Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Thoughts on a few Mortem et Gloriam Armies

Here are my thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of some of the armies in Mortem et Gloriam. This is by no means an exhaustive list and it's just my opinion so I welcome feedback. If you would like my thoughts on other lists please leave a comment below.




Period
List
Army
Pros
Cons
Early Medieval
Byzantium
·      Sassanid Persian
·      Elephants
·      Mostly average Cavalry with a few good units to charge and melee
·      Most cavalry can shoot
·      An army with a little of everything
·      Poor to average infantry

Early Medieval
Byzantium
·      Maurikian, Thematic, Later Thematic or Nikephorian Byzantine
·      Cavalry strong in charge and melee
·      Most cavalry can shoot
·      Professional army
·      Good infantry
·      Nikephorian can have a unit of Varangian Guard
·      Few units = low breakpoint
·      Small unit sizes


Classical
The Balkans and Pontic Steppe
·      Early Sarmatian
·      Later Sarmatian
·      Cavalry strong in charge and melee.
·      Almost ½ of cavalry units can be upgraded to superior
·      Can build an all cavalry army. Later Sarmatian is all cavalry.
·      Poor infantry
·      Most cavalry doesn’t shoot or doesn’t shoot well
Classical
Greece and Macedon
·      Classical Greek
·      Spartan
·      Alexandrian Macedonian
·      Macedonian Successor
·      Infantry with long, pointed sticks. Good at pushing around other infantry.
·      Alexandrian can have elephants
·      Alexandrian cavalry can have superior and exceptional cavalry
·      Poor cavalry in general
·      Pike blocks hard to maneuver

Classical
Italy
·      Mid Republican Roman
·      Mid republican can have 2 elephants
·      Legionary infantry good in charge and melee
·      Average and superior infantry
·      Difficult army to play due to infantry types
·      Small unit sizes
·      Not much cavalry

Classical
Italy
·      Late Republican Roman
·      Early Imperial Roman
·      Imperial Roman
·      Legionary infantry good in charge and melee
·      Easier to manage than the Mid Republican Romans
·      Versatile army. Good against other infantry armies
·      Not much cavalry
Classical
Italy
·      Spartacus Slave Revolt
·      Lots and lots of infantry good at charging
·      Zombie army. They may be easy to kill but there’s a lot of them.
·      Easy to play – go forward and engage the enemy
·      Lots and lots of poor infantry
·      Not a shooting army.
·      All infantry is tribal – not much nuance.
Classical
Italy
·      Foederate Roman
·      Later Foederate Roman
·      More cavalry. Would hold their own against other cavalry armies of the period.
·      Infantry isn’t as good as the republican and imperial romans
·      Smaller army = lower breakpoint
Classical
Spain, Sicily and Africa
·      Early Carthaginian
·      Later Carthaginian
·      A little bit of everything
·      Later Carthaginian can have elephants
·      Superior battle chariots
·      Average infantry, most with long pointed sticks
·      Would match well against most other armies
·      Versatile army – lots of different options
·      Cavalry is just OK but would be evenly matched with other cavalry of the period
Later Asian
Land of the Samurai
·      Emishi
·      All cavalry army
·      All armed with bows
·      Difficult to run if you aren’t used to an all cavalry army.  (shoot and run away)
·      If contacted, they won’t last long in melee
Later Asian
Land of the Samurai
·      Heian Japanese
·      Good mix of cavalry and infantry
·      Big core of superior bushi cavalry who can shoot and do well in melee
·      Stampeding Cattle!
·      Small but tough army
·      Purely defensive infantry
Later Asian
Land of the Samurai
·      Kamakura Samurai
·      Muromachi Samurai
·      Mixed cavalry and infantry unit good in melee
·      Cavalry armed with power bow. Good against other cavalry
·      Muromachi infantry is tough.
·      Small but tough army
·      Mixed unit can be difficult to play
Later Asian
Land of the Samurai
·      Nabunaga Japanese
·      Takeda Japanese
·      Infantry heavy army
·      Cavalry armed with power bow. Good against other cavalry
·      Can field a unit armed with firearms
·      Must take allies if want to field a more versatile army
·      Not a lot of units who can shoot.