He rolls 5d6 and will drop the lowest (Warfare 4 (Command 1B)), he rolls an 18. The longships rush forward to engage the enemy in close combat. They meet the foe and a fierce boarding action takes place with axes and swords clanging. Charging confers a -1D penelaty to Fighting but gives a +2 to damage. The ships make a Fighting check with 3d6(4D -1D) they roll a 14. This beats the opponents defense by 8 which confers 2 degrees of success (1 degree is 0-4, 2 5-9, 3 10-14, and 4 15+). This will double the damage. The damage is (3+2)*2 = 10 the bonus from a charge is added before the multiplier. The enemy has an armor of 5 so they take 5 damage (10-5) leaving them with 1 health.
2. Durand(1)- Originally they wanted to get away, but that doesn't look like a good idea anymore so they will try to surrender. The command test will be against the Discipline of 12, 2d6 rolls a 2. The captain was unable to be heard over the din of battle and none of his men surrendered.
3. Stif(2)-Turin orders the men to press the attack. For each order past the first the discipline increase by a cumulative +3. The commadn check is now at 12, 4d6 +1B rolls 15. The men press the attack. They make a Fighting roll at their full 4d6 and get 9, which is only one degree of success. Their damage is 3 -5 for armor. The Durand ships take no damage this time.
4. Durand(2)- The captain signals for surrender again. This time against a discipline of 12. His 2d6 roll an 8, again he fails to give the order.
5. Stif(3)- Turin orders his men to attack. Command against a Discipline of 15, 4d6 + 1B rolls him an 11 his order is unheard over the battles roar.
6. Stif(4)- Turin tries once more to press the attack, this time against a Discipline of 18, 4d6 + 1B roll a 19. His men rush the enemy decks. Their Fighting check is 13 (2 degrees of success). Damage 3*2 -5 = 1 damage. The Durand ship is at 0 health. They are disorganized. Whenever a unit reaches 0 hit points they become disorganized, this confers a -1D to all tests and a +3 to all Discipline checks. They can still fight when disorganized but if they take damage again they will route.

Round 2:

Initiative Stif: 17, Durand: 5

1. Stif(1)- Command roll of 18 to Attack against Discipline 9. Fighting check 11 (2 degrees). Damage 3*2-5 = 1. House Durand takes damage and is routed, they flee to H4. A routed unit automatically flees the battlefield, in this case I decided that they would automatically try to make for their Lord's port to the east. If a routed unit takes damage again they are destroyed.
2. Durand(1)- Command roll of 7 to Rally against Discipline 12. They fail to Rally.
3. Stif(2)- Command roll of 19 to Charge against Discipline 12. Fighting check 9 (1 degree). Damage 3+2 -5 = 0. House Durand takes no damage.
4. Durand(2)- Command roll against a Discipline 15 to Rally. With 2d6 this is impossible, they automatically fail.
5. Stif(3)- Command roll of 16 to attack against Discipline 15. Fighting 15 (2 degrees). Damage 3*2-5 = 1. House Durand takes damage andn the routed units is destroyed.

Victory for House Stif!

After Battle Report:

House Stif:

1 Glory point for Turin. Glory is gained through battles depending on the odds though there is always a minimum of 1 Glory even if you lose. Glory can be used to improved your House.

Unit roll. After each battle roll 1d6 to determine the affect on your units. 1d6 = 5, and Stif's Longships were not damaged so they receive training +1 and become veteran. This lowers their discipline from 9 to 6, and give enough xp for two ability upgrades. The longship improves its Fighting to 5 and its Awareness to 3.

House Durand:

No Glory because they had no commander.

Unit Roll. Since it was destroyed and its green, any roll less than a 6 will result in complete loss of a unit, they roll a 4. House Durand loses the Warship and the cost of it(8) from its Power score, bringing House Durand's Power down to 39.

Since there was no land involved there are no other rewards from this battle. Though if this was an actual game the PCs could be allowed to loot the enemy (especially if they're ironmen-they paid the blood price) for some material rewards as well. And PCs would also gain xp.