Feigned flight

[clivevaughan]

The suggestion that AoW already caters for this with the CMT for shock troops to avoid charging is only a partial answer. My reading of history is that the troops most vulnerable to feigned flight was the inexperienced (undrilled) ones - a good example being Hastings where it was the Fyrd who were suckered, not the huscarls.
Knights especially were prone to this but are covered in the shock troop rule. What I'm suggesting is that undrilled troops who fall victim to a feigned charge (fail their CMT) drop a cohension level if they don't make contact. This seems to be how Mongols defeated Polish knights by continual evading, pulling units out of formation, disordering them and then pouncing!
Feigned flight should certainly be a tactic for Lt horse armies and perhaps for non-armoured cavalry as well. (Was Hastings really a feigned flight or did a unit of Norman cavalry have a wobbly and retire? In the victor's post-battle write up King William then insisted it was planned all along to do this!!) Undrilled troops should be susceptible to falling for the feigned flee and to be degraded by it through charging in penny packets with loss of order.

[rbodleyscott]

The suggestion that AoW already caters for this with the CMT for shock troops to avoid charging is only a partial answer. My reading of history is that the troops most vulnerable to feigned flight was the inexperienced (undrilled) ones - a good example being Hastings where it was the Fyrd who were suckered, not the huscarls.

As you say, historical opinions differ as to whether the Norman flight was feigned or real. If it was real, the existing rules already cover it, as we intend to classify the general fyrd as Poor Offensive Spears. (Hence they are shock troops and must take a CMT not to pursue broken enemy mounted - re-rolling 6s).

Knights especially were prone to this but are covered in the shock troop rule. What I'm suggesting is that undrilled troops who fall victim to a feigned charge (fail their CMT) drop a cohension level if they don't make contact. This seems to be how Mongols defeated Polish knights by continual evading, pulling units out of formation, disordering them and then pouncing!

Indeed, and this works very well with the current rules, as I have found to my cost in just this matchup. The knights get pulled out of line (even if they all charge the VMD sees to that). The Mongols evade. The Mongols can then come back and concentrate shooting on the forward BG by wheeling slightly.