Newbie needs help with medieval armies

[Guthlaf]

Hi guys

I'm new to FOG, only played a couple of games with borrowed armies so I'm still trying to get my head around what works and what doesn't. I like the look of medieval armies, maybe German, Swiss or Swedish, but I have a few things that I don't understand

1, what's the use of mounted crossbows, it seems like you need a lot of bases for them to be effective at shooting, but then the BG would be big and unwieldy
2, what's the use of firearms, either foot or mounted, again it looks like you need a lot of bases for them to be effective
3, has anyone tried the mixed formations of crossbow and HW that the Swedes can field, and if so how did they perform

apologies if this has all been asked, and answered, before.

Other armies in my gaming group include Free Company, 100YW English (more longbows) and 100YW French so I'm looking for something different but competitive in the same era

many thanks

Guthlaf

[rbodleyscott]

Hi Guthlaf.

First of all you need to realise that the point of shooting in FOG is not to cause base losses but to cause cohesion tests - hopefully failed ones.

1, what's the use of mounted crossbows, it seems like you need a lot of bases for them to be effective at shooting, but then the BG would be big and unwieldy

Actually BGs of 4 mounted crossbows are pretty good against mounted foes. Their main problem is that, being Average, their morale isn't too great. You don't want them in 6s because like that they would be hard to get into 1 rank, so would not be able to evade enemy knights etc.

2, what's the use of firearms, either foot or mounted, again it looks like you need a lot of bases for them to be effective

LF handgunners are excellent in BGs or 4, provided that they are assisting some other shooters. If there are enough shooters to cause a test, the firearms will give the enemy a -1 modifier on the cohesion test, even if they score no hits themselves. If you do this to (non-skirmisher) enemy near the table edge, they get another -1 for threatened flank and the chance of dropping their cohesion is even better.

3, has anyone tried the mixed formations of crossbow and HW that the Swedes can field, and if so how did they perform

Very well, but don't expect their shooting to be very effective against enemy foot. Against mounted it is certainly worthwhile. Against enemy who charge the BG they will give extra dice (support shooting) in the impact phase, but requiring 6s to hit foot, 5s to hit mounted.

[grahambriggs]

Hi Guthlaf,

On the handgunner point these are quite frequently seen. They have several advantages:

- they cause an extra '-1' on the cohesion test, even if they're combining their shooting with other types.
- they're often in battle groups of 4 bases making them cheap, so adding to the size of the army
- they get reasonable factors against the heavier armour classes which is useful.

Regards

Graham

[BlackPrince]

Despite the fact I run a Free Company army occasionally morphing into English HYW to answer your question other medieval army options. I would look at either Medieval Spanish or the Later Hungarian the choice is are you looking for a eastern style army or a western style. If your fellow gamers have Free Company, English and French armies running with Medieval Spanish gives you fanatic opportunities historical match ups.

Keith

[Legionbuilder]

Okay - I just learned some stuff -

[Guthlaf]

Thanks guys

I think I get it now, I will definitely be getting some mounted crossbowmen, my opponents often have their knights in BG's of four bases, so I stand a chance of disrupting them, and being able to run away if necessary, and I can see that they would be a nuisance if they were able to get behind the enemy lines. Light Foot handgunners will also be on my order of march.

thanks again

Guthlaf

[guitarmeniac]

hi guthlaf

with medieval armies you can get great shooters eg crossbowmen which work amzingly well against knights and cv + longbowmen which work well against almost anything. the reason you bring handgunners is to get the extra - in the tests for being shot at by handgunners even if they don't hit which is great when put with crossbows or longbows.

some knights are handy for collapsing flanks and the armoured foot works well and doesn't get shot off pikes i find are best to use if you can

hope this has helped

[Scrumpy]

I placed 4th at the inaugral FoG Cold Wars tourney in 2008 with Med Danes. I found the mixed ranks of HW & Xb worked a treat at 650 pts.