Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

[Mark Stone]

Quoting "WarriorRules@yahoogroups.com" <WarriorRules@yahoogroups.com>:

> Message: 21
> Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:30:32 EST
> From: Eaglewars@...
> Subject: Re: Digest Number 1145
>
>
> One must not forget that foot do get the impetuous bonus against mounted.
> That would make the A class troops 9@8, which is 67. It would also make the
> C
> class troops 5@6, which is 25. Total inflicted, including missile fire, is
>
> 110.

Argh! Can't believe I forgot to calculate in the +2 for impetuous. Nice catch,
Jake.

So the situation for the Scots is not as dire as I described, but my main points
still stand, I believe:

- Given the present trend of elephants with LI on the base, 3 to a stand bowmen
just don't do enough shooting damage;
- As LMI, 3 to a stand bowmen are quite vulnerable to return fire from the likes
of Sultanate and Burmese elephants;
- Even including Irr As, LMI need a combination of fortunate matchups and
fortunate die rolls to be successful against elephants.

That's not a recipe for success when it comes to cooking up a battle plan.

Believe me, I wish it were otherwise. Those who know me well know that I play
almost exclusively knight armies (over the last 10 years, Khazars, Post Mongol
Russian, and Russ are the only armies I've played that don't have knights in
them). So I spend waaaaaay too much time thinking about elephants. With a strong
dose of Scottish ancestry (my ancestors were deported to the Colonies for
"repatriating" sheep back to Scotland) I'd love to play a Scottish army. And you
can't get more colorful than a well-painted band of highlanders in 25mm. But the
numbers just aren't there against enough opponents to make the various Scots
lists viable.


-Mark Stone

P.S. I don't mean that as a knock on the list work that Scott and others have
done. I think that the Scots armies play with a very historical feel, and have a
historically supported degree of brittleness against tough opponents.

[Mark Stone]

Quoting "WarriorRules@yahoogroups.com" <WarriorRules@yahoogroups.com>:

> Message: 12
> Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 15:30:56 -0000
> From: "spocksleftball" <spocksleftball@...>
> Subject: More list development questions
>
> Looking at 1st Crusade list, and using the ideas of Greg/Kelly/Mark
> in as much a synthisis as possible, I have developed the following
> idea for my Frank foot.
>
> First I have to take the following troops:
> 12 IrgC MI JLS/sh (up to 1/3 can be LTS, 1/2 can be HI)
> 4 IrgC MI B (can have JLS)
> 2 IrgC MI CB
>

I used to play this army quite a bit many years ago, long before Holy Warrior.
The Holy Warrior list changes it some, but it is essentially the same.

First point: take the Pilgrims! All of them! They are the magic that makes this
list work. I don't have my list in front of me, so I'm not positive about the
current mix for the Pilgrims, but I used to run 3 units configured thusly:

Front rank 2 stands of Irr A LMI JLS,Sh
Next rank 1 stand of Irr A LMI JLS, 1 stand Irr C LMI JLS
Next four ranks each with 2 stands of Irr D LMI IPW

Such a unit costs 97 points, and counts as a 24 figure unit on 2 elements'
frontage. That's actually a big advantage. It means that in combat with
elephants and pikemen you don't evaporate rapidly from 2 for 1 casualties like
most LMI (pike won't even tire you, much less disorder you, on the first bound
unless they roll up). It also means that no single 2-stand unit of knights can
rout you (max casualties for 5 figures is 60; not 3 CPF). And if my opponent
wants to commit 2 units of knights to a 97 point unit to kill it (still needing
to roll up at contact for a rout), he's welcome to it.

So the pilgrims are great, just great. Take them all day long, all you can get.

Now, those pesky required foot:
Take one unit that is 8 stands of MI, front rank LTS,Sh and back rank JLS,Sh.
Think of it as a line unit, not a shock unit: it's point is to minimize the
casualties it takes (thus the LTS in the front), not to maximize the casualties
it puts out. This unit isn't going to win you any battles by routing enemy
units, but it holds a lot of space, and is actually pretty hard to kill. Your
opponent will have to commit more points to killing it than it cost you to buy
it, and it will still take him several bounds to kill it once he has closed with
it, even if he has the right troops to beat it.

Take one unit that has 4 stands of MI JLS,Sh, 2 stands of MI B, 2 stands of HI
JLS,B and 2 stands of MI CB. This unit should be back from your main battle
line, and is there to (a) shoot at things long range, (b) suck enemy shooting
away from your cavalry, and (c) occaisionally, and with great care, fight
elephants hand to hand. It's shooting formation should be:
front rank, 2 stands HI JLS,B
second rank, 2 stands MI CB
third and fourth ranks, 4 stands MI JLS,Sh
fifth rank, 2 stands MI B

This configuration means you get to shoot with 3 stands of bow (the two front
rank and half the back rank) and 2 stands of CB. Also note that at long range
you still get 2 stands of bow and 1 of CB, because the back rank is not halved
twice.

If you are facing the prospect of hand to hand combat, then you want to exchange
ranks to be in this formation:
front rank, 2 stands of MI JLS,Sh
second rank, 2 stands of HI JLS,B
remaining ranks whatever
This way you get to fight with 3 stands of JLS and support shoot with 2 stands
of bow and you count shielded in hand to hand. All of that is very important
against elephants. Against other hand to hand opponents you're just trying to be
a big unit that takes a long time to kill.

Hope that helps. 1st Crusade is a fun list, a colorful list, and has a huge
amount of historical charisma (these guys were BAD ASS). It is, however, a VERY
complicated list to play.


-Mark Stone