Late Teutonic Order

[AirborneEngineer]

I was referring to the Prepared Defenses Battle Card but that is not the effect that these pavises have. Prepared Defenses impacts melee combat by units moving into the defender. A wide range of archers use propped up pavises for missile defense but which provided no real benefit for melee combat. So I was proposing for lack of a better term a Missile Defenses Battle Card that would provide a defense against ranged combat, but no effect on melee. So they would not count as difficult going, but as a +1 to the shot at factor of the defenders behind them.

[David Kuijt]

Here's a belated reply to Andreas and the issue of cavalry equipped with spears and crossbows.

In the Later Polish army we've been convinced by your arguments, and they are now going to be rated as Elite Cavalry with the Sword-fighting Cavalry battle card. Meaning Elite Cavalry if you don't use the Battle Card, and as Sword-fighting Cavalry if you do (based the same).

Sword-fighting Cavalry are essentially Bad Horse who fight at +3/+3, and cost 3.5 points a stand. This will make them effective (but not dominant) troops against most things. Capable of fighting against Horsebow (although slightly disadvantaged by not being able to disengage and being slightly slower). Not as effective against heavy foot, spear, and elite foot (can be killed if doubled) but still pretty good.

In the Teutonic Order army the same troops (essentially) are currently going to stay as Bad Horse (same as all the small numbers of crossbow-armed cavalry in Switz, Germ, etc. employ). We are not going to be changing how the crossbow-armed dudes in Swiss/German employ function. We are probably going to change the rating for Teutonic Order crossbow/spear cavalry, but that change is bound up with the other argument Andreas made -- the case that maybe there should be an evolution of the Teutonic Order list, as it covers from 1201 through 1525 and that's probably inaccurate. Since it is not our policy to whip-saw players with frequent changes, we are delaying consideration of how best to represent the Teutonic Order crossbow cavalry until we can review it as part of the idea of maybe splitting the Teutonic Order list as it is currently into two parts.

[Andreas Johansson]

And here's a belated acknowledgement of that reply

Sounds reasonable enough.

The mounted crossbowmen in the 13th and 14th centuries are largely of different origin and, for obvious reasons, innocent of Hussite influence, so there's no strong reason they need to be classed the same as the 15th century mercenaries.