Numidians

[John Meunier]

After I get my Ancient Spanish (II/39a) ally in shape to go with my Later Carthaginians and/or Polybian Romans, I'm going to put together a Numidian ally for the Romans.

So, here's the question. Does including the Elephants make any sense? (And I'm not asking about history here.) In an ally command built on Ps and LH, it seems that Elephants might be a problem. But, I also see the El element being a rock around which the quicker elements can whirl.

If I take the Elephant, I probably should get a couple of those 3Ax, too. :confused:

Interested in thoughts.

[El' Jocko]

One downside to taking the Elephant is the PIP drain. Light Horse tend to be PIP intensive, add an Elephant to the mix and you're never going to have all the PIPs to do what you want.

On the other hand, I'm quite fond of Elephants and would probably take it anyway, PIP drain or not.

- Jack

[miros]

I would probably take it. The PIP-cost mentioned by Jack is a valid concern, but I also tend to like elephants. Plus if you are using it as a Roman ally vs the Carthaginians, it gives you the chance to match your elephant and some psiloi vs the Carthaginian elephants.

Jason

[imported_adsarf]

I never take the elephant in regular DBA. LH and Ps need enough pips as it is. The elephant will just lure some of your Ax into contact with heavy foot or (yikes!) knights in an attempt to protect his flanks, whilst your LH and Ps sit immobile for want of pips.

Your Romans are a rock around which the whole ally command will whirl.

Andrew

[Snowtiger]

You can use the elephant to guard the camp:) I never take those clunsy cumbersome animals:) Too many PiP's:) Just stick to the Ps and LH and be sure to have some BGO:)

[Roland Fricke]

I usually take it. It adds some punch to an army that is otherwise "Float like a butterfly - sting like a butterfly". The rest of the army moves so fast that the turn where you have low PIPs are not as damaging as they would be to slower armies who might still need PIPs just to get to the fight.

[David Kuijt]

I take it. That doesn't mean I always use it. Sometimes your Numidians will be in a situation where they can maneuver freely -- leave the Elephant somewhere and run off, don't take it with you. And be certain you understand that the objective is to make the enemy use more pips fighting it than you do fighting with it -- this may mean leaving it at risk. Don't pretend it is a maneuver element!

With that said, I would always take it. There are a lot of tactical problems that are insoluble with LH and Ps alone. And one of the really interesting attributes of Elephants is the way it can fix the attention of an enemy commander as if it had flashing red lights on top -- a very useful tool for a LH commander, so long as the LH commander remembers not to stare at the flashing red lights himself.

[ October 21, 2005, 21:53: Message edited by: David Kuijt ]

[APHooper]

As David says below, Elephants tend to focus enemy attention out of proportion to their actual value in the line of battle -- almost as much as artillery. And it is certainly fun to stack them up against knights or warband.

The only time I'd really think twice is if I were fighting an army with an abundance of psiloi and/or auxilia. You'd probably be better off with an extra light horse to grab their flanks if you have to face a lot of lighter foot elements.

Andy Hooper
Bacteria Valley

[Odious Asparagus]

I always take the elephants with my later cartho army, not just because they look cool, but they tend to be the most dangerous and entertaining based on my "strategy". Plus you get to make elephant noises when you're squashing your enemies.

Sure they cost an extra pip, and that backfires a lot on me when i continually roll 1's for my pips, but they also play a huge psychological edge over some opponents, who take one look at the lumbering behemoths and change their strategy to avoid them.

[John the Red]

Hi

I borrowed a Numdian DBA army for this years British DBA 'championships' at Leeds. I had the elephant mainly because it was a lovely model which impressed passers by !. In tactical terms its contribution was almost entirely psychological, it in fact never struck a blow in anger in all three games. It did however grab the opposing generals attention, allowing the other elements to nip off and do their thing. It was therefore worthwhile and I would recommend, specially if your opponents are likely to be Knight heavy.