Charging the Smellies .

[Belisarius]

We played an enjoyable game of Lion Rampant tonight using the Chevauchee scenario from WSS magazine No.78 and we were astonished by how effective 3 X units of Bidowers can be using the skirmish, evade and hard to hit attributes.

[Captain Blood]

Those knights look like they mean business

I've only played LR a few times, but I'm not convinced about the 'bidowers'. They seem a bit anomalous to me. A kind of super-troop type concocted for the rule set, that everyone wants to use because they add a little dash, sparkle and tactical interest - even though those type of tactics and troops were probably rare as hen's teeth in reality. I'm sure medieval armies of all eras used skirmishers and skirmish screens - but I very much doubt they were as effective as 'bidowers' appear to be under the right circumstances in LR.
Dunno. Just doesn't feel quite real to me. Reminds me of the old days of WRG Ancients 5th/6th when everyone tried desparately to find a way of shoe-horning in SHC and troops with 2HCW into their armies - however non historical that may have been. Because those were the super-troop types within the rules.

[jon_1066]

Remember we are talking about small scale skirmishes.  It is no wonder that skirmish troops are good in that situation.  Lion Rampant is also quite unashamedly about medieval tropes.  So the bidowers are the Robin Hoods merry men of the world - plugging the heavily armoured Sherrif's Serjeants whilst scampering about the green wood.

Also Bidowers have numerous weaknesses - primarily they will become battered very easily with few casualties and are weak outside rough terrain.

They are very much paper to wild charging or plodding troop rock but when faced with archer or crossbow scissors they rapidly melt away.

[Belisarius]

Mea culpa, Cap,n  , in looking for an amusing title for this post I,ve used the word "Smellies " , it's Serfs ( peasant rabble ) who are Smelly in the rules. Bidowers are given as Woodsmen, Scouts, Brigands and Professional Skirmishers ; as Jon says The Merry Men spring to mind in this category . When we set up this scenario I thought the English had no chance and remember commenting " well, we may get 2 games in , tonight " , thinking that the Bidowers would disperse like smoke in the wind. How wrong I was , a unit of French Men @ arms charged and rode done  a unit of English Mtd Crossbowmen ( yes, I know, but it's in the scenario ) after that they were whittled away by 2x units of Bidowers . The disadvantage is ,as Jon says, they are small units (6) and w,ont take much punishment but they shoot/ fight @ 12 dice, until @ half strength. I like these rules they are perfect for a nights gaming , fast and furious , 2-3 hour games. The only thing is , we find a max of 2 players a side , more than that and people get restless if they miss they,re turn.

[Atheling]

Those knights look like they mean business

I've only played LR a few times, but I'm not convinced about the 'bidowers'. They seem a bit anomalous to me. A kind of super-troop type concocted for the rule set, that everyone wants to use because they add a little dash, sparkle and tactical interest - even though those type of tactics and troops were probably rare as hen's teeth in reality. I'm sure medieval armies of all eras used skirmishers and skirmish screens - but I very much doubt they were as effective as 'bidowers' appear to be under the right circumstances in LR.
Dunno. Just doesn't feel quite real to me. Reminds me of the old days of WRG Ancients 5th/6th when everyone tried desparately to find a way of shoe-horning in SHC and troops with 2HCW into their armies - however non historical that may have been. Because those were the super-troop types within the rules.

If you're not too happy with them tinker with their stats  .... we were talking about this very subject at the club the other day and ideally we came to the consensus that we would ideally shave off some of their range (half range for missile weapons). That said, we're in the middle of a campaign and with players coming in and out we decided to stick to what is written in the rulebook. For now anyway.

Darrell.

[danmer]

They are indeed supposed to be very effective... but also very brittle if/when cornered. They are good at what they do - Serfs better suits the properly untrained or non-warriors. Good skirmishers should, in my opinion and therefore in my game design, excel in this scale of game.

In the rules, I say that some troop types are better or worse than they'd be in a larger battle game. This applies especially to Bidowers (and also mounted Men-at-Arms). If I had written a larger battle set of rules, both would play very differently.

But of course modify as you wish, or if it offends too greatly, just don't play with these rules!

[Belisarius]

Darrell you and I are thinking along the same lines , if you think them too potent then drop one of their Special Rules , hard to target, skirmish, evade or fleet footed. Personally I,m loath to change any rules for fear of upsetting the balance. This being a magazine scenario , I d,ont expect to see 3 X Bidower units together very often. We are privileged to have the author reply  , thanks Dan, you,ve given my group a lot of pleasure I,m looking forward to the colonial set in August. I,m tired of complicated , long winded rule sets , these are elegant and subtle, leaving the player free to concentrate on strategy. I,m also taking the opportunity to slip in another pic.

[danmer]

Thank you Belisarius! To begin with I was very concerned that no-one else would want such a simple game, but there are a few people out there who seem to enjoy the rules.

I am an advocate of changing the bits you don't agree with - it's your game to enjoy, so don't beat yourself up by using the parts you don't like.

Lovely photos by the way 

[Sunjester]

3 x Bidowers can be very effective, or absolutely useless like in the last game I played with Scots against Welsh.
I think between the 3 units they on shot twice the whole game and one of them tried hiding in the woods only to be run over by my Fierce Foot.

[Captain Blood]

Most of the rules I play are one-pagers, so I promise you I'm all in favour of simple, flavoursome rules. Couldn't agree more. And Dan, there are lots of aspects to LR which I like very much.

My point is just that when you have a particular 'super-troop' type with so many tasty and distinctive capabilities, unsurprisingly, almost everyone that plays the rules wants to incorporate that powerful / interesting / useful troop type into their force.
And yet how many medieval European armies (or forces of any kind, for pitched battle, skirmish, or otherwise) actually included highly effective, highly mobile, highly trained skirmishers?
The answer is we don't know - but probably not many, because that type of troop does not feature much in the historical record. And yet every game of LR I've seen or taken part in is awash with 'bidowers'.

It's a minor point, and I'm not too fussed about historical accuracy as a rule. It just seems to me that a capability that was probably very rare on the medieval battlefield, becomes almost de rigeur in a game of Lion Rampant.
But for representing Robin Hood's merry men, of course, the troop type is perfect

[Atheling]

3 x Bidowers can be very effective, or absolutely useless like in the last game I played with Scots against Welsh.
I think between the 3 units they on shot twice the whole game and one of them tried hiding in the woods only to be run over by my Fierce Foot.

  Exactly the same thing happened to us last night  (AAR to come shortly)

It's all part of the fun and frolics of the game. The scenarios tend to weed out and perceived distortion in the stats etc. Depending on which one you're playing of course.

Oh, and we keep getting shredded by English Archers but are sticking to the rules. Islemen vs longbow- not usually pretty

Darrell.

[Atheling]

Captain, LR is more Hollywood then a simulation. It's designed for fast fun games injected with humour.

I'm a bit if a stick in the mud when it comes to Medieval warfare and I love the rules. It's provided hours and hours of laughs. also, our gaming group just sin't interested on maxing out on certain troop types WHFB stylee

Darrell.

[Arlequín]

It's one of those situations where you should hate the player, not the game. If people are actively attempting to include those units, then that is on them not the rule set.

I tend to find that armies which relied on massed missile troops (i.e. the English), tended not to have skirmishers, while those that relied on massed spears or pole-arms did... the Low Countries, Swiss and Scots, for example, who did not have bodies of massed missile weapons.

You could have a house rule that makes the four-unit or 12 point limit relate to 'type' in the form of 'missile troops' versus 'melee'?

[Marine0846]

Excellent write up.
I have had LR for a while.
Need to get my guys out for a go.
Thanks for sharing.