Slitherine

Hi
Is there any advantage to having a commander with an Elite BG

will05 wrote:Hi
Is there any advantage to having a commander with an Elite BG

Yes.

to add to the loquacious ruddock.

Elite's re-roll 1s and 2s
with a general in combat its hits re roll 3s.

Also a general with for CMT and ct purposes as normal.

Will, you may want to ask yourself is he best used to support and upgrade a weaker BG in combat rather than an elite BG. That way you potentially have 2 strong BG's rather than a very strong BG and a weak BG.

Are you paying us a visit at Stockport?

Rob

will05 wrote:Hi
Is there any advantage to having a commander with an Elite BG

The technical answer has been made by others. You get to re-roll 3's in combat... however, I do believe it's a bit of overkill. The appearance is 'elite with a general hit with all dice'. After all, if neither advantaged or disadvantaged you re-roll all misses right? But that doesn't mean that all your re-rolls will hit. Having said that, the number of times I have superior with general and roll a bunch of 3's... grrr... so perhaps you do. You make your choices and roll the dice .

dave_r wrote:

will05 wrote:Hi
Is there any advantage to having a commander with an Elite BG

Yes.

As others have said there are some diminishing returns. Elite have a good chance to pass CMTs and CHTs without a general but a general will improve the odds.

Sometimes you won't want to commit the general to hand to hand combat. For example, elite Varanigains charging protected MF bow only in the flank will be ++ at impact and ++ in melee. This means the Varangian dice that roll 3 are hitting. Since the only benefit of the general fighting with elite troops is to reroll the 3s there's no benefit (and he could die or get tied up).

I would commit a general to elites if their job were vital. ie.:

- must pass the CMT to turn 90 and move to close in on an enemy flank.
- must break through slightly weaker enemy quickly (the general fighting is important for that -1 for "lost by 2 hits or more")
- must hold stronger enemy to stop a break through (general fighting with elite vs average without general effectively balances out a single POA disadvantage)
It really depends on whether he is better used elsewhere.

Its always a problem deciding whether to put your generals in at impact with the Varangians. They are at just a single plus v lancers at impact, and against some foot are at a minus. But once they have weathered the impact they are very often at double plus so the general is only there to die if you are unlucky.

I think there is no "correct" answer to this question. It all comes to the tactical situation and what you expect to gain by the commitment (unless in a situation described by Graham)

Are you calculating to win as quicly as possible an even poa match? You will commit
Are you holding with your Varangians against a cavalry charge? You might opt not to commit.

In any case the correct use of the generals at the right time and place will give you an advantage....

Thanks very much for all the replys, I have not played elites and was under the impression that they didn't get any advantage for a general in combat. So just wanted to know where I would stand with them.

Robert241167 wrote:Will, you may want to ask yourself is he best used to support and upgrade a weaker BG in combat rather than an elite BG. That way you potentially have 2 strong BG's rather than a very strong BG and a weak BG.

Are you paying us a visit at Stockport?

Rob

Hi Rob
I will be there on Saturday....if everthing goes as planned. My wife has just started a business, so I have had very little time to do anything and it was a bit touch and go there for a while....

......of course I have managed no time to play so will bring my usual expertise on the day. I might bring my son as well to help with dice rolling and blindly making tactical decisions. Is your lad playing?

Hi Will

Yes my lad will be playing but I have restricted him to the same army on both days as I don't want to confuse him further.

Hopefully he will notch up his first win or winning draw this time.

See you Saturday hopefully.

Rob