Back to SAGA. I wanted to incorporate chariots as more than just taxis. Earlier in Britain and Gaul they gave the Romans some problems and they look cool. In my reading it appears the light chariots would ride up and harrass the legions with javalins and this was very effective. When both sides closed the primary would dismount and fight on foot. If he needed to escape the chariot would magically arrive to wisk him away. Caesar accounts that the chariots were good in all kinds of terrain and could charge up hills with ease. Now before someone shouts, "ahistorical" may I remind you that SAGA currently has rules for packs of trained attack dogs! My thoughts on rules for chariots with SAGA:
1. Costs 1 point and you get an elite unit of 4 chariots. They are armed with javelins but are trained in melee as well. They move as mounted units but suffer no adverse affects from uneven terrain similar to camels. A warband is limited to 1 unit of chariots.
2. AC is 5 for shooting and Melee.
3. They generate 2 dice in melee and 1 for shooting. If they shoot the target unit will automatically sustain 1 fatigue regardless of casualty generation ( or not). [ This simulates their tactics of softening up the Romans with javelins which apparently was unnerving.]
4. If the chariots disengage from melee they get to move "L".
So... how did it go?
I thought the game played well. SAGA is always fun; it clearly is a game not a simulation. My modern squads would love to have the command and control that my SAGA commander has. Since I know little about the dark ages it doesn't bother me.
I think the chariot rules worked well and they are not too strong. I like that they generate the fatigue as it is different and I believe it reflects what occurred. Once you get them in melee they are nothing special. Couple more plays will tell. If anyone else uses these rules please give me some feedback.
Promise I will get to either Europe or Iraq soon!
Enjoy
Joe
Not sure that it works.
ReplyDeleteBasically you took a unit of mounted hearthguard with javelins. Then you eliminated all of their negatives ie. no down 1 for being shot at, no penalties for uneven terrain. Finally you gave them a big bonus of adding a fatigue against anything they hit in shooting. By putting a fatigue on the opposing unit that makes the chariots armor effectively a 6. Yet this super unit of Hearthguard is still pointed the same as any other hearthguard.
Maybe give each chariot 3 attack dice in melee and 2 shooting dice, but only use the two chariots. This makes then tough but very brittle as they only take 2 hits to destroy.
I like your suggestion of dropping it to a 2 figure unit. Will try that. I disagree that placing fatigue makes their armor effectively a "6". In the above game they were attacked by the roman cavalry; their armor remained at "5".
ReplyDeleteThanks
Joe