Design-notes.
Note of Some Importance:
The Crusader Army is placed outside the frame of reference that we normally use for Warmaster, and in effect simulates an older period. If played outside the scope of this issue then it should be able to hold its own against any of the, less technological, armies that has no gunpowder.
The era of the crusades occurs after 1448 WWT. The original intent behind the crusades is retaliation for the invasion and occupation by the forces of Jaffar. After the siege of Magritta and defeat of the Arabians the peoples of the Old World raise a fleet and the crusades become a reality.
So we are looking at a force that is mixed Estalian/Bretonian/Empire. No flagellants (who come from a later period and are Chaos oriented), no gunpowder (not yet invented/practical). From Bretonia and the Empire it is mostly knights that flock to the cause of the crusade.
On models:
Knights:
for knights don’t use the current Empire knights, but rather the current Bretonian knights with a good paintjob. There are 2 reasons for doing this;
1) Fluffwise the Orders are not yet established and the armour depicted on those units is to 'heavy' and ornamented for this period.
2) The miniatures for Bret and Empire knights look silly next to each other.
Estalians:
Light infantry can be easily done using the Empire Skirmishers, the Conquistadors can be represented using a mix of Empire halberdiers and crossbowmen
The estalian catapults are actually giant crossbows mounted on horse (or donkey) pulled carts. O&G Chariots work fine here, for the crossbow you could use plastic ones from WHFB (or scratchbuild them)
.
Generic Rule Suggestion for Light Cavalry:
Cavalry units defined as Light Horse (360 shooting and 6+ armour) get the following rules:
- On the first round of combat Light Cavalry can opt to fade away (consider this is like a Shoot & Flee reaction). The unit only gets 1 attack per stand, regardless of other circumstances, and the attacking enemy needs 6+ to hit.
- In addition Light Horse is exempt from the Fall Back rule in that it can actually fall back in any direction wanted.
In the army selector below you will notice that there are no point values given (yet). I used the values for units as per the current list, which looks to be OK, but does 'feel' to be a bit to much. So anybody that has a (better) suggestion please shoot.
Army Selector
Trooptype Stats Points Availability Condition Contingent
Hero +2 ld 8 0/1 Bretonia
Crusading Knights 1/1 Must be taken together when taking a Bretonian Contingent Bretonia
Squires Bretonia
Squires -/2 Only after mandatory option is chosen. Bretonia
The assets a Bretonian Contingent can bring into a Crusader Army are considerable:
- A competent field commander, that can become the army general.
- Crusading Knights, a mixture of Questing and Grail knights. Like their 'normal' Bretonian counterparts they ignore Terror and are best used on the offensive, where they gain a +2 when charging in the open. Contrary the BP rules for Bretonia, in a Crusading army knights loose their knightly arrogance and BP is determined as normal. This does however mean the Knight also loose the obligation to charge!
- Squires use the normal rules as laid out in the Bret army list. With a max of 3 units of Squires the Bret contingent can easily brigade as a flexible cavalry brigade.
Trooptype Stats Points Availability Condition Contingent
Hero +2 ld 8 1/1 Empire
Warlock +1 ld 7 0/1 Only with Empire General Empire
Knights 0/4 Empire
Like the Bretonian contingent the Empire troops also are easily formed into one brigade.
- A competent field commander, that can become the army general.
- Warlock (see below)
- Empire knights in the Crusading army would be the younger sons of the empire's nobility, hedge-knights and fame- and fortune looking scoundrels. They follow the normal rules for Empire knights. As noted before, there are good reasons to NOT use the current Knightly Order models.
Trooptype Stats Points Availability Condition Contingent
Hero +1 ld 8 1/2 Estalia
Alchemist 0 ld 7 0/1 Estalia
Cabaleros 3 3 3 5+ 1/3 Estalia
Light Infantry 3/1 3 3 - 2/- Estalia
Conquistadors x/x 3 3 5+ 1/4 Max cap waved under Estalian General Estalia
Catapult 1/2 3 3 6+ 0/1 Estalia
The Estalians form the body of the Crusader army. The Estalian army as it was before the occupation, was loosely based upon the lines of earlier doctrines and leaned heavily on well disciplined Heavy foot supported by other units. This pattern is still visible in its current make-up. Actually this mixture of foot troops, as witnessed by Empire knights that joined the crusades, is the base for the current-days practice of adding skirmishing detachments to its foot regiments.
- Cabaleros: The Estalian cavalry is not on par with their northern counterparts, therefor the Crusading Cabaleros are more then happy to find those more heavily armoured gentlemen before them in the lines. Cabaleros have a 5+ armour safe.
- Light Infantry: The rugged terrain of the Estalian highlands breeds hardy warriors. A lot of these find employment as a marine on an Estalian (trading) vessel. These warriors are used to fighting in a more dispersed formation, using a variety of weapons, including slings, short bows etc. This gives them a frontal 15cm shooting attack and waves the -1 mod for commands in difficult terrain.
- Conquistadors: The conquistadors are a mixed weapons unit that sports spears and other pole-arms as well as crossbows. Normally the unit is 3/- when fighting, but they can opt to be 2/1 and even 1/2. If they choose to do so they will be able to shoot, but will be -1 and -2 to hit (respectivly) in any combat they see during that round.
- Catapults: Estalian Catapults are (2 stand) units that are basically cart mounted arbalista. This allows them to be deployed alongside the infantry, but makes them less strong then, e.g. HE or DE bolt throwers. They can move 20 cm.
Composition of a Crusader Army.
From the first crusade on the actual composition of an expeditionary force would vary according to circumstance. With the bulk of available forces being Estalians, there should always be an Estalian contingent. On the other hand you do have the option of including Bretonian and/or Empire contingents.
If you take only Estalians troops then you can only have Estalian Characters.
If you take a Bretonian contingent then you may include 1 or more Bretonian Heroes.
If you take an Empire contingent then you must take at least 1 Empire Hero.
The Army may be lead by a hero of any of the factions. For this battle the hero gets an effective Leadership of 9 and no limits on the distance of the commands. There is however an upside and a downside to choosing
Bretonian General.
- When ordering Bretonian knights, or a brigade containing one or more Bretonian Knights, the first order in every turn is always modified by +1.
- When ordering Empire units a Bretonian General receive a -1 Cmd modifier.
(note that these DO cancel each other out when you mix Bretonian and Empire knights!)
Empire General.
- A Crusader Army that is led by an Empire General can add a Warlock to its roster.
- An Empire General keeps his (Hero) range of 60 cm when ordering non-Empire troops.
Estalian General.
- Bretonian and Empire Knightly Units, or brigades containing one or more Knights, receive an additional -1 Cmd modifier when ordered by an Estalian General outside 20 cm.
- An army led by an Estalian General does not have a max-cap on the number of Estalian Conquistadors.
Warlock.
The Warlock is a simplified version of the Empire Wizard. He can use Magic Items, but is limited to the Fireball and, from the Bretonian spell-list: Shield of Battle.
Alchemist.
Estalia has a longstanding tradition of tinkering with Alchemy, this was even enhanced by its recent exposure to the Arabians. Still, the pyrotechnics of the Alchemist wont always works as wanted, and follow the same procedure as would the use of Magic.
Naphtha Bombs, 4+.
- When the Alchemist joins a unit, that unit gains an (additional) shooting attack (15cm) for each of its stands. Because of the nature of naphtha, these attacks count armour as 1 worse then normal.
Clinging Fire, 6+.
- From a device on his person, the Alchemist creates a jet of flames that runs from his position, for a total of 30 cm to another nominated spot. The clinging fire will remain in place until the start of the shooting phase of the Alchemists next turn and thus forms a defensive line of flames. Any units under that line, or any unit that tries to cross the flames while still in place, takes damage (3 (shooting) attacks at -1 armour. Hits carry over as per normal S&S). The flames block LOS.
Indus Mist, 4+.
- The Alchemist sets of a chemical reaction, creating a cloud that covers an area centring on the alchemist. The effective radius of the mist is determined by the result of the casting roll!
4 - radius of 20 cm, 5 - radius of 30 cm, 6 - radius of 40 cm
The mist blocks LOS and dissipates after the opponents Shooting Phase! Units inside the afflicted area follow rules for Command, Movement etc. as if they are in a forest (2cm rule for LOS and -1 for command, ignore normal troop modifiers for moving in difficult terrain.)
Kla-boom, 5+, LOS, range 15cm.
- The stunning force of the resulting explosion numbs the senses of any unit in its effective radius (30cm). Roll d6 for each stand in an affected unit, if any come up 6, the unit will be confused.
Original text from the archives of the Oriental Design Team
Original text from the archives of the Oriental Design Team
