Slitherine

I'm thinking about putting together a Roman army (a big thing for me, a bit cliche), so I stroll through my books and hit the first Roman list that does not have a compulsory fortified camp (aggressive player, fortified camps are for corner sitting scrubs)...Dominate Roman, but the legionaries are in BG's of 6?

Just curious why the sudden change from 4 to 6 in Dominate Rome? You can field a Dominate Roman ally with the legions in 4s...............

I actually think the fortified camps is better if you are an aggresive player - you can leave it less deffended and attack with more troops.


I've got no good reason to allow 4's as an ally - did they suddenly become more maneouverable?

I'm perplexed, I want my legions in BGs of 4. The two light foot elements are a waste, and so is the fortified camp.....why is the enemy at your camp....fortified or otherwise

The big benefit of the 2 bases of light foot is that it effectively converts the BG into a 5 base BG for most purposes.

Average supported legions autobreak on 3 bases lost rather than 2 for unsupported
Supported legions fight on a 2 base frontage at full effect even after losing a base
Supported legions can at a push fight 3 bases wide with 5 melee dice rather than the 4 of unsupported

Fortified camps are great to keep that pesky BG of light horse that has slipped past your flank from sacking them. If you can't fill the table and you intedn to push forwards the alternative is to leave a BG (or two) to look after the camp when the innevitable happens and a BG slips past the rest of your army.

I agree with Hammy - the big advantage of the light foot is in boosting unit size, not in shooting as one dice per 2 bases is rarely worth having in shooting or impact (note to someone - this may be unclear on the QR sheet where it could be read as one dice per LF base at impact?).

Having loads of 6-base units that fights 2-wide is also pretty good as you shoudl be able to gang up on any enemy and fight their 4's with 2 of your 4+2's - so you have a triple-whammy advantage on death tests, as you take less of them, are less likely to fail them, and even when you do you are still not 25% down.

Anyway, the auxilia can be in 4's - I used the army last night and it worked very well indeed. The list is here.

tim

madaxeman wrote:I agree with Hammy - the big advantage of the light foot is in boosting unit size, not in shooting as one dice per 2 bases is rarely worth having in shooting or impact (note to someone - this may be unclear on the QR sheet where it could be read as one dice per LF base at impact?).

tim

Supporting LF do get 1 dice per base at impact. Then they lose 1 per 2.
The difference is that 1 base still gets 1 dice.

1 dice needing 5,6 is more useful than putting a general into the front rank, except it only applies in the impact phase of course.

lawrenceg wrote:

madaxeman wrote:I agree with Hammy - the big advantage of the light foot is in boosting unit size, not in shooting as one dice per 2 bases is rarely worth having in shooting or impact (note to someone - this may be unclear on the QR sheet where it could be read as one dice per LF base at impact?).

tim

Supporting LF do get 1 dice per base at impact. Then they lose 1 per 2.
The difference is that 1 base still gets 1 dice.

But shooting always rounds down....?

madaxeman wrote:

lawrenceg wrote:

madaxeman wrote:I agree with Hammy - the big advantage of the light foot is in boosting unit size, not in shooting as one dice per 2 bases is rarely worth having in shooting or impact (note to someone - this may be unclear on the QR sheet where it could be read as one dice per LF base at impact?).

tim

Supporting LF do get 1 dice per base at impact. Then they lose 1 per 2.
The difference is that 1 base still gets 1 dice.

But shooting always rounds down....?

Shooting does but the rear support for missile troops is impact, it just uses shooting POAs with a modifier.

But shooting always rounds down

Not in melee

philqw78 wrote:

But shooting always rounds down

Not in melee

Maybe it should be called "FoGG" ?

madaxeman wrote:I agree with Hammy - the big advantage of the light foot is in boosting unit size, not in shooting as one dice per 2 bases is rarely worth having in shooting or impact (note to someone - this may be unclear on the QR sheet where it could be read as one dice per LF base at impact?).

Having loads of 6-base units that fights 2-wide is also pretty good as you shoudl be able to gang up on any enemy and fight their 4's with 2 of your 4+2's - so you have a triple-whammy advantage on death tests, as you take less of them, are less likely to fail them, and even when you do you are still not 25% down.

Anyway, the auxilia can be in 4's - I used the army last night and it worked very well indeed. The list is here.

tim

Tim,

Thanks for the link. I like the idea of 6 base legionary BGs for the Dominiate army, maximizing them is a great idea.

Cheers,

Dale