I have 24 Auxillery Archers and 40 Legionaires yet to build/paint, ( and will have to fight off the temptation to buy a pair of Elephants too.) but then i’ll have to get some decent photos to do them justice. Both armies looked great on the table.
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My Roman army continues to grow, but thankfully, I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, with only one more regiment of Legionnaires to make up and paint, and as a finale a couple of Elephants I have on order. So … it’s time to decide what units are best for what, and which KoW army fits them best. Is it Kings of Men, maybe Varangur, Northern Alliance, maybe even Dwarfs, althoug even the Warlord Games Romans arent that small
two regiments, one Roman Legion, and thevBlue is Auxillery infantry with shield and spears.
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Army list Kingdom of Men
General on horse = 120
Formation :Outlaws
The Brigand 75 plus Bowmen Troops( x2 @70 each +5 each = 150 )plus formation cost 10 = 235 in total
1 Mammoth 225 each (possibly 2 at 450 total) =225
Scorpion = Ballista 75
2 regiments of Medium Auxillery Cavalry @150 each = 300
Roman Testudo =Regiment Shield Wall with Indomitable Will (+10) =110
Roman Praetorians =Regiment Foot Guard with Indomitable Will (+10) =145
Roman Legion = Spear Phalanx horde =200
Roman veteran Legion = Spear Phalanx regiment with Indomitable Will (+10) =130
Roman Legion = Spear Phalanx regiment =120
Auxillery Light Infantry with Shield and Spear = Malitia Mob regiment =70
Total: 1840
which would leave a few points spare for another hero/magic items and so forth.
Anything i’ve missed or could add, i’d be grateful to hear your feedback .
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I would rate everthing highter and don’t see legionaries as spearmen. Roman armies put flexibility ahead of rigid formation like a phalanx, so I would not use hordes.
I would use legionaries as footguard and auxilia as shield wall or spears.
Give praetorians elite to set them apart and vetrans indomitable will or a different buff if you want to use indomitable will more widely.
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Thanks @DarkBlack, great feedback there.
The Kingdom of Men army list seems to be a bit hodge-podge , and the points don’t really make sense. For instance Shield Wall and Spear Phalanx both have Sp 5, Me 4+ and De 4+ and Regiment US of 3, with the same Ne, so essentially you are paying an extra 20 points for 3 extra Att and Phalanx and the Spear phalanx exchange Spears for Pikes for an additional 20 pts to get ensnare, and yet Pole-Arm Block is only 105 with a De of 3+. The Indomitable Will is a bargain at +10 points, and would reflect the discipline of Legionaires over 'Auxillery Units ', ( Although later Imperial Roman Auxilleries were far from mere weekend warriors and cannon fodder. ) They could be skilled mercenary units on par with the Legions in both combat ability and equiptment, adding skilled Cavalry, bowmen ect .
Is there another army list which would suit them better ?
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I would aim to capture “the feel” of a Roman army rather than getting caught up in what rules are called.
In my mind I would want to represent discipline and command and control in an army that is based on a core of well trained, equipped and disciplined infantry.
- So a line of foot guard with indomitable will and The Captain.
Then add in auxiliaries to fill other combat roles.
- Romans in Pannithor woul need something to deal damage, so I would rate the cavalry as knights.
They’re armoured and, presumably, come with some Furor Teutonicus.
The rest would come down to representing the models you have.
For auxilia; it’s not clear how different they were to legionaries. Probably not as well equipped, but still armoured. Training and experience could vary depending on the time and place in the empire (troops stationed along the Rhine or in Britain are going to be hard veterans) or even from unit to unit.
- I reckon they can plausibly be any of pretty much the same through slightly inferior to markedly inferior to legionaries. I would apply the ssme withi an army though.
In KoW that’s footguard with or without Indomitable Will or shieldwall, might as well be according to what your list needs.
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Thank you again @DarkBlack Some very helpful tips there . I particularly like indomitable Will Wall of disciplined units under the command of thre Captain. (almost as a second formation or as units that conplement each other. ) If i break the horde into regiments, i’d have no problem with fielding 3 regiments of bog standard Legionaires, each with the upgrade, and with the Master Tactician special rule, you could deploy them all last, before scouts, if it suited.
I can find suitable magical banners or items to boost the Veterans and Preatorians as elite units, and perhaps field the Auxillery infantry without the Indomitable Will.
The cavalry are well armoured with chainmail, and shields so certainly not light cavalry. Although not exactly joustng style ’ barded plated heavy horse, for their time, they might get away with Heavy horse.
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I use cataphracts in my army as knights and standard horse as a light cav
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yeah, @Gerrcinn , if i was looking purely on WYSIWYG, i’d have said that the Auxillery Cavalry would be Medium, but that isn’t an option in KoW. if i look at examples of elite Roman light cavalry, it’d probably be Nemidians, and they are just a t-shirt type of Cavalry, whereas the more Germanic recomended by @DarkBlack , Furor Teutonicus, would certainly be far heavier. Certainly, as far as the rider is concerned, they would fit the bill, with chainmail, helm, and shield giving more protection to the rider.
Now, armour apart, let us look at the types of horses used. My history might not be great, but having lived and worked with heavy horses and native ponies for a large amount of my adult life, travelling with horses and wagons, driving everything from chariots, sulkies, all the way up to heavy drays, and using my horses to clear woodlands before replanting with native timbers. Even farm work such as ploughing.
The Nemidian horses would be plains horses built for speed and sure-footedness, such as we would see in Arab horses, or Welsh Mountain ponies, with plenty of spirit and fire in their bellies. Whereas, Germanic horses would be more likely to be heavier bones, living in dense forests and the type of horse referred to as Cobs, more built for pulling drays or ploughing, slower, stronger and with a cooler temperement.
My stallion: was only Forteen point one hands high, but epitomised a War Horse with his feiry temperament. Whereever we went, they could hear his roar from a mile off, and the pounding sound of his shoes on tarmac.
Storm, my Irish Cob stallion
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As fate would have it, I finally got to print off a copy of the Unofficial Historical Suppllement, and it looks very good at first glance. It has veteran skills instead of magic items to boost a unit , and a Generic List that doesn’t look at all out of place in any army stats. (with all the usual suspects including Cataphracts and war dogs) added to this are some 30ish specific army lists, of which one is Romans, This adds some more unique units to the basic General and also Mercenaries Troop Lists (handy for Auxilleries such as the Numidians I touched on earlier. It also includes a unique special rule of Pilum with stats Ra 4+ 12" range , A tt 8, Peircing (1) one use only. 15 points per upgrade which would be similar to throwing Mastiff or Mawpup
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The Imperial Roman Legion:
The Full list is :
General on Horse
General on Foot
Roman Scorpion Bolt Thrower (more needed ideally).
2 Elephants
16 Auxiliary Medium/Heavy Cavalry
2 troop units of 12 Auxiliary Bowmen ( one East, the other West.)
1 troop unit of 10 Javalin Skirmishers
22 man Elite Heavy Infantry Regiment of Praetorian Gaurds.
20 Roman Legionnaires Veterans
4 x 20 man Heavy Infantry regiment of Roman Legionnaires, including one raw recruits.
A 20 man Heavy Infantry Auxiliary Spearmen
1 Imperial Roman Legionnaires in Testudo formation
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These are all set up in Hail Caesar unit formations, but I will get around to reformatting them as Kings of War base sizes and work out what points I have.
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Great stuff mate - really like these.
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Many thanks Sceleris. I’ve had a lot of fun building these two armies.
I have been writing a Battle Report for my Roman and Celtic armies, but it is trying out the Hail Caesar rules (the current ones, not the new ones due to kick in next month). I’ll be doing the same battle, or as close as possible, using Kings of War unofficial Historical rules, or maybe even as Herd vs KoM soon,
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