I thought it would be a good idea to quantify the whole system so everyone could get a decent idea of how it works. I'll work through the process of fighting a whole battle, so you can see the level of detail, the choices the players get to make, and how resolution is handled both during and after the fighting. The basic roll for the entire system is 3 six-sided dice (3D6).
Pinging our moderators, as it's directly related to running S3 of Modern Powers @boukert @serrobertstrong @PMYA @bioacid @jidlaph @cloud
Also pinging @redviiper, as it was his suggestion as well.
For simplicity, I will be using US Army ranks, organization, and call signs. It's more easily accessible than Ukrainian equivalents. I will also be scaling the battle down to a smaller fight within the bigger fight - we would likely resolve the big fight as a whole, although you can break fights down like this if you so wanted.
The setup for this fight is as follows -
Rebel forces in eastern Ukraine, along with some suspected Russian-backed operatives, have been trying to seize control of a large piece of Ukrainian land, to either cede to form an independent state, or allow themselves to be annexed by Russia. The Ukrainian high command (which would be the player controlling his country) has decided to take back the key city of Donetsk by force. The first infantry brigade of the third infantry division of the Ukrainian army, under the command of Colonel Timko, has been assigned the southern parts of the city. Captain Alena Orlyk, in charge of Charlie Company, has been ordered to search and destroy enemy targets in her sector. Although Captain Orlyk is well-trained, she has little direct combat experience; her soldiers, being professionals, have full confidence in her abilities. Her company forms about one-third of her regiment's strength.
Fighting her will be Alexander Kolba, a Russian special forces operative who has direct command of a collection of men who are about company-sized. Unfortunately, many of these are rebel forces often lack discipline and have mismatched and sometimes substandard equipment. Bolstering them are the elite special forces that came in with Kolba; their extreme level of training makes them superior to the standard Ukrainian army in a straight fight, but he does not have enough men like that to rely entirely on them; the rebels must play an important part as well. Fortunately, he has extensive experience as a battlefield commander, and the special operatives and a decent chunk of the rebels are ready to fight to the death for him.
Ukrainian Army Stats
Commander-in-Chief: Alena Orlyk (Leadership 14, Strategy 14)
As the commanding officer for the Ukrainians in this battle, her relevant skills are strategy and leadership. Strategy is the basic skill for fighting as a commander. Leadership is used for controlling retreats, rallying from confusion, or controlling your forces immediately after the battle if you win.
Intelligence Officer: unnamed Ukrainian NPC (Intelligence Analysis 14)
A company does not warrant a dedicated intelligence officer - therefore Alena must report back to her brigade or division for intelligence reports. The Ukrainian army is a professional, essentially western force, so we give them a standard rating of 14, which is appropriate for a skilled professional. You could easily edge this number down or up to represent a slightly inferior or superior organization in this regard. If one nation is famed for it's spying (perhaps England or the former USSR), they might have better Intelligence Analysis available to them. And vice versa. It's the same for commanders themselves; a superior or inferior commander can be given a higher or lower skill rating, with something like 20 representing a true master, and 12 representing mere competency.
An appropriate arrangement for a company equipped with infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) is to be separated into 3-4 platoons, with a command platoon as well. For MP, we would likely determine our "standard" order of battle for our nations' militaries, which then might be modified on a divisional or regimental level (depending on the detail we would like). Then we would not have to re-calculate how strong a particular division or regiment might be, except to remember to account for any casualties that might be in play; but this also allows for customization. Perhaps a particular division you plan to deploy on a particular front has its heavy weapons teams equipped with anti-tank weapons instead of heavy machine guns. This could be noted and remembered whenever that division engages in combat.
- Alpha Platoon composition - 4x Infantry Fighting Vehicle elements, 3x Rifle Squad elements, 1x Heavy Support Weapon element
- Bravo Platoon composition - As above
- Charlie Platoon composition - As above
- Company Headquarters - 2 command post elements, one MANPAD (Man-Portable Air Defense weapon) element, one APC element, one Light Truck element, one IFV element
Note that each element has its own uses and purpose. The rifle squad elements make up a good base troops for a modern force. You can't just bring command posts and expect to win; nor just tanks. If your opponent has units that neutralize armor (a concept in the system), you might be in for a rough time. For our purposes, these elements would already be spelled out and detailed elsewhere, possibly on the Wiki we have. You would not need to calculate them directly before a battle. For now, I will leave them to the side, and instead give an overall evaluation of the force.
Total Force Troop Strength (TS) - 20,880 (This is the final TS that the company has to bear; it will primarily be used to determine odds at the beginning of the battle. We will also detail specific class TS - this is for determining specific superiority, like armor, artillery, air, or recon superiority. Superiority grants a bonus during the battle to your strategy score.)
- Armor TS - 16,200
- C3I TS - 1,200
- Cavalry TS - 16,320
- Fire TS - 22,320
- Neutralize Air TS - 600
- Recon TS - 4,320
Note that the specific class TS does not equal your total TS. The Infantry Fighting Vehicles all belong the Armor, Cavalry, and Fire classes. They therefore add their TS to all of those classes to determine superiority. You'll also notice that the Fire TS is higher than the actual total TS. That is because support elements, like the Heavy Weapons squads, contribute only 10% of their strength to your force's overall TS, but contribute all of their TS to determining superiority. Finally, the "neutralize Air TS" - the MANPAD gives them some air cover, but cannot provide air superiority on its own. Therefore, it is represented as potentially limiting or eliminating the enemy's ability to establish air superiority, but cannot actually provide that same superiority itself. It would be the same with squads equipped with anti-tank weaponry; you cannot claim an armor advantage from having lots of Anti-Tank guns, but you can neutralize the enemy's armor advantage with them!
Russian and Rebel Forces Stats
Commander-in-Chief: Alexander Kolba (Strategy 17, Leadership 18)
Intelligence Officer: Alexander Kolba (Intelligence Analysis 13)
Kolba has no dedicated officer for intelligence, and he cannot rely on the rebels or his own government to aid him, so he elects to handle the Intelligence Analysis himself. Dedicated army commanders might be decent at this skill, but likely not as good as a dedicated officer! We give Kolba a 13 to show he knows what he's doing, but it's not his main focus as an operator.
- Russian Elites Composition: 10 elements of Spetznaz Riflemen, 2 elements of Spetznaz Anti-Tank (HSW), 1 Spetznaz Command Post (Command Post)
Rebel Composition: 20 Armored Technical elements (Armored Car), 8 standard riflemen elements, 4 Anti-Tank elements (HSW), 16 poor riflemen elements
Total TS - 14,080
Armor TS - 4,800
C3I TS - 800
Cavalry TS - 4,800
Fire TS - 18,560
Neutralize Armor TS - 2,400
Recon TS - 13,760
Naturally all of these forces for both armies have appropriate logistical forces as well; these are usually not detailed out as much, but you can still affect them, destroy them, and must maintain their cost and upkeep.
Now that both forces are set up, we can begin the pre-battle setup.
As explained in the setup to the battle, the Ukrainian forces are moving into Donetsk; Captain Orlyk is engaging in a search and destroy mission - therefore her forces are currently mobile. Kolba is encamped in the city and not moving. His forces are encamped. This is important for the reconnaissance roll before the battle to see who has the initiative on the other side.
The basic reconnaissance contest is a roll against the average of your commander's strategy skill and your intelligence officer's relevant skill. Orlyk, with 14 strategy and a 14 IA officer back at base, averages to 14. Kolba's 17 in strategy and 13 in IA averages out to 15, giving him a slight edge. Also, his massive recon superiority provides him with a +2 bonus to his effective skill due to 3:1 odds in his favor for that class. There are other modifiers as well, but as both commanders are taking proper security precautions, and no other modifiers apply, this will be the roll. Orlyk will roll against her effective skill of 14, hoping for a low number. Kolba will roll against his effective skill of 17 (15 average and +2 for recon superiority), and also hope to roll low. The margin of success (or failure) on each of their rolls determine who will win.
Orlyk rolls a 10 on her recon roll - that's success by 4, not bad at all. Kolba rolls a 12, a worse number, but his skill of 17 means he succeeds by 5. He has gained initiative on Orlyk. Had he succeeded by a higher number (in this case 6 for urban areas), he might have been able to surprise or even ambush them. By winning initiative, Kolba has better intelligence on his opponent and can dictate the beginning of the action. He receives a rough estimate of the enemy forces, and then can either prepare his forces for a set-up pitched battle or push forward immediately for a hasty encounter battle. Had he been mobile and faster than the enemy, or encountering an encamped force, he could also choose to avoid battle altogether.
Kolba is unsure he can win a straight battle with the Ukrainians, and so elects to push immediately for an encounter battle.
For an encounter battle, both sides get an approximate number of troops of each mobility class. A reading to Kolba might be something like this - "You see what looks like about 13 or so squads, supported by something like a dozen vehicles."
The basic strategy modifier should be calculated before actually fighting. It is a fundamental modifier to your strategy skill, and only changes from round to round due to casualties. It is
- A bonus for relative troop strength, to the side with the higher overall TS.
- Class superiority modifiers
Casualty modifiers (-1 per 5% casualties taken)
Relative troop strength.
This is figured by calculating odds and looking at a chart. Captain Orlyk's total TS is 20,880. Kolba's is 14,080. 20,880/14,080 = 1.48; while the Ukrainians have the TS advantage, it's not enough to give them any kind of strategy bonus. Had they had odds of 1.5 or better, they would receive a bonus to all their strategy rolls.
- Class Superiority modifiers.
This is done by comparing all the various classes that are involved in the battle, and doing an odds comparison like above, but with another table. Some, like Recon superiority or Engineering Superiority, don't count except under certain circumstances.
- Armor: 16,200/(4,800 + 2,400) = 2.25, which is +1 to the Ukrainians. Note that the Russian's neutralize armor added here, to try and neutralize the Ukrainian's armor advantage.
- C3I: 1,200/800 = 1.5, no bonus.
- Cavalry: 16,320/4,800 = 3.4, which is enough for a further +2 to the Ukrainians.
- Fire: 22,320/18,560 = 1.19, no bonus.
- Recon: Recon doesn't count at all for battle itself - only the recon contest beforehand.
The final tally is +3 for the Ukrainians. Captain Orlyk will have +3 to her effective skill for the entire battle.
- Casualty modifiers
There are no casualties yet, so there is no modifier here. But this will be adjusted from round to round. -1 for every 5% casualties taken. Since casualties are always taken in groups of 5, this is easy to calculate.
Finally, the defense bonus. Since Kolba is encamped in a city environment, he gains a +2 defense bonus. This bonus only applies when he chooses a defense strategy! But the bonus lasts for the entire battle.
Battle fought in the comment below.
Fighting the battle
At last we reach the time of battle itself! Captain Orlyk is engaged by Kolba's forces suddenly, and her frontline units report action. She quickly re-positions and deploys her men appropriately, and the battle begins!
Captain Orlyk, commanding the Ukrainian forces, currently has a strategy skill of 17, due to her base of 14 and +3 from class superiority in her favor. Alexander Kolba is also at 17, from his own personal raw skill. He will also have +2 from his defense bonus if he chooses a defense strategy. For the entire battle, because this is an encounter battle, neither side will be able to use deliberate attack or deliberate defense strategies. Further, since Orlyk was mobile when the battle started, so she cannot choose any defense except mobile defense for the first round; she can choose attack strategies or other strategies normally.
At this point, both sides will now choose battle strategies in secret, reveal them once chosen, then roll-off to see who wins that round and what the results are.
For the first round of battle, Captain Orlyk wants to be cautious while determining the enemy's intentions. She could use mobile defense, but she doesn't want to give up position so early in the fight. She elects to use the Skirmish strategy, giving her a bonus to her skill and reducing casualties; she won't gain any position bonus even if she does win however. Kolba decides to be bold right out of the gate to try and catch the enemy by surprise, hoping to cause serious casualties right away. He orders a complex Indirect Attack, described as a suppressing maneuver by his rebel allies while his elite troops attempt to outflank the enemy.
Orlyk barely manages to keep her first platoon covered from the flanking attempt by Kolba, and manages to beat off his attack, but only just. Her skirmish strategy, however, halves her margin of victory over Kolba, rounding down, resulting in a tie. There's no clear winner or loser this round, and both sides take 10% casualties. However, Orlyk's skirmish strategy reduces her casualties by 5%, cutting her losses in half. She now takes -1 to all future strategy rolls from her losses, while Kolba takes -2.
For the second round, Captain Orlyk has a effective strategy skill of 16. She managed to fend off the dangerous Indirect Attack, but only because of her bonus from Skirmish. Had she picked another strategy, things could have been very bad for her. Deciding to try and press to see if she can gain some position on the enemy, she uses a basic Attack strategy. Kolba is troubled by by the tie, has an effective skill of 15, and now turns to use his defensive advantage if he can. He uses a basic Defense strategy, a safe choice.
Kolba's turtling has worked! Launching a basic attack, Orlyk's men are having a very difficult time making any kind of headway. The Ukrainians take 20% casualties to the Russians' 10%, putting to total counts at 25% to 20% in favor of the Russians. Kolba would have gained position this turn, but he chose a defense strategy, which prevents any kind of positional gain.
Orlyk is extremely worried now. A quarter of her force is out of the fight, and she has no positional advantage to use against the enemy; the encounter battle Kolba forced on her has prevented the use of Deliberate Attack, the most useful strategy for dealing with an opposing defense bonus. She considers retreating, but decides to hang in there while trying to save her soldiers' lives - she goes for Skirmish again. Kolba is very happy with the results last round, and wants to replicate it again if possible - he orders another simple Defense, hoping for another strong result to potentially force a retreat.
Orlyk's Skirmish strategy cuts her margin of victory in half again, so it is reduced to 1. Regardless, she manages to harass effectively and causes 15% more casualties to Kolba's forces, making it 35% total. Her own casualties were 10%, but Skirmish reduces them by 5%, making her total casualties now 30%.
At this point, Orlyk has had enough. Despite getting the better of the Russians overall, she feels she's one bad round away from a disaster. She orders a Fighting Retreat, to lick her wounds and regroup with the rest of her regiment. Kolba is troubled by losing the previous round, and his mounting casualty rate is a source of serious concern. To attempt to save lives this round, he orders a Mobile Defense.
Since Orlyk ordered a retreat and Kolba a defense strategy, Orlyk escapes without any further harm done to either side. Kolba commands the field, and can choose to either harass the retreating enemy, or hold the field and recover what troops and equipment he can. He must roll against his leadership to choose, otherwise his troops choose for him! He succeeds easily (17 and 18 always fail these rolls, regardless of skill), and elects to hold the field. This reduces his casualties by 5%, making his total casualty count 30%.
After the Battle
Since Kolba is the winning side this fight, he can recover more easily - his total casualties are halved! His 30% is reduced to 15%; we assume half of these 15% are dead, and the rest are scattered or wounded, and can be recovered in time. Orlyk is the loser this time, and she cannot reduce casualties at all. Of the 30% wounded, half of those are dead or captured, and the other half fled and must be rallied before they will fight again.
For a quick casualty count if you need to run battles in succession, you can simply apply the percentage lost to the TS of the entire force, as well as all class superiority TS.