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Wednesday 6 October 2010

Army set... well sort of...

So I think the army I'll be using at the Wargames Weekend in Nottingham is pretty well set. I was going to play with a Numidian army but in the end I decided it just doesn't have enough punch. Normally I would have gone 'heavy' on elephants but the new WAB rules seem to weaken elephants - particularily if you are using cavalry. In the past if they failed a break test, they 'ran' forward so it was relatively easy to keep your cavalry away. But now you throw a scatter dice which means they can go anywhere.

So I opted for a Carthaginian army from the 2nd Punic Wars in Africa. I have always liked the Carthaginian army although they never quite seem to be as good as historically you might expect. However, with the new rules open order troops seem to have great advantages in mobility and I love the idea of trying a Cannae type tactic of drawing the enemy on while hitting the flanks and rear.

Taking two 2000pt options to the weekend, we get one general and army standard for free so the army I have worked out is:
2 x 11man Numidian Light Cavalry in skirmish formation
1 x 12man Numidian Light cavalry in open order with leader, musician and standard and shields
2 x Officers
17 man Veteran unit with light armour, large shield and thrusting spear. Also drilled and stubborn. Close order
17 man Oscan warrior unit with light armour, large shield and throwing spears. Open order.
18 man Oscan warrior unit with light armour, large shield and throwing spears. Open order.
18 man Bruttaii warrior unit with light amour, shield and throwing spears. Open order.
12 man skirmisher unit with javelins and buckler
11 man skirmisher unit with javelins and buckler
11 man Moorish archer unit skirmishers.

Its a small army, but in practises with it playing alone, I've found the infantry can all deploy in march column and rush forward. Then once close, their great mobility allows them to fall back in front of slow moving enemies and hopefully expose flanks which can be charged. I love the 12 man Numidian cavalry option too - I was going to use some heavy cavalry, but given I'm likely to face companions and other great HC I decided these might cause more trouble. They still shoot effectively and have feigned flight and parthian shot, and being formed, the enemy has to worry about them. Time will tell, but in the two practice games I've played with them, the tied down phalanx and even elephants without difficulty.

I'd really like a second distance missile unit, but the Carthaginians are very limited in options and you must take one skirmishing javelin unit for each other skirmisher unit and I can't justify the points for all that.

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