Quick Skirmishes

Quick Skirmish Rules

For battles between coordinated formations of up to about a dozen fighters.

Thrown together off the cuff, currently untested, doubtfully functional.

Warbands

Each fighter in the warband is a die. By default, they're d6. Modify size as follows, d4 minimum, d12 maximum:

- Untrained, hungry, exhausted, injured, poorly armed, poorly armored: -1 each

- Well-trained, well-fed, well-rested, heavily armed, heavily armored: +1 each

- Commander is green, commander is distrusted by fighters: -1 each for the whole warband

- Commander is experienced, commander has fighters' trust: +1 each for the whole warband

- Situational, tactical, or positional advantage: -1 to all enemy fighters

Initiative

If it's not clear which warband has the initiative, commanders roll off, 1d6 each by default, size modified by the above factors as makes sense.

Clashes

When two warbands clash, each able to inflict casualties on the other, each commander rolls all their dice.

Whichever commander has initiative then gets to pick one of the enemy's dice and pair one or more of their own dice against it. Then the other commander picks an opposing unpaired die and does the same thing. Continue until all dice are paired.

Results

Look at each pairing. Whichever side has the higher total in that pairing wins. The losing fighter gets hurt as follows:

- Beaten by 1: wounded

- Beaten by 2: alive but out of the fight, will need treatment and recovery

- Beaten by 3+: dead

Surviving fighters check morale according to normal rules (individuals check if they're wounded, warband checks collectively if outnumbered, reduced to half strength, or commander has fallen).

If the fight continues, commanders roll for initiative again based on current conditions and a new round begins.