Cry Havoc

Rating:
Summary: An excellent value for DM's
Review: Cry Havoc is an excellent value for DM's and players who have been waiting to send their campaigns and characters to war. Although it is marketed as the Malhavoc's third event book, Cry Havoc goes beyond its predecessors by presenting detailed yet accessible systems for unit combat and army combat fully combatible with D&D 3.5.

The Event
The first two chapters of Cry Havoc (Preparing for the Event and Integrating the Event) are identical in nature to those in Requiem for a God and When the Sky Falls. They help the DM add a war to his campaign by considering where to place it, what countries or forces to involve, what type of war is being fought, and what role the PCs will play in the conflict. Like the other event books these chapters include sidebars with checklists and key terms.

Unit Combat
In terms of pages, Chapter 3 (Unit Combat) takes up about half of Cry Havoc, for good reason. It presents rules for running unit combats ("from several dozen to a few hundred troops") in a manner which is very similar to standard D&D combat rules.

Battles take place on a one inch grid where each inch equals a fifty foot square area. Each battle round lasts one minute rather than six seconds. Stats for units (groups of 10 or more creatures) are written out before the battle on unit record sheets, and units are represented by a single token or counter. During the battle both units and individuals move about attacking, casting spells, and so on. Individuals operate as they please, but units follow general strategies (attack the nearest enemy, move toward the rendezvous point, reatreat to the base line) unless they receive orders from commanders. Units must make morale checks when they take damage (and in certain other situations). There are also sections dealing with siege weapons, cover, concealment, terrain.

The treatment of units is both balanced and easy to understand. Units have statistics just like characters (attack, AC, saving throws). They also have skills, feats, spells, and special abilities (if the majority of the creatures in the group have those things). Sample units have been posted on montecook.com as a web enhancement. Units make single attack rolls (rather than rolling for each member of the group, and the result is a number of hits (rather than all hits or all misses). Units also roll saving throws and skill checks as a group. Units can be combined into formations and divisions.

Despite the attention given to units, individuals are no less important on the field. The results of PC's, NPC's, and individual creatures like dragons can have a large impact on the combat. Individuals can do almost all of the things they could do in standard D&D combat, but Cry Havoc also adds the option of command. While giving commands prevents an individual from using their own combat abilities to the fullest extent, it does allow them to maximize the effect of allied troops. There are seven pages worth of orders that allow units to undertake special actions or gain combat bonuses.

Overall, Chapter 3 is quite thorough. Important rules are stated more than once, useful information in presented in tables, and example diagrams are sprinkled throughout the chapter to demonstrate relevant rules (attacks of opportunity, cover, morale failure, etc).

Battlefield Magic
On the one hand, Chapter 4 represents an incredible effort. Part of the chapter gives the battlefield rules and uses for more than 120 of the spells from the Player's Handbook. Several pages are devoted to handling monster special abilities. Every element of spells is addressed, from the area of effect to durations to the particularities of the different schools of magic.

On the other hand, the rules for units of spellcasters is one area where abstraction interferes with the imagination. When a unit of spellcasters casts, they all cast the same spell. When they need to make a Concentration check, they all save or they all lose the spell. When another unit is hit by a spell which does not deal direct damage, they all save or they all fail their save. While the melee and ranged combat rules allow for partial effect (even the unusual melee actions like disarming, grappling, or tripping), the rules for spellcasting are all or nothing.

There's still potential for spellcasters in unit combat, but it seems like spellcasters (characters and monsters) lose a lot more in the transition from individual to unit than other creatures.

Army Combat
Chapter 6 presents a completely different battle system, this one capable of handling armies with millions of combatants and wars which last for months. This is very useful for DM's who want to handle the results of battles or wars where PC's are not directly involved or are only involved in the periphery. The chapter also includes rules on raising, supplying, and moving armies.

For each army involved the DM generates army statistics (defensive power, offensive power, manuever rating, command rating, scout rating). The statistics are modified by factors like weather, terrain, fortifications, and how well supplied each army is. The statistics can then be used to determine the results of combat at three levels (an entire war, a single battle, or each hour of a battle). Each combat is resolved with a series of dice rolls, the outcomes of which determine which side got surprise, how long the fighting last, how many casualties were suffered, etc. The rules of individual battles also allow the sides to chose tactics and account for player actions (killing enemy commanders, etc).

Miscellaneous
Chapter 5 presents rules for using skills and feats in unit combat. Chapter 7 introduces three excellent prestige classes. The artwork and layout are excellent, similar to the other products from Malhavoc Press.

This is a fantastic value for anyone interested in incorporating unit and army combat into their D&D game.