POLL: Legionaries in WAB: Broken?

207 votes were cast.

Monophthalmus

writes:

Case in point – played an 'out of period' game last weekend for fun. Alexandrian Macedonians versus EIR's. Alexander at the head of 9 Companions in wedge bounced off and ultimately got wiped out by a 16 strong unit of Legionarries arrayed 4x4; Much mirth ensued with crys of 'Alexander the Mediochre' ringing round the room. Not my most glorious encounter :-(
If Alexander can't break a single cohort in a frontal assault, what chance for warbands???

Back to the Homepage

731 hits since 16 Oct 2009
©1994-2009 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?

If you were a member of this website, you could participate in website polls. Would you like a free membership?

VOTING RESULTS
Answer	Votes	%	Chart
yes - WAB doesn't handle legionaries properly	74	36%
no - the system works fine	47	23%
abstain	86	42%

POLL IS CLOSED

POLL DESCRIPTION

Writing in Slingshot magazine, Adrian Goldsworthy observes:

Legionaries are effective troops in WAB, but I have long been dissatisfied with just how this is achieved. In the system, infantry units can claim a bonus of up to +3 on combat resolution for each rank after the first. This does mean that many players will always try to deploy their infantry units in at least four ranks...

...there is something distinctly odd when it makes sense to deploy Roman legionaries in the same depth as pikemen or a tribal warband. The legionaries - and indeed auxiliary infantry - would in reality have deployed in shallower lines, but there is little to encourage this.

Do you consider Roman legionaries to work improperly under WAB rules?