Leaders represent the great man, his personal staff and bodyguards. The leader is responsible for raising, organizing and commanding the army. As a player you will role-play one leader as yourself. This leader may be referred to as the player-leader. Your army may include others but they will not be as important to you as this one. Day of Battle encourages you to use this player-leader from battle to battle. By doing so you will experience the maximum thrill of being a noble leader during the middle ages.

Leaders and Heroes (L&H)

Rules for these vary. If a rule calls for a leader to do an action, only the leader may do so. If a rule calls for the L&H to do the action then the rule applies to both. A hero is much the same as a leader. The difference being in command. A hero is attached to a single unit for a battle, using his attributes and skills (see advanced rules) to aid only his unit. The leader on the other hand doesn't have to stay attached to any unit. Unlike a hero and may aid any unit within his command with his attributes and skills.

There are five steps to creating a leader or hero. These steps are short allowing an L&H to be generated in a matter of minutes.

Social Rank determination.
Level of Esteem determination.
Life Motivation determination.
Leader Skills determination.
Household determination

Basic Game Skills and Attributes

In the basic game, L&H only uses one attribute his social rank. When playing a basic game and a rule calls for an attribute or skill modifier use the leaders social rank value as the modifier bonus.

Advanced attributes are esteem and motivation. Advanced skills are initiative, personal combat skill, combat bonus and morale bonus.

Step One: Social Rank (SR)

In the Medieval world every knight, indeed every person has his place on the social ladder. The Social Ranks table gives a list of the 6 major social ranks in this game. Player-leaders always start their career as a Baron (SR3). Other, non player-leaders and heroes are selected by the player-leader during his domain creation (explained later).

Social Ranks

SR: 6, Title: King -- he is the highest rank of nobility and is of royal blood. Though he rules over all others his lands are rarely equal to that of a duke.

5: Duke -- he is rich and powerful and is the highest level a noble may achieve as a non-royal. He holds his lands directly from the king and rules over several counties.

4 Earl -- he holds his lands from a higher lord. He rules a county made up of many large estates.

3 Baron -- he holds land directly from a higher lord. The lowest of nobility. All new player-leaders start here!

2 Banneret -- he is landholder of greater standing than a knight but not considered a noble. He holds land directly from a higher lord

1 Knight -- he is a common knight with just enough land and income to support himself, his family and a small band of followers. He holds land directly from a higher lord.

Step Two: Level of Esteem

A Leader's esteem is what measures his standing among his peers. It also determines the minimum command a he must have to maintain this standing. Draw one card and add his social rank value to the card to determine his esteem. Honor points always begin at the lowest level of the esteem.

Score/Level

1-4: 1. Unknown (1-100 Honor Points) A young or untried leader. He has little authority and no minimum command.

5-6: 2. Ordinary (101-200 Honor Points) This person is an up-and-coming leader. He must command at least 1 unit of cavalry or men at arms.

7-8: 3. Known (201-300 Honor Points This is a person of proven, military skills. He must command at least 1 unit of knights

9-12: 4. Notable (401-600 Honor Points) This leader is recognized by most of his peers as a leader of quality. He must command a battle line (explained later).

13-15: 5. Famous (601-1000 Honor Points) This leader is recognized by one and all as a person to aspire to emulate. He must be the army commander unless there is an extraordinary leader present

16: 6. Extraordinary (1001+ Honor Points) This is the greatest of leaders. All others respect and admire him. None will argue with him; his word is law. He must be the army commander, stepping aside only (and grudgingly no doubt) for a higher SR leader.

Step Three: Motivation

The next step in creating your leader is to know what his motivation is in life. There are three types: Chivalric, Mercenary and Raider. A leader gains the most honor points (explained later) when he performs actions matching his motivation.

Types Of Motivations

Draw 1 card to determine a leader's motivation.

1-4 Raider (RDR) - this leader is motivated by greed and self-improvement. He feels that it can be more profitable looting and pillaging off the battlefield. However he is aware that there is plenty of loot on the battlefield if one knows where to look.

5 Mercenary (MRC) - this leader is a professional soldier. He is a warrior for the sake of war itself; it is his trade. He will usually serve under any master who will pay. This leader could be a noble or commoner, rarely clergy. His Esteem is increased when he survives battles, proving that he can provide or command other mercenary units well.

6-10 Chivalric (CHV) - This leader is motivated by God, country and righteousness. He is probably a knight or a member of the church.

Step Four: Skills

Draw 1 card and add your social rank and esteem to its value. This is the total number of points you may disperse among your four skills.

Initiative (IN) 1-10 points- this number is increased by 10 to give a final value of 11-20. This skill is his ability to command.

Morale (MB) 1-10 points- this skill modifies a unit's morale grade when the leader is attached.

Combat (CB) 1-10 points- when a leader is attached to a unit in melee he rolls a bonus die, representing him and his bodyguard's. This bonus modifies the final hit number for this bonus die.

Personal Combat Skill (PCS) 1-10 points- this number is increased by 10 to give a value of 11-20. The leader's ability to survive combat.

Step Five: The Household (HH)

An L&H Household is the sum of his social rank and esteem. This will be used to determine his army size.

Other Leader and Hero Rules The following rules will add even more flavor to your leaders and heroes.

Movement A leader may move up to 30" once each game turn. This move does not require a command. Once stopped he is finished moving unless the unit he is attached to moves or he is swept away. A hero may never move on his own, only with the unit he is attached to.

Retainers

"Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest"
--From the play "Becket" by Gean Anouilh

Common Retainers

These may perform one of the following actions, at which time they disappear for the duration of the battle. Some of these actions require a success attempt; if the attempt fails the retainer disappears and the attempt failed. Roll 1D20 for each attempt. Special retainers are an advanced rule.

Every L&H has three basic retainers. They each have their own success roll.

Retainer : Success Roll

Page : 1-10
Squire : 1-15
Sergeant : 1-19

Common Retainer Actions

Command a unit under his leader's command and within 15" of his leader. This command may only be issued when the L&H are active.

Escape being wounded, killed or captured. This retainer is used if the L&H failed his personal combat skill check and before a card is drawn from the Special Results table.

Re-roll a bad die roll or re-draw a bad card made by the L&H. The new value replaces the original (does not require a success roll).

Reorder a unit that the L&H is attached to.

Risk to A Leader--There comes a time in battle when each L&H will have to test his mettle or luck. To do so he must make a personal combat skill check. Such checks are performed whenever he is attached to a unit in combat.

Melee

This is a personal combat skill check. Roll 1D20. If the modified roll is equal to or less than the leader's personal combat skill he is unharmed. If the result is over he has been struck and must draw a card and use the Special Results table to see if he was hurt. This would be a good time to use a common retainer to ward off the blow. When making a PCS test a roll of one ignores all modifiers and passes. A roll of 20 also ignores all modifiers but fails!

PCS Modifiers

-5 Leader is wounded.
-5 Leader is attached to a unit that lost a melee this turn.
-1 The difference in strikes between the units (explained later).

Missile Fire

This is a simpler test. Roll 1D20. If the roll is a 20 he has been struck and must use Special Results table. All others pass.

Lost Leaders and Heroes

When an L&H uses the Special Results table there is a possibility he will become lost. Though not killed he is not available to command his troops. He could be pinned under a body or wandering dazed in the brush. These unfortunates are removed from play for a full game turn and may not participate in anyway. They lose any cards that they may have saved (see command). When a leader is lost there is a chance he is found and captured by the other side. The opposing player-leader draws one card. If a face card is drawn the lost L&H is captured by this player-leader. A joker indicates he was not recognized on being captured and was slain on the spot.

When a lost L&H finally returns he may rejoin any unit under his command. This will be considered his movement for the game turn. He may then carry. It is also very possible that a leader will die or be captured in battle. If this happen the next highest social ranking leader takes command. A new leader may start giving orders during the next active round of that side game turn. If there are no more L&H in the army it breaks from the field ending the battle.

Creating the Army

The Domain -- before going to war the player-leader must create his domain. The size of this is based on his social rank. In the simplest terms the combined totals of the social ranks of all of the L&H within his domain equals his social rank. He may choose the type and number of L&H in his domain but none may have a higher social rank than his. These L&H make up the pool of his and are the only ones available to him for the battle. When a leaders social rank climbs he may increase his domain make up as well.

The Army -- the army of a player-leader is based on his household and a random card draw. While the household value is fixed, the cards represent the uncertainty of all coming their lord's summons. Player-leaders draw one card. If it is a numbered card or joker multiply his household by 5 for his basic army points. If the card is a red face use a multiplier of 6. If the card is a black face use a multiplier of 4. Finally draw one bonus card and add it to the total for the player-leaders total army points. If this card is a joker draw and additional bonus card.

SPECIAL RESULTS TABLE

To use this table, draw 1 card. If it is red add 10 to the value.

Advanced Leader Rules

Climbing the Social Rank Ladder

As any leader or heroes Esteem rises so may his Social rank. Each time his Esteem increases a level draw one card. If the card is equal to or greater than twice the L&H current Social Rank his Social rank will increase by one level.

Skill Advancement -- A leader begins his career with the minimum amount of honor points listed next to his esteem. After a battle a leader may increase any 1 skill 1 point for every 100 HP he accumulates. He may also increase any one skill one point every time his level of esteem increases a level. Honor point balances are always carried forward.

Honor Points (HP) -- These encourage an L&H to act out his part on the stage of life. He will always stand to gain the most honor points when he and his soldiers perform deeds that suit his motivation.

A leader receives honor points when a unit under his command performs an action listed on the Honor Points table and under his motivation.

Honor Point Multipliers -- At the end of a battle the honor points the leader gained is multiplied by his level of esteem. Honor points are doubled if the L&H is attached to the unit. Honor points are doubled if a herald is within 5" of an event. At the end of a battle any L&H that was unable to meet his minimum level of command as determined by his esteem loses 50% of any honor points gained during the battle.

Ex: - Prince John gains 20 honor points during the battle. He is an earl with an esteem of 3 (known). His final honor point score is 60 points (20 x 3).

Honor Points Event/Motivation	Chv.	Mrc.	Rdr.
Captured Leader or Hero	10	15	20
Capture Standard or Banner	5/3	10/5	2/1
Challenged a L&H	5	2	3
Declined challenge (- SR of challenger)	yes	yes	no
Accepted a challenge (+ SR of Challenged)	yes	no	no
Won challenge vs. a L&H	10	3	5
(+/- difference in SR)	yes	yes	no
Won/Lost a melee against Knights	5/-1	3/0	2/0
Won/Lost a melee against formed mounted cavalry.	3/-1	3/0	2/0
Won/Lost a melee against formed infantry	3/0	0	1/0
Won melee against skirmishers	0	0	3
Routed from field	-10	5	0
Passed PCS check	3	1	3
Failed PCS check	-1	0	0
Died in a challenge vs. L/H with greater Esteem	10	3	0
Wounded in melee	5	1	3
Died in melee with Knights	5	2	0
Died in melee formed foot or cavalry	-5	2	0
Died under missile fire	-10	0	0
Your side won the battle. Multiply the number of AP in your opponent's army.	10%	40%	30%
Your Unit/Battle is still on the battle field	5	5	5
Per turn raiding camp Multiply by the number AP in your opponent's army.	2%	5%	10%

Other Honor Points

Between battles each player-leader gains honor points equal to his household. The represents good deeds (or not) performed elsewhere.

Special Retainers

Only player-leaders have special retainers, which he attracts as a he climbs in social rank.

Social Rank 3- 1 Special Retainer
Social Rank 4- 2 Special Retainers
Social Rank 5- 3 Special Retainers
Social Rank 6- 4 Special Retainers

Some special retainers require a success attempt. Draw a card for each special retainer to determine its type. These disappear at the end of each battle. The first three are attached to a unit and are lost if the unit loses a melee or breaks. The others remain with their leader until used.

Red 2-10: Archer- a master archer who serves his lord as an officer. Whenever the unit fires he rolls 1 bonus D20. His combat value is equal to one half of the card's value added to the unit's modified combat value (limit 1 per unit). Rounding down. Ex: If a black 6 were drawn when determining the type of retainer available the master archer would have a +3 combat value bonus.

Black 2-10: Champion- A warrior of mighty strength who serves his lord as an officer. Whenever the unit is in melee he rolls 1 bonus D20. His combat value is equal to one half of the card's value added to the unit's modified combat value (limit 1 per unit). Rounding down. Ex: If a black 6 were drawn when determining the type of retainer available the champion would have a +3 combat value bonus.

Red face: Standard- a relic, personal flag or other marker of importance. The use of this retainer allows the unit it is attached to increase its by 1-3 points (limit 1 per unit). Jack +1, Queen or King +2 Ace +3

Black face: Herald -- these record great acts of valor or heroism they may witness for all to read. Heralds stay attached to their leader. Any units within 5"/75mm of them and within their sight will double any honor points gained in the melee. Heralds may never be harmed; if they are in the way they are moved (limit one per leader).

Red joker: Healer- success Number: 15 -- this retainer does one of the following, once per game: Return one lost stand to a unit over 15"/90mm from any enemy. Remove a wound from his leader. Return the lowest simple retainer used.

Black joker: Scout- Success Number: 15 -- this retainer does one of the following, once per game: Scout out a terrain feature on the battlefield to determine if occupied by any enemy. Reveal if a unit has or could deploy S&P. Reveal when and where a flanking force will arrive.

These ends the leader rules for Day of Battle.