Low Countries and Longbows

[Dakadave]

I am a happy newbie to FOG and I have pulled out my old DBM standby army of Low Countries.I am in a bit of a conundrum though.I will be hitting my first Tournament in New Orleans at Bayou Wars and I am trying to streamline my list.I really like what the light arty can do to a target but in an open tourney I will frequently not be able to get them into a position to use-especially if -like today-I play an army with lots of LH like Parthians.I felt I needed more shooty bits and I wanna use the awesome Longbow contingent...but...at the moment I dont have near enough figs to run as Pike so I have to run as offensive spear.At the time of the offensive spear list I can only have 6 bases of longbows-8 later in history.Is 6 a big enough benefit to ditch the arty for.I kinda think so but I would prefer the 8 stands.Just looking for some opinions.

[KingHassan]

A 6 stand Longbow unit would usually roll the same number of shooting dice as one light artillery unit but costs almost double.

Have you thought about dropping your Superior Knight BG to 4 stands?

[Dakadave]

All my Knights are 4 stands.The problem is that the arty moves very slowly if at all.Just because you get etra dice with the arty iis not the only factor.Much better target numbers for most opponents with the longbows-They can move and shoot-They are swordsmen.

[SirGarnet]

I'd recommend archers in 8s for 6 dice over archers in 6s for 4 dice. Longbowmen are swordsmen as well, which can be valuable against some opponents. Stakes are nice if facing mounted, but you have so many anti-mounted troops in the army already that they can easily prove unnecessary.

Make sure to take the 2 allowed LF BGs - Skirmishers are useful for limiting enemy second moves, screening your troops, and provoking charges by shock troops, and they might score a disruption here and there.

Until you get more Pike bases, you could drop a row of spearmen or halberdiers in your pike blocks to fill out the numbers of bases somewhat - with spearmen there would be no risk of confusion as you have no actual ones on the field.

Light Artillery is useful for demoralizing the enemy - for example, Light Artillery shooting at (not necessarily hitting) a 12-base pike block forces a shooting CT at 2 hits, not the usual 4 (4=1/3 of 12). In addition, being shot at by the artillery is a -1 to CT. Artillery plus some other shooters should be able to score 2 hits with frequency.

Ideally you want a target that can be held at range long enough for shooting to make a difference, although since foot can move through the artillery front/back you can try to disrupt the enemy with shooting for a couple turns as they approach and then advance infantry (e.g., a 4-base BG of Planconiers/Halberdiers) through for close combat.

The problem with putting Light Artillery backed by halberiers recessed in the gaps between Pike blocks is that the halberdiers can't charge through the guns - if my troops shoot the turn right before the enemy charge, the halberdiers need to walk through on my turn and wait until my next turn to charge in, so the better course probably is to move through before the enemy charges in (the artillery deploy leaving enough room for the halberdiers to fit).

I would take artiller if I took field defences, but in any situation where you need to move to attack it is going to be slow to get them into action.

Good fortune to you.

Mike