The Adventurer Conqueror King System: Domains at War - Battles Cody Reichenau Jacqueline Legazcue Michael “Mammut” Sauer Taylor Martin Colin Campbell Jake F. Michael Cullen Te Ubiquitous Craig S Janssen Jake Parker Michael D. Blanchard Todd Roy D. Lyons James Landry Michael De Rosa Tom Hudson D. Weaver James MacGeorge Michael Hertling Tom Ladegard Dan Wood James Roberts Michael Pfaf Topi Makkonen Daniel Lofon James Stuart Michael Stevens Vicente Cartas Espinel David Brawley Jan Sjögren Mike Bolam Vincent Ecuyer David Campbell Jason “Hierax” Verbitsky Mike Davey Wesley E. Marshall David DeRocha Jean ALAHEL Fridrici Mulgar the Merciful Wilhelm Fitzpatrick David Haraldson Jed McClure Nathaniel Bennett LEGIONARY David Macauley Jeremy S. Holley Orion Cooper Adam Pendleton David Parlin Joel Rojas Paolo Greco Brett J Bayley David Sullivan John Arendt Paul Vermeren Charles A Taylor David W. Johnston John Brown Peter H. Froehlich Charles R. Simpson Demian Walendorf John Carr Phil Lewis Craig Cruzan Dennis Higgins John Wills Phillip Morris Jr. D Van Horn Derik Malenda Jon Leitheusser R.A. Mc Reynolds Damian Leach Diogo Nogueira Jonathan Bolding Ramanan Sivaranjan Daniel Corn Donald Wheeler Jonathan Jordan Remy Braathen Dave Woollcombe-Gosson Doug Bailey Jose LaCario Reverance Pavane Deborah Teramis Drew (Andrew) South José M. Sánchez Ricardo Signes Christian Edward L Hamilton Joseph McRoberts Rich Stokes Evilhalfing Eli Curtz Joshua Beale Richard Humm Jale Queen Eric Cook Joshua BUergel Rob McArthur Jason VandenBerghe Everitt Long Justin Cabuster Edwards Robert Kern Jeremy Geib Florian Hübner Keith E. Clendenen Robert S. Conley Joel “Strontosaurus” Franz Georg Rösel Keith Spears Rod Spellman Garrett G. Hartman Ken Finlayson Sam Gorton John Carlson Galahad de Corbenic Kerry Forester Scott “Machpants” John Proudfoot Gary McBride Kevin Brennan Sutherland Matt Johnson Gavin Mutter Kevin Roust Scott Barrie Moritz Köhler George R. Brown Kristian J. Jaech Sean Curtin Nicholas Peterson Gilbert Isla Lee Reynoldson Sebastian Dietz Patrick Mooney Greg Welty Lester Ward Shawn Wood Randall Stukey Henry Wong Lloyd Rasmussen Simon Forster Ryan Poindexter Herb Nowell MaGnuS Simon Stroud Simon Collins Herman Duyker Mark “buzz” Delsing Stan MacDonald Simon Dangerfeld Iain Murray Mark Harvey Stephan Szabo Timothy Baker Ian DimitriSampleMark W Daymude Stephen R. Brandon Tomfile Enever Ignatius Montenegro Martin Ralya Steve Huntsberry J.Barker Matthew Skail Steve Lord jack ackerman Matthew Wasiak Steven Danielson Jack Gulick Matthias Weeks Stormshot 5 Introduction Te bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. Sample– Thucydides file The Adventurer Conqueror King System: Domains at War - Battles ABOUT THE GAME HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Domains at War (D@W) is the mass combat supplement for Domains at War: Battles includes all the rules you need to the Adventurer Conqueror King System™ (ACKS). Te rules of fght tabletop battles between fantasy armies derived from the Domains at War are divided into two books: Campaigns and Adventurer Conqueror King System or a similar D20-based Battles. Te book you are presently reading is the Domains at fantasy role-playing game. War: Battles book. Introduction Domains at War: Battles can be used in two ways. First, it can be Domains at War: Battles is a set of rules for running massive used to fght standalone scenarios, based on historical battles, battles using playing pieces on the tabletop. Why are we fctional conficts, or simply interesting engagements that pit one ofering our RPG players a tabletop wargame? We see it as force against another. Second, it can be used to fght campaign a return to the roots of our hobby. Tabletop wargaming is battles that emerge in the context of an ongoing role-playing the glorious ancestor of tabletop role-playing. One game in game campaign. We provide rules for both types of battles in particular, Chainmail™, written by Gary Gygax and Jef Perren, this book, but in order to play campaign games, you will also was particularly infuential on our hobby. Although designed need Domains at War: Campaigns along with the Adventurer to simulate the clash of armies in the Middle Ages, Chainmail Conqueror King System or a similar D20-based fantasy role- included a short “fantasy supplement” that featured rules for playing game. heroes, dragons, and wizards. Tis fantasy supplement led to If you have never played a fantasy wargame, we recommend the collaboration between Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax that you begin by reading Chapter 1 of this book, Basic Rules. that culminated in their development of the original edition of Once you have read over the basic rules, set-up and play the Dungeons & Dragons. To this day, miniatures and battlemaps introductory scenario, Peril at the Fangs (found in Chapter remain in common use among role-playing gamers, and even 9), re-reading each section of Chapter 1 as necessary when you very recently written RPGs such as Savage Worlds or D&D 4th reach the appropriate stage of the game. Edition have stayed surprisingly close to their roots in tabletop wargaming, albeit at a small scale. With Domains at War: Battles, Once you’ve run through a basic battle, you can begin to explore we invite RPG gamers to restore the epic scope of pitched battle the more advanced rules. Chapter 2, Terrain, covers how to to their tabletops. deliberately and randomly place forests, hills, broken ground, and other terrain pieces, and what the game efects of each type If you want to run tabletop battles in the context of a full-scale of terrain are. Chapter 3, Strategic Situations, allows you to alter military campaign, where you can raise armies, march against the basic set-up, deployment, and pursuit rules to accommodate enemy forces, and conquer domains, you’ll want to consult this ambushes, envelopments, and other circumstances. Chapter book’s companion volume, Domains at War: Campaigns. If you 4, Heroes, adds rules for lords, wizards, dragons, and other purchased the Complete Domains at War Set, you’ll have both powerful characters on the battlefeld. Chapter 5, Assaults, the Campaigns and Battles rulebooks, along with an assortment is devoted to siege warfare, with complete mechanics for of battlemaps, counters, and tokens that you can use to run bombardment, assaults, magic, and more. Chapter 6, Scale, everything from a small skirmish to an epic military confict explains how to adjust the game to cover everything from spanning empires. skirmishes with just a few score troops all the way to epic battles with tens of thousands of troops on each side. You can test out Sample file About the Game 7 many of the advanced rules using the second included scenario, is known as a realm. A realm’s leader personally controls one the Battle of Zidium (again in Chapter 9). domain within his realm, known as his personal domain. Te other domains within his realm are governed by the leader’s Te fnal three chapters will serve as reference points as you vassals, and are known as vassal domains. If a realm is large master the basic and advanced rules. Chapter 7, Rosters, and powerful, the leader’s vassals might themselves each control provides a list of pre-generated armies, commanders, divisions, smaller realms, and have their own vassals. Te Adventurer and units to use in your standalone scenarios and campaign Conqueror King System provides detailed rules on establishing battles. Chapter 8, Conversion, explains how to convert your and managing domains and realms. own ACKS characters and monsters for campaign battles. Chapter 9, Scenarios, presents the basic and advanced scenarios As leaders of domains and realms, the PCs will raise armies mentioned above. Finally, Chapter 10, Armies, ofers unique of troops. Armies are organized into divisions of units led by armies and custom units for your reference and use. commanders. At the strategic level, armies are maneuvered in campaigns to defend domains or conquer new domains. Tese rules are covered in Domains at War: Campaigns. INSPIRATIONS In addition to Gygax and Perren’s Chainmail, many tabletop Domains at War: Campaigns uses hex maps to chart the wargames have inspired and shaped Domains at War: Battles. movement of armies at the strategic level. Terefore the territory We mention them here in homage to the designers who came and terrain of any realms and domains should mapped on hex before us. We drew particular insight from Phil Barker’s De paper. Te map scale for strategic maneuver in Domains at War Bellis Antiquitatis, Richard Berg and Mark Herman’s Great is 1 hex = 6 miles. Battles, Richard Borg’s Battle Lore, and Arty Conlife’s Armati. When two opposing armies move into the same hex, a battle Gamers familiar with these works will doubtless note certain may result. Battles are resolved on a tabletop battlemap divided mechanical similarities with Domains at War: Battles. Te into six-sided hexes representing 60' across. Hexes regulate biggest diference between these games and Battles is in the role movement and combat by the units on the battlemap. A typical of commanders and heroes on the battlefeld. While Domains battle will have a dozen to two dozen units on each side. In a at War: Battles could be enjoyed as a stand-alone wargame, it campaign game, usually the PCs will be controlling one army has been designed specifcally for battles where RPG characters and the Judge will be controlling the other, but battles that pit are in command. It makes the deeds and decisions of those diferent PCs against each other are also possible. characters the focus of its gameplay, and works hard to integrate their actions into the fow of battle. Te Glossary at the back of the book summarizes many more defned game terms used throughout the rules.