How not to do it. (MRR vs. Late Carth)
Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:01 pm
This being my first MP game, I expected defeat.
And I certainly wasn't disappointed.
But I figured I could at least share some of the lessons learned so other newbies can extract knowledge from my heroic failure.
GrayMouser had kindly offered to guide me through my first game, while commenting on what works and what doesn't.
Turns out I already knew what doesn't work....More on that later.
I knew zilch about ancient warfare. Played wargames for years, but mainly WW2.
So looking over the Carthaginian army-list, I figured I'd buy some of stuff I at least had a handle on how to use.
Which amongst other things meant no pacs. Hadn't a clue on how to use 'em, so 20pts seemed a waste.
Ended up with every spearman I could muster, a handful of heavy cav, bunch of LF javelins, and a small horde of Gallic MF.
After mucking about with the AI I had gained a healthy respect for the legions, so I didn't want a straight head-on meeting of lines.
So I figured I'd mass my cav and spears on my left, with the MF delaying on my right, hopefully winning one flank before the Gauls got mashed into a bloody pulp.
That was mistake #1.
The result:
See Gaul. See Gaul run. Run Gaul, run!
Hey......Come back here, you barbarian bastards!
After turn 6 my right wasn't in shambles, it simply wasn't there..... The only delay they had inflicted might have been from GrayMousers heavy cav getting their hooves entangled in the entrails of my MF.........
Combine that with his legions grinning evilly at my line of spears in various state of disordered/fragmented, whilst my left cav was busy bravely impaling themselves on the Roman swords, and you can kinda see where it went from there.
Good fun though, and a far cry from playing the AI.
Lessons learned (Newbies take heed):
1. Read the rules. Twice. Slowly.
Especially the impact/melee modifiers. While the game may seem simple at a glance, its a lot more subtle than that.
Use shortcut-key P in every game (to get detailed combat modifiers)
2. The DAG uses heavy cav for the commanders by default. Change that immediately. You'll need the cav as a strike force, and your leaders behind the lines for moral support. If you positively need your leaders mounted, use LH.
3. Legions good......If they're on your side. Otherwise, very bad.
4. Observe your opponent, and see what tactics he uses for various units. If you're lucky he might even give you pointers on how to use special units like chariots and pacs. The point is, you have to ask.
Me, I learned that bringing pacs against the Romans might have been a good idea. Whilst better as an anti-cav force, they can do well against the legions HF, even if they're brittle.
5. If you want to win by outflanking, make sure your flanking force is actually a force. My feeble cav force never made a dent.
All GrayMouser did was turn a few HF BGs, and say "Come get me".
Which I had to since everything else was going to hell.
That particular attack resulted in several pounds of choice equine steak.
6. Consider your formations. While the single line of spears looks damn impressive, and one can dream about overlapping a shorter line it's *very* brittle. Once the first frag/rout comes in, it spreads down the line, and the whole shooting-match collapses.
After experimenting against the AI, I found that having two BGs up front with a third behind them works wonders.
It's far more flexible when moving, the back unit can reinforce succesful combats and turn a retreat into a full-scale rout.
Plus, the two front units get a boost on their cohesion-checks (this is where "read the rules" rears its ugly head again)
Same thing goes for ZOCs. Quite often you don't need to physically occupy a hex to e.g. protect a formation flank.
With relatively few units in the game placement becomes critical.
7. Try thinking ahead. Whilst simply charging every unit in range might work against the AI, you'll get hammered by a human opponent.
Maneuver is often better than combat.
I'd like to thank GrayMouser again for taking the time to play a n00b, and for his advice on various point of this increasingly fun game.
That is, the game is fun.
Being stomped into the ground by armored cav, and heavy foot is less fun.
So suffice to say, my Carth army has gone through some....*ahem*....revisions by now.
And now that I've dusted myself off, it's time to find a new opponent to humiliate me.
CheerfullyInsane
And I certainly wasn't disappointed.
But I figured I could at least share some of the lessons learned so other newbies can extract knowledge from my heroic failure.
GrayMouser had kindly offered to guide me through my first game, while commenting on what works and what doesn't.
Turns out I already knew what doesn't work....More on that later.
I knew zilch about ancient warfare. Played wargames for years, but mainly WW2.
So looking over the Carthaginian army-list, I figured I'd buy some of stuff I at least had a handle on how to use.
Which amongst other things meant no pacs. Hadn't a clue on how to use 'em, so 20pts seemed a waste.
Ended up with every spearman I could muster, a handful of heavy cav, bunch of LF javelins, and a small horde of Gallic MF.
After mucking about with the AI I had gained a healthy respect for the legions, so I didn't want a straight head-on meeting of lines.
So I figured I'd mass my cav and spears on my left, with the MF delaying on my right, hopefully winning one flank before the Gauls got mashed into a bloody pulp.
That was mistake #1.
The result:
See Gaul. See Gaul run. Run Gaul, run!
Hey......Come back here, you barbarian bastards!
After turn 6 my right wasn't in shambles, it simply wasn't there..... The only delay they had inflicted might have been from GrayMousers heavy cav getting their hooves entangled in the entrails of my MF.........
Combine that with his legions grinning evilly at my line of spears in various state of disordered/fragmented, whilst my left cav was busy bravely impaling themselves on the Roman swords, and you can kinda see where it went from there.
Good fun though, and a far cry from playing the AI.
Lessons learned (Newbies take heed):
1. Read the rules. Twice. Slowly.
Especially the impact/melee modifiers. While the game may seem simple at a glance, its a lot more subtle than that.
Use shortcut-key P in every game (to get detailed combat modifiers)
2. The DAG uses heavy cav for the commanders by default. Change that immediately. You'll need the cav as a strike force, and your leaders behind the lines for moral support. If you positively need your leaders mounted, use LH.
3. Legions good......If they're on your side. Otherwise, very bad.
4. Observe your opponent, and see what tactics he uses for various units. If you're lucky he might even give you pointers on how to use special units like chariots and pacs. The point is, you have to ask.
Me, I learned that bringing pacs against the Romans might have been a good idea. Whilst better as an anti-cav force, they can do well against the legions HF, even if they're brittle.
5. If you want to win by outflanking, make sure your flanking force is actually a force. My feeble cav force never made a dent.
All GrayMouser did was turn a few HF BGs, and say "Come get me".
Which I had to since everything else was going to hell.
That particular attack resulted in several pounds of choice equine steak.
6. Consider your formations. While the single line of spears looks damn impressive, and one can dream about overlapping a shorter line it's *very* brittle. Once the first frag/rout comes in, it spreads down the line, and the whole shooting-match collapses.
After experimenting against the AI, I found that having two BGs up front with a third behind them works wonders.
It's far more flexible when moving, the back unit can reinforce succesful combats and turn a retreat into a full-scale rout.
Plus, the two front units get a boost on their cohesion-checks (this is where "read the rules" rears its ugly head again)
Same thing goes for ZOCs. Quite often you don't need to physically occupy a hex to e.g. protect a formation flank.
With relatively few units in the game placement becomes critical.
7. Try thinking ahead. Whilst simply charging every unit in range might work against the AI, you'll get hammered by a human opponent.
Maneuver is often better than combat.
I'd like to thank GrayMouser again for taking the time to play a n00b, and for his advice on various point of this increasingly fun game.
That is, the game is fun.
Being stomped into the ground by armored cav, and heavy foot is less fun.
So suffice to say, my Carth army has gone through some....*ahem*....revisions by now.
And now that I've dusted myself off, it's time to find a new opponent to humiliate me.
CheerfullyInsane