Warfare

Adapted from Historia (D&D 5e Supplement) (p. 264 - 269)

Momentum

Instead of describing every detail of each side's move, a value called Momentum is used to indicate the progress of the battle, which abstracts the general situation of tactics, positioning, territory, morale and several other aspects affecting the events in the fight.
Momentum ranges from 1 to 20, with 1 indicating the overwhelming force of the opposing faction and 20 indicating an irrelevant opponent. A value close to 10 indicates that the sides are somehow quite balanced.

Preparation Phase

During the preparation phase you define who is the commander of the army and set the value of Momentum for the start of the battle, normally starting from 10 and then adding 1 for each of the following items in which the side of the characters is in significant advantage or remove 1 if in significant disadvantage. In the event of an extremely large difference, the ST can add or remove up to two more points.

• Army size. The sheer number of soldiers. A 3:2 ratio begins to be a significant advantage.
• Soldiers' equipment. Standard equipment and special armaments.
• Strategic advantage. Better positioning, the presence of strongholds or walls, the conformation of rivers and woods.

During the preparation phase it is possible, for each player, to carry out a single preparatory action to collect information or actively influence their troops. It could be an encouraging speech to the soldiers, the preparation of some weapon or enchantment that could influence the engagement or other actions at the discretion of the characters in play.
If a character successfully collects information about the opponents, another character can use the information to prepare a surprise strategy: such a combined action would move the Momentum by 3 but the test to verify its effectiveness is carried out after the start of the battle, at the be- ginning of the first tactical phase. It is only possible to prepare a single surprise strategy per battle, it would otherwise become impossible to avoid information leakage.
To check whether the actions of the characters have taken effect, the player must successfully carry out a check against the relevant ability. The player can suggest the pair of ability and skill to be checked, but the ST has the last word. The difficulty is normally 8, variable depending on the check and the circumstances.

Battlefield and Objectives

At the end of the preparation phase, the crucial areas of the battlefield and the objectives of each army are defined.
The fights almost never have as their primary objective the complete annihilation of the opponent. The objective of an army should be something that the faction wants to achieve and that would force the opposing side to fall back in retreat. Each objective achieved by an army modifies the Momentum in its favor by an amount equal to the number of tactical phases completed so far.
Some objectives can be:

• the capture of an opposing character
• the death of an opposing character
• the capture of a crucial element
• the conquest of a strategic or fortified position

A dead character counts as an objective gained only in the first turn. A captured character counts as an achievement for all turns in which they are captured. If the commander is captured or killed, the Momentum's value is doubled.

Positioning

Each player will then have to declare which unit of their army their character will be commanding. Typical units are:

• First line. The central body of the deployment, formed by heavy infantry bodies
• Shock troops. One or two heavy infantry wings with good mobility
• Scouts. Light troops with high mobility who manage communications and report any alarms
• Shooters. Light troops equipped with range weapons, firearm or artillery
• Rear. Mobile troops acting to support other units with resources or replacements

It is possible not to be assigned to any unit to be free to act to one's full potential, but the risks are quite serious: the character loses twice the hit points during the tactical phase.

Tactical Phase

The tactical phase is the phase in which the consequences of one's actions are seen. The shots are taken for the surprise strategies and the Momentum is recalculated with the changes relating to the objectives and actions carried out.
During the tactical phase, then:

• each PC takes damage from the tension of the battle
• the ST declares what actions the opposing army is taking
• players declare what actions they take, one each
• the ST declares any countermoves

How many and which options are available depends on the value of the Momentum.

Momentum	Hit Points Cost	Opponents' Actions	Opponents' Countermoves
1-5	3 lethal	3	2
6-15	2 lethal	3	1
16-20	1 lethal	2	1

The actions available are Help, Assault, Conquest, Countermove, Detachment, Defense, Reconnaissance, Reinforcements, Repositioning, Retreat, Sabotage and they are described in full in the narrative phase.
At the end of the tactical phase, mark how many tactical phases have been completed: this number will serve you later.

Narrative Phase

Once the tactical phase is over, it's time to go on to tell how your actions are carried on. Each player will describe the action of their character and their unit, perform a check that will determine its success and consequences. The check is normally at Difficulty 8, the ability/skill is agreed with the ST.

Help

The action allows the unit to support the action of another unit, giving strength to an assault, providing cover fire or covering. Normally only a single unit can support an action, except in the case of the Conquest of the objective.

Check: the same as the supported unit.
Effect: both checks are carried out with advantage and it is sufficient to succeed in just one in order to complete the objective.

Assault

The action allows the unit to assault an opposing unit, in order to weaken it and induce it to flee, or to conquer a defenseless target.

Check: melee or ranged hit blow, depending on the unit, or no evidence in case of a defenseless target. If two units try to conquer a defenseless target, they will both have to make a melee hit: the goal will be assigned to whoever achieves the highest result.
Effect: if the roll takes effect, the Momentum will change by 1 in favor of the attacking unit and the attacked unit suffers a weakening level. If the target is a defenseless target, the target is conquered. If the target is a character without a unit, they will suffer 2 weakening levels or be captured.
Special: Ranged units inflict a level of weakening even on the character positioned with the unit.

Conquest

The action allows to carry out a decisive attack that could end the battle. It can only be carried out by the commander of the players and only if the sum of Momentum + the number of tactical phases concluded so far is greater than 16, while it can be carried out by the opposing side only if the Momentum is less than 5+ the number of tactical phases concluded.
If the commander uses this action, all characters who can use the Help action will be able to do so.

Requirement: unit of the commander.
Check: dependent on the goal to be achieved. The test requires that the general and all the characters who are carrying out the Help action to carry out this attempt and that this is carried out by at least three units.
Effect: the objective is achieved, the battle typically ends, the battle moves on to the consequences phase. Where not enough successes are accumulated, one less success will be required next time the commander performs the action.

Countermove

The action allows you to hinder the action of the opposing side by placing yourself physically in the middle, through means of setting up a barrage or through other special abilities of the character or unit. It is possible to make a single countermove on an opposing action.

Check: none.
Effect: the roll required to perform the next check of an opponent has a +2 Difficulty.
Special: if the opposing check is supported by a Help, the Help and Countermove actions are canceled before giving bonuses to either side.

Detachment

The action allows the character to separate from their unit, entrusting the command to someone else, to then perform an independent action in order to fully exploit their skills while putting themselves at serious risk.

Check: Manipulation + Leadership
Effect: If the check is not carried out successfully, the morale of the troop drops, moving the Momentum by 2 towards the opposing force.

Defense

The action allows you to perch at a strategic point and defend your position with the aim of exhausting an opposing unit. This can only be used by a unit defending a target.

Check: melee or ranged hit roll against a unit.
Effect: if the roll succeeds and the target unit performs the Assault action against the unit on Defense, it will have a disadvantage to the hit roll and will suffer a weakening level in case of failure.

Reconnaisance

The action allows you to maintain control of the battlefield and reduce the impact of any unexpected events.

Requirement: Scout unit.
Check: Dexterity + Awareness.
Effect: any Reinforcement action carried out by the opponent would not benefit from the extra effectiveness dice. Repositioning actions have an advantage over the check. Sabotage actions can be identified and counteracted.
Special: if the unit that makes a Reconnaissance is the target of an Assault, it can renounce the action to completely avoid the Assault.

Reinforcements

The action allows the commander to discover additional units prepared in advance and not contemplated in the preparation phase to crush the opposing army in a powerful pincer movement.

Check: Wits + Leadership.
Effect: the Momentum is moved favorably by 4. If the Retreat order was given in the previous turn, the Momentum is moved favorably by 7.
Special: if the action is performed by the characters and the Momentum is less than 5, the Momentum is moved by an additional 1d10. If the action is carried out by the opponents and the Momentum is greater than 16, the Momentum is moved by an additional 1d10.

Repositioning

The action allows an army to reposition itself on the battlefield and consolidate its ranks.

Check: Manipulation + Leadership or Intimidation.
Effect: The unit can remove a weakening level and move to another area of the battlefield. The removal of the weakening level can only occur once per unit.

Retreat

The action allows an army to retreat from battle, withdraw- ing and moving away.

Requirement: only the commander.
Check: Charisma (Deception) if used as a preparation for Reinforcements.
Effect: The army retreats and, if chased, the Momentum drops by 3. If the action is repeated the next turn, the battle ends.
Special: This order performed twice can be stopped by a character with the leadership skills necessary to take the reins of the situation. The decision lies with the ST as to adapt the rules to the many peculiarities that each story can have.

Sabotage

The action allows a unit, not counted in the preparation phase and equipped with great quality gear in terms of rarity and cost, to carry out a surprise strategy, a sabotage or some other special action that leads to a reversal of the situation.

Check: Dexterity + Stealth.
Effect: the unit is not detected. The next Assault action carried out by the unit has an advantage and moves the Momentum up by 5. This bonus adds up (therefore by performing the check twice the Momentum moves by 10, three times by 15 etc.).

Consequences

Depending on the momentum when the battle ends, the consequences can be more or less serious.

• If the characters win, the opposing army is defeated and the objective is conquered. The players will loot an amount of goods equal to the stakes in addition to the maintenance of the opposing side.
• If the characters win with a Momentum greater than 16 they can, if they wish, kill a large number of soldiers on the way and plunder a loot increased by half its value. About a quarter of the enemy soldiers will be killed and the army of characters will take on a certain reputation.
• If the characters win with a Momentum of 20, they may have captured and/or executed almost all of the opposing army, this will go down in history... in one way or another.
• If the characters lose, they can escape with the army, retreating and saving most of it. If they lose with a Momentum of less than 5, the army will have suffered huge losses, and it will take a great effort, resources and money to get it back on track.
• A defeat with Momentum at 1 means that the characters have been captured and are at the mercy of the opponents, while their army is dispersed, their soldiers have fled or died. Difficult times lie ahead...

Weakening

Weakening Levels cause you to suffer wound penalties without taking the damage associated with the level.