Just make an proper wargame as an adjunct to the RPG. Whether it's miniatures or counters or whatever, if the players aren't the focus of the game, it should be its own game. That lets you make sure the game portrays the fiction you want in a reasonable time frame and in a fun way without having to try to match it exactly to the skirmish combat system where the players are. (If the players are the admirals/generals, then they might as well be playing the wargame anyway. The Admiral isn't the one fighting their flagship, that's what their ship's captain is for).
All I want from the mass combat system in an RPG, whether it's mercenaries or battle fleets, is systems and/or guidance on how to make my players have fun if they are in that battle, whether as a squad of infantry or the bridge crew of a ship. Stuff that will make their decisions matter to their situation. They don't have to decide the fate of the battle, but they should have fun things to do within the scope of the battle. That's what I want from mass combat. I don't need to resolve the Battle of Rhylanor by playing it out. I just need to resolve the fate of the Imperial Destroyer Lollipop and know whether it covered itself in glory or in shame.
And, as a tangent, what I really want from books about giant warships is stuff I can use to play Azhanti High Lightning style scenarios. Because the chances that I'll ever have to resolve the firepower of a Tigress with the ship to ship combat rules is are microscopic.
Designing a ship to ship combat system that directly scales to a fleet combat system without causing serious problems in one or both scales is vastly harder than designing two systems using the same concepts but optimized for their respective scales.
All I want from the mass combat system in an RPG, whether it's mercenaries or battle fleets, is systems and/or guidance on how to make my players have fun if they are in that battle, whether as a squad of infantry or the bridge crew of a ship. Stuff that will make their decisions matter to their situation. They don't have to decide the fate of the battle, but they should have fun things to do within the scope of the battle. That's what I want from mass combat. I don't need to resolve the Battle of Rhylanor by playing it out. I just need to resolve the fate of the Imperial Destroyer Lollipop and know whether it covered itself in glory or in shame.
And, as a tangent, what I really want from books about giant warships is stuff I can use to play Azhanti High Lightning style scenarios. Because the chances that I'll ever have to resolve the firepower of a Tigress with the ship to ship combat rules is are microscopic.
Designing a ship to ship combat system that directly scales to a fleet combat system without causing serious problems in one or both scales is vastly harder than designing two systems using the same concepts but optimized for their respective scales.
