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| An army without spears? http://wwww.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14867 |
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| Author: | Monkeyboy1989 [ Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | An army without spears? |
*disclaimer* This may turn into an article, It depends on how well the discussion develops, how lazy I am and how play testing go's as at the moment this is merely theory and conjecture. Thanks for your time. Spears have become common place in my armies, so much so that I have not collected an army of dwarfs, and the lack of spears was the only reason. However that may change, I never (even in tournament lists) construct an army list where winning is more important than theme. I want to make an army of Uruk-hai, an army that would have spent most of it's time running around Rohan and having it's way with villages and whatnot. Now this army would not have any have any heavily armoured troops, siege engines trolls, basically I am (for the sake of my theme) limiting my self to units only from the Isenguard Raiders list... This means no spears. Now I know I said I place theme above winning, but if I can win with a themed army, so much the better! But how do you win with no spears in a game where the player with the biggest shield wall wins (that is how it seems to be in my area)? I expect it can be done, but I'm not sure how. In my games I usually have my main shield wall then one or two skirmishing groups (a hero and 5 or 6 troops), providing the enemy shooting isn't to awesome, these groups normally do very well, but could an army based entirely on skirmishing groups do well? I suppose the key would be in cunning movement as a shield wall is a slow thing to maneuver, it can go in a straight line well enough, but have you ever tried getting one to turn a corner? With maneuverability as my main list target my list will probably be constructed thusly. Ugluk, Vrasku and Sharku on a warg, lots of uruk scouts, a hand full of feral uruks and pleanty (12-16) of warg riders. Each part of this list has a clearly defined objective. Sharku and the wargs. Early - Mid Game: These will be split into two or three groups at first, and their only responsibility is to chase down and eat the more maneuverable parts of the enemy army as these are the bits that could cause me headaches latter on. Mid - Late Game: All my remaining riders will form up into one group and charge the rear of the shield wall, or go for objectives, which ever is more important at the time. Vrasku and the bow armed uruks. These guys form a fire base and shoot the enemies bowmen as an orc bow is seldom of much use against a shield wall. Ugluk the sword armed uruks and the feral uruks. These fellas are perhaps the most instrumental to my plan, and also probably the hardest to use well. My plan for these guys is to form groups of 5-6 warriors with Ugluk in one group and two feral uruks taking his place in the other groups. Early - Mid Game: These guys run around, in an attempt to create the illusion of random movement, in an attempt to make it look like I don't really know how to tackle a shield wall. But the movement won't be random, it will be designed to make the slow shield wall obsolete, it won't know which group to go for, and will (hopefully) make sure the enemy shield wall will not even see combat for a few turns. If the enemy brakes up his shield wall to chase the uruk groups, then so much the better because now, I'm not dealing with a shield wall, I'm dealing with a group of troops no different to the groups of troops I am using. Mid - Late Game: If by this point my opponent hasn't broken up his shield wall and my plan has worked, none of my foot troops should have seen anything more than a minor skirmish. This is when my plan comes to fruition, this is when my opponent should go oh balls I'm surrounded. This is when my army should be in a position to attack his shield wall from multiple angles and render his spears useless. Game Set And Match! Or thats the plan any way. Please rip my plans to shreds, please please contribute your own tactics for playing an army with no spears. I would like this to turn into a good discussion because as said at the top on my post, after discussion and playtesting I would like to write an article on skirmish groups and ways of beating shield walls without resorting to head butting it with a shield wall of your own. Thanks in advance. |
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| Author: | pangloss666 [ Fri May 29, 2009 6:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
i tend not to play spears, going instead for maxed-out troops that can maneuver around the flanks (dwarves and uruk scouts). spears are cool, but they tend to keep the troops 'blocky' |
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| Author: | hithero [ Fri May 29, 2009 10:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
You just hit the front, Shield (doubling your attacks) while the rest take the enemy in the rear and trap him - spears really are no biggy to overcome. |
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| Author: | Theonekoolness [ Fri May 29, 2009 11:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I think your tactic's good hithero, but what then happens if your opponent has Cavalry? He could just as easily pull you to pieces once you've charged the flanks. |
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| Author: | Theonekoolness [ Fri May 29, 2009 11:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I think your tactic's good hithero, but what then happens if your opponent has Cavalry? He could just as easily pull you to pieces once you've charged the flanks. |
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| Author: | Snowy [ Fri May 29, 2009 11:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
well that could happen to any player couldn't it, just try to win Priority next turn so you charge him, and anyway shouldn't you take cavalry to support the normal guys |
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| Author: | Locust Scar [ Sat May 30, 2009 12:39 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Theonekoolness wrote: I think your tactic's good hithero, but what then happens if your opponent has Cavalry? He could just as easily pull you to pieces once you've charged the flanks.
I assume that's what he's using Vrasku and the bow armed Uruks for, and if not, then that's something to think about. |
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| Author: | General Haar [ Sat May 30, 2009 3:36 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Spears hurt, but really, if you can surround them/flank them like Hithero said and are able to keep enough of the men "taking the brunt" alive, it should work. But scouts, I don't know. Their defense leaves something to be desired. You may be better off taking a bunch of White-hand Uruk-Hai with shields and allying in Warg riders. However, a smart player isn't just going to let you flank them. I play shields with Gondor. You can shieldwall, but spears =/= being static. Your idea of false movement is your best bet. Just shield when outnumbered and try to lay into them as hard as you can when not (Stacking 2 or 3 versus 1, etc). As for your archers, shoot the ends of their lines to shrink it, which will help you surround them. |
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| Author: | hithero [ Sat May 30, 2009 11:39 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Theonekoolness wrote: I think your tactic's good hithero, but what then happens if your opponent has Cavalry? He could just as easily pull you to pieces once you've charged the flanks.
There alway's if's and but's to any tactic or counter-tactics, this is what makes the game so great. Another would be to blow them all away with a catapult or sorcerouse blast - so many options. |
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