With that said I'm a little surprised their hasn't been more discussion of:
Personally I think it all sounds pretty good and I'm looking forward to playing it.CHANGEs in Version 2
Many clarifications made to wording.
Skirmishers less slippery, with reduced ability to slow enemy movement and less ability to concentrate shooting without risk.
Shooting range reduced to 3 MU for LH (and single-ranked cavalry) with bow.
Effective range reduced to 3 MU for LF with bow, longbow, crossbow or sling.
Evaders cannot turn at any table edge to avoid evading off the table.
Second moves can go to just beyond 4 MUs of enemy skirmishers.
Turn and move and expand and move – distance reduced by 2 MUs.
Drilled troops less manoeuvrable and undrilled troops less unmanoeuvrable:
Move with 90 degree turn or expansion reduced by 2 MUs.
Turn, retired and turn again move reduced to 2 MU, but also possible for single ranked non-shock cavalry, camelry, chariots.
No wheel or double wheel can exceed a total of 90 degrees.
Wheeling/short-moving by Other Undrilled without a commander only complex within 4 MUs of any enemy skirmishers or 6 MUs of any other enemy (including the enemy camp but not an enemy commander’s base).
Undrilled other troops with a general can make a stationary 90 or 180 degree turn without taking a CMT.
Move Distances:
Movement distances of HF increased in Uneven and Difficult.
Armoured Knights move distances increased to same as Cavalry.
Elephants move increased in Difficult.
Heavy Artillery can pivot.
Bonus movement distances for columns in terrain removed.
FRAGMENTED troops have their maximum movement distance reduced by 1 MU (after any other deductions). However, they do not need to take a CMT to move.
Very large (“swarm”) armies easier to break:
Break point of army cannot exceed the total points value of the army divided by 50, rounded up. (e.g. 16 in the case of an 800 point army).
Battle troops (i.e. Cavalry, Camelry, Light Chariots) which evade of table count as 2 attrition points.
Commanders limited in how many battle groups they can command as a battle line – making Field Commanders more worthwhile:
A Troop Commander cannot command a battle line of more than 2 battle groups.
A Field Commander cannot command a battle line of more than 4 battle groups.
An Inspired Commander cannot command a battle line of more than 6 battle groups.
Commanders cannot affect the re-rolls of scythed chariots and artillery.
Only commanders depicted on elephants (and so specified in the special instructions to their army list) can affect the re-rolls of elephants.
Commanders depicted on elephants cannot affect the re-rolls of other mounted troops.
Interpenetration anomalies prevented:
Leapfrogging prevented.
“Teleport” interpenetrations prevented.
Elephants improved:
Get 3 dice per base in impact combat.
Shooting:
Ranges changed as above.
Non-single-ranked Protected and Unprotected cavalry less vulnerable to shooting.
Crossbows (and longbows) get + POA vs non-single-ranked Protected and Armoured cavalry.
Support shooting no longer on a - POA.
Close combat effects of superior armour reduced:
A single level of armour advantage does not give a + POA if this would result in an overall ++ POA.
This means that Barbarian foot are no longer a walkover for Romans.
Changes to rules for rear support and routing make historical multi-line formations more viable:
Rear Support:
Bases from other BGs do not have to all be directly behind the supported BG – bases in edge contact with such bases also count.
After the initial rout, routers can
Shift up to 2 base widths to avoid friends etc.
Pass through friendly drilled troops as a permitted interpenetration. [Hence they don’t drop cohesion].
Ability of high quality troops to keep fighting despite heavy losses reduced:
CT modifier of -1 for each 25% of original strength lost.
Broken battle groups at or below 50% of their original strength cannot be rallied, and are removed at the end of the JAP.
Restricted area:
Any battle group capable of doing so can move straight back perpendicular to its own rear. A battle group in the restricted area of enemy even partly behind it rear can move straight forwards. These moves are permitted even if the battle group ends its move no longer in front of the enemy battle group.
Moves by pinned battle groups can include contraction of files that are not in any restricted area.
Cohesion test:
First three Cohesion Test modifiers altered to:
Battle group suffered at least 1 HP2B from shooting or close combat -1
Battle group testing for losing impact phase combat -1
Battle group testing for losing melee phase combat in which it received at least 2 more hits than it inflicted -1
Modifier for losses is now -1 for each 25% lost.
Extra -1 modifier if testing for seeing C-in-C lost.
Heavy chariots inflict a -1 CT modifier on enemy they beat at impact. (Like lancers in V1)
Set-up rules:
Cataphract camels don’t count towards initiative modifiers.
The player winning the pre-battle initiative roll can choose whether to keep the initiative or pass it over to his opponent. (Thus getting to move first).
Player without initiative chooses his terrain pieces first.
Roads are placed last during terrain set-up so that they cannot be used to block other terrain placement.
1 extra Brush added to Steppe territory.
Terrain “touching side edge” can touch river instead.
Deployment area for non-skirmishers increased to 12 MUs from long table edge.
Flank Marches: Any battle groups that cannot fit onto the table on the turn of arrival will never arrive and count as straggling.
Dismounted heavily armoured knights have HW capability.
Other miscellaneous changes:
Wheel in a charge must be at the start of the charge and direction is declared before any charge responses are declared.
New rule prevents enemy from blocking turns.
VMD not taken into account when decided whether shock troops need to test not to charge.
Skirmishers MUST evade non-skirmishers in the open.
FRAGGed troopscharged in flank or rear which would drop a cohesion level on impact, instead break immediately without testing or waiting to be contacted.
A move into contact with the enemy camp is treated as a charge. As such, it can be intercepted.
Only foot battle troops can sack a fortified camp.
A battle group that did not charge this move is not required to conform if doing so will expose it to a flank or rear charge by an enemy battle group next turn (unless a flank or rear charge by that battle group is possible even if it does not conform).
Heavy weapon capability no longer cancelled by skilled swordsmen or skirmishers.
Foot defending field fortifications (but not portable defences) need not pursue broken enemy.
Field Fortifications:
If any are used, the army must have at least 4 base-widths of them.
Troops must have front or side edge touching FF to count defending.
Battle groups facing in more than one direction (including those in orb or in a “kinked” column) cannot claim rear support.
“Kinked” columns cannot intercept, evade or declare charges, but are not exempt from charging without orders.
Improvements to selected army lists included in rulebook.
2.
1.The following armies (but not ally contingents derived from them) can have up to 1/3 of their battle groups of the specified type upgraded to Superior, representing separately deployed picked warriors. Such battle groups cannot exceed 8 bases.
Early Nomad (Foot warriors)
Early Highland Raiders (Warriors)
Early Libyan (Swordsmen)
Illyrian (Warriors)
Ancient Spanish (Scutarii or heavy caetrati)
Early German (Warriors)
Early Scots-Irish (Warriors)
Caledonian (Warriors)
Early Visigothic or Early Vandal (Warriors)
Early Frankish, Alamanni, Burgundi, Limigantes, Quadi, Rugii, Suebi or Turcilingi (Warriors)
3.The minimum size of battle groups including auxiliary foot with Light Spear capability in Dominate and Foederate Roman lists is increased to 6.
4.Imitation legionaries in Pontic and Galatian (but not Numidian) armies gain the option to be Armoured.
5.All Byzantine Cavalry battle groups classified as ½ Lancers, Swordsmen, ½ Bow, Swordsmen, gain the option to have all bases classified as Bow*, Lancers, Swordsmen.
6.All Byzantine Cavalry battle groups with all bases classified as Bow, Swordsmen gain the option to have all bases classified as Light Horse (same armour class etc.).
7.Christian Nubian armies cannot have more than ½ of their Medium Foot archers battle groups as Superior.
8.All Drilled Average Knights specified as “mercenary” gain the option to be Undrilled Superior.
9.Later Ottoman Turkish armies cannot have more than ½ of their Timariots battle groups as Superior.
10.Late Heian to Muromachi Japanese can have up to ½ of their “Bushi and followers” battle groups as Superior.
Recommended army sizes and table sizes changed to encourage more variety in tournament formats.
11.
Sure it doesn't fix everything. Troop quality is still poorly priced (we will still see lots of superior battle troops and almost no poor ones) and I'm a little concerned that one undesirable impact of making poorer generals unable to control larger battle lines will be to slow the game down slightly. It is, however, a long list and I like pretty much everything else on it.
What do other people think?
Martin
