BillGarrett/SpeedingUpMassCombat

The GURPS mass-combat rules are simple, streamlined and compact. I can resolve an entire battle (sans heroic deeds and duels) in four die rolls, including precise numbers for casualties. I was hoping for something similarly efficient in the Player's Guide. Unfortunately, what I got was more "regular combat", only beefed up with automatic successes based on what army you happen to have in your pocket.

Here are ways I think the Mail & Steel rules can be sped up.

Leadership Points

Each commander has "Leadership Points" equal to twice his Charisma+Presence. Canny tacticians, who operate well-disciplined armies through tried-and-true strategic doctrines and ingenious innovations, have Leadership Points equal to twice their Wits+Lore.

One weakness of this system is that it assumes canny strategists can compel their soldiers to fight through fatigue, which is not very realistic. I may scrap this idea and instead allow Wits+Lore (or Charisma+Lore, perhaps?) to govern maneuvers for high-Drill units.

Leadership Points regenerate every long turn. Wherever a Charisma+Presence roll is called for in the normal flow of mass combat, use the Leadership Point pool as a bank of successes to draw on. Excess Leadership Points at the end of a long turn are lost; do not carry them over.

Commanders may perform Stunts as usual; each bonus stunt die translates directly into one extra Leadership Point (do not roll).

In general, this will lead to an average of 12-20 successes for a heroic mortal or Exalted leader. These successes are spread across three Fatigue rolls, plus any special maneuvers the unit takes during the movement phase. In general this lets an Exalt blow through most maneuvers with ease if they have Presence cranked. I may lower the multiplier, and just give (Cha+Presence) as successes.