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  1. #1
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    Detailed info on individuals within a unit

    I have attempted to determine the experience, equipment of individuals within a unit, as well as their number. I would like to share this with you for thoughts, comments and critique.

    Why calculate the muster and upkeep cost of individuals within a unit?

    More detailed combat systems like that of Cry Havoc look at the individual level to calculate the stats of the entire unit. Moreover, players generally like to know exactly how many troops they have under their command, their level of experience and how they are equipped; knowing that their unit of knights consists of 30 3rd level fighters with detailed equipment ads flavour to a campaign and allows players to deal with individuals in the unit.

    Based on XP cost, Challenge rating and equipment cost I have come up a formula to calculate the detailed info on units. This formula led me to easily reconstruct the BRCS units for the same price in Gold bars, but with more information regarding their experience, equipment and numbers:

    Archers: 100 1st level warriors, with roughly 100 gp of equipment 2 GB
    Infantry: 100 1st level warriors, with roughly 100 gp of equipment 2 GB
    Pikemen: 100 1st level warriors, with roughly 100 gp of equipment 2 GB
    Seasoned Scout: 30 3rd Experts with roughly 500 gp of equipment 3GB
    Elite inf.: 80 2nd level warriors/ 1st level fighters with roughly 250 gp of equipment 4GB
    Md. Cavalry: 40 3rd warriors/ 2nd level fighters with roughly 500 gp of equipment 4GB
    Knights: 30 4th level warriors/ 3rd level fighters with roughly 1000 gp of equipment 6 GB

    Calculated from the following unit prices…

    10 1st level NPC class with roughly 100 gp of equipment: 0.2 GB
    10 2nd level NPC class/ 1st level PC class with roughly 250 gp of equipment: 0.5 GB
    10 3rd level NPC class/ 2nd level PC class with roughly 500 gp of equipment: 1 GB
    10 4th level NPC class/ 3rd level PC class with roughly 1000 gp of equipment: 2 GB
    10 5th level NPC class/ 4th level PC class with roughly 1750 gp of equipment: 3.5 GB
    10 6th level NPC class/ 5th level PC class with roughly 2250 gp of equipment: 5.5 GB
    10 7th level NPC class/ 6th level PC class with roughly 4000 gp of equipment: 8 GB

  2. #2
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    Behind the screens: how did I arrive at these numbers

    Behind the screens: how did I arrive at these numbers…. A long story…

    -First I calculated the quarterly/seasonal/domain turn pay from the daily pay of 5 sp amounting to +/- 50 gp for a 1st level pc class.

    -Then I multiplied it for higher level using a similar formula as xp cost: adding the previous level times X (See table 1)

    X = 50 gp
    Lvl1= X
    Lvl2= lvl1+1X
    Lvl3= lvl2+2X
    Lvl4= lvl3+3X

    NPC classes have the same challenge rating as a pc class of one level lower, thus they should have a similar cost. (See table 1)

    Table 1. Rounded Quarterly/domain turn Pay of a Unit Consisting of 10 members

    NPC-Class Pay in garrison
    Level 1 200 gp
    Level 2 500 gp
    Level 3 1000 gp
    Level 4 2000 gp
    Level 5 3500 gp
    Level 6 5500 gp

    PC-Class Pay in garrison
    Level 1 500 gp
    Level 2 1000 gp
    Level 3 2000 gp
    Level 4 3500 gp
    Level 5 5500 gp
    Level 6 8000 gp

    After reading the many reactions to my question regarding equipment upkeep and replacement, I concluded that 10% per quarter, making 40% per year was not too steep as I first thought. Consequently, I used the PHB price for equipment cost, with a seasonal/domain turn upkeep of 10%

    I then calculated that for muster and yearly upkeep costs to be equal as stated in the BRCS equipment value of a member of the unit should be half the quarterly pay of a unit of 10 creatures.

    X= Quarterly pay of 10 members
    Y= the equipment value of a single member of the unit
    X+10Y=4X+4Y  6Y=3X  Y=1/2X

    Concluding
    the muster cost of unit of 10 creatures should be:
    10 x PHB + Quarterly Pay (table 1)
    A unit’s Garrisoned Upkeep Cost per quarter/domain turn is:
    PHB + Quarterly Pay
    A unit’s Active Upkeep Cost per quarter/domain turn is:
    2 x Garrisoned Upkeep Cost (PHB + Quarterly Pay)

    -PHB is the total cost of the Equipment in the Player Handbook that the Unit holds.
    -The Quarterly Pay according to the level and class of the unit is shown below on table 1.
    -Additionally, when designing units with equal Muster Cost and Yearly Garrisoned Upkeep Costs, as in the Birthright-Play-Test, use a PHB equipment value of half the unit’s Quarterly Pay.

    These figures led to relatively expensive units when one takes one GB to represent a gp value of 2000. A unit of infantry consisting of 100 1st level warriors with 100 gp value of equipment would be 12000 gp of Muster and yearly upkeep cost, with a GB value of 2000 it would make a staggering 6 GB… It should be about one third… 2 GB of muster and yearly upkeep cost…

    Some of you pointed out that the GB is highly abstract, and I agree. I thus divided the costs for regents by three by taking a GB value of roughly 6000 gp when it comes to fielding and supporting an army with the following rationale:

    The aforementioned cost is the cost that any common individual would have to pay to equip and field a unit. However, regents are not common individuals, as they represent an organization or state apparatus, which receives all kinds of support from its followers. This support is represented by the Gold Bar; regents that want to exchange this support for his personal gain, can exchange one GB for roughly 2000 gp, which can thereafter be spent to the regents liking including on military units. However, when a regent directly spends his goldbars on military units these units are gained through the various support his/ or her followers provided to the state apparatus. Brave men serve out of Honour, Loyalty and Duty, farmers and guild members provide food and craftsmen work to provide and repair equipment. Consequently, when it comes to fielding and supporting an army a regent’s Gold Bar is worth as much as roughly 6000 gp in cash.

    Amounting to the following unit prices in GB

    10 1st level NPC class with roughly 100 gp of equipment: 0.2 GB
    10 2nd level NPC class/ 1st level PC class with roughly 250 gp of equipment: 0.5 GB
    10 3rd level NPC class/ 2nd level PC class with roughly 500 gp of equipment: 1 GB
    10 4th level NPC class/ 3rd level PC class with roughly 1000 gp of equipment: 2 GB
    10 5th level NPC class/ 4th level PC class with roughly 1750 gp of equipment: 3.5 GB
    10 6th level NPC class/ 5th level PC class with roughly 2250 gp of equipment: 5.5 GB
    10 7th level NPC class/ 6th level PC class with roughly 4000 gp of equipment: 8 GB

    These prices led me to easily reconstruct the BRCS units for the same price in Gold bars, but with more information regarding their experience, equipment and numbers:

    Archers: 100 1st level warriors, with roughly 100 gp of equipment 2 GB
    Infantry: 100 1st level warriors, with roughly 100 gp of equipment 2 GB
    Pikemen: 100 1st level warriors, with roughly 100 gp of equipment 2 GB
    Seasoned Scout: 30 3rd Experts/ 2nd level fighters with roughly 500 gp of equipment 3GB Elite inf.: 80 2nd level warriors/ 1st level fighters with roughly 250 gp of equipment 4GB
    Md. Cavalry: 40 3rd warriors/ 2nd level fighters with roughly 500 gp of equipment 4GB
    Knights: 30 4th level warriors/ 3rd level fighters with roughly 1000 gp of equipment 6 GB

  3. #3
    Site Moderator kgauck's Avatar
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    Do you figure a flat unit, where all are the same level? Or have you assumed sergeants and officers of higher level (and in the case of warrior units, more likely to be fighters) built in?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by kgauck View Post
    Do you figure a flat unit, where all are the same level? Or have you assumed sergeants and officers of higher level (and in the case of warrior units, more likely to be fighters) built in?
    Good point.

    I took a flat unit, which is easier for calculating costs and strength… I assume that a unit has some stronger and some weaker individuals but that the standard fits the units described above. One can imagine that the commander receives a slightly higher share of pay, some better equipment, but that his influence on the power of the unit as well as on its GB costs is negligible.

    If desired one could easily calculate the exact costs of leaders as well, using the rules above. But for general ease I assume a that the cost of the command structure is incorporated in the cost of the flat unit.

  5. #5
    Senior Member ShadowMoon's Avatar
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    I always used separated entry for commanders, sargeants, and standard beares (since I am a Warhammer veteran, I was inspired by a Command Group). They could affect units and give additional boosts on the battlefield to their regiments (like drills, tactical moves, various moral bonuses, etc.).
    Aside for their traits and specializations (special bonuses and penalties, like a Shock Trooper, Reckless, Sidhe Slayer, Academy Mentor, Legend, etc.), they present a valuable asset for a DM and a Player because they can easily be converted as a Lieutenant or Henchemen, and already present some character history and stats.
    If the comander get killed in battle, his loss affects the whole regiment, if it was Legendary, it affects whole army (like it affects whole army with specified moral bonuses.). New commanders need to get to know his men, and vice versa, meaning that the regiment is not at full strenght for some time.
    In a way they are dealt like mini-Lieutenants. And Assassination (Espionage) domain action is more fun, as well as warfare is more heroic.

    PS: I love mercenary commanders, if they are blooded, they get regency in my campaign based on their troops, adding a new regent variant in my campaign. Again based on Warhammer merc hero from The Shadow of the Horned Rat, and The Dark Omen.
    Last edited by ShadowMoon; 05-14-2007 at 02:30 PM.
    "If the wizards and students who lived here centuries ago had practiced control - in their spellcasting and in their dealings with the politics of the empire - you would be studying in a tall tower made by the best dwarf stone masons, not in an old military barracks."
    Applied Thaumaturgy Lector of the Royal College of Sorcery to new generation of students.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by ShadowMoon View Post
    I always used separated entry for commanders, sargeants, and standard beares (since I am a Warhammer veteran, I was inspired by a Command Group). They could affect units and give additional boosts on the battlefield to their regiments (like drills, tactical moves, various moral bonuses, etc.).
    Aside for their traits and specializations (special bonuses and penalties, like a Shock Trooper, Reckless, Sidhe Slayer, Academy Mentor, Legend, etc.), they present a valuable asset for a DM and a Player because they can easily be converted as a Lieutenant or Henchemen, and already present some character history and stats.
    If the comander get killed in battle, his loss affects the whole regiment, if it was Legendary, it affects whole army (like it affects whole army with specified moral bonuses.). New commanders need to get to know his men, and vice versa, meaning that the regiment is not at full strenght for some time.
    In a way they are dealt like mini-Lieutenants. And Assassination (Espionage) domain action is more fun, as well as warfare is more heroic.

    PS: I love mercenary commanders, if they are blooded, they get regency in my campaign based on their troops, adding a new regent variant in my campaign. Again based on Warhammer merc hero from The Shadow of the Horned Rat, and The Dark Omen.
    I am all for special and experienced commanders especially if they make great NPCs but I think their cost should calculated separately, if they are to have a real and lasting effect on the campaign.

    For 1 GB you get 3 commanders with a PC class, one of 2nd level (0,1 GB), one of 4th level (0.35 GB) and one of 5th level (0.55 GB)

  7. #7

    Thumbs up Humble regards, veteran

    Greetings,

    I liked Warhammer, as battle system and as roleplay. It had a unique approach, back when we played.

    Would you mind making a file for download once you have settled the topic? Could be appreciated by the community?


    My regards

    Andrè M. Pietroschek

  8. #8
    Warhammer is fun, certainly. I play it myself. It even captures the way warfare used to work - casualties were light up until one side started running.

    It is, however, of perhaps too small of a scale. And it doesn't support the idea of reserve units, who wouldn't be able to to move up to the battle fast enough nor join existing combats very easily. That and using a wargame doesn't allow the GM to fudge things a little bit to prevent anything too anti-climatic from happening.
    Look for me by moonlight
    Watch for me by moonlight
    I'll come to thee by moonlight
    Though Hell should bar the way

  9. #9
    Senior Member Jaleela's Avatar
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    A problem I see with creating the numbers of a unit as detailed is twofold.

    Firstly, military units tend to be of specific sizes, or have a uniform understood means of orginization. Historically, Medieval infantry units were based on counting in tens or twenties, with NCO's commanding ten or twenty men, and officers at the level of 100 men, or a thousand men (Disiniers, Vintiniers, Centenairs, and Millinairs respectively) For the sorts of weapons employed to be effective, they have to be employed by sizable numbers of men, roughly drawn up in lines or blocks.

    Cavalry was organized into lances, gleves, Conrois, Banners, Escadres, ranging from 2 men, up to 25, and companies usually arranged into 100 lances (conveniently 200 men, when you count the knight and his squire or coustilier). For them to be effective, they trained to attack in a mass, with loose reins, and riding knee-to-knee. Otherwise shock cavalry isn't shock cavalry. 30 or 40 men will have little effect on a battlefield, and any unit of knights will have squires integral, as well as grooms or valets, and spare horses.

    The second problem I see, and what is a problem with a lot of wargame systems with the emphasis on gaming, is it seems geared to building armies that are balanced, or equal matches for one another. One of the most important points in warfare is to essentially be unfair to your opponent, to bring overwhelming force on a critical point - not to have an evenly matched battle, based on armies created around a point system.

    The costs of pay allocated to NCO's is overly large by a magnitude, I believe. If the game really is based on a silver system, you are paying out the equivalent of a years rent due from an earldom for an NPC in garisosn.

    Maybe I'm just not understanding the point of the detailing of individuals within a unit.

    A last problem I see is that all you account for is the teeth of a unit, without any tail to support it. A unit of archers needs bowyers and fletchers, or arblatiers and bolt makers, a unit of cavalry needs farriers, loriners, and saddlers - not to mention veterenarians. I believe these would be accounted for in the basic unit costs, as they certainly were detailed in medieval muster rolls and retinues. And to top it all off, a number of these men will have their wives or girlfireinds, and their kids tagging along to boot. Campfollowers have on occassion turned the tide of a battle, when they were mistaken for reenforcements arriving on a battlefield.

    At any rate, in our campaign, game mechanics are less important than role-playing, and making things seem logical or going with the probable is more often done than going by a rigid system of tables. But thats the nice thing about roleplaying games, they can be altered to suit any number of tastes, and have as much or as little detail as the players and DM like.

  10. #10
    Senior Member ShadowMoon's Avatar
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    I agree with You Jaleela completely, tho my regiments have Command Groups.
    Command Group consist of three named NPCs (Commander, Sargeant, Standard Bearer). Only a Commander has a chance for a trait (random roll at NPC creation) with a newly trained/mustered unit. Trait might be advantageous or disvantageous. But as that unit gain experience and veterancy, so their Command Group gain levels, and potentially traits.
    Basic unit modifiers gained from a Command Group are bonuses on Morale, Attack, Defense, and Organization.

    PCs also could have traits, and also modify Morale, Attack, Defense, and Organization of a regiment they lead.
    Last edited by ShadowMoon; 05-16-2007 at 11:14 AM.
    "If the wizards and students who lived here centuries ago had practiced control - in their spellcasting and in their dealings with the politics of the empire - you would be studying in a tall tower made by the best dwarf stone masons, not in an old military barracks."
    Applied Thaumaturgy Lector of the Royal College of Sorcery to new generation of students.

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