rcvan
11-25-2015, 09:44 AM
Dear all,
I GMed an assault on a motte-and-bailey castle using the BoB2 obstacle rules last Saturday.
This was a playtest, and it generated a lot of discussion.
- The PKs decided to participate in the assault themselves (despite warnings, for glory!)
- We used the pendragon battle map, ruling that the killing zone was on top of the battlements (walls), with +10 intensity
- I decided that the area immediately below the walls was "friendly 2nd rank", with +5 intensity, and that a successful "assault vs. position" was needed to access the killing zone.
- The -15 modifier on a ladder, and the +5 bonus for attacking from a wall blocked all advances from the PKs.
- They finally got onto the battlements after 7 very tedious rounds, which they then held for another round standing fast.
The battle was won as an older PK who was prisoner in that castle managed to escape along with other prisoner knights, took the tower, fell the enemy banner with an axe, and attacked the enemy from the rear. This was also played out using BoB2, which worked nicely.
I also changed a few rules on the fly:
- A triumph when standing fast under the walls, only reacting to dropped stones and arrows, will *not* change the intensity of the battle. Otherwise, this would have been the most effective
strategy to win the battle.
After the battle, we unanimously decided that sieges were best left to common soldiers in the future (and to the nice simple rules in the BoE). It would probably take several separate assaults over several days to overcome all fortifications of the castle, which might be realistic, but also too frustrating to actually play out using the Bob2 rules.
I think that in the future, I will allow the PKs to participate in the assault by playing out a single melee round, the success of which will modify the roll on the BoE siege rules (positively and negatively).
I GMed an assault on a motte-and-bailey castle using the BoB2 obstacle rules last Saturday.
This was a playtest, and it generated a lot of discussion.
- The PKs decided to participate in the assault themselves (despite warnings, for glory!)
- We used the pendragon battle map, ruling that the killing zone was on top of the battlements (walls), with +10 intensity
- I decided that the area immediately below the walls was "friendly 2nd rank", with +5 intensity, and that a successful "assault vs. position" was needed to access the killing zone.
- The -15 modifier on a ladder, and the +5 bonus for attacking from a wall blocked all advances from the PKs.
- They finally got onto the battlements after 7 very tedious rounds, which they then held for another round standing fast.
The battle was won as an older PK who was prisoner in that castle managed to escape along with other prisoner knights, took the tower, fell the enemy banner with an axe, and attacked the enemy from the rear. This was also played out using BoB2, which worked nicely.
I also changed a few rules on the fly:
- A triumph when standing fast under the walls, only reacting to dropped stones and arrows, will *not* change the intensity of the battle. Otherwise, this would have been the most effective
strategy to win the battle.
After the battle, we unanimously decided that sieges were best left to common soldiers in the future (and to the nice simple rules in the BoE). It would probably take several separate assaults over several days to overcome all fortifications of the castle, which might be realistic, but also too frustrating to actually play out using the Bob2 rules.
I think that in the future, I will allow the PKs to participate in the assault by playing out a single melee round, the success of which will modify the roll on the BoE siege rules (positively and negatively).