Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

[Dmitri Garlic]

Hello this is Dmitri Garlic, new on the list. I'm starting a Nikephorian list and would like some feedback on my list choices.

My list includes:
2E CinC 1/2 Reg A EHC 1/2 Reg B HC L,B,Sh (Emperor Nikephorias)
2E Reg C 1/2 EHC 1/2 HC L,Sh
2x 4E Reg B 1/2 EHC 1/2 HC L,B,Sh
3x 2E Reg B SHC L,Sh
3x 4E Irreg B LHI 2hcw Sh

2E 2inC 1/2 Reg A EHC 1/2 Reg B HC L,B,Sh
2x 4E Reg D LC B
4x 6E Reg C LI JLS Sh

That is my list. Thank you for all feedback.

Dmitri Garlic

[Frank Gilson]

Let's go over what you've got:

[Dmitri Garlic]

The 2E Reg C lancers are there because only 3/4 of my kavalarioi can be Reg B and thus get B.

I think your right about the 4E lancers as 2E they can still team up and split casualties.

The Varangians and the SHC are supposed to work in pods, either having the SHC charge first, the Varangians, or they both charge together. I think I will get rid of 1 SHC.

On the varangians. I think JLS might be useful if I expect to win on impact (very likely against MI because most enemy charges are canceled by the SHC). However the 2hcw weapon is at a better factor against HI so they would cause some damage because of their only slightly lower factor and their ability to fight with the same # of figures as the 2hcw,JLS because of their special rule. I think I should change 2 of them to 2hcw,JLS.

I agree that the LC could be larger and that the LI need more variety.

Thak you for the feedback.

Dmitri Garlic

[Ed Kollmer]

Yo
Dimitri
My name is EdKollmer. My original army was a Nike and it is my primary 25mm army. I don't play them well , but I love them. Actually, one of my sub commanders is called Dimitrius.
I want to reply to you but I am glad Frank replied. He is one of the best.
MARK Stone hopfully will jump in as Frank mentioned. Mark did a great review on Vanaagians and how to play them. I have kept it with my rules as a reference. I will try to reply more completely soon, now I am pressed . I agree with all of Frank's observations.
Hope to be back soon.
Ed the ByzantinophleKollmer

[Mark Stone]

I really do think that Nikephoran is one of the cadillac armies, but with high minimums and lots of choices it is a very complicated army to buy.

First off, you need to have a plan of battle. How do you intend to fight, and what troops will best enable you to fight in that manner? With Nikophorans you have many choices:
* Grind it out with durable foot (skutatoi)
* Go for the kill with impetuous foot (Varangians)
* Go for the kill with lancers (SHC, EHC)
* Win the skirmisher game, leaving your opponent's flanks vulnerable (LI, LC)
* Shoot your opponent into the ground (psiloi, with some cav and perhaps some skutatoi)

Of those 5 broad categories, you can maybe do 2 or 3 well. And some work well together, whereas others are hard to coordinate. For example, if you go with a lot of skutatoi, you won't have enough points to spend on shooters. The skutatoi are also difficult to coordinate with the Varangians. On the other hand, the Varangians and the lancers work very well together, and the shooting strategy works well with the skirmisher strategy.

Once you have a battle plan, prioritize your troop points accordingly.

My personal preference is to combine shock power with a strong skirmisher screen. So I buy no skutatoi, all the Varangians, a decent amount of lancers, and lots of light cav.

Most of Frank's comments above are on target.

I love the SHC guys, but they are way too expensive, and on 1600 points you can't really afford to have more than one unit.

Lancers should generally only be bought in 2 stand units, especially regulars where the command factor is only 10 points.

I like a little JLS light infantry for driving off enemy LI so my LC don't have to waste a charge on them, but 2 4-stand units would be plenty. Take some LI with bow because -- conversely -- it is a cheap, safe way to shoot up enemy LC.

The restriction on upgrading cav to Reg B is up to 3/4, and applies to your lancers and LC combined. If you have 8 stands of lancers and 8 stands of LC, that means you can have 12 stands of Reg B (such as all the lancers and half the LC).

Consider taking some Asiatic cavalry in 6 stand units. They are cheap, mobile space fillers that work well in tandem with smaller units of regular light cav.

Finally, to emphasize what Frank said: buy the Varangians as half 2HCW,JLS,Sh and half JLS,Sh. That is the one correct way to buy them.

This is a really fun army, though difficult to master. I hope you enjoy it, and when you feel competent with how to buy the list and how to play the army, you'll know you've really accomplished something. Good luck!

[Ed Kollmer]

OK
I have a little more time now.
I can scarcely compare with Frank and Mark but I will put my .022 cents.
The last I ran my Byzantine was at H-Con a number of years ago in the open and I couldn't find my list but It did have the 3 units of SHC. I purposely got them as my armored division. The list was basically, the SHC , All the Varangians I could get a some HC L, B sh with detachments of LC B.
I purposely got hardly any EHC. I think I had to get one unit for the Sub. My reason was that they cannot skirmish. Once you move them up , you have to charge with them and you can never get them out of the way of something bad so for me they became a real liability. If I could get them against HC or MC they were OK, because on contact they were pretty much even up but on the second round, their extra armor paid off .
The first two rounds I played two Knight armies. The HC with the LC really helped with the knights . I did reasonably well. The Varangian with the high moral did OK
The last round was the worse I play Charles Yaw with his elephants and he skillfully moved them so that my Varangians could not get them but my cavalry was getting killed by them.
When I saw that EHC in the Early Byzantine could skirmish, I was hopeful that it would be for all Byzantines.

Ed the Byzantineophil