Another possible anomoly for clarification

[Big Al]

HiJust an observation which brought up this question. I have posted this on the Yahoo Group as well, that way it ensures the answer gets to everybody. Initiative moves can all take place if an enemy is within 12", however, the only troops inthe game that can move that far are Light Cavalry in open order andHorse Archers. These units are not likely to charge an enemy unit, so at this range, most players will not use initiative except to perhaps putfurther distance between them and the enemy. I make this assumptionbecause a player cannot issue orders to a unit that has moved oninitiative and would not move his troops into striking distance of anenemy during this section. I was wondering if this was an oversight as a result of moving the general rule across from BP and whether or not itshould really be down to 6" or possibly 9" seeing as the movement rateshave been reduced?

[rick priestley]

Yes that's correct - initiative range is within 12" even though the actual move distances are reduced compared to BP. And... you have the proximity rule to contend with if the enemy that triggered the initiative are 12" to you front. And... you mostly have a 6" short range - so units appraching each other get to skirmish/shoot and can potentially disorder or drive back the enemy. So you get a very different kind of game as the armies close compared to BP. Rick

[Big Al]

Thanks for that, Rick. Yes it's harder than I thought, switching from Black Powder to Hail Caesar. Things have a very basic similarity, enough to lull you and then the subtle differences kick you hard when you aren't looking! Just shows that you can't take anything for granted. You have to clear out everything you know and learn the new rules afresh.

[BigMike]

While it's not a rules question as such i wondered if anyone could shed light on why HC didn't have a page like BP which talked about varying qualities of commander - aggression, independence etc? i was quite surprised that they weren't in there, especially i can think of at least as many 'iffy' commanders in the ancient world as during the 18th/19th century?ThanksMike 

[Big Al]

Hi Mike I have to agree with you. I liked the commander quality section too. In Hail Caesar, Rick has dealt with it differently. There is no overall commander, only divisional commanders, though you can appoint an Army General if you wish, but he only takes over from a divisional commander now and again. The way it has been dealt with is to give the commanders attack dice to add to units when they join them. Of course, the trade off is that the more of these attacks you use, the more chance there is of him becoming hurt. However, I see no reason why the BP Commander Traits can't be incorporated into the rules. They do add flavour.

[rick priestley]

Funny you should say that - because I always got the impression that the section on special rules for Commanders in BP was largely ignored! I didn't include it in HC for that reason - and HC is longer than BP anyway so I wasn't looking to add stuff to round off the page count (books are printed in sections of 16 pages - or 8 ((half section) at a push - so sometimes you have to add or lose pages to reach a printable size).In fact we do sometimes improvise extra rules - as in the Border Raid scenario where Dipso Maniacus Vino has the random leadership value.  The Brunanburgh scenario has a variant as well - where the combats are more bloody for the leaders.Because the leaders in HC can add to the fighting value of units that does already provide an extra layer of complication - and another variable of course. So, a leader with less/more attacks becomes quite different already. I can imagine doing quite a bit with that - having leaders who 'have' to join combats, leaders whose deaths prompt troops to despair resulting in break tests, leaders who run off if the units they are with are defeated in combat, even leaders of contingents that can potentially swap sides in some situations...And there's the potential for wounded (no fight bonnus) and replacement (drop Ld) leaders in HC too - so I just thought there was sufficient complexity in the basic rules for leaders compared to BP.You can always add more though:)Rick  

[BigMike]

Thanks for explaining that Rick. I see why you didn't include it - and as you say it is a fairly easy and characterful thing to add in afterwards.