Navarrese for a comp

[BlackPrince]

I am going to be taking the Navarrese to a 15mm 800pt comp. I can not decide if I should go with
3 bgs of 4 KN super hvy armoured lance and 1x 6 dismounted men at arms HF super hvy armoured HW. or
4 bgs of 4 KN hvy armoured lance.

Each option will have some longsbow, Crossbow, LF battlegroups, it is only a matter of all Knights or have the Dismounted Men at Arms?

[philqw78]

More knights

[grahambriggs]

Depends entirely on the opponent. Against armoured spear, protected pike or shooty types the heavily armoured foot will be really handy (superior and with a POA they'll cut through the spear or pike. Against the shooty types they can trudge forward and ignore the missiles. The problem with the foot though is that they'll stuggle to exploit a breakthrough.

But against a lot of armies an extra group of knights would be very handy. Plus it makes for a simpler army.

I tend to work on the principle that two of my groups of nobility will not do much in the game - will end up being killed by spears if mounted or futilely chasing evaders.

So the two groups of nobles who are left need to do a lot of heavy lifting to win the game. Generally, it's easier to do that when mounted as the knights are faster.

[BlackPrince]

Thanks for you replies guys food for thought, I need to get a few more practice games under my belt before deciding.

[BlackPrince]

I have still been fine tuning ideas for army for a Jan comp.
A new idea is;
3x troop commanders
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
6x LF unprot sling
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
Free company allies
Troop commander
6x MF prot longbow sword
6x MF prot longbow sword
4x HF hvy armoured hvy weapon

Any comments would be appreciated.

[grahambriggs]

with this configuration of main army it would be handy to have a FC. You'll often move first and as it stands you'll need at least two TCs to move up the skirmish line so won't have enough to double move the knight too.

re the ally, the HA HW types get good factors but since they're the only combat foot in the army they'll still get swamped. Is it allowed to have just 2x8 longbow in that ally? It would be good to give them rear support - is there any option of "6 MF, average, cheap" in the main army that would do that job?

[BlackPrince]

Hi Graham,

Thanks for your reply the max no. of Longbow this army can have is 12 bases so two units of 6. There is some 6 point MF Xbow or MF light spear the Free Company allies can have.

3x troop commanders
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
6x LF unprot sling
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
Free company allies
Troop commander
6x MF prot longbow sword
6x MF prot longbow sword
6x MF prot Crossbow
6x MF prot Crossbow

or
6x MF prot longbow sword
6x HF hvy armoured sup HF
6x LF unprot jav L spear

What do you think?

[grahambriggs]

I think you need the 12 Longbow in the ally otherwise not much point having it. Perhaps one BG of the crossbow too; sometimes as rear support, sometimes in the line to give more firepower

[BlackPrince]

Graham what do you think of this;
1x Field commander
2x troop commanders
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
4x KN Hvy armoured lance sword.
8x LF unprot sling
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
6x LF unprot jav L spear
Free company allies
Troop commander
6x MF prot longbow sword
6x MF prot longbow sword
8x MF prot Crossbow

There was not enough points to make one the KN Bgs 6 bases so upgraded the commander to field and added a couple of bases to the foot where I could?
What is the plan if I come up against a wall of spears type army?

[grahambriggs]

Yes that looks decent. Against walls of spears or pikes - I'll assume HF as MF you can just charge in the open:

- use your LF to skirmish the spears. drive off his skirmishers then keep at 3MU and tempt charges.
- rough going - brush or similar is handy for the ally but otherwise you don't want too much terrain.
- The spears won't be everywhere - they wont have enough bases. I would tend to deploy two groups of knights early on held back a bit but opposite his centre. So the spears have the form a solid mass to face that threat. He may even think you only have two BGs of Kn.
- there's often a space where the spears run out and weaker troops try to hold the line. Deploy the final 2 BGs of knights last opposite that.

If it goes well you'll have threats in two areas - knights, knights and ally. With the LF pulling the enemy apart a bit that'll often be the case that you break through in one area.

It's not the best match up for you, and you'll often lose one of your 'threat groups". But when you do break through you are faster than the spears so it'll often be the case that you'll kill 3-4 enemy units in the breakthrough area.

[BlackPrince]

Graham thanks for your help much appreicated.