Camels, Lances, and a Rolls Royce

[drferling]

A friend grabbed a copy for me at Fall-In and I finally had a chance to sit down and read it through.

The first scenario I want to run is a White Russian Assault on a British Column.  The whites desperately need an Indian Mountain gun that the Brits are moving up, via donkey from the coast.

I have a six strong unit of Cossack Lancers mounted on camels (doing the conversions / painting now) and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for how to handle camels or the lances.

Here were my initial thoughts.  

I am inclined to have the camels act as horses, but also cause any "foreign" horses within 12" to gain a suppression point.  I have read that horses dislike camels greatly.

Lances could be counted as spears but with a plus 2 to the skill test instead of the plus one or the charging unit could gain one extra attack dice for every 3 chargers (as long as they all have lances) instead of the normal one extra dice.  

Thanks!
Jay

[Westfalia Chris]

Thatīs the spirit!

Itīs excellent that youīve thought about how to best adapt the rules to your needs. And that "horses dislike camels" is perfectly pulpy.

For the lances, I guess it depends on which aspect you wish to stress - Iīd go with the charge advantage. Those extra attack dice depending on unit strength sound good and not too unbalanced. Best to have it as uncomplicated as possible, although a +2 attack roll bonus in the first round of combat sounds good as well.

[Zafarelli]

And that "horses dislike camels" is perfectly pulpy.

Medieval II (the PC game) handles this the same way, IIRC, i. e. camels scare horses. There might be something more to it than Pulp. Biologically correct or not, it should make an interesting twist in the game.

[Westfalia Chris]

No, I didnīt want to say itīs unhistorical - I once asked a biologist friend of mine after I read on it the first time, and she confirmed that apparently the body odour of camels is terrifying to horses.

But you know, itīs just the type of thing to add "an unexpected twist" to an adventure movie, if you catch my drift.

[Plynkes]

Camels cause fear to horses in Warhammer Ancients, too.

[Vanvlak]

Camels cause fear to horses in Warhammer Ancients, too.

The last camel I saw had teeth big enough to cause fear in me, that's what I know. And my wife is a dentist too....

[fastolfrus]

Most horses don't like the smell of camels, elephants, or pigs, unless/until they get used to them. Won't necessarily scare them, but will make them very difficult to control.
Something genetic I presume. Apparently mice have a gene that makes them scared of the smell of cats, but scientists (in Japan ?) have found which gene it is and managed to breed a batch of mice that are not scared by the smell of cats, although they are still scared when the cats miaow.

Quite a few horses are easily scared by strange noises too.
Such as sudden appearance of low flying aircraft, hot air balloons can often spook horses too. Rockets (firework or Congreeve) are usually quite good for spooking horses. But on the other hand, quite a few horses like music, including bagpipes, so it's not just any loud noise.
(We had a mare that loved music, even fairground organs)

[Plynkes]

Air horns, too. I've seen an air horn let off behind a police horse at a football match.

The horse danced all the way up the street, sideways.

[Westfalia Chris]

Air horns, too. I've seen an air horn let off behind a police horse at a football match.

The horse danced all the way up the street, sideways.

Poor creature. I hope it let fly a healthy helping of horse dung at the perpetrator.