transtemporal
Explorer
Unfortunately, it doesn't have the same results as playing out the battles; AD&D's Battlesystem was closer to an RPG fight match. Still, it's a fun way to resolve it, and get it out of the way for story purposes.
Thats exactly why I like it. For battles of up to 20-30, I'll just use the normal combat rules. For anything bigger, I'll abstract it because at that point, its no longer about small scale heroic RPG action. Its a wargame.