> The party (5 people on horses) encounter a group of 20 Impala
> riders, a combat ensues in the form of the party trying to drive off
> the Impala, and the Impala trying to harrass the horse riders.
>
> The Impalas want to skirmish, use javelins and remain at distance
> till the party are weakened.
>
> The party wish to drive off the Impala (something they want is
> nearby).
>
> The party members are better at CC then the Impalas.
>
> How does everyone run such a combat ?
>
> Examples wuld be approeciated.
The party should probably get beaten pretty handily. They have a number of factors going against them - Outnumbered 4-1; trying to hold ground while mounted; heavy troops actively trying to engage skirmishers. The heroes would be better off dismounting and pulling out ranged weapons or magic.
I'd run the Impalas as 20 individuals because the idea behind mounted skirmishing like this is that you can't ever catch a group of enemies and crush them, you'd be able lucky catch *one*. If the party were also skirmishing mounted, I might go for 5-6 "villains" with followers, and run one-one battles, but the heroes don't seem to have magic or missiles to hand (or aren't very good at it...). Also, effective return fire is more likely to "scare off" mounted skirmishers (represented by lost APs) than trying to catch them in close combat.
So 20 attacks means (an average of) 4 attacks against each hero each round. They will be facing multiple attacker penalties (-9 on average). Impalas use [Missile Weapon] ability augmented by Riding, Skirmish or another suitable ability, with magic provided by fetishes. They might also augment with "Hate Horses" and shoot the horses instead of the riders. While this will be relatively okay in the immediate tactical situation, long-term it's best not to be lost on the plains without transportation...
On Defense, they would rely on Riding or their Impala's "Run Fast", augmenting with Trick Riding, Impala's Dodge or Impala's Jump abilities. I'd also include an automatic augment to represent the distance implied by using javelins - the hero would first have to close that distance before being able to hit the enemy with Close combat - call it a +3 or so for Javelins.
This should adequately represent a swarm of fast missile troops cutting in and out to discharge missiles, fleeing before a charge by the heroes. If a hero is silly enough to charge in a direction that takes him away from his associates, I wouldn't hesitate to have 6 or even 10 Impalas shoot at him (over-riding the "Rule of Six" for this) to represent the tactics of cutting off and surrounding enemies dumb enough to leave the safety of the group.
Depending on how "Plains Indians" you want to portray the Impalas, you might have a brave rider come in with a Close Combat attack (preferably after a suitable "softening up" by multiple missile attacks) to either count coup or try for a kill.
Oh, and most impala riders use bows, not javelins, which should make it even tougher for the poor heroes. Call it a +5 to +10 "Distance Augment".
Roderick
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