Pike & Shotte Epic rules question

[nicknorthstar]

Hi Folks

Does anyone play Warlord's Epic Pike & Shotte here?

I don't understand the Hedgehog rules for Combined Units. Anyone used them and worked it out?

Nick

[Friends of General Haig]

Hi Nick, my reading of the rules in the Epic book (pp110-112) for hedgehog means that a combined hedgehog will double its dice when fighting against cavalry. So a typical pike and musket unit with 7 hand-to-hand dice would roll 14 dice against a cavalry unit.  In addition the cavalry unit would not count as charging and loses any special bonuses as it counts as charging pike. The hedgehog gets +3 in the combat resolution test and ignores results that require it to retire.

Does this help?  This is how we have played it when using combined pike & musket units.

[nicknorthstar]

Hi.

Yes, that is what I thought.

It does seem to me though a hedgehog made up of a Pike Block and two musketeer units is significantly more powerful than a combined unit in hedgehog. A combat value of 18 I think.

It does also seem that unless you are surrounded by Cavalry, going into Hedgehog isn't worth it. If you have support to front and rear and the cavalry charge the front, the only advantage a hedgehog has it's +3 combat resolution rather than +2 (Front and rear support). But there's a danger if you go for hedgehog you fail the order roll (I rolled 9 so many times yesterday, it was a joke) and end up disrupted and not in a hedgehog. If you stand and fire instead, you don't fail any rolls and potentially shoot up the cavalry with your 3 shots?

Theres the 'no retire' advantage as well, but I'd still not go into hedgehog unless threatened on the flank & rear.

[Friends of General Haig]

Good points, Nick. 

With combined units, then there is less to fear against cavalry frontally, and perhaps this has a period feel? I get the impression that horse would not want to approach formed infantry from the front because of the effect of their firepower.

Using the separate units format does mean that hedgehogging (!?) is more important to stop your shot sleeves being swept away by opportunistic cavalry. Not something that has been a big problem for us up to now, but it is an interesting thing to consider.

Sorry to hear about the 9s!    That aspect of jeopardy is something that the BP rules stable feature quite heavily and is perhaps a taste thing?

[nicknorthstar]

BP & rolling 9s. Yes, i think 4 times in the game my brigade ground to a halt by rolling 9 on the command dice at the beginning of the turn. It's the same for both sides, & I think I was probably saved by my opponent rolling the same.

I feel the separate muskets & pikes don't fit into the 1672 period. I might be wrong.

[Sandinista]

I use the combined units for the late 30 years war period. I feel that the hedgehog rule as stated above works well. For me, I would only use hedgehog if threated by enemy attacking flank and rear whilst pinned to the front. I can't see the point otherwise.
Ian