forum.wgcwar.com

Again, not so much a question, but a mind flip

I saw in the army lists (Later Carthaginian) that my beloved Numidian Light Horse and Libyan Cav had been lumped together into the element "Javelin Cavalry".
At first, I thought to myself "heresy!!", since every other rules set that I know of always has the Numidians as some kind of "uber light horsemen" with the heavier cavalry being a separate troop type.

But, then I thought about it more, and in the context of 2000+ years of coverage, realized that the Numidians and their Libyan cousins weren't that different in terms of effect. The Numidians certainly aren't bad horse, nor are they bow horse, but they are an effective unit, and having a 3,2 combat factors makes them quite useful against foot especially given their move rate of 8MW!

Against enemy horse, they are about the same, against Libyans (Jav Cav), Romans (Jav Cav), or Gauls (bad horse), so this all makes sense.
Add to this their evasion ability against heavy foot, and even their ability to shatter elephants, knights, and cataphracts.. That makes them downright dangerous! If nothing else, it makes my Libyan Cav far more maneuverable and useful then they were before.

My basing of them might get a bit mixed up as I usually have my Libyans more densely packed, but as long as they are recognizable, it shouldn't be a problem.

There are a lot of differences between systems you might be familiar with and Triumph.

For example in some systems all light horse and any low quality cavalry were lumped into one pile. Mongols, Numidians, and Vikings on stolen horses might be treated the same.

Same with Chariots and Battle Taxis being unique units in Triumph instead of just being treated as another Cavalry unit.

The low quality troops, rabble and bow levy are also not to be overlooked, they really add a lot to the Biblical period.

I do like that the troops are distinct types instead of the standard “veteran”, regular “raw” designation.
Gives you more flexibility with the outcome tables and even with the stats.
I was worried it would be confusing but each army only 3-5 troop types generally so should be easy to remember.

Battle taxis is a really unique one which is fun. I don’t do age of chariots but I do have some Gauls...

Another thing people get confused over it the tactical vs. the Strategic levels of movement.

Classic example in some systems LH (representing Mongols for example) can move up to 6 or 7 times in a single turn causing them to seemingly teleport across the battlefield.

In Triumph there are no magic horses (except in Fantasy Triumph), the Mongols ability to out maneuver enemies was a strategic ability, i.e. they have a higher maneuver factor and are likely to have the option for a flank march. But once they are on the battlefield the light horses do not move 6 times faster than any other horses.

In Triumph any unit can march move if it stays away from the enemy, but they can only move a maximum of two times. This represents a reasonable way to allow fast movement when outside danger from an enemy, i.e. a march move. It does not distort the ability of one troop type vs. any others.