It is the age old question, /tg. How the rainbow-coloured-dragonSHIT

>Savage Worlds has its own system for this
>There's even optional rules for medieval sieges
>Players can do more than simply command their troops, albeit often at risk to themselves
There, done

Players are given (or come up with) quest to make their side win or have a significant advantage.

Players do quest.
Assuming quest is believable, player side wins.

There, done.

"But what if the pitched combat is somehow spontaneous????"

Run combat with the players vs some of the enemy army as a microcosm of the battle.
The more the enemy army outnumbers the player army, the more fights the players have to have in a row. It's a mini-quest! Players can retreat if necessary.

If the players win then their side wins.

There, done.
Usable in any system!

>>54797737
Most good systems have subsystems for this. Usually I benchmark each unit as 1D6, then move them in ranks through the field. Players are 1D6 as well. When two blocks collide they roll off, whoever loses spins down their D6 by the number they lost by. RPS advantage confers a re-roll. If you've got enough D6s you can color code based on unit type.

If your characters aren't playing as commanders, move the ebb and flow of the battle as the plot demands.

>>54797824
Expanding on this you can have the players stumble on key areas of the battle either in a pre-planned or a random manner, where their performance impacts the battle around them. You can make it a sort of 'you need to win 3 engagements before you lose 3' type of scenario or you can go more narrative, with the following fights becoming harder after a defeat, and easier after a success to simulate enemy morale.

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>>54797737

I play a big battle using wargaming rules and miniatures, warhammer fantasy in particular. It's what most of us know.

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>>54797737
D&D was originally a supplement to a wargame.
You only use it to simulate dying in pits, a la. The Hoard of the Gibbelins.

Normal play is dictated by CHAINMAIL.