WAR and BATTLES in D&D (Part 2)

I'm beginning to specialize in info dumps. Mainly because scheduling skits is really hard.
/ runesmith

[@Runesmith]

Thanks for watching, and if you were interested: www.patreon.com/runesmith I'm not a tactical or mathematical genius, but it might make things a bit quicker or easier.

[@marvintehrobot5467]

Where is spaghetti video

[@unluckybandit1075]

i love you bb.

[@samdurfee6093]

Did you know? Good Berry completely breaks the concept of eating food as a normal thing to do. Consider how common Good Berry would be in a country, Now apply farming in a country where this spell is common, Now consider how often wars are fought simply for resources like food, Now consider how feeding an army looks like where this spell is common, I realized that Farming simply would not be common unless it was berry fields, then I realized that any other food would be treated like a luxury because a Good Berry once a day is all you need for survival. Feeding an army would only need 1 Berry per soldier and a handful of casters for the spell. Put simply Good Berry completely changes the world.

[@TheDndGenasi]

Where do players fit?

[@Ruuuuubes]

Many a soldier was saved by hiding under a futon or a stack of dead alligators.

[@kylepessell1350]

This reminds me of Ryuutama where there is an actual game mechanic for coming up with environmental elements at the beginning of a fight and then using those elements to give yourselves bonuses by involving them in your actions. For example: Instead of shooting a pirate princess from a distance with a cannon, I choose to aim at the rather large barrel of rum beside her to give myself a better chance to hit as well as extra damage. I managed to crit on that roll and blasted her into little pieces. Thus ended the sudden uprising of the town of Wishy-Washy and the heroic martyrdom of Obbins the Farmer did not go to waste and the publically executed bard was avenged. Unfortunately, the Pirate King's crew arrived, put down the rebellion, and kicked off a several months long game of cat and mouse across dimensions. This concluded with me falling into a three-year coma.

[@silvertheelf]

Lol

[@Geeko170]

Yes a single wizard is a nuclear warhead. That is why to neutralize a warhead, you send a dedicated strike team of specialists trained to deal with them. I have always been a fan of non magic users being able to take on wizards through experience and training. The enemy wizard knows he out classes everything the defenders have, but what his scrying orb did not see, is the small company of highly trained mage hunters sent to deal with overconfident wizards.

[@kylestanley7843]

There's even a feat for this, it's great.

[@camazotzbat5970]

@@kylestanley7843 as well as abilities, items and archetypes. There's always the type of mage who learns or possesses magic solely for the sake of shutting other magic down. That's why abjuration exists.

[@pLanetstarBerry]

Yes, this! I'm building a campaign setting where, due to past war shenanigans, magic is either highly restricted or straight up illegal, depending on the area. Thankfully the solo player I'm building this campaign for is down for this setting despite playing a wizard. He feels it brings a cat-and-mouse element to the gameplay, especially since I'm building a faction whose entire existence is to flush out magic users. They've been loosely inspired by witch hunters throughout history, so naturally their competence, motivations, and overall reasonability is gonna depend on the individual hunter. Haven't done the mechanics part of that since I'm busy with other campain related worldbuilding, but I am looking forward to laying some groundwork down for that.

[@StaryExtra]

Hopefully they act quietly. One whiff of those Mage Hunters, then it's Demon Time. And we all know, wizards are wizards, but when a wizard summons a dozen high level demons, it's over. Mage Hunters only specializes on Magic, not pure unbridled edritch demon magic straight from the aether or the abyss and strength of demonic might.

[@brianmachado4839]

Basically The Boys haha

[@jennifercavenee7572]

"Not All Magic is a War Crime" sounds like the title of my next wizard character's memoir.

[@AMVhuntingSyndrom]

Runesmith: "First pick a place" King: We will wage war... THERE *points at map* Advisor: What battle? Against whom? Im sorry but what?

[@leanasa2915]

brother u just made my day

[@qwimpy1247]

I immediately recognized the art and artist of those silhouettes. ...i've been browsing character art for way too long.

[@singularity1130]

Secret Bonus: Death Ground Art of War: Death Ground. A place where an army is backed up against some geographical feature like a mountain, a river, another army or a forest and has no escape route. It was reasoned without a way to retreat an army fights with double or triple the spirit compared to being on open terrain, precisely because death is viscerally present. Implementable: Stacking Exhaustion for temporary rage bonus to show the fierce fighting spirit of men and woman on death ground.

[@gerbie42]

Good one! Additionally, also taking a bit from the Art of War, it should be noted that when you are the attacker (i.e. not the troops about to die) and you are not aiming aiming for annihilation you should give your opponent a chance to surrender and/or retreat to prevent your army from suffering unnecessary casualties at the hands of this increased battle spirit.

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

Sikhs: I'll take that as a challenge.

[@playlistguyryand906]

:l

[@slavesforging5361]

It could be fun to think about how magic could sanitize war using it's healing aspects as well. I'm picturing lots of highly ptsd soldiers running around who have felt the pain of losing their legs, only to have them fully restored, but their psyche is all messed up still. Or being brought back from the dead. It could be interesting to see how leaders think they take great care of their troops and therefore use them wantonly or brazenly, but all their troops are seriously mentally scarred. Could even be an intense horror campaign or encounter. (With relevant trigger warnings of course).

[@eirikrhernandez8860]

As someone who read The Art of War, I gotta say. Sun Tzu never in his life imagined the usefulness of a stack of dead alligators, nor how would it change the course of a war like an impassable obstacle for water in a river, forcing it into a lake instead. You have opened my eyes!

[@bar0nger]

The first step would be to send assassins to get rid of the enemies wizards. A good reason to implement wizards as secretive, and tending to hide out in towers. Think of towers as nuclear missile silos.

[@llKirosll]

You missed the opportunity to make that 'stack of dead alligators' being a 'pile of dead bards'. How could you?!! :D

[@nicholaslabonte3491]

No one said the alligators weren't bards

[@Saurophaganax1931]

He’s got you there.

[@Phelan666]

Hot tip: Treat each formation like a giant organized swarm and give it simple abilities.

[@CountDravda]

The old 3.5 supplement "Heroes of Battle" had a lot of good ideas for how to run wars and battles in a campaign. I'd recommend giving it a look, even if the classes, feats, etc are now outdated.

[@tree-turtle9944]

I like the "wizards are nuclear warheads" concept. In the setting I developed, the art of wizardry used to be very crude and straightforward before it became a science. Basically all evocation. Channeling wasn't calculated or planned out. You were a conduit for as much power your spirit could pull, and it was extremely taxing on the body. There are a few stories of cities and battlefields being completely leveled by a wizard going absolutely fucking supernova and vaporizing themselves in the process.

[@Lukos0036]

Or you can go the easy route and lift your battles right off the pages of history books. From classical Greece to the late Roman Empire big set piece battles were a mainstay of early human civilization and each encounter has been researched exhaustively. Pick aspects of them, mix and match, theme properly for your setting and play Risk with made up nations.

[@buboniccraig896]

I see magic being used a lot like modern technology and it's probably used for strategic purposes. Enchanters and illusionists are used for espianouge. Glyphs of Warding are used like mines. Evokers are like artillery. And everyone can at least cast a fire bolt. I'm imagining armored fellows all hiding behind trenches. With a magical dead mans land in between. Magical experts work closely with generals, knowing the exact ranges of commonly used offensive spells. Theres always people on standby with a counterspell readied at the front of the trenches next to the ones with fire bolts prepared. Maybe someone with a lot of buffing spells will cast Warding bond and haste on some super soldier along with other buffed spells so someone can run through deadman land. Just some ideas.

[@flounderflounder6833]

Love this

[@ThePizzaGoblin]

the way I handle spellcasters in battle is that they engage in a battle of wills with each other. The battle of wills keeps them from just chucking spells around right at the start. They lock minds with each other and I make the player or players roll con, intelligence, wisdom and charisma checks and saving throws against the enemy spellcaster. The events can also hinder the concentration of one of the casters. For example, if the enemy soldiers are starting to get close to the spellcaster's position, or artillery is beginning to land around them, they would get a penalty to their rolls for a round or so. Once one side breaks the other's will, they are free to start casting. It's not perfect, but its fun, and allows the martial PC's to help with the battle by targetting the enemy spellcaster.

[@anonymouse2675]

I am stealing this idea, thank you!

[@felixrivera895]

I feel like dnd has a hard time with mass combat mechanically, so I'm going to use the basic rules for Warhammer/Sigmar and the players each get a unit.

[@cizeek9748]

Quite funny when it was originally derived from a wargame! (Chainmail it was called)

[@wolight]

If you have additional questions, I recommend a visit to the Battle of Desktop Plains Museum and National Park. I went there last summer and got a nice hat

[@nicholashopper2133]

Things seen is that, Doc Holiday from Wynnona Earp?

[@wolight]

@@nicholashopper2133 Why yes it is good sir

[@Jessie_Helms]

Fun idea for magical warfare: To be an officer you are required to learn Dispel Magic, Inspiring Leader, and/or Healing Word. What use is an officer who can’t lead a unit against a single lowish level magician?

[@chimerazeta1714]

There's a simple solution to every major battle or insurrection... SUMMON LARRY

[@GuardianTactician]

Hey now, all that shooting and stabbing is not very polite. If you keep doing it you're going to make me rather upset.

[@chimerazeta1714]

@@GuardianTactician Parry this, you fucking casual *yeets a hail of arrows straight into ur eyes* that's what you get, CLERIC. you can't take this badass Sorcerer awesomeness

[@maromania7]

So fun fact, back when 10th level spells were a thing, wizards were LITERALLY nuclear warheads. Cataract of fire, it was like a vastly more powerful flame strike...except the core of it was a 300 foot radius, 2000 foot tall, it did what would essentially be fire and force damage, and it also acted like a disintegrate spell. Then the area in a QUARTER MILE around that core also took massive (albeit lesser) damage. The components were also destroyed. Not as in consumed as a spell component, but it tore through magical defenses and was instantaneous. Technically the spell granted the person fire immunity, but not arcane immunity, so you were gonna die. One of the rare spells that were actual warcrimes. alongside Diluvial Torrent, which was just Create Water. But like, magically infused water, and 628,000 cubic feet of it. 39,187,200 pounds. directly above the caster. Similar story, but also with risk of drowning if the arcane damage didn't rip you apart.

[@crespocruz1664]

Possible way to deal with magic could be a standard flag that protects against strong magic that non magic combatants cluster around to try to reach the other sides magic users you can use magic as more of a supporting roll or as long range attacks like artillery. or just for healing

[@Hazel-xl8in]

i’ve found that probably the best book on how to run battles and stuff is Matt Colville’s “Strongholds and Followers” (he’s also a really cool guy check him out)

[@djsalad5752]

Bat poo is the ultimate magical resource to be contested

[@navilluscire2567]

I always liked the idea of economies that support magic heavy classes or professionals which is why I like the idea of spell components and other items that help a caster practice their trade. Take for example of *a castor that makes great invisibility cloaks with their best ones being made out of spun spider silk but said caster isn't great at spinning* or weaving clothes *so they rely on a guild of seamstresses who ARE great at making elaborate designs for, capes, cowls, and ofcourse cloaks.* Infact said women are given designs (say blinded eyes and spider motifs) from the cloak enchanter to weave into being that are essential for their rituals that make these *ensorceled garments,* it creates *a symbiotic relationship between the usually distant groups of mundane or and magically adept or gifted* which I'm a big fan of!

[@thebeezkneez7559]

I should mention that the battle itself can be decisive and one sided. Look at the 6 day war where Israel destroyed a lot of the opposition's aircraft before they took off of, or when stannis destroyed the wildings in game of thrones. It's not always about the battle itself despite how cool battles can be, it's about the buildup to the battle, how that suspense releases, and then the subsequent consequences that take place due to who wins and how they win.

[@andrasteamel5668]

Every time I see my name at the end I get a pleasure shiver dawn my spine 😛. It's been just a month but i'm still shook every time I see it. I feel like a very special boi!

[@carlosforma5978]

Geografical formations and advantages should also be considered. Such as a downhill heavy cavalry charge on a sieging infantry being basically unstoppable, or hills and cliffs hiding units from their enemies.

[@crownlexicon5225]

Wow. Actually caught this one pretty early. Wouldve seen it sooner but I had to go back and watch the first

[@smilemore7431]

WAR HUUG GOOD GOD YALL WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR

[@theSparkyDub]

ABSOLUTELY NOTHIN' SAY IT AGAIN

[@KageRyuu6]

@@theSparkyDub History would disagree with you.

[@marcusborderlands6177]

@@KageRyuu6 it's a song...

[@grayeaglej]

War Hug o.o

[@generaltom6850]

Making a “tactical map” can be helpful, I named it that to distinguish between battle maps, but using tokens to represent some number of troops can be very helpful and even if you don’t show it to the players can help you, basically make some partitions on the maps and place units, more than one unit can’t be on a tile if you’re new but if you’re more experienced you may want to experiment with that, then roll based on a table of moves for each army: Brilliant, the General makes a brilliant move, you decide what that is and could potentially turn the tide of a battle though not enough to win it alone if the battle is still starting up Excellent, the general makes a move that can severely hamper the enemy like successfully orchestrating a maneuver that let’s his cavalry charge the flank or rear of an enemy Good, the general makes a move that can win him regional superiority (in one part of the battle like the leftmost flank of the army or the center) if he is smart he may be able to turn this into a greater victory Average, the general makes a move that manages to maintain the status quo, not really winning but not losing Poor, the general makes a mistake or he is outsmarted by the enemy he may still be able to stop the enemy exploiting this mistake Bad, the general makes a bad move one that could potentially give regional superiority to the enemy Blunder, the general makes a potentially battle losing move especially if the enemy makes a brilliant move What these moves are you can figure out just by learning about some battles e.g austerlitz, friedland, the granicus, cannae, Vienna, Salamis and trafalgar (if you’re looking for a naval victory) and so many more.

[@carlosforma5978]

Espionage, assassinations, blackmail and inciting rebellions on the enemy's territory are awesome ways for an adventuring party to participate in a war in RPGs. Or you could have the war be a setting around them, bringing both obstacles and boosts, risks and chances for them to survive/become rich/face a hidden threat that may or may not be related to the war in the first place. This last part kind of sounds like Skyrim, now that I think about it 🤔...

[@eamonbell6378]

Me, a mad lad: has my party of 3 fight approximately 100 enemies, with every enemy being represented by a miniature.

[@cizeek9748]

Great videos! Although for those who want a simulation of realistic medieval combat not that accurate. The basic rundown of war is, that it wasn't viewed as that bad. People were used to death and a war would most likely not end in a nation disappearing. Second most battles were sieges, and a war didn't need an extensive reason to start. Sometimes people just wants sum booty or to fight. And third a battle wouldn't be absolutely hectic. It would be intelligently planned out with commanders giving out commands left and right. Don't forget that sometimes soldiers disobey or they don't receive information, either due to over eagerness or not being disciplined. For such an example battle of Hastings was lost simply because soldiers disobeyed orders pushed too hard on the enemy, didn't realize they were being baited and left their high ground. And so the battle was lost, even though they had more soldiers!

[@Recoil1808]

Considering that elves regularly use magic that is about on par with epic level magic, literally anything else is on the table. And getting a dragon to fight for you is no different than hiring out a band of mercenaries or warrior monks. They're literally sapient beings and thus capable of becoming partisans or hirelings, if they don't eat whoever goes to hire them. Much of what we'd consider a war crime, combatants in a D&D setting would think par for the course, if a little bullshit, or cowardly, depending on who is who..

[@Elsneakakaze]

I love the fact that the war of annihilation trope was self aware, its aliens name was incoherent garbage. Just like the concept of blatant war of annihilation.

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Elsneakakaze well yeah, it’s called a Fantasy roleplaying game for a reason

[@Grievas85]

Ahahahah you are great. These 2 videos were fun and very interesting. Thanks for the ideas, Runesmith!

[@thatguy9816]

I'm two years late to the party, but damn if this wasn't a super - super helpful video. Thank you!

[@dwaynecharlton]

'Holy crap, is that a useful book for DM's...... and terrorists....' Goddamnit I laughed way to hard

[@Volvith]

"Not all magic is a war crime..." _But all magic can be. :3_

[@boinkmcbingo8890]

Big greens are only for icedcreams

[@ImaBotwhynot]

the sun was shining a lovely day my uncles took me outside to play it got real toasty my tongue real dry I needed iced cream or I would fry all they had was three big greens just enough for three iced creams but uncle noticed a glistening flier a trip to Syria their one desire my two lovely uncles they went away to blessed Syria for a holy vacay I have never seen them with such big old grins fulfilling all their dreams among Syrians my two lovely uncles they went away they're both still inside me everyday how will I go on without their firm musk echoing through me from dawn until dusk I'll keep them alive with my thoughts in my brain I'll spread their sweet ashes when I get their remains I'll always remember your oceans of love my two lovely uncles slain from above

[@wastelanderghoul]

Did not expect the "My two uncles" SUPERMEGA art / reference at the end. Made me double take.

[@bcfb21]

Ah yes. The hills are alive with the screaming of dying men.

[@jozzyalthefool9273]

MTG's War of the Spark is a perfect example of a war of annihilation

[@warlordghandi3590]

where can i hire a army of those strong caster you talked about?

[@mitchwilliamson5552]

Off in some magic shit, occasionally calling you and ordering you about instead.

[@Xenibalt]

The city is named Shure'valla

[@Specter_1125]

First you gotta find em. Only a handful exist in each country

[@Tinkering4Time]

Mongoose Publishing did a 3.5 supplement on War Magic. There are a handful of extremely powerful spellcaster mercenary bands who command a hefty price. Much of that price goes towards their proportionately expensive specialist equipment, like fueling magical blasting cannons or replacing burnt-out runic tiles on the Mortis Harnesses attuned to their War Mages. War Magic is like regular spellcasting, except even more closely guarded (often to the point of state secrets), the spells are difficult and dangerous to cast without a mortis harness and the requisite training, and being trained as a war mage (as a prestige class) is so demanding that you lose access to all but a handful of non-war magic spells. Some core spells count as War Magic, but the ones specific to the “School” of War Magic are... potent. Very, VERY potent. But there are few utility spells. Mostly evocations that make a fireball spell blush with embarrassment and feel like a tindertwig.

[@evannibbe9375]

What you do is you hire a couple of low level wizards who have learned enough about magic that they can get their respective 45 spells each (2 per level they rise) after getting sufficient experience points in a controlled environment (think: farming alligators to attack those wizards so that they have something to kill and gain those all-important experience points from), then you, the ruler, set up schools of magic to teach those who are most likely to remain loyal to you all the spells that those wizards knew and have them go through the same alligator-killing spree to fill out all 9 levels of their spells slots (all 20 levels in the Wizard class). Thus you industrialize magic for the purpose of maintaining the independence of your country and the ability to build up everything your people need very quickly with things like mold earth, stone shape, fabricate, etc.

[@RandomInternetStranger]

Pro tip, when dealing with large swathes of people as they were talked about in this video (and you have a battlemap or something to represent the battlefield that this takes place on): playing cards. Just trust me, you'll thank me later.

[@blipboigilgamesh7865]

6:43 HOLY SHIT SOMEBODY ACTUALLY HONORED MY TWO UNCLES

[@internetpolice2079]

Uncle 1 and uncle fungus are forever inside us

[@nathanmilem3379]

What about magical creatures I know you mentioned dragons but not in detail gollum’s,elementals,etc

[@shandaniel2999]

Jus have them be their own type of unit that does different stuff like smashing cover. If a monster is big enough then it might be it’s own unit.

[@thedapperassassin3717]

That would also depend on who is controlling them, and if such a thing is conceivably possible.

[@rodrikforrester6989]

Gollum is basically a goblin, so he's not gonna be more useful than a greenskin.

[@rodrikforrester6989]

@VYPERHYPER MC101 I know.

[@johnwhite1534]

Reads Gollum and imagines an army of malnourished halflings instead of animate rock monsters

[@IamZeus1100]

Love the content ! One of the best channels for DnD I found

[@michaelmogar5213]

"Throw the fuck down". That got me good.

[@savannahcoppersmith9737]

I LOVE "The Art of War"

[@theultimatehangover7576]

I once designed my own system based off 5E, but with tons of extra elements and mechanics to make things more immersive and flexible by setting. I ran one game which took place in a post apocalyptic wasteland in which the party found themselves in a city state setup in the ruins of an old metropolis. The city was warned of an incoming war band of raiders by refugees traveling from other villages in the south. The party had maybe a day to prepare, and so we decided to draw up a map of the warzone covering one square kilometer. Each party member, the most of them having gained some renown in the city, convinced and bribed the townsfolk into conscription, armed with rebar spikes, bows made from tempered steel, and scrap metal muskets and other crude ranged weapons of the like. I, by coincidence managed to write-out a very similar battle system to what was described in the video, although, I had the party members direct their men to specific positions and mark them numerically using a die of their choosing to quickly determine which one of their positions occupied by that unit had taken casualties. It worked surprisingly well and a battle with over 200 troops took less than an hour to fully roll out. The party managed to push back the initial approach of the raiders using one advance team to sneak through the ruins and setup a fire base atop an old apartment, which was able to take pressure off friendlies by suppressing the enemy from an elevated position already behind their frontline. Raiders pulled back without their leader who was wounded in the fray by a stray bullet, and one of the party members decided after downing a bunch of moonshine [probably just turpentine] to finish him in a one-on-one brawl. Great night. It's a shame the campaign ended with everyone TPKng themselves via mexican standoff, fighting over "who's gonna take the truck".

[@technoxan6826]

I like your ideas! The system I run is very similar, and I mostly got it from Steelshod (a long and awesome dnd story with lots of mass combat). Lost of gestalt rolls and detail scales directly with how much people care about the conflict.

[@All4Tanuki]

I love it when you dump your info all in me

[@farfnlugen9910]

FOR THE EMPEROR!

[@joshuaestrada6042]

For my characters backstory he fought in a war against a vicious dragon king and we lost so for the campaign when we are all level twenty as in the party we can fact them and thanks these videos helped

[@Hazel-xl8in]

i see he didn’t save prince horace

[@Zeuskabob1]

Thanks for the videos! Slight correction: At 00:49, it should be spelled "Consequences".

[@aenorist2431]

I´d rather use Matt Colvilles Battle system. Great explanation for the kinds of conflicts and so on tho :D

[@j.w.7608]

What's his video called that talks about this

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Misfit Logic he actually published a whole book: Strongholds and Followers. that’s the “kickstarter” that he always mentions in his videos, and he has another one coming out called Kingdoms, Organizations, and Warfare.

[@Zerpderp0]

What's the Matt Colvilles Battle system?

[@EJdoomsday]

you have good taste with that Matt Watson Ref bruh

[@racekitty]

Most make large battles I make are a lot like it's done movies and tv only the important characters fight I.E some volleys of projectiles are thrown roll dice for who get hit the the big clash happens the players fight through some grunts then the commander when the players win the opposition routs I also put some npcs that the players know in battle and roll for their status sometimes they survived or get permanent injury(loss limbs eyes etc) or died I don't it too often but try to make it a major turning point in story

[@Kakkarot211]

war of annihilation is like what happened in overlord season 3

[@gabrielrussell5531]

1:00 Actually with 5E's bounded accuracy the average wizard is less a nuke, and more basic artillery. A level 5 Wizard with 14 Con and Dex (Quite reasonable with point buy/standard array) has 32 hitpoints, AC 12/15 depending on Mage Armor, and can fireball twice a day. A fireball scorches a 20' radius for 8d6 (Average 28) damage. A CR 1/2 scout attacks twice with their longbow with +4 for 6 damage. Assuming mage armor they hit on an 11 so they hit half the time for 6 damage giving an average damage per attack of 3. In 11 attacks that Wizard will be dead. Scouts are probably a lot cheaper and more plentiful than Wizards. They could also try attacking beyond the 150' short range with their bows up to the long range of 600' but I can't math disadvantage well. The moment a guy with robes comes into the range of longbows they are gonna be the biggest priority target, and are gonna be pincushion'd so hard.

[@kylestanley7843]

But a level 15 wizard on the other hand...

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Gabriel Russell well there’s also the shield spell, which only has to be cast once every six seconds to block at least half the arrows. Additionally, seeing a dude in robes and identifying him as dangerous from over a football field away is no easy feat my guy (although i do agree with the artillery comparison)

[@Zerpderp0]

@@Hazel-xl8in not only that, but in a large scale battle, you never leave your Artillery undefended. To quote Ken Ham "That's stupid." I imagine they would have at least 2 fighters, one capable of defending and one capable suppression. The defender, in 5e, would most likely have that one shield feat where the can put disadvantages on any attack targeting their chosen defended within one square of them (5 ft. radius). While the attacker would probably be a crossbowman or bowman of sorts capable of helping pick off anyone unlucky enough not to be incinerated by the wizard immediately as well as cover the wizards retreat when he can't bring the thunder anymore. Likewise if I was the enemy, I'd try to out range them and use higher levels of physical based classes on mounts to try and rundown the wizard. Idk how mounts work in 5e, but a fully armoured knight crashing into you with a mace or lance isn't something you're gonna be looking forward to experiencing, especially if all you got is some fancy words and a light cloak

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Zerpderp0 i think it’s a mistake to assume that soldiers/npcs follow the same rules and classes that players do. the fighter and wizard rules are meant for fair balance in playing, not for combats that take place on a scale that dice rolling would be far too tedious to simulate

[@Zerpderp0]

@@Hazel-xl8in on a small scale however, it makes sense. Also, I guess it depends on the DM. I for one would probably give a plus to tactics or something

[@TheLovelyVocal]

Thanks for these, I'm gonna start acts of information war in the game I'm in lol

[@windwatcher460]

Seriously though, The Art of War is great, and an easy read

[@obviouslykaleb7998]

You’ve only read a SUMMARY of art of war?! You gotta read the whole thing! WITH COMMENTARY

[@sqwong3947]

Since this video is made so long ago most people are not going to see it but I want to share my thoughts on it. IMO there are 10 pillars of war in which this video only covered like 4 at most, and arguably the least important ones. So let’s show what these are. 1. Information. This one is obvious, if you don’t know where the enemy is, you are a sitting duck and is going to die. In how to implement it in a dnd game, so show a whole map of the entirety of the two sides involved e.g. if it’s for ww2 show the whole map of all the potential conflicts, even the most insignificant places. Then place all the party and their Allie’s forces where everyone can see them. But for the enemy. Place nothing and the party and it’s Allie’s has to send scout parties and stuff to sniff out the enemy. 2. Logistics. If an army cannot supply enough weapons and food for the army, it cannot fight. That’s why historically armies don’t push very far. How this can be implemented is that the further you are from your supply trains you start getting negative modifiers and even out of the blue you lose like half your army cos of morale. Morale is going to be talked about a little more below. 3. Technology. How equipped are you against your opponent? Obviously the one with the gun is going to win the one with the sword, albeit this is heavily exaggerated. How to implement this? I have no idea tbh. 4. Money. If you have the money, you can stay in the fight longer even if you have no troops left. Just send in a couple stacks to mercenaries to fight and you are golden. You could even persuade some enemy commanders to betray on the promise of gold. 5. Leaders they are important and need to lead the troop to victory. There are two types. One is the tactician in the tent discussing strategies while there’s another one on the battlefield. How I would implement this is there are two types of maps to make. The first is the wide scale map mentioned earlier while the second map is the battlefield map where the actual combat takes place. The tacticians are the one controlling pieces on the wide map and where to move where the battlefield generals can’t control while the battlefield generals control the combat map in its entirety and vice versa for the tactician. 6. Alliances. If you can get a big buddy to help you out in a war, it becomes far easier for you to win. But keep in mind the ally might decide to go siege a small insignificant town than attack the important gold mine over there. 7. Terrarain you need to know where you are fighting or even going through to fight. For example if you are fighting in mountains your horses are going to be useless in combat and archers are going to be much stronger as a result. If you are going through muddy terrain you bet that you have to leave your artillery behind cos it’s slowing you down, open for counterattack and chewing through your supplies. To implement this, you could make negative modifiers on troops that have these certain conditions like a Calvary army gets -5 in mountains and artillery in muddy terrain gets -3 movement and -2 supply. 8. Morale and discipline. Give the troops a reason to fight and inspire them to fight. As well as make them strong soldiers that can withstand an attack rather than a bunch of thugs that will break first sign of conflict. For implementation I have two ideas. First a morale mechanic where it can be affected by all sorts of things. Army losses? Minus morale. Inspire the army more morale etc. more morale will increase dice modifier up to +3 and stuff like that. If there’s too little then there’s a up to -3 modifier and some of your army starts leaving mysteriously. Discipline for example need to take one or two turns in the wide map to stand there and do nothing to gain. If you go and loot a village or sth that’s less discipline. Discipline helps to gain more attack opportunities and modifiers. Just fiddle with the numbers and see if it works. 9. Tactics. Handled by the tactician, no one else should bother with it. 10. Army strength like how big the army is, etc etc. Sorry for the long post. Just a history and military buff that watch dnd vids on the side.

[@SladePate]

Thank you Logan, very cool!

[@Grannit666]

Jace isn't a military powerhouse. He's an illusionist

[@radioactiveorca_9226]

That was very helpful ain't gonna lie

[@dorkydangerous6553]

War. War never changes.

[@TB179]

Wars oh annihilation are my favorite

[@hixman4328]

What about naval battle?

[@nlnrose]

If you want a good set of rules for running battles, Matthew Colville has an amazing PDF of his rules on his channel.

[@xychoticbreak5198]

Kirkland Vodka!! Costco ftw

[@Europa_Forever]

Ayy I saw that Matt Watson

[@kief453]

Hey Runesmith! Love your steps by steps guide. I'm curious as to how you include PCs in those battles. Magic casters etc. I imagine you run the battle with group units, but how do you determine how many units fall, etc, when a PC cast a spell or attack? Do you attribute a max HP to the group and reduce the number as HP goes down? Thanks !

[@draconicfeline6177]

Guess i need to read the art of war - looks at pile of books I haven't read

[@albertgore7435]

“Kirkland Vodka”

[@MrMaxamumdes]

This was a real helpful series of videos. Definitely helped flesh out my worldbuilding by having a few conflicts. Do you have good ways to insert PCs into these types of battles, while making them feel like their actions matter? Or is that part of the rules you're posting on patreon?

[@crownlexicon5225]

Perhaps you could give them command of a couple units?

[@crownlexicon5225]

Or have them deal with the assassinations he mentioned.

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Matt Colville has an episode where he talks about his warfare rules, and a big game changer is just giving the players their own fight that happens at the same time as the battle. Have them face off against the elite warriors or the commander or something.

[@chucknorrisfrog9383]

War of Anihalation sounds a lot like the oblivion crisis.

[@ohkyoungsun]

magicians are amasing at aoe and mobility

[@Nishom0926]

Aniz ool Goal

[@fenixmeaney6170]

I must've missed that part of the musical

[@thekinginyellowmessiahofha6308]

What if I just make it so soldiers use prayer and chanting to basically act like one big ass spellcaster to counter spell enemy spells?

[@Seth9809]

Have you tried the BUCS system from D-20 Modern Military?

[@pedroassis20]

GRUUMSH GRUUUMSH

[@s.colins2050]

Can't really do patreon, but I watched through a whole ad and the video. Does that count?

[@DavidFlrczk]

Amazing videos, gimme that Bell so I can ring it

[@Leonidasthegreat1994]

Does anyone know of a heavy combat campaign that is streamed or being on podcast?

[@baldrodinson3380]

Hey, I'm in this one. Neat.

[@Temstar04]

What's the background music you used for this video? It's really cool and I would like to steal it as BGM for my Roll20 campaign.

[@Runesmith]

should be lord of the land by kevin mcleod, you can find all his stuff on incompotech

[@claylord4457]

But what if your players become the weapons manufacturers? War economics.

[@2thirds]

Great video as always, but could you please let those tiny comments stay viewable for a little longer? It's hard to catch it on the phone. :)

[@cometsmith]

still waiting for part 3

[@garrettb619]

Link to Part 1, btw: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nofYgmuEn5yNaas

[@randomoffgrid]

The art of war isn't that long of a book, you could just read it

[@jaydun6106]

Where do you get your sound effects from?

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

It’s my first time DMing in 2 weeks, Any tips for a new DM?

[@superpig051]

Wait so like the Ishvalian war was just a war of annihilation, makes sense but never really considered it one

[@TacDyne]

Lee didn't read his Sun Tzu. Grant did. Capice?