Art De La Guerre

[papadopp]

List 53 - the army is organised in legions with different ratios of units etc.
If upgraded (or downgraded), units must done so as a whole(logical and historically accurate)? Or i.e. the Triarii can be upgraded to Elite and the other parts of the legion (Hastati/ Velites) maybe chosen as Ordinary?
Thanks in advance
Paris

[Hazelbark]

If you read the list notes, you must do it by the legion.

[papadopp]

[tupiboy]

Must the velites be upgraded to elite if the heavy foot is, I note that they cannot be downgraded if the heavy foot is...
_________________
Cheers

Jason

[Hazelbark]

They are part of the legion. The reason they can't be downgraded is no LI in the game are mediocre. So yes if upgraded legion then upgraded velite.

[tupiboy]

OK. Can a legion with average Hastati and Principes have elite Triarii (as they are not under the heading newly recruited legions), and a legion with mediocre Hastati and Principes have average Triarii?
_________________
Cheers

Jason

[madaxeman]

[Jhykronos]

[madaxeman]

I've just checked with the powers that be, and it seems that the ratio in the army list is simply there as advice in order to play historically.

The indicated ratio is not therefore compulsory, only the usual min/max applies.


This should go into the next FAQ
_________________
www.madaxeman.com

[Commodore]

[daveallen]

[Commodore]

[AntiokosIII]

Everybody I know has been assuming the historical ratios were meant to be mandatory. This army just got a bit better.
_________________
Tabletop miniatures are the only completely honorable form of warfare ever invented.

[Diocletian284]

I have read Julian's excellent advice for army building and also Ethas and Madeaxemans write up on how to use a Roman army. All are very helpful.

I have a question somewhat related to this original topic. There is an option to make one of the legions elite. Is it worth it for competitive play? For 10 points you can make legion elite, but in a 200 pt army list you lose one legionary unit or possibly two auxiliaries.

The overall advice I see for the Republican Roman army is to maximize the legionaries. All other units not worth it or serve as fillers to soak up the last remaining points after legionaries are maximized.

Madeaxeman's site recommends having an elite legion and all legionaries with armor. Have one legion as elite to have a heavy punching force. One command of elites, with the other two as support. I have found in play that the elite legion does hold up well and has a great punch. It can stand up to Successor pikemen and elephants and win most of the time. On the other hand, I find my flanking non-elite commands chewed up and lose the game due to unit losses on my flanks.

Julian's recommendation is to maximize overall cohesion points. So to do this, you need to drop the armor and have no elites with this army list.

Other advice has been to go heavy on legions, push forward like a steamroller, try to guard your flanks, and basically compress the enemy to his side of the table.

A balance I would favor is one elite legion with armor, and the others non-elite and not armored. But unfortunately, army list specifies all legionaries in the whole army list as armored or not. Not a mix. From a historical perspective, I cannot see a consular army being that uniform. All armored and all not. All my readings suggest there would be a mix. Some legions would be mostly armored, others not, depending on time period, recruiting during the dilectus, and length of service of that legion.

So looking for advice from the experienced players, go with an elite legion (and armor) or not?

Joe

[ethan]