Slitherine

Ok so on the advice of many gamers I have decided to stay clear of the Medieval and Later Welsh and instead to use HYW English.

This is my first attempt at a list:

Henry V 1x IC
Duke of York and Lord Camoys 2x TC

Dismounted English Men-at-Arms 3x4 HF, Armoured, Average, Drilled, Heavy Weapon
Welsh and English Longbowmen 6x8 MF, Protected, Average, Drilled, Longbow, Swordsmen
Stakes to cover half of each Longbow BG 6x4 PF
Irish Kerns (Point Filler) 1x4 LF, Unprotected, Average, Undrilled, Javelin, Light Spear

793AP 10 BGs PBI: +2

Idea was to do the whole

MFHFMF MFHFMF MFHFMF
TC IC TC

deployment described in the book (hopefully this comes out right). The Kerns are going to guard the camp

Thoughts?

Cheers
D

Nope my digram failed bigtime. Its meant to be a MFHFMF battleline with a general behind the HF. then the same thing another 2 times, IC is in centrel Battleline

I would change the IC for 2 TC, with that many longbows you are going to out shoot everyone so really don't need the IC benefit for cohesion testing.

Also could consider fielding the HF in a column placed behind the MF, with half a base split behind 2 BG of MF. That way you get the rear support, also the HF is allowed to move through the MF so can move forward and exploit gaps in the enemy line.

no horsemen at all? why not!

sounds like a good list.
Won't you need some reserve to avoid being taken on the flank? As you are supposed to outshoot your opponent, is the IC bringing you truly something?

Any reason your prefer 6x8 longbow groups rather than 8x6?

I agree regarding the IC - with drilled shooters, you don't need him much for CMTs, and you will be giving rather than receiving shooting tests.

One structural issue involves BG size. Although having all BGs of a type be the same type is simpler, varying their size can enable you to economize on troops for particular needs and squeeze out another BG for Attrition Points and flexibility. Shooters generate shooting dice most efficiently in multiples of 4, but that is not a big issue since the longbows will be operating together.

Madmike's suggestion of holding the men at arms in reserve in a good one, one in the center, one on either wing.

You are rather light on the number of men at arms, which is not wrong - but it does mean they have a supporting role and your toolkit of options is more limited. Average and Armoured is substantially less reliable than Superior and Heavily Armoured in bearing the brunt of assault from the enemy's best troops or recovering a bad situation, although perfectly serviceable as rear support. You might consider upgrading one of those BGs.

You might also want to check out the tactical tips sticky in general discussion for a variety of other ideas that might be helpful.

Cheers,

Mike

footslogger wrote:Any reason your prefer 6x8 longbow groups rather than 8x6?

Yup, go for the larger numbers of BGs, it works well with this army - although there is an argument for have an 8 base BG to stick on an exposed end of a line as it is more resilient.

Also when you've got the hang of the army you can drop the stakes and spend the points on something more useful

As Nik says - in time you will wish to drop the stakes. The points saved will enable you buy a BG of 4 LH and upgrade your HF to Superior.

Personally I prefer LBs in 8's but others have done very well with them in 6's - again it is a case of personal preference. Or you could have some each.

I would also stick with the IC - gives you a good chance of repelling enemy Knights even without stakes - and having a +2PBI is quite handy too.

Hi ,

What do you think of that list

1 * IC
2 * TC

4 BG of 8 MF longbow
1 BG of 6 MF longbow
2 BG of 4 HF sup Heavy weapon
1 BG of 6 HF average Heavy weapon
1 BG of 6 LF jav light spear
1 BG of 4 LH jav light spear
1 BG of 4 KN sup undrilled

petedalby wrote:
I would also stick with the IC - gives you a good chance of repelling enemy Knights even without stakes - and having a +2PBI is quite handy too.

commit IC to impact and mélée? sounds juicy. The IC wont be able to leave the unit until the end of the fight, right? Why not getting 2 TC instead and spend the point left on something else?

Dareun wrote:

petedalby wrote:
I would also stick with the IC - gives you a good chance of repelling enemy Knights even without stakes - and having a +2PBI is quite handy too.

commit IC to impact and mélée? sounds juicy. The IC wont be able to leave the unit until the end of the fight, right? Why not getting 2 TC instead and spend the point left on something else?

Don't commit him. Put him in the rear to add the +2 for chesion tests

The addition of the Knights changes the dynamic of the army considerably - and they really need a TC with them - most enemy Knight BGs will have one.

petedalby wrote:The addition of the Knights changes the dynamic of the army considerably - and they really need a TC with them - most enemy Knight BGs will have one.

I don't think the Kn add to this army - I wouldn't take them.

Ok so what I reworked it to is...

1xIC
2xTC

6x6 Protected Average Drilled MF Longbowmen with Stakes
2x4 Heavily Armoured Superior Drilled HF English Men-at-Arms
2x4 Armoured Superior Undrilled HF Gascon Men-at-Arms
1x4 Unprotected Average Undrilled LF Irish Kerns
1x4 Unprotected Average Undrilled LH Irish Horse

796pt, 12 BG PBI:+2

I personally do not want the knights, this is my "see that shiny bloke on a shiny horse, yea, peg him" army. I think that amount of longbow with stakes can handle any mounted enemy and there is enough superior armoured foot to handle enemy foot (or at least vs armies I have seen so far). Taking them as Heavily armoured is a waste for me as they already cancel out enemy armour POA in melee, but I took 2 just to test em out.

I agree with Pete on the IC, that +2 helps and the +2 on cohesions is a lifesaver.

lonehorseman wrote: I personally do not want the knights, this is my "see that shiny bloke on a shiny horse, yea, peg him" army. I think that amount of longbow with stakes can handle any mounted enemy and there is enough superior armoured foot to handle enemy foot (or at least vs armies I have seen so far). Taking them as Heavily armoured is a waste for me as they already cancel out enemy armour POA in melee, but I took 2 just to test em out.

However, they can still gain the PoA for having heavier armour than the enemy - and as they give shooters negative PoAs when shot at they can be very useful, I always took a BG of heavily armoured in my WotR.

I agree with Pete on the IC, that +2 helps and the +2 on cohesions is a lifesaver.

As this is an army that will quite often need to manoeuvre, the extra on CMTs can be a real help as well - and an IC covers a circle with a 24MU diameter for that

nikgaukroger wrote:

lonehorseman wrote: I personally do not want the knights, this is my "see that shiny bloke on a shiny horse, yea, peg him" army. I think that amount of longbow with stakes can handle any mounted enemy and there is enough superior armoured foot to handle enemy foot (or at least vs armies I have seen so far). Taking them as Heavily armoured is a waste for me as they already cancel out enemy armour POA in melee, but I took 2 just to test em out.

However, they can still gain the PoA for having heavier armour than the enemy - and as they give shooters negative PoAs when shot at they can be very useful, I always took a BG of heavily armoured in my WotR.

I nearly replied 'but guys with shooters have a negative PoA against all foot.'

I might have been watching too much of The Sweeney,

I agree with some things skip the knights - with only one BG you will spend most of your time protecting it. Some heavily armoured foot I have found are good espically against Roman legionnaires.
I disagree about longbows in 6s I like 8s as it maximizes your shooting dice and this army is all about shooting.

BlackPrince wrote:I disagree about longbows in 6s I like 8s as it maximizes your shooting dice and this army is all about shooting.

Doesn't make any difference to shooting dice if they are lined up next to each other. A BL of 24 longbow will shoot with the same dice whether it is 4 BGs of 6 or 3 BGs of 8.

As mentioned previously, a BG of 8 is useful on a flank to be more resilient to shooting, but also because you might want to angle it to shoot at a flank threat, and then you wouldn't be maximising shooting if it was a BBG of 6.

So what if you only have 20 stands of longbow......How would you configure this army? (how many superior heavy foot can you take?)

Ian

The thing with the BL is your opponent is going to try to break it up, no one with they have other options are going to charge a BL 24 longbow head on. If your BL is forced to wheel at different angles you end up with a lot of 6 base BG shooting at single targets.