(This system is not yet normalized for differences in power level and army size; it assumes both armies are pretty much identical.)
Mass combat is a duel between tacticians. Both tacticians may designate an objective (see below), and roll Int + Lore. They distribute these successes between the following four categories:
Valor: Each success in Valor allows you to add a red die to your opponent's Casualty roll.
Conviction: Each success in Conviction allows you to add one die to your Objective roll, after all successes have been allocated.
Compassion: Each success in Compassion allows you to add a black die to your Casualty roll, or to subtract one from your final Casualty result.
Temperance: Each success in Temperance allows you to remove a success from your opponent's Conviction.
Distribution is public, category-by-category, in the above order. (That is, first we both decide on how many successes to put in Valor, then we reveal that. Then we proceed to Conviction, etc.) You may channel any Virtue on the above rolls; however, you must then allocate as many successes to that Virtue as your dots in that Virtue, or all your successes if you do not have enough.
Both players then make a Casualty roll. Casualty rolls begin with one white die and may have other dice added to them by success allocation. Both players roll all the dice in their Casualty roll. For each red die in the roll, they discard the lowest-showing die; for each black die in the roll, they discard the highest-showing die. The final roll is the percentage of men lost, or the number of tens of men lost, whichever is greater. Tens explode. After making a Casualty roll, discard all non-white dice from it.
Both players then make an Objective roll. This roll is an extended contest against a difficulty of your opponent's Int + Lore. Dice added to the Objective roll are not discarded after the roll. Once you have overcome the difficulty of the Objective roll, you have succeeded in your objective.
Anything your army could accomplish without a roll if the other army were not present is an acceptable objective. "Capture the Imperial Manse" is an acceptable objective. "Assassinate Harmonious Jade" is not. "Destroy the Black Fortress" is probably not, but it depends on the strength of the Black Fortress and the power of your army.
Instead of making an Objective roll, you may designate an Objective. If you do so, discard all dice in your Objective roll, and forfeit all successes accumulated thus far.
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