Slitherine

Ludendorf wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 3:13 am There's nothing wrong with losing your skirmishers if it allows you to achieve your goal. That said, a few pointers.

-Try to start the battle with your skirmishers concentrated, ideally where you will be advancing quickly towards contested terrain and thus initiative will be important. It can be tempting (and yes, sometimes necessary) to split them up into teams for specific tasks, but if your skirmishers are concentrated, move quickly to knock out any locally opposing skirmishers, and then can threaten the enemy's main line, you'll draw off any other local teams of skirmishers to respond to the threat from your main skirmish force, or at least knacker their main line worse than they can knacker yours.

-Try to get a few skirmishers around the enemy flanks early on in the battle. If you try to approach the front of the enemy's battle line, you'll only get one or at most two (for archers) shots off before the infantry/cavalry charge forces them back behind your main battle line. Skirmishers harassing from the flanks, on the other hand, can mercilessly pepper the enemy as they advance. Surrounding stranded heavies/mediums with them can also work. So concentrating your skirmishers to one flank may be a useful idea.

-In the skirmisher duel, which is your main concern, be proportional with your fire. Place your javelinmen, slingers, and archers in a way that allows them to work together to focus fire most effectively... but don't over-concentrate your fire. Unless you're going for an autobreak, fire enough to cause a disruption, then choose another target. You're looking to maximise the number of cohesion checks you cause, not maximise the damage to a single unit of skirmishers. I tend to use one of these two formations.

:Archer:Slinger/Archer:Javelin:Slinger/Archer:Archer

:Slinger/Archer:Javelin:Slinger/Archer:Slinger/Archer:Javelin:Slinger/Archer.

The first is great for bringing all five units to bear at once against a single target (great for hitting those warbands). The second is more of an anti-skirmisher formation, as three skirmishers to one will be more than enough to get a cohesion check even after moving.

-KEEP YOUR SKIRMISHERS CLOSE TO YOUR LINE, KEEP THE MAIN LINE TOGETHER WITHOUT GAPS WHEN FACING CAVALRY. If you ignore the first warning, your skirmishers may be caught and slaughtered, or they may be caught in melee by enemy skirmishers and then run over by the enemy main line as it advances. Equally, your main line can save individual units of skirmishers or even the whole line if the skirmishers are being overwhelmed in melee. Ignore the second warning and cavalry may pursue your skirmishers right through your main line, through all your fancy ZOCs, and into the back where they can cause chaos, especially if the skirmishers get caught, broken, and then pursued even further. This will prove disastrous for your entire battle plan.

-Keep units of javelin cav near skirmisher infantry battles. One unit of javelin cav or nomad light horse can turn the tide of a skirmisher battle by charging in from the side at the right moment.

If you want, we can have a battle and a practice at the skirmisher side of things. We'll have to dig out a good skirmish list.

Ludendorf wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 3:13 am There's nothing wrong with losing your skirmishers if it allows you to achieve your goal. That said, a few pointers.

-Try to start the battle with your skirmishers concentrated, ideally where you will be advancing quickly towards contested terrain and thus initiative will be important. It can be tempting (and yes, sometimes necessary) to split them up into teams for specific tasks, but if your skirmishers are concentrated, move quickly to knock out any locally opposing skirmishers, and then can threaten the enemy's main line, you'll draw off any other local teams of skirmishers to respond to the threat from your main skirmish force, or at least knacker their main line worse than they can knacker yours.

-Try to get a few skirmishers around the enemy flanks early on in the battle. If you try to approach the front of the enemy's battle line, you'll only get one or at most two (for archers) shots off before the infantry/cavalry charge forces them back behind your main battle line. Skirmishers harassing from the flanks, on the other hand, can mercilessly pepper the enemy as they advance. Surrounding stranded heavies/mediums with them can also work. So concentrating your skirmishers to one flank may be a useful idea.

-In the skirmisher duel, which is your main concern, be proportional with your fire. Place your javelinmen, slingers, and archers in a way that allows them to work together to focus fire most effectively... but don't over-concentrate your fire. Unless you're going for an autobreak, fire enough to cause a disruption, then choose another target. You're looking to maximise the number of cohesion checks you cause, not maximise the damage to a single unit of skirmishers. I tend to use one of these two formations.

:Archer:Slinger/Archer:Javelin:Slinger/Archer:Archer

:Slinger/Archer:Javelin:Slinger/Archer:Slinger/Archer:Javelin:Slinger/Archer.

The first is great for bringing all five units to bear at once against a single target (great for hitting those warbands). The second is more of an anti-skirmisher formation, as three skirmishers to one will be more than enough to get a cohesion check even after moving.

-KEEP YOUR SKIRMISHERS CLOSE TO YOUR LINE, KEEP THE MAIN LINE TOGETHER WITHOUT GAPS WHEN FACING CAVALRY. If you ignore the first warning, your skirmishers may be caught and slaughtered, or they may be caught in melee by enemy skirmishers and then run over by the enemy main line as it advances. Equally, your main line can save individual units of skirmishers or even the whole line if the skirmishers are being overwhelmed in melee. Ignore the second warning and cavalry may pursue your skirmishers right through your main line, through all your fancy ZOCs, and into the back where they can cause chaos, especially if the skirmishers get caught, broken, and then pursued even further. This will prove disastrous for your entire battle plan.

-Keep units of javelin cav near skirmisher infantry battles. One unit of javelin cav or nomad light horse can turn the tide of a skirmisher battle by charging in from the side at the right moment.

If you want, we can have a battle and a practice at the skirmisher side of things. We'll have to dig out a good skirmish list.

vakarr wrote: ↑Sun May 17, 2020 8:13 pm New Massed Archer video available at https://youtu.be/ybgnpPhiX4M

Ludendorf wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 3:13 am -In the skirmisher duel, which is your main concern, be proportional with your fire. Place your javelinmen, slingers, and archers in a way that allows them to work together to focus fire most effectively... but don't over-concentrate your fire. Unless you're going for an autobreak, fire enough to cause a disruption, then choose another target. You're looking to maximise the number of cohesion checks you cause, not maximise the damage to a single unit of skirmishers. I tend to use one of these two formations.

stockwellpete wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:34 am

Ludendorf wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 3:13 am -In the skirmisher duel, which is your main concern, be proportional with your fire. Place your javelinmen, slingers, and archers in a way that allows them to work together to focus fire most effectively... but don't over-concentrate your fire. Unless you're going for an autobreak, fire enough to cause a disruption, then choose another target. You're looking to maximise the number of cohesion checks you cause, not maximise the damage to a single unit of skirmishers. I tend to use one of these two formations.

Look out for opportunities to charge fragmented enemy skirmishers with your own skirmishers, particularly if the fragmented enemy unit is adjacent to other enemy units because you can sometimes get further cohesion drops in those adjacent units. This can swing a skirmisher battle decisively your way.

Light horse javelin units can be extremely powerful in the second half of the battle when formations break up and fragmented enemy units litter the battlefield. So take care of these light horse units and do not fritter them away.