Pathan Tribesmen Unit features

[Driscoles]

Hi,

Iam thinking of some unit special abilities for Pathan tribesmen.

- Scout units receive a -1 to detect an ambush when fighting Pathans in rocky area
- Pathans dont have raw units.
- Pathans receive no long range modifier when shooting with Jezail
- +1 on damage roll when in rocky cover

What do you guys think ?
Any other ideas ?
Cheers
Björn

[Lowtardog]

No movement deduction for moving through hils rocky ground

[commissarmoody]

Seems good to me all afgans I ever saw were pretty damn sure footed, and sneaky as all hell to boot.

[Plynkes]

From reading about British encounters in the North West Frontier, it was all about getting on to higher ground than them. If you could get to a position that overlooked theirs, they would almost certainly withdraw (maybe some kind of adverse morale effect in that situation).

I don't know about not having raw units. They were good at what they did, and were (are) formidible fighters, but they weren't supermen. They generally wouldn't stick around to face a bayonet charge if you could get close enough to them.

[Shikari Sahib]

following Plynkes advice, I have always counted a +1 morale when pathans are on higher ground, immediate retirement as soon Imperial force reach higher ground.
good proportion of sniper fire on baggage and officers.

Piero

[Driscoles]

Good ideas guys. Thank you.

Making them not raw is because I see them as warriors for the T+T game.

I read they didnt really liked close combat but were definately able to fight a melee.
Any ideas for some close combat rules and morale ?

Cheers
Björn

[Shikari Sahib]

Good ideas guys. Thank you.

Making them not raw is because I see them as warriors for the T+T game.

I read they didnt really liked close combat but were definately able to fight a melee.
Any ideas for some close combat rules and morale ?

Cheers
Björn

Well their Khyber knife is really dangerous , can split a person in halves, you can give them a +1 for Ghazis(fanatics) in melee , or a +1 if fighting against soldiers not in formal order, eg, skirmish order.
Piero

[Gluteus Maximus]

From reading about British encounters in the North West Frontier, it was all about getting on to higher ground than them. If you could get to a position that overlooked theirs, they would almost certainly withdraw (maybe some kind of adverse morale effect in that situation).

I don't know about not having raw units. They were good at what they did, and were (are) formidible fighters, but they weren't supermen. They generally wouldn't stick around to face a bayonet charge if you could get close enough to them.

Yes, I'd agree completely with the above. They were much like the Boers, in that they would happily hole-up and blaze away at the British until they managed to get close or threaten their rear and then the tribesmen would bugger off to a better position. If it was an assault on their village they might stick around to fight it out, though. The most common mistake by British [and Russian] commanders was not aggressively seizing the high ground, thus subjecting their men to heavy casualties.

They should have raw units, but their morale should have a bonus until their defensive position was compromised and then should be penalized [as should higher quality units]. If you are planning on including units of specialized melee troops, such as ghazis etc, then they should have higher morale, of course. You could say the raw units were youngsters, initially full of zeal, but showing their inexperience when seriously threatened and melee units were fanatics. There should always be a large majority of firearm units though. Maybe you could just save the melee units for guarding villages, when things could well get more involved.

Following on from Hammers' ideas about their women, you could make it compulsory for the Imperial units to have to take their wounded with  them. IIRC, "The Sword and the Flame" have a similar rule [or it may be in another ruleset or even my imagination  ]

[Driscoles]

Thanks again for your input.

Convinced guys. They will have Raw Units as well. Why not !

I know TSATF and the "carrying the wounded" rule.  Iam not sure to adopt it cuz T+T uses smaller Units and I presume Larry Brom wrote that  rule to ballance the firepower in TSATF.

Cheers
Björn

[Plynkes]

The Ghazi-types slipped my mind. By all means have those getting in close and getting stuck in!