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Move Fast, Attack Fast, Die Fast - Hsien Pi Successor in Torino
This year the tournament in Torino, on 14th and 15th April 2012, was reserved to classical period armies, from 500BC to 476AD. Since I moved away from Milan I played almost no games, so I had two choices to select the army to use: take a well known list, or go wild and experiment.
I choosed the second option, and decided to test an army with a mix of troops that I really dislike, ICvS and ILhF and see what would have happened.
ICvS are clumsy, and with irregular commanders are more than a match to use in combat. ILhF on the other hand are fast, nimble but extremely brittle. A combination of these two troops type could be interesting in the classical period, because CvS is a rarity and can prove effective. I decided to go for a large number of heavy cavalry. The options were not that many: Sassanid, HsienPi successors or Juan Juan. I had no Sassanid figures, so picked Hsien Pi, that gave me more CvS. The list I selected was this:
C1- CiC ICvS, 6 ICvS, 14 ILhF - 32ME
C2- SG ICvS, 6 ICvS, 14 ILhF - 32ME
C3- SG ICvS, 6 ICvS, 14 ILhF - 32ME
C4- 6 IBgF
I tried to have the largest possible army, with huge BP, because I guessed heavy attritional combat would be the norm. The army had the all mounted deployment die roll mod. This was important, because deploy second would be critical to put the ICvS in the right spot. Even deploying first, I hoped that lining up 21 elements would let me catch something.
Having just two type of troops, the army was simple to use. LhF should screen the ICvS to let them deliver the first charge vs mounted, and act as second line when the heavies engaged the infantry to avoid being repulsed. ICvS doctrine was to pursue enemy infantry always, to benefit from Superior bonus in enemy bound. The wing corps should have used LhF to outflank enemy too.
The terrain to be picked was a 2FE gentle hill, in attack or in defence. The goal was a bare table.
I did not test the army at all before the tournament, so I had not any clue about its performance.
These were the games
The army performed very well. I was helped by deploying three times out of four after my opponent, so my ICvS could be in the right spot and always entered combat. It worked well to use them in all the corps, so when I hd some pip crisis, there was always another corps with the necessary pips to push them in combat. Also the ILhF were a good surprise, used in large number and with high BP they are very useful and well suited to an aggressive tactic.
I think this army is stronger in the second period than in third, having problems to face Bw and in particular BwX.
I can say after having used this army, that also troops perceived as not effective as ICvS, can be useful if properly used and supported. Next frontier will be to play a RAxO army.