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Veteran muslim spearmen : overrated ?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 9:17 pm
by CONSTANTINIX
Hello

I was looking at the Arab conquest list and I was surprised by one unit and it's cost : Veteran muslim spearmen /cost 54

Mainly focused at the antiquity, my reference was the Veteran african spearman /Cost 78 in the Hannibal list
Differences between these two units : one is undrilled and protected whereas the second is armoured and drilled. But the cost difference seems to me enormous for what will be a +25 POA difference once the fight is engaged
Furthermore, playing mainly roman armies , I was wondering that with the cost of the Veteran muslim spearmen , I can only afford a mediocre roman legionary which will be no match for this über spearmen

Is the cost difference based only on these two differences or is there a big discount price given for the arab conquest list as this unit was the backbone of the arab army ?
Sorry if a discussion has already be done on this subject


Regards

Re: Veteran muslim spearmen : overrated ?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 9:25 pm
by pompeytheflatulent
Armor is overpriced in price calculations since armor contributes half the POA in melee compared to tabletop. Just a side effect of the changes between tabletop and pc game.

Then again, veteran muslim spearmen operate in a much more archer heavy enviroment compared to mediocre legionnaires.

Re: Veteran muslim spearmen : overrated ?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 10:12 pm
by Nosy_Rat
There's no special discount for arab spearmen, it's just that armour costs a lot of points (18 in this case) and being maneuverable some more (6 points). For example, you can find similarly priced unit (60 points, as they are drilled) - veteran hoplites - in various greek lists.

Re: Veteran muslim spearmen : overrated ?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 11:06 pm
by pompeytheflatulent
Or, the Anglo-Saxon Hirdsmen, which used to be a carbon copy of veteran muslim spearmen until the last patch, which brought them up to some armor and 60 points, the 6 points spent on armor only bought the Hirdsmen a third of the way from protected to armored.

Re: Veteran muslim spearmen : overrated ?

Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 12:11 am
by Gaznak
There was a price reduction for armored foot a while back. Mediocre legions used to be 60 bucks each. I don't remember exactly what the parameters were... I think it was drilled average armored foot? In that case drilled armored superior foot might be a little over costed compared to their crummier variants.

Re: Veteran muslim spearmen : overrated ?

Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 4:33 pm
by CONSTANTINIX
Thanks guys for all these answers.


I understand that the point is that units with less armor and good experience have the edge over more armoured units with less experience for the same value

for a 18 points cost , I got
better armor : + 25 melee, better protection against range attacks
or
better experience : + 50 melee, + 50 shock , better dice results for moral checks

I guess I will specialize in overconfident naked armies :wink: for the future

Re: Veteran muslim spearmen : overrated ?

Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 4:49 pm
by pompeytheflatulent
Go give axe-wielding Irishmen or Dacian falxmen a whirl.