Supporting archers

[riddcowler]

Under AOW will archers whose only role will be to support close order troops (eg Late Roman infantry) be based 2 to a base, as with psiloi under DBM, or 4 to a base (perhaps 3 for irregular or undrilled)?

Ridd

[hammy]

In AoW mixed battle groups include either light foot archers or medium foot archers depending on the army.

Roman supporting archers are light foot and only provide support if a BG is charged by enemy mounted. Medium foot archers can actually shoot and also provide support when the BG is charged by mounted or foot.

Assyrian supporting archers have returned to the medium foot they were before DBM hobbled them.

[philqw78]

So I'll be re-basing all my Russ Ps(O) then?

[rbodleyscott]

So I'll be re-basing all my Russ Ps(O) then?

No. Archers behind 2 ranks of spearmen stay 2 to a base.

[philqw78]

Yippee, I would assume this is due to them being less effective so far back

[rbodleyscott]

Yippee, I would assume this is due to them being less effective so far back

Indeed, and probably in proportionately low numbers.

[riddcowler]

[quote="hammy"]In AoW mixed battle groups include either light foot archers or medium foot archers depending on the army.

Roman supporting archers are light foot and only provide support if a BG is charged by enemy mounted. Medium foot archers can actually shoot and also provide support when the BG is charged by mounted or foot.

So for my Late Romans I need to base the supporting archers 2 to a base?

Thanks
Ridd

[hammy]

In AoW mixed battle groups include either light foot archers or medium foot archers depending on the army.

Roman supporting archers are light foot and only provide support if a BG is charged by enemy mounted. Medium foot archers can actually shoot and also provide support when the BG is charged by mounted or foot.

So for my Late Romans I need to base the supporting archers 2 to a base?

Thanks
Ridd

Yes, legionaries are in multiples of two bases of 4 legionaries plus one of 2 light archers. Auxilia are two bases of 4 auxilia plus one of 2 light archers.

[riddcowler]

Thanks very much Hammy....I'll get on with the basing!


Ridd

[oakagain]

So are legion/ auxilia BGs only 3 stands strong? Or is it more likely, that as you said multiples of 2 foot and 1 archer (psiloi) that legion/ auxilia BGs will be 4 foot and 2 archers for a 6 stand unit?

[hammy]

So are legion/ auxilia BGs only 3 stands strong? Or is it more likely, that as you said multiples of 2 foot and 1 archer (psiloi) that legion/ auxilia BGs will be 4 foot and 2 archers for a 6 stand unit?

BG's of legionaries and auxilia are between 6 and 12 bases in total (or at least they were in the list I was using on Monday).

[SMK-at-work]

We know that roman supporting archers were also quite capable of operating in front of the heavy infantry as well as supporting from behind (or at least that's what Veg tells us...). will they be able to do this?

[nikgaukroger]

Vegetius tells us that there are archers - who are armoured like the normal legionarii - and then other leves armaturae who are unarmoured and armed with a mixture of bows, slings, javelins, etc. who may operate in front of the heavies. The latter are probably best represented by other BGs than the "supporting archers".

[tadamson]

wrong topic...

I don't like fora

[honvedseg]

I'd be pleased to see my Assyrians actually fight in some semblance of a historical formation, with a front row of spearmen shielding a formation of similarly armored archers, instead of having to devise all sorts of artificial means of protecting the "weaker" bow units without blocking their fire. I suppose that I'll need to rebase my "heavy" archers at 3 per stand to support the "heavy" spearmen at 4 per, while the "medium" archers can stay at their current 3 to a stand behing the 3 per stand medium spearmen. If the rules allowed supporting archers for "heavy" units to be based with either 3 or 4 figures for appearances, instead of 3 only, I'd be a lot happier.

Roman bowmen operating in front of the formation would be classified as "skirmishers", at 2 per stand. These would not be armored like the close-ranked infantry behind them, but would fall back through the formation in case of trouble. Ideally, they could provide limited fire-support from behind, but would not be equipped or trained to go head-to-head against fully armored troops in close formation. The archers armored like normal legionarii would not skirmish, operating as supporting units of the battle line, but would be competent melee units in their own right.

[rbodleyscott]

I'd be pleased to see my Assyrians actually fight in some semblance of a historical formation, with a front row of spearmen shielding a formation of similarly armored archers, instead of having to devise all sorts of artificial means of protecting the "weaker" bow units without blocking their fire. I suppose that I'll need to rebase my "heavy" archers at 3 per stand to support the "heavy" spearmen at 4 per, while the "medium" archers can stay at their current 3 to a stand behing the 3 per stand medium spearmen. If the rules allowed supporting archers for "heavy" units to be based with either 3 or 4 figures for appearances, instead of 3 only, I'd be a lot happier.

They do. Medium Foot (include all non skirmisher archer types) are 3 or 4 to a base - completely optional. Heavy Foot are 4 to a base.

[killerhobbit]

you could also count skirmisher as sub unit.

they are either within their main unit, so bases are removed from the table or they separate from it.

This is very useful when the main unit is a square. Otherwise skirmish bases would never fit into a square.