Hi,

As per $TITLE, I am a total MeG newbie.
(Received my compendium past week - still reading it and re-re-watching tutos...)

I practice strategy games for long, but do not understand maximus mid republican Roman pre-built army list.
More specifically, there are Hastati/Principes (4 bases per TUG) and Triarii (1 base per TUG).
Am I wrong ?

I totally understand the 1/4 troops ratio restriction between Hastati/Principes and Triarii from historical standpoint.
My issue is : what is the interest of having 1 base TUGs of Triarii :
It seems to cost a lot (vs. a 4 bases Triarri TUG ie.) and breaking factor seems increased to me.
So, facing them I would try to blast them first... (?)
I would have thought that 4 TUGs of Hastati/Principes, 4 to 6 bases strength, with 1 TUG of Triarii of 4 to 6 base width could have make more sense, but may be totally wrong.
As well Historically speaking (except if I missed something) a mixed TUG of 4 bases of Hastati/Principes + 2 bases of Triarii, still managing the 1/4 ratio so not all TUGs would be mixed, sounds to me a possible better option... Even if I see huge drawbacks in that (malus to the Hastati/Principes as within same TUG)
So, I'm a bit lost here...

As I said, I'm a total newbie to MeG, so I probably missed lot of points.
(Also I'm not a natural English speaker)

Could anybody point me at what I'm missing ?

Cheers,

Bruno.

The 4 + 1 combination increases the resilience of your TUG. You need 6 hits, or 6 wounds ( from a combination of skulls and wounds ) to kill the TUG .

The triarri base cost less than others and is a the rear rank . So basically your TUG cost less.

And in battle, romans veteran sup are pretty good . If you use the "included triarii" you can field up to 4 TUGs of SUP , each TUG havind 4 hastatin&principes + the odd triarii base.

While having 4 TUGs of 4 might be more fragile

Also use the generals to heal wounds and your units can survive a lot of damage.

It is a small UG but highgly mobile .

But you may choose bigger UGs with a decrease of the total number of UGs in your army . It is a choice .

Hi Badhabum,

Thanks for the answer.
It seems I need to read the rules yet another time as I guessed they would have been first rank, then shifted backward after first shock (that was (I guess) historically the case).
However not sure to understand why the army list oblige to pay for a TUG of one unit if integrated in another TUG, just being a buffer for losses at lower cost, always at rear ranks...
... OK, don't loose your time,  I really need to study  (and understand) the rules I guess.
Cheers,
Bruno.

The triarii are a rear rank.

But it is not mandatory, you could field them as a separate TUG of 2 or 4 bases. They are still powerfull but my personnal opinion is that they  bring more as a 5th base in an UG

Quote from: naponicus on August 13, 2021, 02:37:20 PM
(malus to the Hastati/Principes as within same TUG)

For future reference, and for any other non-native English speakers on here, in English the opposite of "bonus" is not "malus".  Native speakers would use the word "penalty". I thought it was worth pointing this out as it is a common mistake by people who speak Latin-based languages (for obvious reasons), and these are words that get a lot of use in wargaming circles.

To add to the confusion, if the penalty is a number to be subtracted, a "penalty" will sometimes be referred to as a "minus".

I hope that helps.

For what it's worth, I don't see how adding a triarii base to a TUG of hastati/principes gives them a penalty. Maybe that's not what you meant.

Thanks Badhabum and LawrenceG !

It's more clear !

About Triarii role, Badhabum is totally right and I was wrong. I made a confusion between Hastati and Triarii.
Searching for references, I learned that in the pre-marius reformed troops, Roman troops were built from citizen providing their own equipment with the following ranking (from low to high) :
Velites - Hastati - Principes and Triarii. Triarii were the "last chance" veteran, well equiped troops, fighting and supporting Hastati/principes from rear ranks and were less often used on the field.

Also, thanks for pointing me at the "false friend" that is "malus" in english. I was not aware of this difference and that effectively added to my confusion.