Post by dpd on Feb 25, 2023 13:56:00 GMT
I never much liked the rule's definition of Hordes
HORDES (Hd), representing unskilled and unenthusiastic foot levied from peasantry to bulk out numbers
(No, these are men defending their families and homes with grim determination and stubbornness, or are enraged peasants out for the blood of knights and nobility. What they lack in skill they make up for with attitude and numbers - hence the 7 figure designation for 7hd)
and perform the menial work of sieges and camps
(No, those would be camp followers and denizens of towns under siege)
and typically huddling in dense masses whose inertia provides a kind of staying power allowing them to be classed as “Solid”, if only by comparison (7Hd).
(No these are levies en masse in deep formations capable of stopping even cavalry charges like the Saxon "Great Fyrd" - an option for the Saxon army list instead of 4sp, Frankish warriors, Islamic foot or centuries later the deep infantry columns of French revolutionary armies)
Others (5Hd) such as rioters, street gangs,
(Which may appear on the streets of Constantinople when their racing faction loses but not on an actual battlefield)
revolutionary mobs, religious fanatics and Aztec militia were more enthusiastic, so “Fast” but equally incompetent.
(Not skilled but deeply angered and determined).
Given their proven ability to stop charges by even knights (like the Great Fyrd at Hastings) and their pursuit of a retreating foe (again at Hastings they were drawn out of their defensive positions on Senlac Hill due to real or feinted retreat, and then surrounded and cut to pieces) hordes need to be treated as levies not as mobs.
Peasant levies would not stand much chance in hand to hand combat against professional foot like Roman legions or Japanese samurai, but their very density and depth makes them tough opponents against mounted troops.
And given their ability to stand up to knights I suggest switching their combat factors from 3 v. foot and 2 v. mounted to 2 v. foot and 3. mounted).
And reversing their combat factors gives them a much needed differentiation with more savage warbands that could hold their own against heavy foot but got run over by knights.
So I also suggest that hordes (aka levies) always be deep formation 7hd units, while doing away with the 5hd designation since mobs and rioters never appeared on a real battlefield.
And thus give Hordes the much needed respect they deserve.
HORDES (Hd), representing unskilled and unenthusiastic foot levied from peasantry to bulk out numbers
(No, these are men defending their families and homes with grim determination and stubbornness, or are enraged peasants out for the blood of knights and nobility. What they lack in skill they make up for with attitude and numbers - hence the 7 figure designation for 7hd)
and perform the menial work of sieges and camps
(No, those would be camp followers and denizens of towns under siege)
and typically huddling in dense masses whose inertia provides a kind of staying power allowing them to be classed as “Solid”, if only by comparison (7Hd).
(No these are levies en masse in deep formations capable of stopping even cavalry charges like the Saxon "Great Fyrd" - an option for the Saxon army list instead of 4sp, Frankish warriors, Islamic foot or centuries later the deep infantry columns of French revolutionary armies)
Others (5Hd) such as rioters, street gangs,
(Which may appear on the streets of Constantinople when their racing faction loses but not on an actual battlefield)
revolutionary mobs, religious fanatics and Aztec militia were more enthusiastic, so “Fast” but equally incompetent.
(Not skilled but deeply angered and determined).
Given their proven ability to stop charges by even knights (like the Great Fyrd at Hastings) and their pursuit of a retreating foe (again at Hastings they were drawn out of their defensive positions on Senlac Hill due to real or feinted retreat, and then surrounded and cut to pieces) hordes need to be treated as levies not as mobs.
Peasant levies would not stand much chance in hand to hand combat against professional foot like Roman legions or Japanese samurai, but their very density and depth makes them tough opponents against mounted troops.
And given their ability to stand up to knights I suggest switching their combat factors from 3 v. foot and 2 v. mounted to 2 v. foot and 3. mounted).
And reversing their combat factors gives them a much needed differentiation with more savage warbands that could hold their own against heavy foot but got run over by knights.
So I also suggest that hordes (aka levies) always be deep formation 7hd units, while doing away with the 5hd designation since mobs and rioters never appeared on a real battlefield.
And thus give Hordes the much needed respect they deserve.