Slitherine

Met with Simon at Reigate last night and he asked that I post this suggestion/request we discussed.
Can the number of compulsory Bowmen required in the Classical Indian list be reduced from the current 32. This is because many individuals have purchased and built their existing Indian armies based on other established Army lists which had compulsory Bowmen of 30 (in a ratio of 1:3 with the Javelinmen). To have to go to the trouble of trying to find the same figures, have them painted and based to match, for the sake of two elements is rather frustrating, especially when significant sums may have already been spent. IMHO I would suggest a reduction to 24 as this is also then in line with aforementioned ratio.
I also notice that the existing component for compulsory troops for this Army (allowing 185pts for 4 Generals) is 549 pts. With the recommended total for 25mm being 650pts this is a percentage of nearly 85% compulsory troops. I haven't done the maths on other armies, but if the compulsory percentage is similar do you think it will have too high an impact on potential 25mm Army mix/selection? Maybe a solution would be a rule/note in the Rules/Army Lists that compulsories in 25mm can be reduced by X (say 20%) rounded up.
Thoughts...?
PS - Thanks to Terry and Simon for their insights into the game last night - very helpful.

It is more than likely that by the time the lists are finalised the numbers in the Indian list will have been tweaked. 500+ points of compulsaries is way above the guideline so I would expect the numbers to drop.

From a sneak look at the latest version the bow minima is now only 24 but the points issue may cut that further.

Hammy

As each army list book is readied for publication, we are rechecking the list minima and maxima.

The policy is that list minima should not significantly exceed 250 points excluding generals, and that list maxima should reach at least 1150 points excluding generals, artillery and fortifications in most/all sub-periods. (An absolute maximum minimum of 250 has not been adhered to because we need to consider the minimum size of BGs and the shape of the historical army.)

This has already been done for the Classical Indians, and the minima are now:

2 elephants
4 cavalry
24 archers
6 javelinmen

This comes to 254 points if all the troops are average. (But they are also allowed to be poor).

This process will be done automatically for each list before each book is published.

I should note that 185 points for generals would be an extremely generous outlay in a 650 point game. I usually spend 155 points on generals in 800 points (only occasionally 185 points), and would pay between 120 and 155 points for generals at 650, usually 120.

It appears all in hand and the team are well ahead of me - thanks for prompt reply.