Slitherine

Posted: **Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:31 am**

LCH usually shoot and fight one-deep anyway, so move and expand is not as important. I think it still worth the extra 4 points for the BG if you have the points available and plan to manoeuvre that BG rather than just shoot and skirmish frontally.

Posted: **Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:31 am**

hammy wrote: It isn't quite as vital as for cavalry but it is not far off. Remember that if you want to move and expand you can only do it if drilled and that just simple expansion without movement needs a CMT for undrilled[/].

Is that true for Cav/LCh?

Posted: **Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:08 am**

hammy wrote: It isn't quite as vital as for cavalry but it is not far off. Remember that if you want to move and expand you can only do it if drilled and that just simple expansion without movement needs a CMT for undrilled. Also you pass CMTs on a 7 rather than an 8.

and ain't it a beatch? man, any undrilled cavalry *always* fails the turn before it gets charged by something it's better running away from...

Posted: **Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:45 pm**

Just got Swifter Than Eagles today (Amazon was so slow I thought I would get "Slower Than Penguins"), cracking book by the way.

Here is my first stab at the Neo Assyrians:

1x IC CiC
3x TC
1x6 HF Sup Arm Drilled LS/Sw
1x6 HF/MF Av Arm Drilled, 1/2 LS/Sw 1/2 Bow
2x6 HF/MF Av Prot Drilled, 1/2 LS/Sw 1/2 Bow
2x4 Hch Sup Drilled Bow
2x4 Cav Sup Arm Drilled Bw*/LS/Sw
1x4 Cav Av Undr Bow/Sw
2x6 LF Poor Undr Sling
1x6 LF Poor Undr Jav/LS

Posted: **Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:46 pm**

My thought was all TCs since the army is drilled and not particularly vulnerable to shooting, Guard and Mounted Scouts instead of the 3 Cav BGs, and more foot - LF backing up the Guard Infantry to make them 9 bases plus another armoured foot BG and 4 Egyptian Bows. The LSp/Sw Bw* Cavalry are interesting types, but the shooty foot + chariot focus was how I've been envisioning the army for the last year.

Posted: **Fri Apr 24, 2009 8:45 pm**

MadBanker - you got Swift than Arthritic Eagles the same day in Belgium as I got it in England!

Posted: **Sat May 02, 2009 12:03 am**

I have read and re-reread Swifter than Eagles now a few times and like the majority of the lists and as usual it is a beautiful book. However it seems to be missing some old friends. Where are the Old Hitittes who sacked Babylon in 1595BC? Where are the Gasgans, Arzawans and other Anatolian states they fought with or conquered? Where are the Early Syrian states like Ebla or Mari that could be opponents for the armies of Hammurabi? Where are the Amorites? The Kassite Babylonians? And the biggest hole in the lists: Early Hebrews? Why is there a list called "Later Hebrews" when you don't have an Early Hebrews? What Joshua can't conquer the Caananites? And Deborah and Barak won't get their chance to kick some Caananite but at Mt Tabor. For that matter where are those desert loving sons of the desert the Midianites, Amalakites, and all those other Ites the Hebrews brawled with: Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites? To me it sounds like there should be a major companion to this volume to fill it out. How can you do this period properly without the opportunity to march onto the table with a representation of the Ark of The Covenant either in your camp or with your inspirational commander?

Posted: **Sat May 02, 2009 6:31 am**

Lost Scrolls should solve your concerns - until then, patience.

Posted: **Sat May 02, 2009 5:06 pm**

Antipater wrote:How can you do this period properly without the opportunity to march onto the table with a representation of the Ark of The Covenant either in your camp or with your inspirational commander?

But you have all the armies present that are reputed to have carted off the Ark, excpet Indiana Jones, the Wermacht and the US bureueacracy.

Posted: **Tue May 05, 2009 1:30 pm**

Well folks I learned a very salutary lesson on Friday evening when facing a Mede with Babylonian allies with my Sassanids.
Heavy Chariots are damned good & far too cheap for the points!

One BG of 4 bases of Heavy Chariots held off (& destroyed) a mixed battle-line of Sassanid Elephants & Cataphracts with relative ease. The Elephants (2 bases) were shot to a standstill by the chariot archery - helped by a very clever Babylonian trick of screening the half of the (wide) 4 base chariot BG facing the Cataphracts with a BG of babylonian LF archers so the chariots got 6 shot (3 bases shooting) at the Elephants. Then the Cats charged the LF who evaded and so they hit the chariots, who of course fight 2 to 1 to the Cats despite their lances ... throw in a poor Impact dice from the Cats and then the chariots re-align to conform (thus fighting 8 to my 4 CATS) & you end up with seriously 'mashed' CATs. Needless to say the Elephants then routed due to poor reaction to nearby route of a Clibanrii unit & low & behold I draw a veil over the sorry situation!!!

Leaving aside why I lost the Clibanarii unit ... another sad tale of not watching my flank against LH! It seems to me that allowing the Heavy Chariots to shoot 2 shots per base is more than a little excessive. I can understand it for the likes of light chariots which are primarily missile platforms (gunships!) such as those used by NKE, Caananite & Mitanni type chariots but are we really saying that 4 horse shock chariots are the same? It will be interesting to see some of the chinese heavy chariots with crossbows and thank goodness the Mycenaean Heavy Chariots are only armed with light spears rather than the Lances they should probably more realistically be armed with!

Well it certain makes me think long & hard about dusting off & rebasing some of my older Heavy Chariot based armies.
Mutter, mutter, mutter - Classical Indian - mitter mutter mutter ......

Mark

Posted: **Tue May 05, 2009 2:01 pm**

Aetius wrote:Well folks I learned a very salutary lesson on Friday evening when facing a Mede with Babylonian allies with my Sassanids.
Heavy Chariots are damned good & far too cheap for the points!

IIRC I don't think you played this correctly at all. But then my rule book is at home.

One BG of 4 bases of Heavy Chariots held off (& destroyed) a mixed battle-line of Sassanid Elephants & Cataphracts with relative ease. The Elephants (2 bases) were shot to a standstill by the chariot archery - helped by a very clever Babylonian trick of screening the half of the (wide) 4 base chariot BG facing the Cataphracts with a BG of babylonian LF archers so the chariots got 6 shot (3 bases shooting) at the Elephants.

Chariots only shoot with one dice per base so would only have got 3 shots from three bases

Then the Cats charged the LF who evaded and so they hit the chariots, who of course fight 2 to 1 to the Cats despite their lances ...

They both fight with 2 dice per base at impact, the cataphracts at plus due to lance.

throw in a poor Impact dice from the Cats and then the chariots re-align to conform (thus fighting 8 to my 4 CATS) & you end up with seriously 'mashed' CATs.

This is where it is a problem because the Chariots are now fighting at evens and get 2 dice per base in contact where the cats get 1 dice per base in first and second rank.

Needless to say the Elephants then routed due to poor reaction to nearby route of a Clibanrii unit & low & behold I draw a veil over the sorry situation!!!

Leaving aside why I lost the Clibanarii unit ... another sad tale of not watching my flank against LH! It seems to me that allowing the Heavy Chariots to shoot 2 shots per base is more than a little excessive.

see earlier

I can understand it for the likes of light chariots which are primarily missile platforms (gunships!) such as those used by NKE, Caananite & Mitanni type chariots but are we really saying that 4 horse shock chariots are the same? It will be interesting to see some of the chinese heavy chariots with crossbows and thank goodness the Mycenaean Heavy Chariots are only armed with light spears rather than the Lances they should probably more realistically be armed with!

Well it certain makes me think long & hard about dusting off & rebasing some of my older Heavy Chariot based armies.
Mutter, mutter, mutter - Classical Indian - mitter mutter mutter ......

Mark

You may do better if you try it again

Posted: **Tue May 05, 2009 2:57 pm**

Aetius wrote:
Well it certain makes me think long & hard about dusting off & rebasing some of my older Heavy Chariot based armies.
Mutter, mutter, mutter - Classical Indian - mitter mutter mutter ......

Mark

And there was me going to regale you with how I beat a Classical Indian at the weekend by beating up its Heavy Chariots with Cavalry ...

Posted: **Tue May 05, 2009 3:40 pm**

Aetius wrote:Leaving aside why I lost the Clibanarii unit ... another sad tale of not watching my flank against LH! It seems to me that allowing the Heavy Chariots to shoot 2 shots per base is more than a little excessive.

It's not just excessive, it's wrong.

I can understand it for the likes of light chariots which are primarily missile platforms (gunships!) such as those used by NKE, Caananite & Mitanni type chariots

It's wrong for them as well.

but are we really saying that 4 horse shock chariots are the same?

Well, they are the same, but they are the same in that they only roll 1 dice per base from shooting.

When using a new troop type it can sometimes pay to read the rules

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2009 9:08 am**

Havig now played 1 game of StB, my conclusion is that armoured close formation foot are the absolute gods of war in this period. In fact, anything armoured at all is pretty astounding.

I can't see many of these armies ever cutting it in open competition !!

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2009 9:17 am**

madaxeman wrote:Havig now played 1 game of StB, my conclusion is that armoured close formation foot are the absolute gods of war in this period. In fact, anything armoured at all is pretty astounding.

I can't see many of these armies ever cutting it in open competition !!

I agree that only a handful of the armies in the book will be viable in open comps but I think that in period quite a few of them are worth a punt.

Martin and I are considering about five or six different armies for Leeds.

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2009 9:20 am**

madaxeman wrote:I can't see many of these armies ever cutting it in open competition !!

Perhaps it is time to consign the "open competition" to the dustbin of wargames history.

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2009 9:38 am**

rbodleyscott wrote:
madaxeman wrote:I can't see many of these armies ever cutting it in open competition !!
Perhaps it is time to consign the "open competition" to the dustbin of wargames history.

Probably, but I think you need to shoehorn a few more metaphors into that sentence first

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2009 11:10 am**

hammy wrote:I agree that only a handful of the armies in the book will be viable in open comps but I think that in period quite a few of them are worth a punt.

I really look forward to try Later Mycenaeans "(nearly) full armoured MF army" and with an initiative of +4 to really help overload the table with rough terrain... Probably toast in open comp but I'd have fun playing it.

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2009 6:49 pm**

rbodleyscott wrote: Perhaps it is time to consign the "open competition" to the dustbin of wargames history.

You maybe be able to do that on your island, but in areas where getting 12+ player together for a viable competition isn't a given, restricting the army choice is a somewhat foolish idea, regretably.

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2009 7:54 pm**

madaxeman wrote: I can't see many of these armies ever cutting it in open competition !!

Come on we'll see some Early Libyians or Nubian armies at Britcon don't you think In fact I'd go that extra mile for research for fellow FOG players and play my six games against the Libyians and Nubians

Dave

Slitherine

First Impression of Age of Eagles

Re: swifter than eagles

Re: swifter than eagles

Re: swifter than eagles

Missing some old friends

Re: Missing some old friends

Heavy Chariots - good or what!

Re: Heavy Chariots - good or what!

Re: Heavy Chariots - good or what!

Re: Heavy Chariots - good or what!