Greetings all. Let me first say that overall I think MeG's army lists are some of the best I've ever seen. I have around 30 ancients armies and can find very little to complain of so job well done.
Having said that, I do have a couple of comments regarding the armies commanded by Belisarius. I don't have my copy of Procopius in front of me so forgive me if my memory is flawed.
As it currently stands, the regular infantry component, the skutatoi are rated as Formed Close, Average, Protected, Short Spear, Experienced Darts with optional shield wall. I'm sure someone will correct me but i can't think of a single incident where Belisarius's infantry performed well. While they were fairly numerous they were not particularly effective. Accordingly, I think there should be an option to downgrade them to poor or, at least combat shy or both. I would also suggest that there should be a minimum of not less than 8 or arguably, 16.
Secondly, I am somewhat surprised at the omission of Slavs in the list. While Isaurians were much sought after, the Slavs also received good reviews. I would rate them the same as Isaurians and simply retitle the troop type as: Isaurian/Slav Javelinmen. However, if I remember my Procopius correctly, there was a second class of Slavs who were sent to Italy as reinforcements. These were not the same calibre of warrior as the Slavs who previously fought for the Byzantines. These could be rated as Poor and/or Combat Shy and simply be a downgrade of the isaurian/Slav troop type. Also, much easier to find Slavs in 15mm than Isaurians...lol
While infantry in a Belisarian Byzantine army was numerous, commonly outnumbering the mounted arm 2:1 they were not very effective. My suggestions allow the Byzantine player to field numerous foot who are ok in defence and as a rally point while maximizing points on the reliable mounted arm.
I should probably add that I am not a competition player and that the army's opponents are those they encountered historically. Anyway, hope to generate some discussion.
Cheers,
Kent
Infantry performing well is easy - Battle of Callinicum :)
Quality is covered by one of the general rules in the lists - "Any UGs can be downgraded by one quality grade and/or by one shooting skill representing less strong, tired or understrength troops. If any
bases are downgraded all in the UG must be downgraded."
Narses had more faith in the infantry than Belisarius and had some good results 8)
Thanks, I had forgotten about that General Rule. Gets me where i want to go.
Not concerned with Narses as that was covered in another thread. My army is specifically Belisarian. Moreover, much of Narses infantry was likely dismounted Roman cavalrymen or dismounted ally Langobards or Heruls.