With so many choices to make, how do you pick the army you want and plan to represent it on the table? The key here is to be flexible in figure and basing choices. The correct choices will give you the aesthetic flexibility to morph the army into various compositions without stretching the imagination unduly.

The first step is to consider basing. Personally, I recommend basing all the troops as double-bases of six figures on a base a little deeper than a single base. Not only does this allow you to create little mini-scenes and vignettes, but it is harder to tell how many figs there are on the base. So if you buy them as loose order one time, you could change them into close-order next time (but tell your opponent!) without them looking too spread out. This should also be done with Vikings to give you the option of close or loose-order troops. Also, I feel that they wouldn’t be in neat lines, anyway. I mount them four or five across with one or two ahead or behind the rest, looking like a disorderly shieldwall. It gives the right period ‘feel’ for me, and looks great on the table.

As for weapons, I recommend using medium length spears that could also be either spears/javelins or long spears, or a variety with some longer than others. Depending on the figures you choose to represent your hearty Welshmen, you will end up with some flexibility of representation that will permit variety. The key with the appearance is versatility. If you’ve a mix of javelins, spears and long spears, you can morph them into any foot unit you want. Not only is this probably the most historical look, but it also permits the figures to represent diverse troops without offending your opponent’s aesthetic sensibilities. For a true Dark Ages army, I would favor a mix of swords, axes and spears for that ‘various’ weaponry look. For post-Roman or medieval troops, I would favor an overall long spear appearance for historical reasons.

This is a good time to discuss the virtues of various v. long spear armed troops, because just like the warrior/veteran verses warband choice above, the choice between the two weapons also plays a key role in table tactics. The way to winning melee in MW is to win the first turn and push back your opponent. This is accomplished by causing more fig casualties to him than you receive. Due to the nature of combat resolution, a draw in the first round will probably be a draw for the next few turns, with melee bogging down. To my mind, you want that first-turn win. With that in mind, let’s compare the weapons in game terms.

Various armed troops get one javelin shot per game (representing a dart, javelin, spear, or other throwing weapon they are carrying for just that purpose, but not in great quantities). They also receive +0/+1 factors versus Mtd/foot in the first and subsequent rounds of melee and fight 1½ ranks deep (they also get +1 in the first round if they didn’t throw the javelin in shooting phase). Long spears do not get to throw a weapon, but fight +3/+2 in the first round and +0/+0 in the second and subsequent rounds of melee, and fight 2½ ranks deep. Also, if charged by mounted, the mounted attacker LOSES –1d6 to his close combat factor. As a bonus, you also get +2 to your morale check if you are long spear-armed infantry in good order charged frontally by cavalry. The net effect is that the long spear has a harder punch in the first round, especially when they are a frenzied charge. They can also be very effective against mounted troops when defending.

Overall, the only advantage that the various weapon has is the one shot or the +1 in the first round, and a continual +1 v. foot in the second round. Against lightly armored enemies, you might benefit from the one javelin shot, but it isn’t a great shot. Against most contemporary foes, you will get about a 6-7 shot off on d10. This means that for every ten stands you have firing, you’ll hit 3-4 times. So a unit of four stands should cause about 1-2 figures of casualties. Against an enemy like UI Irish with no shield, you could get about a 4-5 factor for an average of two casualties. If you get one more casualty in melee, you could cause a morale check. To summarize, I think the effectiveness of the various leaves something to be desired compared to the long spear. While they are both useful weapon classes, skillful use of the long spear will win you more first-round melees and present more of a threat to cavalry than various.

With these thoughts in mind, we’ve begun to steer our way towards a Welsh army we would like to use on the table both tactically and aesthetically. Next time, we’ll talk about buying the army, choosing figures and representing the units, followed by tactics!

Building the Welsh Host

Introduction
Part I: Picking an Army from the List
Part II: Choosing Troop Types