forum.wgcwar.com

Hey as a new player I am wondering about the practical uses of BOW LEVY! ( cue dramatic music)
Quite a few armies have them . So other than the classic "bowman in the marsh " routine or the "speed bump ". What tips and tricks do guys have ? Feel free to include rabble and horde .

Bow Levy are great for cheap line of defense against mounted, keep in mind there are a lot of troops that can evade from your heavy infantry, but not from Bow Levy.

Rabble are good for group moving through rough terrain and swamping a a flank., and they can mess up elephants if they get lucky. They are reasonable for countering enemy skirmishers although slower.

Horde are a decent for a static solid line and can reasonable hold up to other infantry +3 vs ft and at 2 points you can field reserves.

Depends upon the foe, and that's true for almost all troop types.

A major part of the strategy with Triumph is to decide where you are going to allocate your command points as the game evolves. Nobody ever has enough. This is often described as choosing where on the battlefield you are going to win, and where you are going to not-lose. Nobody has enough command points to win everywhere.

So there are tradeoffs. Speed gives you greater impact per command point in terms of relocating your troops, and can allow you to force the enemy to spend command points somewhere he didn't want to (to avoid all the negative results of being outmaneuvered). But you don't need to match speed with speed. There are other tools, other solutions. One of them is terrain. One of them is ranged combat. And one of them is numbers.

Bow Levy are uniquely suited to stymie enemy fast mounted without using command points. Set up well, in support of a good overall plan, they can present a blocking force that enemy fast mounted cannot easily deal with -- forcing the enemy to spend lots of command points on a flank where you are spending few or no command points. That's a pip sink for the enemy -- which is a big advantage for you on the other flank, where you will end up with an advantage in pips. And if your attack on the other flank is going well, it can force the enemy to attack Bow Levy with troops that are under time pressure and forced into ill-advised charges.

Bow Levy are not attacking troops. But they can hold almost indefinitely against enemy Chariots or Horsebow or Bad Horse, and even fight at an army-point disadvantage (since they are 2pt stands, and Chariots/Horsebow are 4pt stands) -- which means on the rest of the battlefield, you will have an army point advantage. Bow Levy need more strength (deeper lines or wider) to hold against Javelin Cavalry or Knights, but they can still do it at some risk. With even army-point numbers they can hold a long time against enemy Archers, Pavises, Skirmishers, or Rabble as well. They have more difficulty against Heavy Foot, Raiders, and Light Foot, and they are basically tissue paper against Elite Foot, but you can almost always deploy such that they are in little risk against the 3mu troops.

I've won an open tournament (everyone takes whatever army they like from the army lists; not a theme) using Neo Babylonian (12 Bow Levy). It was a total gas. I called my defense against Knights the "Comfy Pillow" defense -- Knights would charge, kill one or two Bow Levy, then get swallowed, double-overlapped, and absorbed. Doesn't take much of that to break the enemy. I took a lot of casualties, but so what? Bow Levy are like corn chips -- if they die, you've got lots more where that came from.

Another very important point, especially when you are using MASS QUANTITIES of Bow Levy (like my Neo-Babs) is this: Bow Levy are open-order troops. What does that mean? It means that other open-order troops can move through them. In other words, Chariots, Knights, Bad Horse, Light Foot, whatever you've got -- you can have a line of single-ranked Bow Levy with a reserve of a few mounted behind it. If something unpleasant (to Bow Levy) -- Raiders, Elite Foot, Heavy Foot, whatever comes up and pops one of your stands, you throw a Knight or Chariot into the hole and pop them in return. Or if they are unlucky and just push back the Bow Levy, you can move through the Bow Levy and put the Knight in the gap. Presto, changeo, you've got a Knight fighting against an enemy Elite Foot, with overlaps. That's an excellent chance of killing a 4pt stand.

It ain't easy -- Bow Levy are bitchin' slow, if your strategy is to move them. (Their speed is irrelevant if their plan is to stand and strike a pose, hold a gap between terrain against mounted, or whatever). Whenever you have a slow army, it helps to have good skills at predicting the future and analyzing terrain (to know where the battle is going to be fought four or more turns down the road). Fast armies are more forgiving.

But Bow Levy are an excellent troop type, and can really frustrate enemies who go the simple route (high-maneuver, high-army-point-cost stands, small army).

I have a battle report posted on the forum "Early Sumerians vs. Nomadic Amurru" which features a lot of bow levy on both sides. There is also a lot of good commentary on how to use them in battle in combination with other light troops.

Thanks for all the great indo . Good stuff if any body has more examples ( exploits ) please share .