On the conversion chapter of Battles, there is an entry on the table on “Mounted unit movement and formation” that I don’t understand. When the weapons carried is “Other melee weapon” the slower mounts get a burst of speed, having a movement rate of 2/5/8 for everything under 150’. If this is correct, what is the purpose of this distinction?
APM: It’s a mistake. Thanks for catching it. I simply was sloppy in creating the table with cut-and-pastes.
The other question is related to behemoth units. There is a section for charge bonus attacks on mounted units, but not such a section for behemoth units. Same as before: if this is correct and those units don’t have charge attacks, what is the rationale behind it?
APM: There were some problems with the rules here it looks like. Here are the correct rules:
BEHEMOTH MOUNTED UNIT NUMBER OF ATTACKS
Calculating a behemoth mounted unit’s number of attacks is a multi-step process. First, calculate the number of attacks contributed by the behemoths. Then calculate the number of attacks contributed by the riders. Then add these values together to find the number of attacks for the unit as a whole. Round the final value to the nearest whole number. Round .5 down if even, up if odd.
EXAMPLE: A behemoth mounted unit consists of 20 elephants and 60 riders. Each elephant has HD 9, #AT 2 tusks, Dmg 2d4. As 9 HD creatures, their cleave factor is 2.7. As huge creatures, their size factor is 30. The elephants contribute [ (20) x (2 + 2.7) x (5) ] / (30 x 4.5) 3.48 attacks.
Each rider has HD 1-1, #AT 1, Dmg 1d6 (spears). As 1-1 HD creatures, their cleave factor is 0.35. As man-sized creatures, their size factor is 60. The riders contribute [ (60) x (1 + 0.35) x (3.5) ] / (60 x 4.5) 1.05 attacks.
The behemoth mounted unit has (3.48) + (1.05) 4.53 attacks, which rounds to 5 attacks.
Trample Attacks: If the behemoths normally receive trample attacks (e.g. elephants), a behemoth mounted until will receive bonus trample attacks whenever it charges. The bonus attacks are based on the attack characteristics for the behemoth’s trample.
EXAMPLE: Elephants receive a trample attack dealing 4d8 points of damage. Therefore, our behemoth mounted unit of 20 elephants and 60 riders will receive bonus trample attacks whenever it charges. As 9 HD creatures, the elephants have a cleave factor of 2.7. As huge creatures, their size factor is 30. Therefore the number of trample attacks is [ (20) x (1 + 2.7) x (18) ] / (30 x 4.5) 9.86 attacks. Since this exceeds 1/5 of the size factor of 30, the number of trample attacks is capped at 6.
Missile Armed Riders: Don’t forget to calculate the unit’s attack characteristics with missile weapons if the riders are carrying bows, crossbows, or similar weapons. Use only the rider’s characteristics.
EXAMPLE: Assume the riders are equipped with composite bows. The rider’s attack characteristics are used for this method of attack. The unit’s number of attacks with its composite bows is (60 x 1.35 x 3.5) / (60 x 4.5) 1.05, rounded to 1. The unit has 1 attack with missile weapons.
Here are the correct stats for Celdorean War Elephants:
Move: 2/4/6 IM AC7
UHD: 11+1
UHP: 15
Melee Attacks: 5 spear & tusk 5+; Charge: 6 trample 3+
Missile Attacks: 1 composite bow 11+
Morale: 0