Hey guys... my painting has been "off the ground" for a few months now, but the gaming has just begun for my son and I. I have a pile of questions, but one at a time.

Are there rules or "house rules" anywhere that describe a variation of the SBG game that includes more than two opposing armies? Some rules are a bit different, such as, two enemies are fighting within range of your bowman... can you fire on them, and if so who does it hit? (the "can't fire upon your own 'good' fighters once engaged in a melee' rule wouldn't really apply then would it?

Just curious if it has been officially or unofficially covered anywhere.

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"Keep breathing.... that's the key... breathe!"

I was wondering about having three way battles as well, and the best idea I could think of would to have all three people roll for prioriety and have the highest go first and second highest go second ect.
I think having a three way battle would be really fun, trying to convince people not to attack you but instead crush the other guy, and making alliances with people to have them stab you in the back, (or the other way around.)

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I have played a couple of three way battles and they worked out fine. Lots of fun to be had.

Multi-player SBG games are doable and I've played in some as well. From experience though I'd suggest trying to go a 'team' route of Good vs. Evil. The only reason is because 1v1v1 and such games often boil down to two players really going at each other and the third hanging back a bit. Once the first two have beat each other down a bit it's pretty easy for the hang-back force to sweep in, mop up and claim victory. Although it's valid, it can spoil the game. But if you're teamed up and your teammate is hanging back you can pretty much let him know he better get in and engage as well.

If you do only have an odd number of players, then just go by points. For example, each side is 500 points. Evil has two players so each can bring a 250 point force. Good only has one player so he brings a 500 point force.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

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Teaming up is the best way but 3 player games is no problem, just roll [riority for each and go in order. Hanging back isn't a problem if you choose a suitable scenario to play.

played 3 way battles and they work fine. just roll for priority.
three way fights might be a bit confusing though.

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warmancer

I don't know of any place you can find house rules for this (perhaps a good idea for an article if anyone feels they have the time), but I will tell you what I do when I have 1v1v1 battles.

1. Everyone rolls for priority, and move in order. During ties, whoever went before the other person in the previous turn goes after.

2. When resolving heroic action tie offs, and all three players call a heroic action, roll a D6. On a 1-2, one person goes first, 3-4 it is another person, 5-6 it is the last person. Then you roll another D6 to see who goes second, with the usual 1-3, 4-6 determining the order.

3. To answer your question about archery, if you are a good player you simply cannot shoot into combats with any of YOUR combatants in it. However, if two enemies are fighting, feel free. Just roll a D6, it hits one side on a 1-3, the other on a 4-6.

4. There is a possibility for 1v1v1 combats. There are two ways you could do this. You could allow only one side to win the fight, and direct attacks against anyone he pleases. Another way would to allow the runner-up to also direct attacks against the loser. Either way would work. Just remember that when resolving ties you would need to do something similar to what I described for heroic actions.

5. When choosing who gets hit by volley fire you could make players choose targets in order of who recieved priority, with the shooting player automatically firing last. For scatter rolls from siege weapons, on a 2-3 one player can choose, a 4-5 it is the other.

I think that should cover most of the problems you are likely to encounter. There are no doubt other problems which are likely to arise, so it may be a good idea to take note of them so that you can develop your own consistent set of rules.