Late Republic and bolt throwers

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:01 pm

Hello!

I'm new to FoG and I'm trying to decide which army to choose. Late Republican Romans are one of the options. I'm curious if you find it a good idea to field an army based on bolt throwers.... for a beginning with 400 pts I was thinking about sth like a FC, 4x4 superior legion infantry, 4 LH, 6 Javelinmen and 4 bolt throwers. What do you think about it?

neilhammond · Post by **neilhammond** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:47 pm

I probably wouldn't recommend the bolt throwers - light bolt shooter are slow and don't really have much range. Either you legionaries will out pace them, or you're army will be too slow.

A pair behind some field fortifications might be worth considering, but I'm not a great fan. It's worth using for an occassional "surprise".

Neil

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 3:32 pm

Aren't bolt throwers from the late republic list heavy artillery? Their range seems ok and I read somewhere that fortificatins enable me to deploy them closer to the enemy....

neilhammond · Post by **neilhammond** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:19 pm

Terry wrote:Aren't bolt throwers from the late republic list heavy artillery? Their range seems ok and I read somewhere that fortificatins enable me to deploy them closer to the enemy....

Yes, you're right, they're heavy artillery. Even worse, they can't move at all! However, always worth a go.

hazelbark · Post by **hazelbark** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:13 pm

well with the heavy bolt throwers you can either guarantee that you will be rushed and need to defend them or the enemy will swing around and ignore them entirely. So just be prepared either way.

I do think there is a difference betweem 15mm and 25mm here btw.

KIWICOLOURSTUDIO · Post by **KIWICOLOURSTUDIO** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:37 am

Im planning on using a pair of these in my Roman army and im wondering if anyone is having any luck using them? On the surface after reading the rules they look expensive and ineffective but i want them in my force since they look cool. However im entering a tournament here in New Zealand in November and i do want my list to be competitive to a degree. Any thoughts on this most appreciated.

ars_belli · Post by **ars_belli** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:01 pm

During the Hellenistic and Late Republican Roman periods, bolt shooters were used primarily for sieges or shipboard actions rather than field battles, largely due to their lack of mobility. If you choose to use heavy artillery in your LRR field army, try deploying them as Caesar did when confronting the Belgae at the River Axona (Aisne): behind field fortifications guarding your flanks.

Salve,
Scott

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:24 pm

I'm having trouble understanding protecting heavy arty/bolt throwers [or other BG/Battle Line(BL)] with field fortifications [FF].
The rule book FF descriptions are rather minimal.

What defines a fortification:
> What configuration[s] of field fortifications [FF] bases constitute a "fortification" protecting a BG, BGroups or a BL?
> Does a BG or BL being in contact with the rear of a single FF base make the BG or BL "in fortification"?
> Are multiple FF bases across the entire front rank of a BG/BL required to be "in fortification"?

Is there a directionality/coverage to FF protection:
> What exactly does "across a FF" mean?
> Protection from charges in the flank or rear across the BG/BL by merely being in contact with a FF base?
> Must a BG/BL be completely surrounded by FF to have 360-degree immunity from charges in the flank or rear?
> Are 2nd/3rd rank bases of a BG/BL protected by the 1st rank being in contact with FF?
> If there are more FF bases across the frontage of a BG/BL than there are BG/BL 1st rank bases, is the frontage of the BG/BL expanded?

Thanks/Cheers

vercingetorix · Post by **vercingetorix** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 7:01 pm

from what I have seen of artillery in games that I have played -- the best way to use it is with other missile troops. that way, when artillery and another missile unit fires, if two hits are done and one done by the artillery, the enemy automatically has to take a test.

other than that, artillery seems almost completely useless and overly expensive

CrazyHarborc · Post by **CrazyHarborc** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:34 am

I would pay attention to where your heavy artillery is pointing......THEN I would move my troops out of that straight line of fire. You can't hit me if I am not within the trajectory/line of travel of the bolt from the bolt thrower.

rbodleyscott · Post by **rbodleyscott** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 6:17 am

CrazyHarborc wrote:I would pay attention to where your heavy artillery is pointing......THEN I would move my troops out of that straight line of fire. You can't hit me if I am not within the trajectory/line of travel of the bolt from the bolt thrower.

Naturally. But your efforts to avoid the line of fire can be exploited by the artillery user.

On the other hand, using heavy artillery does tend to force the Romans to adopt a rather defensive stance.