Intro:
This is my first faction guide and 2nd article. for the curious, the title is taken from a Welsh hymn (Harlech is a town in Wales), or you could watch 'Zulu' where Queen Victoria despatches some Welshmen to hold Rorke's drift and later scare the crap out of the oncoming Zulu horde by singing this song.
The Land:
The Welsh army roster depictes the land and terrain of Wales, in a similar way the Irish roster shows Ireland (units suited to bogs and forests, like missile cavalry and javelin skirmishers). Wales is mountainous for the most part, making defence easy and attacking hard at best and some areas are still extremely remote, idea land for a guerilla war, but, don't be fooled, the Welsh possess some of the best and most versatile melee units in the game, capable of holding the line of battle, but are more flexible than units from Scotland or, your worst enemy, the English.
Longbowmen:
People tend to believe Welsh longbowmen to be somewhat inferior to the English ones, English ones are a force to be reckoned with, but your Saethwyr bowmen are at least equal to their Yeomen. Helwyr bowmen have a better missile attack than Saethwyr (7 as opposed to 6) and better melee stats, so you are thinking 'why pay an extra 300 florins for Saethwyr' but, Saethwyr have much better range, can deploy stakes and have better success against armour, it's your call on what you choose to follow your gaming style. I tend to use Saethwyr because of the better range and my playing style relies on stakes.
Melee Infantry:
There are 2 main types of melee infantry and for an effective force, neither should be neglected. firstly, the spearmen that will form the bulk of the line. You have the Meirionyd spearmen that are equal to armoured sergeants and the Morgannwg spearmen that are the best spearmen in Britain and can easily defeat dis. feudal knights and chew up any cavalry charge. Early on in the campaign, Meirionyd speamen will be the norm, but Morgannwg spearmen should be used as soon as possible, that's not to say that Meirionyds aren't useful, they are very useful, but Morgannwg are better. Also, Wales possesses some quality men with swords and axes. Gwent raiders are good light infantry with swords and a decent amount of armour, these are best used as a mobile reserve to shore up weaknesses in the line. although they can be used against skirmishers due to their speed with skimping on fighting ability. Also, we have the Rhyelwyr, men with 2 handed-axes, similar to gallowglasses and excellent shock infantry, good in seige towers and storming walls.
Cavalry:
The Welsh are weaker in cavalry than the english, but still have a good choice. Mathrafal horsemen are the light cavalry scouts, the eyes and ears of the army and good against skirmishers and chasing down routers, the equal of border horse or hobilars. Mailed knights are heavy cavalry and good against enemy cavalry and light infantry. Teulu are the heaviest you can get, strong against everything excepting spearmen and the equivalent of English knights.
Other units:
Welsh artillery is only any good in seiges, so pack your catapults for that. Magrewyr musketeers are rubbish, low accuracy, low range and low missile attack, I tend to stick to longbowmen (when playing as the English, I tend to ignore arqubusiers and stick to bowmen as well). Welsh skirmishers are solid javelin units and can be used as as light spearmen due to their lack of a secondary weapon.
Battle strategies:
A tried and tested strategy is to deploy longbowmen at the front with stakes deployed, with a Melee line behind them. This line should be spearmen alternating with swordsmen or axemen and any skirmishers on the flanks. Cavalry should be deployed on the extreme flanks. At the start of battle, move your longbowmen behind the main line (you now have stakes infront of your army). Wait for the enemy to attack, hopefully their cavalry will run on the stakes and the infantry will be slowed down. Set your bowmen and skirmsihers to fire at will and wait for the enemy to reach your line. Use your cavalry to flank the line and attack from the rear, this is a classic hammer and anvil attack.
Suggested roster:
1 Gen. body guard
2 Mathrafal
3 Tuelu
5 Saethwyr
2 Welsh skirmishers
4 Morgannwg Spearmen
2 Gwent Raider
1 Rhyelwyr
Overall campaign strategy:
You start penned in by the English, you need to take Cardiff and then you should move on to the English border towns (Gloucester, Chester and Shrewsbury). You will fight a long war with the English although they are fighting on multiple fronts and you (hopefully) will only be fighting on 1. When you have conquered England, as per the victory conditions, you need to move on Scotland then Dublin (Dublin nearly always rebels and the Irish rarely capture it). Make alliances with Ireland and Norway and as many trade agreements as possible.
This is just a rough guide and you are free to use as much or little as you wish.
If you have any suggestions, I'm ready to listen and act upon them.
But I won't go to England due to the prescence of scruffy in shottingham. - Scenter102
This is Scruff we are talking about. I can't think of anything I don't see Scruff doing just for the hell of it. - Agrippa 271
The cake was made by Scruffy and it was... a rude shape. - Liam
monkey in a suit on a cycle - Scenter102 describing Scruffy
This is my first faction guide and 2nd article. for the curious, the title is taken from a Welsh hymn (Harlech is a town in Wales), or you could watch 'Zulu' where Queen Victoria despatches some Welshmen to hold Rorke's drift and later scare the crap out of the oncoming Zulu horde by singing this song.
The Land:
The Welsh army roster depictes the land and terrain of Wales, in a similar way the Irish roster shows Ireland (units suited to bogs and forests, like missile cavalry and javelin skirmishers). Wales is mountainous for the most part, making defence easy and attacking hard at best and some areas are still extremely remote, idea land for a guerilla war, but, don't be fooled, the Welsh possess some of the best and most versatile melee units in the game, capable of holding the line of battle, but are more flexible than units from Scotland or, your worst enemy, the English.
Longbowmen:
People tend to believe Welsh longbowmen to be somewhat inferior to the English ones, English ones are a force to be reckoned with, but your Saethwyr bowmen are at least equal to their Yeomen. Helwyr bowmen have a better missile attack than Saethwyr (7 as opposed to 6) and better melee stats, so you are thinking 'why pay an extra 300 florins for Saethwyr' but, Saethwyr have much better range, can deploy stakes and have better success against armour, it's your call on what you choose to follow your gaming style. I tend to use Saethwyr because of the better range and my playing style relies on stakes.
Melee Infantry:
There are 2 main types of melee infantry and for an effective force, neither should be neglected. firstly, the spearmen that will form the bulk of the line. You have the Meirionyd spearmen that are equal to armoured sergeants and the Morgannwg spearmen that are the best spearmen in Britain and can easily defeat dis. feudal knights and chew up any cavalry charge. Early on in the campaign, Meirionyd speamen will be the norm, but Morgannwg spearmen should be used as soon as possible, that's not to say that Meirionyds aren't useful, they are very useful, but Morgannwg are better. Also, Wales possesses some quality men with swords and axes. Gwent raiders are good light infantry with swords and a decent amount of armour, these are best used as a mobile reserve to shore up weaknesses in the line. although they can be used against skirmishers due to their speed with skimping on fighting ability. Also, we have the Rhyelwyr, men with 2 handed-axes, similar to gallowglasses and excellent shock infantry, good in seige towers and storming walls.
Cavalry:
The Welsh are weaker in cavalry than the english, but still have a good choice. Mathrafal horsemen are the light cavalry scouts, the eyes and ears of the army and good against skirmishers and chasing down routers, the equal of border horse or hobilars. Mailed knights are heavy cavalry and good against enemy cavalry and light infantry. Teulu are the heaviest you can get, strong against everything excepting spearmen and the equivalent of English knights.
Other units:
Welsh artillery is only any good in seiges, so pack your catapults for that. Magrewyr musketeers are rubbish, low accuracy, low range and low missile attack, I tend to stick to longbowmen (when playing as the English, I tend to ignore arqubusiers and stick to bowmen as well). Welsh skirmishers are solid javelin units and can be used as as light spearmen due to their lack of a secondary weapon.
Battle strategies:
A tried and tested strategy is to deploy longbowmen at the front with stakes deployed, with a Melee line behind them. This line should be spearmen alternating with swordsmen or axemen and any skirmishers on the flanks. Cavalry should be deployed on the extreme flanks. At the start of battle, move your longbowmen behind the main line (you now have stakes infront of your army). Wait for the enemy to attack, hopefully their cavalry will run on the stakes and the infantry will be slowed down. Set your bowmen and skirmsihers to fire at will and wait for the enemy to reach your line. Use your cavalry to flank the line and attack from the rear, this is a classic hammer and anvil attack.
Suggested roster:
1 Gen. body guard
2 Mathrafal
3 Tuelu
5 Saethwyr
2 Welsh skirmishers
4 Morgannwg Spearmen
2 Gwent Raider
1 Rhyelwyr
Overall campaign strategy:
You start penned in by the English, you need to take Cardiff and then you should move on to the English border towns (Gloucester, Chester and Shrewsbury). You will fight a long war with the English although they are fighting on multiple fronts and you (hopefully) will only be fighting on 1. When you have conquered England, as per the victory conditions, you need to move on Scotland then Dublin (Dublin nearly always rebels and the Irish rarely capture it). Make alliances with Ireland and Norway and as many trade agreements as possible.
This is just a rough guide and you are free to use as much or little as you wish.
If you have any suggestions, I'm ready to listen and act upon them.
This is Scruff we are talking about. I can't think of anything I don't see Scruff doing just for the hell of it. - Agrippa 271
The cake was made by Scruffy and it was... a rude shape. - Liam
monkey in a suit on a cycle - Scenter102 describing Scruffy
[This message has been edited by generalscruff (edited 10-11-2010 @ 12:44 PM).]