Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Played as Rohan yesterday, I faced them the week before.

Do the Throwing spears count as spears at all? Couldnt find it in the rules.

The lack of spears on their infantry made it very difficult for my Rohan infantry to take on enemy infantry effectively. Which has resulted in them never winning a game even though they are the only ones with Cavalry in the group. Just wondering.

As far as i am aware throwing spears don't count as spears in terms of fighting through. Unfortunately... The infrantry is the Rohirrim's weak link, so make sure to make the most of cheap cavalry as that is where the Horse Lords excell.

No, they don't count as spears, only as throwing weapons.

The side effect of this, that you seem to have noted, is that building an effective shieldwall against anything with more than 1 attack is pretty much impossible. Instead, you need to play in a more skirmishy style; your shield guys are only there to set up a counter-punch.

I suggest having your Throwing Spears in the second rank like you would a normal shieldwall formation, but instead of supporting, have them ready to charge in the next turn, using a Heroic Move if neccessary. In other words, the order should be something like this:
- Front rank (sword and shield) gets charged, Shields for double dice, gets pushed back if need be.
- Next turn, call Heroic Move if needed, file the former front rank out of the way, and then charge in with your second rank (spears)
- As they charge, throw the Spears to do any damage you can, then shield in the ensuing fight to try and survive
- Your swordsmen now pile in around the side of the (hopefully locked down) enemy formation, trapping them in and robbing them of Supporting attacks from Spears. If possible, this is also a good time for your Cavalry to charge.

The lack of supporting attacks does make Rohan very hard to play until you get the hang of them, but the thing to bear in mind is that you can bring usually enough men to outnumber anything not Orcs, Goblins or Hobbits, and you should be thinking more 'hit and run' and less 'war of attrition'.

Ok, I tried using them to keep the enemy in place for the Cav but I had the throwing spears on first rank. I will try your method.

We are still very new to the game, but how do shields give double dice?

With Shields, you can elect to use them in combat so long as everyone on your side in that particular combat does so. This doubles your Attacks in the Duel roll (so an A1 model rolls 2 dice, an A2 model rolls 4 ect) but you forgo striking blows if you win; the enemy is just pushed back.

It's a useful thing to do if you're just trying to hold people up, especially if you have a banner nearby as well for a re-roll.

That changes things considerably... Well it could do anyway depending on how far away the cav is.

Ok cheers for that. Next time someone at the club tries to use them ill let them know what they can try do with their infantry.