"Huns Again" Topic

I'm putting the final touches to my first Late Roman Civil War to be held on Sunday.

I very much like my Late Roman army. It's by no means dazzling but pretty good for my abilities as a painter.

As I seem to have had no luck in manipulati….sorry, persuading any of my pals to build a Sassanid or other eastern opponent and as I am fairly reluctant to begin another army, I'm stuck with civil wars….unless….

I have a fairly large bunch of Germanic types I'm using as Goths. It occurs to me that if I bolster this existing force with as little as 4-6 units of Huns, I'd have a viable opposition to the L.R.s. This means they'd be about 20% of a new Hun-Goth army.

So I've been thinking how they'd fit into my simple, home-groan rules.

Some thoughts:

1. Hunnic light cavalry should have a decent melee ability (unlike the Roman mounted archers).

2, All Hun units should have an archery ability, even the heavy cavalry.

3. All Hun units should be 'elite'. Note: only 2 out of 34 of my Roman units are so designated. 'Elite' status gets improved melee ability and a greater ability to pass morale tests.

The Huns seemed to terrify everyone. It doesn't seem out of line to tweak them upwards this way. Their low numbers wouldn't make for a "super-army".

Thoughts?

I think giving every Hun elite status might be a bit much – perhaps leave the archers out; and the archery ability of the heavy cavalry should be a bit less than that of, say, actual horse archers

Just a thought! Otherwise makes sense especially given low numbers

Why should all Huns be elite?

Makes no sense making all Huns elite status. The nobility yes but common mounted warriors no. The Huns were not supermen but they took advantage of their mobility and their bows firepower to gain an advantage over their foes.

Of course they were not supermen.
But that is how the Romans saw them:

"You would not hesitate to call them the most terrible of all warriors" -Ammianus Marcellinus.

In my rules, "elite" (as I explained above) gives some advantage, not some overwhelming one. I think the point is that their horse archers (the majority of their forces) would close with an enemy, unlike those of the Romans.

Ok, what figs are you using? Plastic and a variety of metals? Looking forward to any pics you may provide.

On a secondary note I have found some 28mm Austrian and Prussian SYW STL files (infantry, Cav, artillery, lt troops, command and more) for my resin printers. I am scaling them to 1/72 scale to solve my Cavalry issue. I am VERY excited!

Thanks

John

John, we need to talk…..

Points 1 & 2 agree with. Huns were noted that they were not adverse to entering close quarters with an enemy. Elite status? Being willing and undeterred to enter close combat when deemed advantageous does not necessarily mean they were more capable in melee than their counterparts.
If by elite status it confers a higher willingness to charge/counter charge an opponent that would be true of the Huns.

Email me at johnleahy55atyahoodotcom

Thanks

John

I would suggest that the nobles be elite, but give the Romans a negative modifier in melee against the Huna, or a negative modifier to morale when in melee with the Huns to reflect the fear they cause.

You could give the Romans a negative factor, and name it "Restless Huns"

I'm sure the copyright on WRG 3rd edition has expired since the mid 70s so you'd probably be safe from legal action by now too!

"Elite" is just a word – perhaps too loosely used.

Try "superior" perhaps? I have a Roman civil war game this Sunday & the one unit of Huns I have will get the upgrades mentioned above & I'll see how that goes.