Kevin Boylan
04-15-2012, 12:51 PM
Dick Pagano and I ran a playtest yesterday with me running a later, North Welsh army (III/20c) and him commanding the Feudal English (IV/23). I had 1 Knight, 8 Light Spear, 2 Bow, and 1 Psiloi. He had 4 Knights, 4 Bow, 1 Light Spear, 2 Horde and 1 Psiloi.
He was the aggressor. I placed a large, steep hill the middle of the board, a good sized wood in one corner and a marsh in the opposite corner. He rolled to move terrain, but only the marsh was shifted, and this had no effect on play. However, both of us and others in attendance, were all of the opinion that the option of relocating a piece of bad going near the middle of the board was unnecessary and would have had disorting effects if, for example, I had been the invader.
The British sent their knights sweeping around the hill to their right, while their Bow and Psiloi went up the Hill. The Welsh countered by sending their Psiloi and 2 Light Spear up the hill while the rest of their force redeployed to face the knights threatening their left.
The speed with which the battle developed -- thanks to the faster movement rates -- was remarkable. As the Welsh, I had considerly less time to redeploy to meet the threat than I would have in 2.2. It seems that it's not just "light" armies that become more formidable in 2.2+, but also "fast" armies that have lots of Cav and/or Knights but are hardly "light." For the same reason, other games going on at the same time became stricly frontal clashes wherein the opposing armies simply bashed into each other with little maneuvering.
The new bow and light spear rules seemed to work reasonably well, with the English bow gradually killing the Welsh Psiloi and 2 Light, clearing the hill and putting the Welsh on the verge of defeat. The Welsh, however, held out vs. the Knights with their general and double-ranked light spear, though the general had to survive two flank attacks. In the end, however, 3 of the English knights (including their General) was killed, while an English bow was 6-1'd by a Welsh bow, yielding a narrow victory for the latter.
He was the aggressor. I placed a large, steep hill the middle of the board, a good sized wood in one corner and a marsh in the opposite corner. He rolled to move terrain, but only the marsh was shifted, and this had no effect on play. However, both of us and others in attendance, were all of the opinion that the option of relocating a piece of bad going near the middle of the board was unnecessary and would have had disorting effects if, for example, I had been the invader.
The British sent their knights sweeping around the hill to their right, while their Bow and Psiloi went up the Hill. The Welsh countered by sending their Psiloi and 2 Light Spear up the hill while the rest of their force redeployed to face the knights threatening their left.
The speed with which the battle developed -- thanks to the faster movement rates -- was remarkable. As the Welsh, I had considerly less time to redeploy to meet the threat than I would have in 2.2. It seems that it's not just "light" armies that become more formidable in 2.2+, but also "fast" armies that have lots of Cav and/or Knights but are hardly "light." For the same reason, other games going on at the same time became stricly frontal clashes wherein the opposing armies simply bashed into each other with little maneuvering.
The new bow and light spear rules seemed to work reasonably well, with the English bow gradually killing the Welsh Psiloi and 2 Light, clearing the hill and putting the Welsh on the verge of defeat. The Welsh, however, held out vs. the Knights with their general and double-ranked light spear, though the general had to survive two flank attacks. In the end, however, 3 of the English knights (including their General) was killed, while an English bow was 6-1'd by a Welsh bow, yielding a narrow victory for the latter.