Meshwesh minor errors and typos continued (from Oct 5, 2021)

[Viking]

I noted that Nikaian and Epirote byzantine are required to have a Javelin cavalry general, but have no such compulsory elements. I'm assuming they should either be compulsory, or another troop type should be added as an option for the general.

[David Kuijt]

I noted that Nikaian and Epirote byzantine are required to have a Javelin cavalry general, but have no such compulsory elements. I'm assuming they should either be compulsory, or another troop type should be added as an option for the general.

For both: Bad Horse if you don't have any JavCav

Thanks for pointing that out -- I've updated the master document. We're going to work towards uploading the fixes when my semester ends in a few weeks.

[Viking]

Found a similar one when browsing around - armies with Elephant generals and the "Elephant screen" card would need another option for the general, in case the card is used (unless I'm misunderstanding the card, which is definitely a possibility here).

Examples are Later Tamil Indian, Medieval Hindu Kingdoms, Kannauj Empire and Vijayanagar Empire, but I figure there are probably more.

[David Kuijt]

Found a similar one when browsing around - armies with Elephant generals and the "Elephant screen" card would need another option for the general, in case the card is used (unless I'm misunderstanding the card, which is definitely a possibility here).

Examples are Later Tamil Indian, Medieval Hindu Kingdoms, Kannauj Empire and Vijayanagar Empire, but I figure there are probably more.

Hm. That's a tougher one. There is no easy way to write "Elephant General unless all the elephants are being used in Elephant Screen" in the Meshwesh code.

[Viking]

Hm. That's a tougher one. There is no easy way to write "Elephant General unless all the elephants are being used in Elephant Screen" in the Meshwesh code.

Would it be possible to use the standard format of "If present: Elephants, Otherwise: X"? Or is it hardcoded into Meshwesh that this cannot be done if the first element is mandatory?

Possibly also adding a note to the card that "For purposes of selecting the general's troop type, elephants are considered to be not present" but I would think it wouldn't really be needed as it already makes clear that no Elephant stands are selected.

[David Kuijt]

Hm. That's a tougher one. There is no easy way to write "Elephant General unless all the elephants are being used in Elephant Screen" in the Meshwesh code.

Would it be possible to use the standard format of "If present: Elephants, Otherwise: X"? Or is it hardcoded into Meshwesh that this cannot be done if the first element is mandatory?

I could do that, but (a) it would be confusing to people who weren't thinking about Elephant Screen's impact on Elephants, and (b) it would be changing the army list in some really fundamental ways. That needs to be carefully considered. It might be more reasonable to cut out Elephant Screen completely for Tamils/Burmese/etc. (2-3 Elephant armies with Elephant generals). It needs some research.

In particular, do we have any evidence that Elephant Screen (using a screen of Elephants in front of a line of foot) happened farther East than Persia? We have evidence for its use by Darius and by Pyrrhus, which makes it naturally available for all Successor armies. Sadly we have very very few primary source descriptions of battles (translated into English) in India and Southeast Asia -- the heartland of Elephant warfare. If anyone has any battle description with something that sounds like spreading a thin line of Elephants in front of your army to stiffen it, coming from India/Burma/Thailand/etc., I'd really like to hear about it.