# Men At Arms?



## Calamari (Feb 13, 2009)

I'll be getting the Brettonian battalion to enter into a battalion slayer touney at my local GW. The thing is the MAA, I find, are absolutley awful. I am going to have a unit of these regardless so what is the best way to use them, not just with the rest of the battalion but in general aswell?


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## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Their stats are crappy yea, but then again theyre cheap and their banners doesnt award VPs (methinks, can be an old rule too) which is brilliant. Their biggest use is to combo-charge things with the kniggits to get max ranks and outnumbering, and to attack worn down infantry units and beat them with SCR and other mop-up/flank guard duties. Peasant archers however are totally ace for their points, do make 100% use of them, you wont be sorry:wink:


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## maddermax (May 12, 2008)

You're right to be worried about they, they do kinda suck horribly, and die easily for their points. However, since you have them, there are a few good things you can do with them.

1) A 20 strong unit with full command for holding a flank, or maching up the centre to add ranks and numbers to combats with your knights. It's only a 110 point unit, but with a +4 static res, it can hold off some weaker units, to stop them getting in the way of your knights work.

2) 2 10 strong units, these are cheap at 50pts each, and you can march them up and try to get flank charges with them, and capture table quarters. Also good for guarding a trebuchet from scouts.

3) convert them to a Grail Reliquae, far more expensive points wise, but being stubborn LD8, they can actually hold in combat for a decent amount of time usually (especially if you have your BSB nearby). It makes them great for being an anvil so your knights can hammer the enemy in the flank. You can also try to hold up units dangerous to your knights with them, while you're knights take out the rest of the army.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Problem with using soft targets to add SCR inot fights with knights is that if the enemy can kill more of them then their SCR then they are actually a hinderance... Ive heard tell that gnoblars are good in an ogre army since they are the only realistic way of getting ranks into a fight, but since they are WS2 (?) S2 T3 with no save they are almost the easiest things in the game to kill and will usually make me lose (eg- charging them into an enemies rear got me +7SCR but 10 of them were killed). Im guessing MAA could go the same way against most decent combat units.

I would use the whole unit, upgraded with full command and throw it on an extreme flank of your army... almost no other flanking unit will be able to beat them so you dont need to worry too much about supporting them. If they do nothing all game except claim/block a table quarter and dont die then they have more or less got their worth.


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## Calamari (Feb 13, 2009)

Thanks for the input. I guess I'll just leave them out of my main army though because from what you've said they are a liability and I can't afford that with such a low model count.

I used the store army the other day against some Chaos Warriors and they just folded like a paper plane, and thats _with_ a damsel in the unit. I think the full unit of 20 with command would probably serve me better,simply because it can soak up more damage and will have more SCR.

Any more thoughts?


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Against chaos warriors you cant really expect much to stand... they are a really nasty enemy to get your teeth into. The MAA could be useful in redirecting some of the enemy army and giving you a few turns free of them to concentrate forces on a smaller unit: you put the MAA in front of the warriors to force them to charge you but at an angle that makes them pursue intothe middle of nowhere (and hopefully not have any charge arcs if they dont follow.. harder to do though).
Most enemies will see a great big unit with a banner and go straight for it... not realising that its a tiny part of your army. Instead they waste 1 turn charging it and 1 turn turning around... which by the time you add in a couple of turns crossing the board is half the battle, meanwhile your army should be able to take on a massacre the other central units in the enemy army (im guessing very few people use more then 2 units of chaos knights, they are very expensive and spam doesnt normally work too well in fantasy).


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## Calamari (Feb 13, 2009)

In the second game I used them in I did manage to get some use out of them. I put them at a slight angle. WoC charged in leaving their flank exposed to my Pegasus Knights who ran them through.


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## maddermax (May 12, 2008)

Calamari said:


> Thanks for the input. I guess I'll just leave them out of my main army though because from what you've said they are a liability and I can't afford that with such a low model count.
> 
> I used the store army the other day against some Chaos Warriors and they just folded like a paper plane, and thats _with_ a damsel in the unit. I think the full unit of 20 with command would probably serve me better,simply because it can soak up more damage and will have more SCR.
> 
> Any more thoughts?


MAA vs. Chaos Warriors? I'm surprised there were any left alive to fold! 

No, If you take MAA, they should only be used to take on units which don't have a big damage output. Skinks, giant rats, skaven slaves, light cavalry (if you can catch any), goblins, Empire detachments, knoblars, swarms and the edges of units so they can only get one guy to attack you. Taking on anything with a decent amount of damage output, or a good SCR and better damage output than you, is a bad idea, unless you're going for the ping pong effect. Using them as bait, or for turning enemy charges is probably their best use, outside of holding against weak flanking units.

A damsel with them is also a bad idea, In the middle of a knights unit is best, but If you must have her on foot, keep her with your archers (skirmishing archers especially offer decent protection and LoS). Damsels on foot should also consider getting the Prayer Icon of Quenelles, as it can be used to give a peasant unit the blessing, which actually makes your guys on par with some basic infantry.


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## Calamari (Feb 13, 2009)

I didn't have much choice about charging the WoC. All he had were two blocks of WoC and an Exalted Champion. I needed to tie up one block while my Knights dealt with the other. I'll note the damsel info though, I would rather have had her on a horse but the store only had one mounted model so the other ended up in the MAA, with hindsight it was a bad idea but I thought they could use the extra morale (I think, I was kinda making it up as I went along). Thanks for the help guys.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Rather then charging just stop 1" in front of the enemy... means they have no choice but to charge or reform (either way they arent going to be doing anything useful)... it means that while you dont get the charge bonus you do get a free 'draw' for a round. If you arent going to win anyway you might as well make it easier to survive.


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## Nipolian (Nov 4, 2009)

Men at arms are not there to win fights they are there to delay the opponent until your knights can get around since you dont have alot of them! But be carful they can (more times than not) make you lose the combat resolution. I chared a unit of Empire spair man with the men at arms on the flank and a unit of 12 Grail Knights in the front I lost the combat resolution and both units ran they chose to chase the Grail Knights and caught them! I was a tad more than mad (No i did not mean for that to rime!)


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## tsrudm (Jan 28, 2010)

I run two blocks of [email protected] in my tournament list. Some people think this is a lot. Both are 25 man blocks (5x5), and occassionally I will put a Paladin on foot with one block. 

I find that [email protected] are effective when used correctly. I use mine as the anvil on which I break the enemy with my knights. I also use them to protect my faster advancing knight's flanks. It all depends on the enemy I am playing against and the composition. 

It is certainly true that they will not hold up in the face of Chaos Warriors or other elite fighters with high damage output. But they can typically tie up most opponents for at least one round. (with 5x5 the SCR bonus is pretty significant). 

The other benefit of taking them, especially two blocks, is it gives you a lot more comp points in the tourney scoring. I play primarily in tournaments, but also a lot of local house games. 

I only leave MAA at home if the tourney does not consider composition, but even then I enjoy using them.


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## rpthomps (Aug 26, 2009)

I think MAA are great if used effectively. Sit them beside a unit of knights to guard their flank. Two games ago they won combat after some wolf riders charged them. The wolf riders panicked and this in turn panicked another group of wolf riders AND a caster. For 122 points I eliminated more than double that in points to the other side.

Ryan

http://ryanstactictalk.com
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twitter: rpthomps


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## Tombking (Jan 5, 2010)

Men at Arms 

- Guard Flanks
- Lure your enemy into charging range
- tie up enemies for a round or two so your knights can charge

with bretonnians its all about getting your knights to charge. let the pesants get trampled you have your knights waiting to skewer the hapless unit which took the bait. 

- Yeoman Bowman are also good for this, Lure / Get-Charged - Flee reaction then auto-regroup.


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