Combat structure in my WIP

This is mostly a summary of the Coup procedure, so credit where it's due there. I've added the bit about different action speeds as it's come up in games a fair deal.

Maneuvering

Combat is divided into 1 minute maneuver phases. Declare what you are doing at the start of the phase. Everybody declares at once, no particular order.

Actions in the maneuver phase are immediate, fast, or normal. Every action in a speed category takes place simultaneously. Fully resolve all actions in one speed category before you move on to the next. Conceivably, your action could take some sort of penalty if you are disrupted by an action from an earlier category.

Immediate actions: shooting an arrow, throwing a spear, tossing a rock, readying a spear, giving a brief command, charging into melee (maybe? this is separate from the ordinary walking-speed "closing into melee" and requires a martial arts technique to get a whole group to do it at once)

Fast actions: closing into melee

Normal actions: Everything else: switching weapons, repositioning, casting a spell, drinking a potion

Melee occurs and is fully resolved within the maneuver phase. So if you want to cast a spell, you'll begin casting before the melee begins (because you begin casting at the start of the phase) and finish casting after it ends (because it is a normal action, which occur after fast actions).

Melee

Roll 1d6 for each side, subject to some ad hoc circumstantial modifiers. In particular, if one side is closing into melee, and the other side is occupied with some other activity, that's worth a bonus die to the melee side and/or a penalty die to the occupied side. The high side wins, "has the initiative". Usually this means they decide on their positioning at the start of the fight and they maneuver freely during the fight.

If we're using my experimental attack procedure, with opposed group attack rolls, the side with initiative will decide how many separate pools to fight in. Maybe? This might be too fiddly.

On a tie, all formations are disrupted. Fight for 1 round, 50% chance of continuing into the next, ongoing.

Fight for a number of rounds equal to the difference between the two initiative rolls. The side with the initiative can opt to end the melee at the start of any round before that.

Note on archery

Talked to Lauren the historian/HEMA practitioner about the rate of archery in melee combat. She says once or twice a minute is a reasonable rate. You could definitely get your shot off before a charge, and you could probably get another shot off during the  minute or so of subsequent melee.

So I'm thinking that you can shoot once in a maneuver phase for every +1 in your active ranged martial arts rank, as follows:

1. Before melee
2. Before and and after melee
3. Before, on round 3, and after
4. Before, on rounds 2 and 4, and after
5. Before, on rounds 1, 3, and 6, and after

If you don't get your shot because the melee didn't go on for enough rounds, too bad, it's done.

Maybe each ranged martial at should have 1 fewer technique available than other martial arts of the same rank, to balance things out.

Note on magic

Magic in this system is way weaker than during normal dnd, where you can cast a spell every round.

Maybe we'll use Tommi's idea about putting spells "in hand" like Doctor Strange.

Dr Strange, putting spells "in hand"

Here's how that works:

Spend a maneuver phase preparing the spell. Cast it at the end of the phase, as a normal action, or take it into hand. It's literally in your hand, glowing lightly. People can see it. You can't use the hand for anything else. Release it at any time, immediately. Putting the spell back is not trivial. 3/6 task, bonus die for high Mind/Wisdom, or else you lose the spell. (Misfire/magical calamity on a 1?)