We were using 5.01, on account of 6.01 not being structured to suit where we are - half knowing the rules, but needing to look up complex bits
Our questions/comments/issues:
1. 2nd Moves for multiple BGs - does a BG make 2 moves, or do all "1st moves" take place, then all "2nd moves" for the army? Might make a difference as troops move into each others paths. Its wasnt clear to us.
2. Interpenetration - the "if you cant make it you end up half through, half not" - possibly open to abuse when deep columns of troops are involved. We had a situation with some french brigands moving through artillery where it seemed they move a long way....
3. The French had 4 strike units of knights, advancing line abreast. Adam was using 3 cheap generals with them, plus an IC elsewhere, and so in the interbound he was able to shuffle the three cheapies generals one unit sideways each turn, so he always had a general with one of the 4 strike units when it was needed. Not sure if this is bad or simulating something historical, but it did seem a bit strange to us both!
4. The "should you be able to break someone from shooting alone" debate.... if the eventual answer is "no", maybe bowmen need some help (or maybe not??) in being allowed to charge in against Fragmented enemy bowmen..?
5. The way generals can die in combat, and the game mechanic - fantastic, what a hoot, great drama!
6. The cohesion test and CMT - to us, the way the "-"'s and "+"'s are expressed feels the wrong way round. They should add to the score required, not be deducted from the total of the dice you roll.
7. Deciding which end of a combat you remove casualties from seemed quite significant on several occasions in the game - maybe as we both had several small (4 element) units, who got enbroiled in combats against multiple enemies. This seemed to create opportunities for the unit losing casualties to choose to disengage from combat with one of its opponents - or create opportunities for it to expand into more squishy enemies. This occurrred when a charging unit hit two enemy BGs who were "kinked" (for want of a better word!), contacting one square, and hitting another with a stepped forward element contacting with a corner. As the base was lost after impact phase, this took the "Kinked" unit out of melee - so we were unsure if the "kinked" unit could then "line up" as an overlap in the movement/meleee phase. Not sure if this is good or bad, but choosing which element to remove seemes like it may be a skill worth acquiring!
8. Skirmishers cannot intercept non skirmishers as per the rules. Which is fair enough normally - but maybe they should be allowed to do so when the interception charge would come from the flank or rear....?
9. Broken units routing past friends who ignore them. I know, I know... but it still seems a little strange - and to create some strange effects of movement etc.
9. Units routing and autobreaking - maybe needs to be clearer in the movement sequence when this happens?
Other learning experinces:
Sup Armoured cavalry types are very hard - they stood up to french knights pretty well even in combat. We were both surprised at this.
You will only really get one PoA in any combat - you may have designed your troops to have two, but dont forget that everyone else usually has at least one!
Given there is only one net PoA likley, the effect of Quality rerolls (& fighting generals) seems arguably more/as important as PoAs. I am not entirely sure if this is A Good Thing...?
And also PoAs are no real substitute for sheer numbers, especially once you get to melee, even if you disrupt the enemy at impact. Some french knights were surprised to lose out to Arab auxilia type javilenmen - they had bad luck on the dice, but it still stung! Maybe our offensive BGs were too small....?
Overall it feels like its getting there - however it also felt / looked a bit like a warm cuddly harder-to-break version of 7th - which is rather a disturbing sensation to experience and enjoy
! tim
