To the Strongest D-1

The To the Stongest! rules cover a period of two thousand or so years of history, and thus require a generous number of types of unit to represent the various combinations of warriors and weapons encountered.  There are consequently twenty nine different unit types, which expand to thirty eight when variants are included.  Moreover, units can also be small, standard-sized or deep and veteran or raw, which gives a huge amount of wiggle room when it comes to modelling historical units.

Units have a save factor representing their armour, shields and drill.  This is expressed as 6+, 7+ or 8+, representing the card they need to play to save against a hit.  Some units have bonuses to their saves in certain situations; units with long spears, for example, gain a save bonus when charged by cavalry.  It is also possible to add additional gear; crossbowmen can have pavises, for example, and longbowmen optional falchions and mallets.

Some troops have unusual qualities; cataphracts, for example, save on a very low 6+ representing their very heavy armour, but may become disordered when charging or moving too fast.  Scythed chariots play a bonus to hit card when they charge two boxes.  And whatever you do, don't play an Ace when activating a cannon to shoot...

The most common missile weapons are the javelin and bow, although all of the usual suspects are present.  Unusually ammunition supply plays a part in the rules.  I wanted to created a model where skirmishers play a significant role at the beginning of a battle but decline in importance as it progresses.  Ammunition supply is also very important when modelling armies with a high proportion of shooters, such as Henry V's longbowmen.  Units typically have between two and four ammunition chits, and there is a small additional reserve in the baggage train. 

I have included points values for all the troop types, partly because they can be very helpful when building a couple of evenly-matched armies for an evening's play and partly for those people who want to play competitively.

Tomorrow I'll make a final post about the rules in general, and where to buy them from.