Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

[Mark Stone]

--- On February 21 Mark Reed said: ---

>
> Okay, for all you readers, where are the punch troops in the Asian lists. I
saw
> a few HK in the Mongols, but not much else. Certainly no 'moogs, but then
> again, I guess the weight is toward Euro foot. I had thought that some of the
> Asian mounted would have made it to at least HK status, especially some of the
> Later Indian troops.
>

Well, I see plenty of punch in the Asian lists, in a broad sense of the word
"punch".

First, a lot of the Chinese lists have some number of SHC now, typically armed
with bow, and typically backed by EHC. That's a very hard-hitting troop type,
if you think it through.

Second, the Indian and SE Asian lists are some of the best elephant armies we're
going to see, and as a long time knight army player I have a very healthy
respect for the shock power of elephants.

Third, there's definitely some impressive shock foot in various lists here. Many
of the Chinese lists can get Irr A tribal LMI, and there are plenty of Irr A or
Irr B troops that can have some combination of JLS, 1HCW, and 2HCW.

Finally, and most importantly, you're talking about a region of the world and a
period of history when the elite shock troop was not, by and large, the means
to military success. Mongols routinely fielded armies of 100,000 or more, and
they were frequently outnumbered. Mongols won through discipline and
organization, not shock of impact. Chinese armies often dominated through sheer
numbers, and that's one of the reason for the prominence of bow in Chinese
armies; the bow was the great equalizer.

I actually think the Oriental Warrior lists do a decent job of capturing the
feel of this period. Mongols are going to be tough, but not through shock
power. All those regulars, all those A and B class troops, and all that open
space... any mistake or ill fortune suffered by an opponent will be
relentlessly punished by Mongols. On 1600 points, most armies typically come in
somewhere between 160 and 200 figures. If you're playing a Chinese army and
fielding less than 250 figures, my guess is you're probably doing something
wrong (note: the exception to this will be Han Chinese, the "Romans" of the Far
East, and a high quality, but very expensive army).

In terms of historical interest, I love the Medieval European period. But for
tournament success, I'll be playing from Oriental Warrior for the forseeable
future. So no, I don't think there's any lack of punch in these armies.


-Mark Stone