K20 - The basement isn't clear

This long overdue session report covers two sessions and follow on the K19 - Under New Management. 

The tactical situation

The natural cave is oriented East-West. The dwarves are progressing from the East. They crossed a door some 300 yds earlier where the cave had been walled in. The ceiling of the cave drops to 3 ft in many places, making the progress difficult and forcing a crouching position (-2 attack). On the ground, there is a meandering frozen stream. The stream is covered in rubble and ice, making it rough footing (-2 attack, -1 defense). The echoes are severe, making Per checks -3. There is only a single torch lit, held by Goldo, the vision penalty is -1 per 2 hexes beyond a range of 3 from the torch. Finally, the air is thin and toxic, causing double FP damage.

Fractal combat resolution in GURPS

s to define, as a first draft, a way to smooth the transition from personal to mass combat such that a PC at the head of 7 dwarves will be presented with interesting challenges.

Key Principle

The cohesion of a unit is a matter of the tactical skill of a unit's direct commander. The abstraction here is that the higher the tactics skill of a commander is, the more predictable and sound the squad will behave. 

This is assuming that the commander has trained the squad. If not, a penalty should be applied on the tactics skill. 

Key Mechanics

Who does what?

Each turn, a passive tactics check is made to determine whether subordinates are going to act according to doctrine (In practice, moved by the commander). If the Tactics check is failed, the NPCs are going to act on impulses that are randomly determined (using a Roll20 table).

The maximum movement is limited by the tactics' MoS and the Adjusted Move of the subordinates.