"Warhammer English Civil War - army lists?" Topic

What does a 1500 pt army look like? How big are your pike & shot blocks?

The rules don't require them to be any particular size.

But close combat in this game gives a bonus to units ranked up deep, and pikes can fight multiple ranks. To qualify for the bonus a rank must be at least of 4 figures wide.

So, to get the full benefit you'd want a pike block that was at least 16 figures ( four ranks of four).

So if you maintain the "typical" 1:1 or 2:1 ratio you're looking at a minimum of 32 figures (16 shot & 16 pike) or 48 figures (32 shot, and 16 pike).

Typically we play 16 pike with 16 supporting shot; two wings of 8 shot each. We've also played 24 and 32 pike to stil give soldi support if the regiment takes some casulaties but have kept our shot at wings of 8.

We have often done 12 pike and 24 shot units.

I finally got around to running a game of WECW with my group and it averaged about 12-16 pike with approximately double the amount of shot in two separate units. So a 12 figure pike unit would have two units of shot of 12 figures each or 24 shot in all. While it is nice to field the bigger blocks of pike to get the full 3 ranks the shot is really what takes the toll on the other side in the battles. Oh and cavalry can be very nasty. I do have a number of foot units that have a 1:1 ratio of pike and shot and that is alright as well in particular if you are running early to mid war scenarios. A two to one ratio of pike to shot was the desired goal but not always achieved in particular for the cash strapped Royalists. The Scots tended to field larger pike blocks as well.

If you are planning to go for the Warlord plastics, they seem to provide decent sized unit per box: 16 pike (if you add in the command models) and two sleeves of 12 shot each.

But it depends on the unit. With some of the Scots units or earlier war units or even some of the later war royalists we have kept the ratio more of 1:1.

In a 1500 pt army it really depends on the quality of your troops but you will be lucky to get more than 3 units of pike & shot and two units of cavalry in at that low point value. You probably need about 3000 pts a side before you get a good game in.

I suspect that the Warlord sets have been created with Warhammer ECW in mind.

Thanks guys. I liked the Warlord minis, but am admittedly ignorant of the ECW. That didn't stop me from buying several units worth.

Not a problem jawjatek I got my start in ECW because I was into the look at first. Then I started learning about the period and the Thirty Years War and the rest as they say was history. Pictor is correct about 1500 points. At most if you are going with mostly steady units you will have about three foot and a couple of horse units per side.

The game I recently ran was about 2225 give or take a side as I was doing a specific scenario. The Royalist had 4 units of foot mostly of steady to veteran quality and a couple of veteran horse units. The Parliamentarian army had three large foot units but were mostly steady or raw and four units of horse that were all steady. I did not run any cannon for the scenario. The total force was over 400+ miniatures.

There is nothing wrong with running 1:1 pike to shot as that is a great way to at least get going with the game. My group is eagerly waiting for me to run another game because we had such a blast with the rules. Of course now I want more figures so I can run some of the bigger historical battles.

For now just get your units organized with what you have and get the stuff on the table and play some games. (Even if it is not all painted) You will enjoy the game so much that you will be energized to learn about the period and to get your figures painted.

Enjoy!

We play in the WECW Tournaments at the HMGS-East Cons. We usually play 1650 points. With that I tend to field two large, solid Pike and Shot units of 16 Pike and 24 Shot. They will withstand a lot of firepower (and a few cannon balls) without taking Morale tests. That way you can break off one of your shot sleeves as a Forlorn Hope and still have some firepower yourself.

I like a Firelock company of skirmishers and I use Dragoons too. A better General would know how to utilize them better and be a hindrance to the march moves of the enemy units.

I have a solid unit of Gallopers and a small Lifegaurd (very heavy hitting but stay away from missile fire) to pester the flanks.

At 2000 points you could get a third Pike and Shot unit and beef up the Cavalry.

As it is now we play on 8"X4" tables. With even minimal terrain things get crowded. A 2000 pt army will be more crowded. These armies take up a lot of frontage. Very fun game though, Morale is critical. There is usually someone running in my army in every battle, even the ones I'm winning.

If you are going to Cold Wars in March drop by and see us. Or bring an army and sign up. We should have some loaner armies and lists available.

Ralph

for 1500 pts I would think the biggest you would see would be 2 units of 16 pike and 24 to 32 muskets. you need that 4 ranks when facing cavalry.

more infantry than that at 1500 pts and you are going to cut into your points available for horse.

For 2500-3000 pt games I have used 20-24 pike blocks before especially when the cavalry units get big and numerous.