I have spoken about the mass battle system The Old Lords of Wonder and Ruin and attempt a live test to measure how I get along with it in a real-game-related situation. That situation is an ambush on a transport along a raw road through dense woods. 160 men move with the train, archers in front, Light and Heavy Foot immediately in front, two archer contingents at the flanks, an archer at the back, and a Light Foot contingent at the rear. The ambushers are just 100 Heavy Foot lying in wait on the western flank of the train. They have slain the guards at an outpost on a hill and now come down a foot path to get to the cargo, with the aim to sabotage it.

Ignore the marks and notes on the chits.

If you have ever played Chainmail, this lingo is clear as water to you. Otherwise it might be a bit obscure. The Old Lords of Wonder and Ruin are a freshly formulated revisit of the Chainmail rules of the 1970s.

What is happening:

As a surprise move, after the forward elements have passed a certain fork in the path, and just as the cargo is at that crossroads, the commander Lord Sbad gives the sign to attack, and his men rush forward through the forest to take the defenders in the flank. Since we have dense forest here, we enjoy good cover, but we need double movement and cannot employ a close formation. That would be bad but it actually helps us escape notice until it is too late for the defenders.

And yet, the ambush does not hit its mark. We have a figure for every 20 men and work in 2 ranks. The first two attacking lines roll merely a 1 and a 2, so no hit. The central attack group uses a road, gains more speed, and rushes the noncombatants who are moving the cargo: 20 serfs are bent to the task when they are suddenly attacked in the rear and hacked asunder, especially by Lord Sbad, a Hero-1 who attacks as 3 men, and his faithful retainers.

The attackers have initiative in the second round and with an overwhelming 4 HF vs 1 LF eliminate the flanking guard. Meanwhile Sbad’s men protect the cargo, while the sappers they brought with them go to work on the enemy’s priced possession.

Lord Mergal of the defenders organises a counterstrike: One group of archers shoots at an outlier of the enemy, but with all the forest cover and open formation they kill only 1 trooper. The other archer units drops their bows and turn into LF to counterattack up close.

Sbad’s men are rushed by Heavy Foot and hold, but they are also flanked by Light Foot and lose half of their strength. Sbad’s heroics hold up Morale though, and the Sappers work with great effect on the enemy cargo.

The next round the init shifts to Mergal’s side, and they harrass Sbad’s men from all angles. Lucky for Sbad, though, none of the score any hits. Lucky for Mergal, Sbad’s troops do not fare better, except for very rear where Mergal’s Light Foot suffer casualties, still protecting the Sappers who finish their task under Sbad’s protection.

This is regular melee now, so despite the minimal losses we do a morale check, as it is in Chainmail too. The attackers have now amassed 5 Fatigue and are therefore at a disadvantage: The fighting took its toll already, some are wounded, others merely tired. The Fatigue is offset by the front line presence of Lord Sbad, who is all heroics. The defenders are a bit less fatigued but are also getting there. For now they have a slight advantage despite their losses.

Now, Sbad attacked with fewer men from the beginning, that is why we only roll Morale now after they got their Sappers in: their objective is reached, it is time to think about personal safety.

We roll a d6 times losses taken/inflicted. Calculating Mergal’s people by Troop Class and the d6, Sbad gets a bonus of 114. Mergal’s survivin troops get to 650, Sbad’s to 559, with the bonus already included. So there is a sizeable difference of 91 in numbers.
Sbad’s troops see that the objective is reached and feel uncomfortable facing so many motivated foes: they rout! Suddenly the attackers turn tail and run.

Mergal grabs one Light Foot contingent though and forces them to look around and discover what the Sappers did, exactly. The rest of his troops run after the routed enemy and attempt to inflict more damage on them.

The northernmost unit, when followed by enemies, immediately rallies and meets their charge head-on. No damage either way. They break off and retreat in good order, and the defenders let them go.

Rout 3 gets attacked and suffers 10 casualties.

Routers 2 and 4 get away scots-free. But Sbad’s tiny band of fighters and Sappers are followed and challenged in melee. Most of the enemies converge on the position and begin to surround Sbad. Both sides fail to do damage, but the Fatigue is getting to the men. Sbad, as a hero-1, lets his blade dance, but to no avail.

Commander Mergal and his Light Foot discover explosive charges set at the Cargo and attempt to defuse them. They have a chance of 2-in-6, 3-in-6 because the Commander is present. But they roll the worst possible outcome: Boom! The mission is a success, the enemy cargo is neutralized.

Alas, Sbad and his faithful will not be able to enjoy the fame and glory: They are quickly surrounded by pursuing troops and fall under the onslaught. Even Sbad’s heroic last stand cannot make a dent in the enemy numbers: Sbad, his retainers, and the Sappers fall prey to the angry retribution of the defenders who are all riled up and furious since they have suffered casualties and lost their cargo.

Good-bye, Lord Sbad.
And Good-bye, Lord Mergal too.

Conclusio

Chainmail is complex, and The Old Lords of Wonder and Ruin, being a faithful clone, are complex too, although better explained. Still, Morale is a tough exercise if you are in the middle of a Roleplaying campaign and want to interrupt it with some mass battle action. Once every melee round the troops need a morale-check, modified by losses, commander, fatigue and troop type. It is easier to understand, but needs experience to go fluidly. Morale is of primary importance too, because it is a crucial factor in deciding who wins the day in a mass battle.

Book of War is easier; different from granddaddy Chainmail but extensively playtested and found to consistently replicate the bottom line results of large engagements like Chainmail would, so we can say with confidence that it remains the favourite mass battle system for D&D-type games. It doesn’t get in the way, integrates into a containing RPG on the fly – but does not hold up well for non-D&D RP games, nor for small units.
“By this Axe/Poleaxe” also remains a strong contender that lends itself especially well to smaller scale skirmishes of something like 50 or 30 vs. 30, and can also be employed with non-D&D games.
But if you want that original feeling of large troop strategic combat the way the early D&D gamers played, then The Old Lords of Wonder and Ruin are a highly attractive resource.

What’s more is that The Old Lords have a chapter that focuses strongly on Man-2-Man duels or combat between small bands. That is an extra wrinkle that warrants its own playtest in the near future, as it is a part of Chainmail that rarely if ever sees the light of day, since we have the “Alternative Combat System” with the d20 that took the lead.

And another thing to do would be to resolve one and the same large troop situation with multiple units in Book of War, By this Axe, and Old Lords of Wonder and Ruin … but that will have to wait.