There are situations when the heroic PCs might be expected to face large numbers of relatively weak foes, such as the crew of an enemy ship during a naval battle or a troop of infantry sent by a warlord to terrorize a village.
Because of the headache of running many so many creatures, DMs often put these foes in the background and resolve the fight by narrative. While this is a good option, players might prefer to fight such foes. These squad rules provide a solution to this problem, allowing a DM to run squads of creatures without slowing down the game. But these rules also benefit players directly.
Spells that summon, create or conjure large numbers of creatures can significantly slow down combat. While banning such use can speed up a game, it does rob players of some optimal options. Fortunately, players can be allowed their armies of minions while the DM retains their sanity. The solution is the use of squads.
For handling animate dead, Bones & Brains provides squad rules for making the unlife of necromancers easier. For animate objects, Squad: Animate Objects provides a custom-made solution. This work provides a general set of squad rules that can be used to handle any squad fight.
Squads – Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild (dmsguild.com)