The grizzled elf at the front of the room gave the class a glare and then started snapping in his usual harsh voice, “Alright, let’s sit down. I’ve been going over some other tactics that make infantry a bit more survivable. However, some questions have been raised that make me realize that some of you, for some reason, don’t have the basics of infantry down pat. First off, yes, one individual unit infantry does not have the shock value of cavalry. However, they’re more than just poor sods who have to walk and absorb casualties in battle.”

“With infantry, strength lies in numbers. No, not in one unit. Two units of 20 infantry are stronger than one unit of forty any day. Five units of twenty will be stronger than four units of twenty-five. People mistake “weight of numbers” to mean within one unit. Weight of numbers can be caused by two or more units. The key is the battle line.”

“First off, we want our infantry CLOSE. Not so close that they can’t individually maneuver, but close enough that if the enemy brings enough strength to try and rout one unit quickly, the adjacent units are close enough to support them. Why? Very little out there except for perhaps frenzied Chaos Knights or Bretonnian Grail Knights can break a unit of our Spearmen in one turn all by themselves. Most people will have to hit your unit with 2 other units to try and force a breakthrough, or else hope to attain the flank, and in the case of the former you can use the unit to either side to support him in the attack, adding their weight of numbers to the battle.”

“Let’s look at this example here. Two different lines of 4 units of Spearmen. In an infantry force, this is a good number to have.” Alithan placed two lines of blue blocks on the table in front of him:



“In the top example we have them spaced to support each other. Notice that when I turn one, it can still wheel if need be to respond to other threats. However, if the enemy tries to bring to bear overwhelming force against one unit, the units to either side add their numbers to the fray, pressing down the advantages the enemy units have in numbers.”

“In the second example, we have them wider apart. I hear you saying, “But his flanks are left wide open!” Not going to be so in reality! This is just an example! Chances are your unit is going to be overwhelmed in short order, while the rest of his units press the attack on the remainder of your line, opening your flank and making the beginnings of a rout.”

“The units supporting each other add the weight of numbers continuously. Even if the main target of the attack takes damage, the units on either side keep the pressure up on the enemy, and the spear points stabbing. You’re going to be hitting him back more than he’s going to be hitting you. It’s that simple.

“Now, let’s say those two units flee. Do you pursue them and try and run them down? NO! Yes, you remove them as a factor in the overall battle if you do catch them, but you give up the one strength you have, and that’s the wall of spear points! One lone unit of infantry is so much dog meat! Let the enemy blunt his teeth on your line, and flank his line with your Fast Cavalry and unengaged units if you can. Only when you have a clear advantage should you send your units out of line. Until then, keep them together at all costs.”

“On the defensive, remember this. Spearmen are only good as long as they hold the line. This means that you should stay near your men at all times and encourage them. If at all possible, give them a banner to rally around. With this, your infantry will be a much tougher nut to crack.”

“Finally, on the defensive, a strategic reserve is a must. If a hole appears in your line, you must plug it up immediately or you will fall to the enemy. A solid unit of Silver Helms, Dragon Princes, or Elite Infantry, these are good for this purpose. They can hit the hole hard enough that they can drive a unit back through it if need be, hopefully breaking the resolve of those around it.”

“On the offensive we have another matter. Notice how the enemy has engaged us in my example. If the enemy does not have his lines set close enough, we do the exact same thing to him with our infantry. We hit one of his units with two of ours. In this case we simply overwhelm him with attacks and hopefully chase him off. We use our adjacent units to hit his units to the side, or move them up in support without charging to keep the flanks of the two units we did charge covered. In this manner we keep our line together.

“Now, there’s one issue I’m sure you all noticed. This compact battle line has flanks that are easily reached. There are measures to take with this, one being the Fast Cavalry Flank Screen we already talked about, but there are other options. We’ll cover that next time. This is basic infantry theory right now.”

Game play discussion

If we look at the examples provided above with 2 units of 20 swordsmen, we see how the first example is much better than the second. With the two units attacking, you’re going to have 2 champions, and 4 regular troopers attacking the main unit, for a total of 8 WS 4, S3 attacks. 4 hit, two wound, we save .66 of those, for a total of 1.34 wounds. We’ll round down and say 1 wound. In example 1, they also get 1 attack against the overlapped unit. Probabilities are that they will not wound. So we have 1 wound from the 2 units of swordsmen so far. Now we attack back with the 15 remaining (including champion) attacks of the first unit, plus 3 attacks for the overlapped unit, a total of 18 WS4, S3 attacks. Of these, 9 hit, 4.5 wound, they save 2.25 of those, for a wound total of 2.25. In CR, we have the outnumber bonus (by 1 model) so the CR equation, Spears v. Swordsmen looks like this: 2 wounds + 3 ranks + 1 standard + 1 outnumber vs. 1 wound + 3 ranks + 1 standard. We win by 2.

In example 2, the swords inflict the same 1 wound, however we only get 15 attacks in return. 7.5 hit, 3.75 wound, 1.88 save, 1.7 wounds. Now, we have 1-2 wounds. We’ll be conservative and say 1, though the number is tilted more toward 2. Now we have a CR that looks like: 1 wound + 3 ranks +1 standard vs. 1 wound + 3 ranks + 1 standard + 1 outnumber. We lose by 1. If we inflict the second wound, we draw. Now, chances are that these units will hold if we lose by 1, but now the enemy has got the advantage on us in a war of attrition as there is absolutely no way that this number is going to change. Yes, he’s tied up two of his units trying to break our one, but it’s not that big a deal for him. Considering a 3:2 core unit ratio, this means for our 4 he has 6. He can do the same thing to both flanks and still have units to engage the center and keep the sides engaged for when the ends break, or at least have them tied down while his cavalry manuvers for a flank charge.

If we replace the 2 units of 20 swords for 2 units of 10 cavalry, we have a different CR equation. Now, I know that if he had two cavalry he’d probably be doing a flank/front with the example given above, but there’s ways to prevent it, so we’ll look at it as we’ve somehow forced him to charge adjacent units from the front just for our purposes here.

In example 1 we have 8 WS 4 S5 attacks. 4 hit, 3.52 wound with no save. We also have 6 WS 3 S3 attacks. 3 hit, 1.5 wound, we save .5, 1 more wound. Total 4. We also have 1 WS 4 and 1 WS 3 attack against the overlap unit. Chances are, again, of no wounds. (.5 hit, .43 wound, no save/.5 hit, .25 wound, .08 save) here. Attacking back with 12 attack from the main unit and 3 from the adjacent we get 15 WS 4, S3 attacks. 7 5hit, 3.75 wound, 3.16 save. .59 wounds. Probably 0, but rounding up is 1 We’ll go with 0. CR looks like, Spears vs. Cav: 3 ranks + standard vs. 2 ranks + standard + 4 wounds + 1 outnumber. We lose by 3. However, both units must break. With a general and a BSB nearby, we have a chance that neither will break at 7 LD, or even that just one will break. If just one breaks, then one of his cavalry units pursues and the other is pinned in combat with the overlap unit instead of being ready to roll up our lines.. Not a good situation for cavalry.

In example 2 we have the same 4 wounds, however our chances of doing a wound are even less. CR remains the same, but now only 1 unit is testing for break. If the unit breaks, then one cavalry pursues and the other stays put, giving him a chance to roll up our lines, especially if the enemy has other units along the line engaging our own.

A more likely scenario than 2 units of 10 cavalry is 2 smaller units of 5 or 6. Wounds inflicted will be the same. Overlap in this case is a major bonus. If this is the case, since they lose their ranks bonus and we gain outnumber (where both cav against a single unit would get the outnumber bonus). If it were a single unit, CR would be 3 ranks + 1 standard vs. 4 wounds + 1 standard +1 outnumber. Still a loss by 2 for us. If we have the overlap unit it goes to 3 ranks + 1 standard + 1 outnumber vs. 4 wounds +1 standard. Draw, and 2 units of cavalry tied up.

Now, on the offensive we hit with 2 units at once. We get 14 WS 4, S3 attacks. Against HW&S WS3 infantry 9.24 hit, 4.62 wound, 2.31 save. He attacks back with 4 WS 3 hits. 2 hit, 1 wound, we save .33. Maybe 1 wound on his part. CR is +2-+3 in our favor. Probable broken unit and hole in his line. Make this +1-+2 against WS 4.