English 100 Year War (Continental)...advice please

[johnnyW]

Hi,

I'm new to FoG and tabletop gaming in general, and would appreciate some help.

I have the 600 point 100 YW English (Continental) starter army for Storm of Arrows, and would like some ideas on how to build this up to 800 points. If possible I'd like to add some different BG types, mounted, skirmish, shock etc. so that I can try out more of the rules, but there's a lot of choice, and a lot of confusion on my part

Many thanks

John

[SirGarnet]

Some ideas to diversify the army and add more balance:

4 x Irish Horse LH Unp Avg Und Javelins Lt Spear @ 7pts = 28 points. Having some light horse is always useful and you will learn a lot of important tactics playing with it. At the start of the battle it can help delay enemy or allow you to maneuver, or clear lighter enemy Light Foot, and after that it can fill a variety of roles - usually on one flank or another, generally seeking to help the bowmen and LF force cohesion tests on enemy BGs by shooting. You can also get Hobilars, but they don't shoot, and at this stage of the game it's best to have LH that can shoot and keep out of contact.

Bidets, Kerns or Bretons - take your pick - 4-6 x Light Foot Unp Avg Und Javelins Lt Spear @ 4pt, 6 would be 24 pts. Light Foot are also ubiquitous and useful, particularly in terrain, and knowing how to use and handle them is important. This is the only LF you can get. It's default role would be to work on a flank and use terrain where possible.

Spearmen - good multi-purpose troops, particularly useful to lengthen the line or as a blocking force. The 4 German spearmen for 36 points are drilled armoured HF, tough troops, but you can only get the 4 of them. The 6-8 Welsh Spearmen @ 6 points each are Medium Foot, able to deal well with bad terrain, but also unprotected and therefore more vulnerable to shooting or in melee combat.

Another option would be to take an Allied contingent, such as Flemish with solid spearmen and possibly Knights, but they can't benefit from your Inspired Commander.

You don't have any mounted knights on the list, and although expensive they can be very useful even on defense as a hard-hitting reserve force that the enemy should be concerned about. You want Lancer/Swordsmen, which most likely means 4 Gascon Superior bases at 23 points each, or 92 points in total, although Average at 18 is 20 points cheaper.

The size of some of the BGs can be adjusted, and downgrading one of the dismounted Knight BGs from Superior to Average can work to free up some points.

Hope this is useful,

Mike

[johnnyW]

Mike,

Thanks for the great advice!

Lots to think about, so I'll have a good look at the army list again before I get my credit card out

Many thanks


John

[LintMan]

I have also just started a 100 year war English army. I don't think its worthwhile starting a new thread so I will ask some questions here.

The core of the army is the Dismounted Men at Arms and the Longbowmen.

How good are the Longbowmen? They are only protected so will lose out on the POA for more armoured but have Swordsmen to keep them on semi equal footing. During the impact phase will they do well if I have a complete second rank? Now are they good enough to "Hold" on their own or do I need to have a actual Melee BG babysitting them? I kind of worked out the odds of in period Knights charging them with and without staked deployed. They seem to be very tough.

What worries me is with 4 BG of 8 bases of Longbowmen I will be spread to thin if I get charged by multiple BG's because of my large frontage.

Are the dismounted men at arms good? Heavy Armoured or armoured? Superior or Average? I seem to be swaying on making them armoured for in period fights and Heavy Armoured for out of period fights. This is because of the bonus given to Heavy weapon troops.

What size is best? Again I am worrying about how large my frontage is with that many longbowmen.

Currently my 600pts is

3x Troop Commanders
4 bases Heavy Armoured Superior Dismounted men at arms
4 bases Heavy Armoured Superior Dismounted men at arms
4 bases Heavy Armoured Superior Dismounted men at arms
8 bases Longbowmen
8 bases Longbowmen
8 bases Longbowmen
8 bases Longbowmen

To increase to 800 will add stakes to the longbowmen and some Irish Light Horse. Possibly add in some mounted knights.

[OhReally]

I have also just started a 100 year war English army. I don't think its worthwhile starting a new thread so I will ask some questions here.

The core of the army is the Dismounted Men at Arms and the Longbowmen.

How good are the Longbowmen? They are only protected so will lose out on the POA for more armoured but have Swordsmen to keep them on semi equal footing. During the impact phase will they do well if I have a complete second rank? Now are they good enough to "Hold" on their own or do I need to have a actual Melee BG babysitting them? I kind of worked out the odds of in period Knights charging them with and without staked deployed. They seem to be very tough.

What worries me is with 4 BG of 8 bases of Longbowmen I will be spread to thin if I get charged by multiple BG's because of my large frontage.

Are the dismounted men at arms good? Heavy Armoured or armoured? Superior or Average? I seem to be swaying on making them armoured for in period fights and Heavy Armoured for out of period fights. This is because of the bonus given to Heavy weapon troops.

What size is best? Again I am worrying about how large my frontage is with that many longbowmen.

Currently my 600pts is

3x Troop Commanders
4 bases Heavy Armoured Superior Dismounted men at arms
4 bases Heavy Armoured Superior Dismounted men at arms
4 bases Heavy Armoured Superior Dismounted men at arms
8 bases Longbowmen
8 bases Longbowmen
8 bases Longbowmen
8 bases Longbowmen

To increase to 800 will add stakes to the longbowmen and some Irish Light Horse. Possibly add in some mounted knights.

I have a similar list and am waiting for this army to be painted. It just seems like such a static list and in FoG thus far mobility seems to be key. I'm very curious how well it will do, and I need to read how the interpenetration actually works with the men at arms and longbowmen.

[philqw78]

Because it is a drilled army it is very dangerous and very manouverable. Its hard when your Parthians end up in the wrong place because a good CMT and drill square manouver lets the longbow to shoot you to bits.