Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

[Ewan McNay]

Caveat: expect a follow-up message from jon suggesting that you
should not follow whatever advice I might offer here .

" From: "Scott & Tracie McCoppin" <sctrac@...>
Subject: Stupid (or rather inexperienced) tactics question....

Ok, a lot has been talked about how to kill elephants and which
armies are better at dealing with them when faced with them,
etc., however my question is this:

Who uses elephants and how have you used them MOST successfully?"

Well, I do. At least in the context of a Seleucid army, where I
generally run 10 El (at 1600; I think 9 at 1200), all of whom are
Irr C P, JLS. I choose these instead of the P, JLS, B three-crew
type available for two reasons: first, I could get 10 as opposed
to 8; second, because having a B on the El makes it (i) require a
prompt to charge under attack, and (ii) in some cases become a
higher shooting target priority, not to be desired.

I run 2x3, 2x2, so 4 units. The 3-El units are my main strike
force; their job is to trundle forward against anything except
massed missiles or sometimes well-armed Irr loose foot - which
are the only normal opponents they will not generally beat.
They're run in tandem with pikes and peltasts, who can take care
of those two types in most cases. [The infamous Moogs - i.e. Irr
LMI with HTW and JLS - are the worst case for the army, routing
both the pikes and eephants (and peltasts if they are caught), as
I was unlucky enough to encounter in last year's NICT (leading to
the equally infamous river episode).]

The 2-El units are run alongside a bow block, or some peltasts,
or as a reserve. In combination with a bow block, they do an
excellent job of sweeping up opposing LC (or other mounted) which
is usually on a flank, allowing me to press on the flank. They
are more easily fit into the line of battle when needed -
although running the 3-El units in column and expanding out on
one side is a neat ability. The fact that they disorder mounted
if close enough means that if those mounted then get shot, they
take wavers for second disorder - unlikely to happen very often
but neat if it can be done. I will often not shoot at first
opportunity to allow for the El/bows to get closer and achieve
this pre-disorder. Peltasts can also fulfil the shooting role at
close range.

Honestly, though, I usually treat these El as 'trundle forward
and stomp' troops. The pike means that they give a -1 to enemy,
and that is often the edge that they need to have the upper hand
in combat. The fact that they cause unease is also a plus.
Simply getting into combat is often the hardest thing, as they're
not super-manouvreable or speedy. But then, that's true of the
whole Seleucid army.

Part of this is, indeed, a bit of a cycle - and if everyone keeps
bringing a zillion bowmen to comps, I am going to get shot up a
lot. But I've been running these guys for a long time now!

[Kelly Wilkinson]

Ewan,

What is your opinion of mounting 2 regular Li to the base of your elephants
to give them a bit more staying power? Is this a good or bad idea in your
opinion?

kelly wilkinson

Ewan McNay <ewan.mcnay@...> wrote:
Caveat: expect a follow-up message from jon suggesting that you
should not follow whatever advice I might offer here .

" From: "Scott & Tracie McCoppin" <sctrac@...>
Subject: Stupid (or rather inexperienced) tactics question....

Ok, a lot has been talked about how to kill elephants and which
armies are better at dealing with them when faced with them,
etc., however my question is this:

Who uses elephants and how have you used them MOST successfully?"

Well, I do. At least in the context of a Seleucid army, where I
generally run 10 El (at 1600; I think 9 at 1200), all of whom are
Irr C P, JLS. I choose these instead of the P, JLS, B three-crew
type available for two reasons: first, I could get 10 as opposed
to 8; second, because having a B on the El makes it (i) require a
prompt to charge under attack, and (ii) in some cases become a
higher shooting target priority, not to be desired.

I run 2x3, 2x2, so 4 units. The 3-El units are my main strike
force; their job is to trundle forward against anything except
massed missiles or sometimes well-armed Irr loose foot - which
are the only normal opponents they will not generally beat.
They're run in tandem with pikes and peltasts, who can take care
of those two types in most cases. [The infamous Moogs - i.e. Irr
LMI with HTW and JLS - are the worst case for the army, routing
both the pikes and eephants (and peltasts if they are caught), as
I was unlucky enough to encounter in last year's NICT (leading to
the equally infamous river episode).]

The 2-El units are run alongside a bow block, or some peltasts,
or as a reserve. In combination with a bow block, they do an
excellent job of sweeping up opposing LC (or other mounted) which
is usually on a flank, allowing me to press on the flank. They
are more easily fit into the line of battle when needed -
although running the 3-El units in column and expanding out on
one side is a neat ability. The fact that they disorder mounted
if close enough means that if those mounted then get shot, they
take wavers for second disorder - unlikely to happen very often
but neat if it can be done. I will often not shoot at first
opportunity to allow for the El/bows to get closer and achieve
this pre-disorder. Peltasts can also fulfil the shooting role at
close range.

Honestly, though, I usually treat these El as 'trundle forward
and stomp' troops. The pike means that they give a -1 to enemy,
and that is often the edge that they need to have the upper hand
in combat. The fact that they cause unease is also a plus.
Simply getting into combat is often the hardest thing, as they're
not super-manouvreable or speedy. But then, that's true of the
whole Seleucid army.

Part of this is, indeed, a bit of a cycle - and if everyone keeps
bringing a zillion bowmen to comps, I am going to get shot up a
lot. But I've been running these guys for a long time now!



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