D@W -- Attached Heroes

We’re running through our first session using Battles and have a question reharding attached heroes. There are enough PCs – and they’re high enough level – to allow each unit to have a PC as a lieutenant and act as an attached hero.

How do they interact with combat at this stage? Can attached heroes attack an enemy unit? If so, what characteristics do they use?

It was my understanding that when a hero is attached to a unit they don’t actually get to attack separately, but are also effectively immune to damage; if the unit they’re attached to is hit by a fireball they don’t actually take any damage. Independent heroes, on the other hand, can either attack other units – in which case you use the unit characteristics described on p.92, and, if hit, take damage directly to their hp – or they can attack enemy heroes in which case combat occurs like normal in ACKS.

Attached heroes can attack an enemy unit and/or enemy hero, but only if the unit they are attached to is attacking the enemy unit (or enemy unit the enemy hero is attached to). Attached heroes are not protected from being attacked unless they are leading from the rear.

"An attached hero moves with the unit he is attached to. He attacks at the same time as the unit he is attached to. He will attack his unit’s target (p. XX) using his own unit characteristics unless one or more enemy heroes is attached to the target unit and within visibility distance (p. XX); in that case, he will target one of the heroes using his personal characteristics. If his unit performs an action in lieu of attacking (p. XX), the attached hero will also perform an action in lieu of attacking.​"

"Leading from the Rear: Attached heroes are assumed to be leading from the front of their unit, where they can gain glory and wade into the battle. An attached hero can reduce his visibility distance to 0 hexes by leading from the rear instead. However, a hero leading from the rear cannot attack or act in lieu of attacking. An attached hero cannot lead from the rear if he is of a larger size than that of the constituent troops of his unit! (A troll is visible among kobolds no matter where he stands…)"

 

Okay, a couple of more questions:

1. How do area of affect spells affect attached Heroes? I know that attached Heroes can't be targeted directly by enemy units unless they can be seen and are the only targets available, but how do spells like Fireball, targeting the unit the Hero is attached to, affect them? Does the hero just not take any damage?

2. We're playing a platoon scale, and I've got a question regarding number of attacks and the cleave factor. Let's say a hero is wielding an arbalest, with a Cleave factor of 2 (arbalests can Cleave twice per round as per p. 105 of ACKS) and has one attack per round at Company scale. At platoon scale they have four attacks per round; does this still hold true with an arbalest, or are they limited to three (one normal attack, plus two Cleaves)?

3. Attack Precedence. We're told in Chapter One that a unit can only be attacked twice if no other target presents itself, and in Chapter 4 that heros can only be attacked by another unit if they are seen *and* no other units can be targeted. How does this work out if, say, two enemy units are attacking a single unit led by an attached Hero? Can one of the enemy units attack the unit, and the other the Hero, or are both enemy units forced to attack the unit first?

4. Why would anyone want to be an Independent Hero, besides flexibility in movement and targets? It seems like an Attached Hero is effectively immune to damage, unless their unit is destroyed or they're targeted by an enemy Hero, yet can make attacks as normal.

Another question: a PC just cast Summon Fantastic Creature to summon a chimera. How do we derive its unit capabilities? There's no equivalent entry on the table, save for Dragons, and nothing that seems to fit in the Conversions Chapter, except maybe using Heroes? We're at platoon scale.

You would build a chimera as a unit constituted by 1 huge creature.