Slitherine

I haven't used an army with this troop type and weapon combination much before and I just want to clarify something in the rules if I may.

It says that the Light Spear POA is used if no others apply. This can be taken 2 ways.

Either that if there are no other advantages the cavalry can claim (uphill etc), then they can use the light spear POA and claim a plus one for when the factors are added up.

OR

Plus and minus factors have to cancel each other out with the POAs being zero and then the cavalry can claim the Light Spear POA, giving them a net POA of plus one making the combats 4s Vs 5s.

I've always assumed the latter to be the case, so for instance if my Pontic light horse charge some Roman triarii on the flat open plain, the Romans get +1 POA for having a spear and not charging, that's the only POA that is relevant, the POAs haven't cancelled themselves out and so my horse don't get to claim the light spear POA. The Romans now needs 4s to hit, my guys need 5s.

However, should my horse charge the pesky Romans down a hill, the triarii still get their +1 for standing there and not charging but I get a +1 for being uphill. The two +1s cancel each other out so I then get to claim my light spear POA, the result being I have 1 POA advantage at the end of all calculations leaving me needing 4s to hit, the Romans needing 5s.

Is my understanding of this correct? I'm going to Game 08 at Manchester on Saturday and I'd like to make a semi decent fight of it before my lads get ridden down by every Serb/ Hungarian/ Wallachian/ Latin/ Crusader etc (delete where applicable) knight heavy, tournament designed, Kung Fu Death Ninja army I happen to come up against!!!!

I play it as you do Alan, when all POA's negate each other and you are a a zero POA then the Light Spear POA is used otherwise its not used.

Brian

If after all other POAs have been considered the result is even then cavalry with light spear get a + POA.

So light spear cavalry charging MF spearmen goes like this:
The spear get a POA vs cavalry
The cavalry get a POA vs the foot (mounted vs medium foot)
This ends up all square so the light spear kicks in and the cavalry are at +

AlanYork wrote:Is my understanding of this correct? I'm going to Game 08 at Manchester on Saturday and I'd like to make a semi decent fight of it before my lads get ridden down by every Serb/ Hungarian/ Wallachian/ Latin/ Crusader etc (delete where applicable) knight heavy, tournament designed, Kung Fu Death Ninja army I happen to come up against!!!!

Don't worry. The book with the Kung Fu Death Ninja list doesn't come out until next year.




Marc

The key fact to remember about Cavalry with Lt Spear is that they can evade. This IMO makes them exceptionally good value for money.

dave_r wrote:The key fact to remember about Cavalry with Lt Spear is that they can evade. This IMO makes them exceptionally good value for money.

This is something I've really come to appreciate. Additionally, cavalry with lt spear don't lose the potential POA (if all others are equal) for being in terrain, unlike lance

Dale

dave_r wrote:The key fact to remember about Cavalry with Lt Spear is that they can evade. This IMO makes them exceptionally good value for money.

It's not just the evade. Lt Spear armed cavalry are not shock troops so do not have to charge which makes them very flexible.

Julian

dave_r wrote:The key fact to remember about Cavalry with Lt Spear is that they can evade. This IMO makes them exceptionally good value for money.

But they have to be in 1 rank to evade. When I play my beloved Romans, my cavalry are usually in this formation ready to run away at the first wiff of enemy horse.

Brian

Do you have any idea when the book of Kung Fu Death Ninja realeased in the bookstore?