Post by ashimbabbar on Jun 11, 2023 0:38:48 GMT
May as well broach the suject now…
I think in designing this sort of army it’s exceptionnally easy to go wrong.
An example of what not to do was in the 1st ed, the League of Magicias from Spenser’s Fairy Queen
Mag Gen : Busirane
2 Mag : more magicians
1 Flyer : wyvern rider
3 Wb : Da Derga allies
3 Hd : beastmen
1 Lk : losels ( tree-dwelling apes )
That’s a sure recipe for defeat, especially against the opposite list kindly provided ( HGen+H+Cl+6Kn+1Lk )
I think an interesting lead is provided by this list
thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.com/2012/08/morokanth-army-completed.html
Wb Gen : Khan
4 Wb
3 Mag : shamans
2 Lk : 1x guard hyena, 1x morokanth hiding in a hole
I think it addresses several of the questions
- Since the worst enemies of Magicians are airborne, it makes sense to hide them in Forest/BUA. Only the designer of an army with a strong airborne content will probably have thought of a way to get at the sour fellows who won’t join the fun and included troops for bad going. So it makes sense to guard the Magicians with troops for bad going.
- Except for the lucky shot decapitatting the enemy army, you can’t count on inflicting serious losses on the enemy with Magicians ( or with any other ranged troops at HOTT actually ). What you can try is to disorganize the enemy with recoils – so he’ll have either to attack with only part of the army or waste time reorganizing. In the latter case, you can counter-strike ; and Warbands are good troops for that.
- What do Warbands fear ? Knights and Behemoths. Magicians are a good enough defence against Knights and the ultimate weapon against Beemoths. Nuff said.
A similar reasoning presided to this list
hordesofthethings.blogspot.com/2012/07/army-showcase-ophidians.html
Mag Gen
2 Mag
4 Wb
2 Shooters
Conversely, I’m unconvinced by the « Mike’s elves » list I saw some place that seems to have disappeared from the Net
. It went like this
Kn Gen
1 Kn
3 Mag
4 Shooters
Every miniature with a white cloak stamped with a big red M
I think the attack is too weak and the defense is too frail.
So, my tiny brain went into overgear, and here’s what it came up with… let me introduce… The Army of the Idiot-King !
The idea is taken from the Heroic Fantasy novel Gagner la Guerre by Jean-Philippe Jaworski, which is the finest heroic fantasy I’ve ever read. I don’t think it’s been translated, also I'd like to point the hero… well, the narrator is an absolute rascal and it’s not like there are many better people around.
Somme 200 years before the events in the novel, Maddan, king of the continent-spanning kingdom of Leomance, was murdered as he was besieging the rebellious city of Ciudalia ( heroic fantasy Venice ). He was a young man with no children, still his wife was pregnant : his will stated that if the child was a boy he was to succeed him.
As custom dictates, the will was entrusted to the clergy of the Withered One, the god of the Dead.
The child was indeed a boy but, despite the best efforts of the Mild Goddess’ priests, he was born crippled and quickly proved feeble-minded – so his rebellious subjects called him the Idiot-King. The kingdom fell into a devastating civil war.
It took more than that to stop the priests of the Withered One. They gathered the vanquished of the civil war, hired Uruk Maug mercenaries ( orcs by another name ) and unleashed Death Magic to apocalyptic levels.
As the vanquishers were being destroyed one by one, the survivors allied and were joined by a group of mostly elven heroes and wizards plus a troop of dwarven warriors. The armies clashed on the banks of the Listrel river and the Army of the Idiot-King was defeated at the cost of great slaughter and a permanent warping of the area by magic.
I think it deserves a second chance
Mag Gen : Archons of the Withered One
2 Mag : Hierophants of the Withered One
2 Knights
2 Spears
2 Wb : the Uruk Maug
The concept
- The Magicians stay in one block
- The Spears defend them against Heroes and Paladins. The Knights can help if necessary. If there's no enemy Hero or Paladin they'll have to join the offensive as the army is too small to afford not to.
- The Knights’ main role is to attack the disorganized enemy, with the help of the Warbands if possible.
- The Warbands secure the Bad Going if necessary
Many of the stands will be doing double duty but that’s what happen when you sink half your APs into Magicians.
An example of what not to do was in the 1st ed, the League of Magicias from Spenser’s Fairy Queen
Mag Gen : Busirane
2 Mag : more magicians
1 Flyer : wyvern rider
3 Wb : Da Derga allies
3 Hd : beastmen
1 Lk : losels ( tree-dwelling apes )
That’s a sure recipe for defeat, especially against the opposite list kindly provided ( HGen+H+Cl+6Kn+1Lk )
I think an interesting lead is provided by this list
thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.com/2012/08/morokanth-army-completed.html
Wb Gen : Khan
4 Wb
3 Mag : shamans
2 Lk : 1x guard hyena, 1x morokanth hiding in a hole
I think it addresses several of the questions
- Since the worst enemies of Magicians are airborne, it makes sense to hide them in Forest/BUA. Only the designer of an army with a strong airborne content will probably have thought of a way to get at the sour fellows who won’t join the fun and included troops for bad going. So it makes sense to guard the Magicians with troops for bad going.
- Except for the lucky shot decapitatting the enemy army, you can’t count on inflicting serious losses on the enemy with Magicians ( or with any other ranged troops at HOTT actually ). What you can try is to disorganize the enemy with recoils – so he’ll have either to attack with only part of the army or waste time reorganizing. In the latter case, you can counter-strike ; and Warbands are good troops for that.
- What do Warbands fear ? Knights and Behemoths. Magicians are a good enough defence against Knights and the ultimate weapon against Beemoths. Nuff said.
A similar reasoning presided to this list
hordesofthethings.blogspot.com/2012/07/army-showcase-ophidians.html
Mag Gen
2 Mag
4 Wb
2 Shooters
Conversely, I’m unconvinced by the « Mike’s elves » list I saw some place that seems to have disappeared from the Net
. It went like thisKn Gen
1 Kn
3 Mag
4 Shooters
Every miniature with a white cloak stamped with a big red M
I think the attack is too weak and the defense is too frail.
So, my tiny brain went into overgear, and here’s what it came up with… let me introduce… The Army of the Idiot-King !
The idea is taken from the Heroic Fantasy novel Gagner la Guerre by Jean-Philippe Jaworski, which is the finest heroic fantasy I’ve ever read. I don’t think it’s been translated, also I'd like to point the hero… well, the narrator is an absolute rascal and it’s not like there are many better people around.
Somme 200 years before the events in the novel, Maddan, king of the continent-spanning kingdom of Leomance, was murdered as he was besieging the rebellious city of Ciudalia ( heroic fantasy Venice ). He was a young man with no children, still his wife was pregnant : his will stated that if the child was a boy he was to succeed him.
As custom dictates, the will was entrusted to the clergy of the Withered One, the god of the Dead.
The child was indeed a boy but, despite the best efforts of the Mild Goddess’ priests, he was born crippled and quickly proved feeble-minded – so his rebellious subjects called him the Idiot-King. The kingdom fell into a devastating civil war.
It took more than that to stop the priests of the Withered One. They gathered the vanquished of the civil war, hired Uruk Maug mercenaries ( orcs by another name ) and unleashed Death Magic to apocalyptic levels.
As the vanquishers were being destroyed one by one, the survivors allied and were joined by a group of mostly elven heroes and wizards plus a troop of dwarven warriors. The armies clashed on the banks of the Listrel river and the Army of the Idiot-King was defeated at the cost of great slaughter and a permanent warping of the area by magic.
I think it deserves a second chance
Mag Gen : Archons of the Withered One
2 Mag : Hierophants of the Withered One
2 Knights
2 Spears
2 Wb : the Uruk Maug
The concept
- The Magicians stay in one block
- The Spears defend them against Heroes and Paladins. The Knights can help if necessary. If there's no enemy Hero or Paladin they'll have to join the offensive as the army is too small to afford not to.
- The Knights’ main role is to attack the disorganized enemy, with the help of the Warbands if possible.
- The Warbands secure the Bad Going if necessary
Many of the stands will be doing double duty but that’s what happen when you sink half your APs into Magicians.
I'm eager to hear your input !
