Slitherine

Hi,

This definition is something that always struck me as odd.

"is one that includes a single wheel and/or is less than the troops full available move distance" etc

OK in essence what it says is that if the troops move less then their full move distance it is considered a difficult forward move. Why muddy the waters with the mention of a wheel in the defintion when a wheel is already mentioned in the table? How about "is one that is less than the troops full available move distance" etc. Remove mention of the wheel from the definition altogether as it isn't needed.

Also what is the rationale for this as I was asked the other day and couldn't rationalise it to myself beyond " undrilled troops find it harder to move at less then full speed" which TBH sounds stupid. What am I missing?

John O

It is not a matter of speed, it is a matter of stopping undrilled troops just when and where you want, when they are distracted looking at those enemies, firing arrows, whatever. Straight ahead, as fast as you can, does not require any drill. To get them all to stop at a certain point or to do something a bit more complex while the enemy is near is asking a bit extra.

At least that is how I explained it to bystanders at the demo, when the Arabs started to do small moves, turns and other weird things while the crusaders just plodded forwards.

José

Thanks Jose that's what I thought but just wanted to get confirmation from others in the community.

Any comment on the wording of the definition?

John O

I have no trouble with the definition itself. Moving less than the maximum requires a roll. Wheeling close to the enemy requires a roll. Moving less than the maximum and wheeling requires just one roll.

Jose