Mass Combat: Heroes, Sorcerers and Relays

Heroes

Heroes are better visualized as the Vanguard of the Army.  Like Marcus Antony to Julius Cesar, or Achilles to Agamemnon.  They are pretty much a “mini” commander.

• Heroes can assume commander’s role if the Commander dies.  If there are no Heroes within the army then the unit immediately undergoes disbandment.
• Heroes must be in the front.  If the Special Character are not leading from the front then they are Sorcerers.  It also means even of the Hero is using a range attack he cannot commit to “snipe” action.  He can only “duel” other Heroes.  Since he is deep in the thick of the battle and doesn’t have the luxury to patiently wait for the perfect opportunity to attack an opposing special characters.
• Heroes are under the command of their generals, and there for use the General’s War or their own War as ability caps.  Under no circumstance will a Heroes War Ability be used as Cap for the Unit.  To do so he has to usurp command of the Unit and replace the Commander.
• Heroes because they are right in the thick of it are the edge of the unit’s blade.  A unit can rally around the Hero and use HIS Close Combat Rating instead of the Units.  Thus even the lowliest of peasants will be emboldened by Achilles heroism and push deep in to the enemy line at every attack – getting effective Close Quarter Combat Rating of 7 (for Achilles).  This makes a good pairing of Heroes and Commander nigh invincible.  Which is the case of Kaneko and Nella.
• [My Changes] Heroes attached to a pure Range Attack Unit can lend the Range Attack Unit his Range Attack Score.  This is balanced out by the fact I am allowing Sorcerer’s to use Charms to benefit the Unit.
• They can make an additional attack that is separate from the Unit as a whole – as a Solo Magnitude 0 Unit.
• Heroes because they are fighting in the front cannot attack a target that the Unit is not attacking.  To do so he has to break away and form his own unit.
• Heroes can become a unit in his own right.  Becoming a new independent unit.  Standard split unit action rules apply.
• [My Interpretation] Heroes because of their limited focus (in the frontlines leading the charge) cannot use Charms to benefit the Unit.  They can use Charms to argument their solo attack to to raise his own Close Quarter Combat Rating, but he cannot use Charms otherwise to benefit the Unit.  E.g. he cannot use sorcery to teleport the entire unit to safety, he cannot use charms to defend the entire unit, etc.

 

Sorcerers

Sorcerers are those special character with skills that are deep behind the army lines.

• Sorcerers are not Heroes.  There for they cannot assume command in the Heat of the Battle.  He can reform the army after its rout, but he is not at the focus of the fight to stench the bleeding wound should the death of the commander shatter morale.
• For rule purposes Sorcerers cannot split the Unit (no idea why, but that is the rules).  They however can split from the Unit independently and become a “commander” of his own magnitude 0 unit, and they under go merge/split action to gain more magnitude.  No idea why the game mechanics force it this way but I am honoring the rules.
• Sorcerers however cannot use their own War Rating.  They are always capped at the Commander’s War.  Even for their own independent range attack.
• Like Heroes, Sorcerers can also make independent attack as Magnitude 0 Units.  Because they are not in the frontlines they can only attack with Ranged Attacks.
• Unlike Heroes, the only Combat Rating a Sorcerer can impart to the Unit is Range Attack Rating.
• Because they are away from the action they have the luxury of using Sorcery.
• Because they are away from the action they can support the whole unit as opposed to marred to their knees in the bodies of the enemy.  Thus they can use Charms to aid the entire unit.  Such as Perfect Parry or Perfect Soak.

 

Relays

While Relays have no direct combat advantage they are vital to large units.  Relays are not necessary messengers.  It embodies the entire command structure.  The Co-Captain is a Relay, so are Lieutenants, Signallers, Runners, etc.

• Relays are abstractions, but they are also special characters.  Being such being a relay does not “remove” the person from being counted in Magnitude (just like Heroes and Sorcerers).
• Units with Magnitude 3 or higher must have at least 1 relay for every dot.  Since a Army can have 2 special characters for every Magnitude, it means for magnitude 1-2 they can have 2 and 4 Special characters respectively.  For every dot beyond that it really only adds 1 special character slot, since the other will be taken by a relay.
• For each relay that is missing the unit suffers -2 to its effective Drill.
• Since Relays are the Command Structure they can stand in for the Commander for Command functions.  Rolls such as Rally Checks, Hesitation Rolls, Route Tests, etc.  Thus a completely not likable commander may still function if his second in command is popular and charismatic.