A contributor in last August's SAGA (volume V, number 4) had a request for a series of articles for beginners on WRG 7th rules and tactics. What follows is my attempt at satisfying this request. For the record, I'm part Limey, mostly Aussie, living currently in England. I spend most of my wargaming time playing "ancients", usually using 7th edition.

I will start with the most important aspect of gaming 7th -- choice of army and army organization. Although this does not sound an exciting as timing a successful knight's charge, manoeuvering an "Irregular A" warband into position to wipe out the enemy's centre, or throwing a plus 4 at the right moment, your choice of army and its organisation will underlie the formations and tactics you will need to adopt and perfect, and as such is critical to your whole game. It is not for nothing that armies both ancient and modern devote considerable energies towards the question of organination.

Armies

For a beginner, choosing an army is difficult because you do not know how a set of rules will treat it. Although the point system is supposed to make all armies equal, the reality is, to paraphrase George Orwell, that some armies are more equal than others. What this means is that under 7th edition some armies have the odds stacked in their favour because they are predominantly armed with weapons that have good factors. While I do not advocation you only wargane with one of these armies, you need to be aware that some armies will be harder to use/win with than others.

And which are these "super" armies? Well, fortunately under 7th the range is wide and that there is no one truly "super" army. My list of naturally powerful armies is an follows: Any of the Hellenistic armies because of the combination of a good Infantry weapon (the pike) with a good six or troop types; the Later Romans because of the powerful combination of HTW, JLS (and dart if you want it) infantry backed up by reasonable support troops and the Germanic (especially Teutonic) Knight armies because of the powerful wedge cavalry.

Thus for a beginner who does not already have his heart set on an army, I could recommend any of the above. The good weapons factors man that they we more "forgiving" -- a pike block or legion which is outmanoeuvred and facing a huge "Irregular A" warband block in more likely to be able to look after itself than a LTS armed Greek Roplito or Byzantine Skutatoi unit. A second advantage of using a Hellenistic or Roman army in that you can switch armies without too much extra purchase of figures. A Selucid army could be remodelled as a Ptolemaic or Pyrrhic with minimal fuss, a Later Imperial Roman can also masquerade an a Mid Imperial or Patrician or even, at a stretch, an Early Byzantine. Thus for a minimal investment you got "expandability" and are able to try out other armies to see how you like them.

Now, don't got excited because I'm not recommending your favourite army which happens to be, say, Early Libyan. Balancing the situation of the "super" army is the prospect that you my be attracted to, or identify with, a particular army. Personal enthusiasm and inspiration in an important consideration when starting up in a period or attempting the expensive and time consuming task of putting together an army. Another consideration is what you wargaming friends or local club use. There is a lot to be said for attempting to keep opposing armies roughly contemporary, and it would be silly to rush out and purchase an Alexandrian Imperial army if all your friends and your local club were only interested in the Dark Ages. The best army is a balanced army - a mix of light and heavier cavalry plus infantry in some sort of combination. The armies I have recommended above do have this blend - but so do many other armies. As a final note, I have observed at the larger UK competitions there is a tendency to break away from using Later Roman/Hellenistic armies - and this is by top players who are out to win.

Organisation

Now that you have picked your army, how do you organise it? Big units or little units? Lots of close order infantry or maximise the cavalry? There in no easy answer. I have been beaten in competitions whore an opponent fielded a Later Roman with only ten units, and beaten by a Mongol army which had 30 plus units - almost all the cavalry van in 4-man LC units or 6-man MC units (1600 point games in both cases). So unit size will depend on the army and the style of play you prefer. However, there are some guidelines I can offer.

Small units are more vulnerable to missile fire. I can best illustrate this by the following scenarios, as illustrated in the diagram below. An isolated, shielded MI unit in under close range missile attack by a hoarde of fresh LI bowman, enough to overlap it on either flank. Consider the case whore the MI unit is 8, 16 and 24 figures strong respectively, and the LI throw "evens" on their shooting random factor.

• The 8-man unit is disordered and must halt or waver (p37 - Prep shooting
• The 16-man unit must halt or waver, but is not disordered.
• The 24-man unit suffers 1 CPF. No problems.

The 8-man unit is in serious trouble because next turn the LI shoot at one factor better (shielded but disordered MI or HI - p31, part. 8). Unless the LI throw -2 or worse the MI will suffer at least another 3 CPF and be forced to take a waver test, a second become disordered combat result while already disordered (p.22 para 10). Too, preparatory shooting does count as combat. This rule is very important to missile based armies and it means that you can break opponents by preparatory shooting alone. But more about this later.

Thus the rule or thumb is that a larger unit is less vulnerable. Now someone is going to argue that three 8 man MI units can absorb the casualties as well as one 24-man unit, and offers more flexibility. Possibly, but the flank 8 man units are still vulnerable to overlap shooting on each flank. More importantly, you have paid an extra 20 points in command factors (50 points if Irregular) for the privilege of keeping three units precisely in line, 20 points that could have been spend perhaps wore productively elsewhere.

Suggested unit sizes are as follows:

Legionary, Roman Aux1lia, Peltast 24
Pike 32 (48 if "D" grade).
Warband/Irregular foot. 24 minimum.
"D" grade troops or Hoplite/LTS foot 48 (if possible).
Other LMI types 24 minimum.
Light Infantry in support/pin role 4, 6 or 8.
Light Infantry in aggressor role 12,16, 20 or 24.
Light Cavalry in support/pin role 4, 6 or 8.
Light Cavalry in aggressor role 12 or 18.
Heavier Cavalry in support/reserve role 6.
Heavier Cavalry in aggressor role 12 or 18.
SHC 8.

You will notice that for close order foot units I recommend a minimum size of 24 figures. A 24 man unit, 2 ranks deep, cannot be automatically routed by a charge from a single scythed chariot model or a six man cavalry wedge. While a scythed chariot or cavalry wedge is likely to be able to dish out twice an many casualties as it received onto a legionary or warband unit, it will not be able to generate 3 CPF, even on maximum factor. Conversely, if you have scythed chariots or cavalry wedges in your armies and you are faced by an opponent who organizes his legionaries into 16 man units you will now know what to do! The same principle applies to LMI/LHI units, although you must accept that they are more vulnerable to mounted charges in the open because they have to take a waver test if charged (P22).

I suggest putting hoplites into 40 man units if you are likely to face HTW or Pike to minimize their vulnerability to these weapons. Putting "D" troops into large units helps minimize their weaker melee capability. I mention a 24 man light infantry unit because it is worth considering using a large unit of light infantry aggressively on a flank to frighten smaller light infantry or cavalry units. The light infantry will need support from a small unit of cavalry to back up the threat and to improve their morale (see p22, para 8 - support rules).

Larger units of horse archer light cavalry are worth considering. Two or three units of 18-man horse archers operating in three ranks can generate a considerable amount of firepower - three ranks of LC can fire if skirmishing (P30, para 5). Their depth and the reduction in hits an a result of being in skirmish means that it in unlikely that they will receive significant casualties in return. Two or three such units can operate aggressively against a weaker opposing cavalry flank or pick on foot archers or exposed units. Remember that Horse archers can win without having to engage in melee. If they keep inflicting "become disordered" shooting results on an opponent in two or more successive turns they will force the opposing player to take waver tests.

Small units of light infantry or cavalry are useful for pinning down larger opposing units and prevent them from marching or reinforcing elsewhere. Their vulnerability means you need to utilize counters as such an possible in order to keep them out of close range missile attack and extend the initial separation gap in case they are charged (p26, para 3 - evade). Regulars and high morale class troops are bettor at this since they have a higher chance of succeeding in a counter (P25), and regulars can move further than irregular troops (p26, last par&). But small units will not be able to hold up the enemy indefinitely. By their very nature they will need to constantly give ground. You must assume that they will eventually fail their counters and get shot up or caught in a charge. It to up to you to ensure that the bulk of your army is doing what it is supposed to -- overwhelming the opposition. If you succeed then the cost associated with the destruction of several of your small light units will be outweighed by the loss of larger, more expensive, enemy units.

The next part of the article will consider that important ingredient of Wargaming - morale...

More Beginners Guide to Tactics Under WRG 7th

Part 1: Pick Your Army {Saga v5n6)
Part 2: The Waver Test and How to Avoid It {Saga v6n1)
Part 3: Movement, Missiles, Melee {Saga v6n2)
Part 4: Competition Wargaming {Saga v6n3)
Part 5: Pilum, Darts and Javelins {Saga v6n4)
Part 7: Foot or Mounted? {Saga v6n6)