Field of Glory Wargames Rules - Things I learnt at the BHGS Challenge:

Rules stuff:

• "Reduced" Shooting dice (LH, LF, 2nd ranks etc) are not actually "reduced" - you "GET" one dice per COMPLETE set of 2 (or 3) bases eligible to shoot, ie round down. This is different to "reduced" hand to hand combat dice where you only LOSE one dice per COMPLETE set of X dice (ie round up).
• According to the "restricted area" rules as written, if someone is pinning you in the flank you can contract frontage (ie contract with the bases nearest the enemy, usually 2 files), move the resulting formation forwards and end up "in front but further away" - but this is so cheesy its probably something that the rules should have disallowed.
• You rally routers BEFORE they do their move in the JAP, not after. Important for keeping them on table.
• You get a -1 in a waver test for being close to your rear base edge, and for being close to the side edge too (unless skirmishers)
  

Tactically I learnt that ...

• The way the rules work is that its important to think about whether your individual units will lose their combats, not if your whole battle line wins or if the enemy units you are facing lose. So, when I threw 2 elephants and 6 gauls into 8 enemy gauls whilst it meant that the enemy gauls were more likley to lose eventually, it was still 50/50 as to whether my Gauls would win or lose at impact - the presence of the elephants in my line made no difference to them at all.

• On the same basis, moving into an existing combat as an overlap really isn't going to help those of your units that are already committed all that much if they are already losing (ie they are already disrupted or fragmented). You need to be in a line at impact, or it's always too little too late.

• Cavalry can rip through foot even in plantations.

• Having 4 generals is really important as the most important thing a general can do is join units and bolster them, and the 2nd most important is to fight in combat - and having a big command range makes no difference to either. You need 1 for bolstering your LH wing, 2 for bolstering and joining your main battle line, and one to do other stuff elsewhere.

• However, an IC can help you survive shooting a little better, but you may still need 4 generals to fix the units that get disrupted by shooting - 3 is still not enough.

• Medieval armies are just better than classical ones - the extra POAs/CMT factors for knights, the higher proportion of armoured foot and especially of armoured or protected LH give them a real edge. Roll on more army list books so we can play in period!!

• Playing 800 points with maybe 12-14 units each side can mean that as a few units start to die and get removed the game (on a 6x4 table) thins out and you end up with units chasing each other round a big empty field (cue Benny Hill music) trying to get that last attrition point.
  

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