Used Phased Combat and Program Actions Before Initiative Using the Combat Log (CLOG)

01 Mar, 2025

Combat takes place in 15 second rounds (rnd). Those with Surprise have an extra turn of action before their opponents.

COMBAT PROCEDURE

1. Orders entered on Combat Log (CLOG)
2. Initiative Check: Players and their forces go before monsters 3-in-6.
3. (sim) Mor/Loy/MorLoy check
4. (phs) Movement & Reactive Melee Attacks
5. (phs) Ranged Attacks
6. (phs) Spells Cast
7. Melee Combat
   1. (phs) Mounted combatants & combatants in formation
   2. (phs) Disordered combatants
8. Other actions

ACTIONS 1 Major Action + 1 Minor Action, or 2 Minor Actions, may be taken per turn. A Major Action is annotated (M), a minor action is annotated (m). As many Free Actions as are reasonable can be performed.

• Major Actions: (See below), stand up from prone, remove armour piece, apply bandage, retrieve item from pack.
• Minor Action: (See below), manipulate lever, drop pack
• Free Actions: Draw sheathed/holstered weapon, drink potion, shouting, giving Orders.

ORDERS PCs may issue two orders each round. Orders consist of a Motion and a Command and program a nearby unit or individual to act. A PC's order budget includes that PC's own action unless they choose to act with a unit to which they are attached.

General or pre-arranged commands are judged on a case by case basis, and may have a chance of misfire, delay, misinterpretation, or failure.

The motions and commands below are not exhaustive. Annotations and explanation should be employed freely, but the CLOG is meant as a mnemonic, rather than complete, record.

MOTIONS

• (→) Move: minor. Move 4sq.
  • If dragging injured or cargo, 2sq
  • If reloading certain weapons, 1sq
  • Leaping down a level consumes the remainder of a Move.
  • Surmounting an obstacle requires the equivalent of 1-3 sq of movement, and may take multiple rounds of units.
• (⇒) Sprint: minor. Each sprinter takes 1dmg. DEX tst: S)Move 6sq F)Move 4sq
• (_) Hold: Non-action. Remain in position.
• (W) Withdraw: Major. STR tst: S)Enemy cannot make Reactive Attack F)1/2 of enemies may make Reactive Attack (round up).
• (F) Form/Reform: Major. Split or combine units. Create units from individuals.
• If unspecified, motion covered by Autoreact

COMMANDS

• (• or blank) Automatic Behaviour.
• (A) Attack: Major
• (RA) Ranged Attack: Major
• (B) Brace: Major
• (S) Spellcast: Major
• x/y: Reload/Spell/Task: Use fractions and a short annotation to indicate progress.
• Miscellaneous tasks should be annotated.

COMBAT LOG FORMAT The Combat Log is oriented north-up and used with reference to the map. Each row is a unit or individual. Each column is a round. A row is left blank at the top and bottom to write 'Monster', to indicate if they have won or lost initiative for that round.

Orders and annotations are written in a units cell and crossed out when executed.

ORDER EXECUTIONS & AUTOMATIC BEHAVIOUR Individuals and units will attempt to carry our their orders, even if changing circumstances make them suboptimal (eg. moving forward leaves them flanked). They will not perform outright suicidal actions (eg. moving into fire).

In the absence of orders to the contrary, units who have been ordered to Hold will remain in position, everyone will fight with adjacent enemies. Units who have not been ordered to hold or been given specific movement directions will attempt to attack weaker or peer targets.

Remember that at ground level numbers and details are hard to assess. Where consequentially ambiguous, d6: 1-3)Aggressive 4-5)Stationary 6)Retiring. Disposition varies by force.

INITIATIVE Each round of combat is divided into phases: Within each, the winner of initiative goes before the loser. The party as a whole makes one Initiative Check: 1d6: <=3 to win initiative, TN may be modified by circumstance. Certain actions can occur at any point or in response to other actions.

It is important that orders are issued before players know if they or the monsters will act first.

TEAMS 3-9 individuals with identical armour may be aggregated into a Team, which occupies at least one square. 3 persons, or 6 persons with reach weapons, may attack across any one square-side. 9 persons may occupy any one open square. Terrain or choice can spread a Team over multiple laterally-contiguous squares.

Enemies attack a Team generally, not its specific members. Hits are applied to tea members in descending order based on HP at the beginning of that phase (eg. the least hurt is struck first, the second-least-hurt struck second and so on), with hits in excess of team members wrapping back around to the first.

Each able, unengaged team member may guide two stunned teammates in a Move without speed penalty, or drag one casualty with speed penalty. Two unengaged team members may carry one casualty without speed penalty.

PCs may attach themselves to a team. If PCs are exposing themselves to danger, attack rolls with values 1-2 target the PC.

Teams may be ad-hoc formations, created or split in action using the Form/Reform command.

Unegnaged teams retain enough space between files to move through one another, if terrain is open and both are in good order. Teams may be disrupted by fugitives fleeing through or into them.

UNITS are groupings of contiguous teams and individuals for the purpose of disseminating orders. Units are considered contiguous even if teams only touch on diagonals. Units which become split up for more than 1 round separate. It is conventional to refer to 2-4 teams as a 'Section' and 2-4 sections as a 'Platoon'.

REACTIVE ATTACKS, WITHDRAWING, ZONES OF CONTROL Peer or larger opponents (Team v Team, Indv v Indv, Team v Indiv) may make an immediate, free Reactive Attack if their opponent leaves melee combat without using the Withdraw action. Units not ordered to Hold have a 50% chance of changing their Move action / adding a Move action to pursue and attack those that have just fled.

A 1sq Zone of Control (ZoC) emanates around steady Teams: Enemy teams may not move through it for the purpose of bypassing the Team. Individuals may run through it, but suffer an attack as they do so.

MELEE ATTACK

1. Target Number (TN) is set
   • 5: Very Difficult
   • 8: Difficult
   • 10: Regular
   • 12: Easy
   • 15: Very Easy
2. d20 Attack Roll
   1. roll <= TN Hits
      1. Weapon parity (odd or even) determines damage applied to target
   2. roll > TN misses

Target Number is not modified by armour. In melee, it is largely a positional assessment by the DM.

• Very Difficult: Target supremely positioned, attacker's weapon ineffective
• Difficult: Bad lighting, target supremely agile or inhumanly large
• Regular
• Easy: Target on lower ground, flanked, has ineffective weapon
• Very Easy: Target mired, surprised, unarmed &c
• Helpless Target: It is not necessary to make an attack roll to execute a truly helpless - for example, sleeping or immobilized - target.

BRACE Melee attacks targeting a braced unit are one step more difficult.

RANGED ATTACK Ranged attacks follow the same scheme as melee attacks. TN begins at weapon range and is modified by conditions and cover. Each round spent Aiming negates a modifier.

1. Target Number (TN) = Range - Cover - Modifiers
   • Range Bands vary by weapon
     • 7: Long Range
     • 10: Effective Range
     • 13: Short Range
   • Cover
     • Cover -1: Partial cover
     • Cover -2: Half of body protected.
     • Cover -3: Most of body covered. Battlements &c
     • Cover -4: Arrow slit or firing hole
   • Modifiers (examples)
     • Bad Lighting
     • Obscuration
     • Wind
     • Intervening Foliage
     • Unstable firing platform
2. d20 Attack Roll
   1. roll <= TN Hits
      1. Weapon parity (odd or even) determines damage applied to target
   2. roll > TN misses
      1. Miss equal to Mishap Value generates mishap.

Reloading time and its effect on movement varies by weapon type.