Warband fighting

What are some games or systems that are good for fighting in warbands? Groups of 50-500 on each side, medieval technology, facing off in shield walls, cavalry charges, and so on.

I believe 3.5 had an official book exclusively about that, but I can't rber what it's called. Maybe Complete Combat or something like that?

(Not saying that it's balanced or good. Just know that it's sort've what you're looking for and most likely compatible with most D20 things. I used it a couple times a long time ago to simulate ongoing battles during my 3.5 campaigns back in the day.

The best I've got is a beta test of a game called Dark Age by Vincent Baker. It's PBTA, so it's pretty light on rules and heavy on improvisation, but it works.

Actually to add to OPs question.
World building is enjoyable and when you see all these creatures, races, and magical shit you start thinking about how these would affect their conflicts.
Is there a game that lets one design a warband in such a way?
Say gnomes given dog mounts and crossbows. Or mass training of low level wizards for a small number of spell volleys?

can't be done, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE I SAID.
the best I can do is attribute some stats as a general and copy the Crusader kings 2 number crunch, for armies.

Well, considering dnd literally spawned from a mass combat game called chainmail, why not check that out?

Runequest has supplement for it. Song of Swords has some Alpha mass combat rules floating around and they are awesome

Rollo`s axe have mold lines...
How the fuck could the painter let that slid?

... For some reason I'm angry at you for pointing it out, I don't even have a particular affinity for the show but now I can't unsee the mold lines.

Mythras/runequest 6 had a suplement called Ships and Shieldwalls or some thing like that.
It's a very good system for gritty and cinematic combat and it has good tips for that kind of games.

...

Leaving mould lines on the axe is no more lazy than kitting everyone out in blacks and browns not to mention and needless leather bullshit.

Vikings is pretty shitty when it comes to costumes.

Age of Sigmar: Skirmish.

When Armies clash is my 'system' of choice, it's a supplement for D&D 5e. Then again I'm a D&D weenie so your mileage may vary.

The system gets the job done though. Here's a quick tl;dr:
The smallest entity on the map is a「STAND」, which consists of 10 individuals with the same (or comparable) levels and equipments. A stand has its own hp which does lead to an "all or nothing" situation where either 10 guys are entirely unharmed by a volley of arrows or all 10 die. Anyway, up to 10 「STAND」s can organize themselves into a unit which can form either a tight formation or a loose one for various benefits and detriments. A「STAND」that becomes isolated from the unit it's in will lose unit integrity and get some penalties. Units don't have their own hp though, instead the 「STAND」suffers hp damage, so it is possible to maintain a single unit at reduced numbers after a battle. The exception to the rule are solo units, which are usually PCs or creatures larger than huge size. A medium sized solo unit can join or abandon a 「STAND」at will. I like this system and how it deals with PCs as it makes them feel special without making them one man armies. You can already imagine such things as a barbarian cutting through enemy troops in support of an allied unit, or a wizard casting a defensive spell in front of a unit of friendly archers.

There's also another system for mass combat in 5e called ... well, "Mass Combat", but I find that it's inferior to "When Armies Clash". The problem is that in that system, if one unit is better than another it will simply steamroll it, regardless of if the statistically better unit has 100 men and the statistically inferior unit 500. The 「STAND」based system keeps things a little bit more equal, in that hp actually matters.

Both supplements are free in PDF form online.

>setting is based on a war time
>campaign has been tiptoing around any actual war business, as it is only hinted offscreen
>it has been a year of that

user I think you gave me so much, I will share with my GM. thanks for making this post brosephius maximus.

Heroes of Battle isn't a mass combat book, it's a book about your party being commandos and fighting small parts of an abstract larger battle.

Why are there so many white people in that shot of historical Scandinavians?

why are you of this board? this is hoby related, we already have nigger faggots on pozfinder knock yourself out there

Traditional Games also appreciates historical accuracy, and I know for a fact that there were many, many Muslims and African peoples in Scandinavia during this time.

>Nobody is talking about TSR D&D(B/X)/AD&D

Y'know, /hwg/ would be your best bet. Probably SAGA is the best one for it.

Is this some sort of trolling that is going over my head, or are you serious?
Because, as a scandinavian history student, this is news to me.

Don't be racist