Let's Chat: Free Peoples

[Blitzel]

Age that is top bad. I had a ice conversion idea for the pegasus wizard. But I guess I'll wait a bit until everything settles down. I liked his rules. Now I'm not sure what to take.. for 40 points I get my guard up to 40 men. And then I got a 120 points to send, which is 10 too few for outriders and lraves me with 20 points left if I take some more handgunners. 

[CDM]

Where do we think they will go with humans? I think they've lucked out in a way because the free guild idea could be a great way to expand. I have seen some great converted free guild armies that fit with the AOS aesthetic. I expect them to go another way though, but no idea what that would look like, what do we think?

 

[Donal]

To Horse or Not to Horse? That is the question 

I think that normal convention would call me crazy and mount the general on a horse. But given the heavy shooting in the UK, I am tempted to run a general on foot to make it easier to hide (and avoid him being shot).

Does anyone have experience with this? Would be very keen to hear thoughts & experiences.
 

[Nico]

That makes sense Donal. Easier to slip him into cover with the utterly Broken Command Trait (which ludicrously stacks with cover). It's not like you're going to move anyway, unless you rock up to find that all their shooting outranges you.

[Donal]

10 minutes ago, Nico said:

That makes sense Donal. Easier to slip him into cover with the utterly Broken Command Trait (which ludicrously stacks with cover). It's not like you're going to move anyway, unless you rock up to find that all their shooting outranges you.

Do you think that the command trait beats the no battleshock trait? I cant look past that...

[Nico]

Yes - although I would put the Trait on the Griffon. Otherwise DoT will be zapping him off quite often.

[Nico]

They have other means to mitigate Battleshock.

[Donal]

So i have still been playing around with different lists. 
What do people think of this list:
 

Leaders
Battlemage On Griffon (260)
Battlemage (100)
Freeguild General On Griffon (260)
- Greathammer
Freeguild General (100)
 

Battleline
3 x Demigryph Knights (160)
- Lance and Sword
- Free Peoples Battleline
3 x Demigryph Knights (160)
- Lance and Sword
- Free Peoples Battleline
3 x Demigryph Knights (160)
- Lance and Sword
- Free Peoples Battleline
20 x Freeguild Archers (200)
40 x Freeguild Guard (280)
30 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (300)

Total: 1980/2000

I could change the battlemage griffon to normal one, but I like the amber spear threat, and also the ability to put mystic shield on the attacking units. 

On a personal hobby note, I've finished rebasing my crossbowmen and almost finished painting the 20 archers.
Next steps are:

• paint the griffon general
• rebase demis

After i do the above its time to start building & painting the swordsmen  fun times ahead

[Cerlin]

I played a 1500 list last night using the Free Peoples abilities.

I had;

1 General on foot with stately banner and Indomitable.

1 general on horse with stately banner and meteoric armor

1 battlewizard wildform

1 battlewizard with lifesurge

First great company was

30 guard with sword 

10 handgunner

10 handgunner

Second great company

30 Guard halberds

10 greatswords

10 handgunners

3 demigryph with halberds

I was fighting a nighthaunt army with two mournguls.  No allies.

His units started in hiding or off the pitch. 

We ended up rolling Starstrike, which is the new gift from the heavens. 1 meteor drops in the mid section turn 2 and 2 more drop turn 3. Lucky for me he had no undead allies so I had the numbers needed to cap.

I had some disadvantages because I paid for rend that didnt work, but I sadly own no archers or xbows, which will be a problem I fix soon.

By turn two I had advanced and his guys all charged me. This is where we had our first try of the Great Company rules. We both had different readings. He thought that my supporting gunners could shoot each charging unit into the supported unit and I thought it was each unit can activate once like it was the shooting or charge phase. (Which do you all think it is?)

We tried it his way then talked about it. It can only really happen a couple times a game but we both agreed that my way was probably more reasonable.

So, I got a good starstike that landed in the pile in range of my halberds that let me contest it turn two and cap it turn 3. My star strike landed near my gunners and demis as well. This let me get a large enough point lead by turn 4 that I had won before we needed to finish the turn.

How did this happen? These guys

My swordsmen held the middle, with their +1 from indomintable, and one turn of mystic shield, I didnt lose a single model until turn 4, and with the support of my gunners killed his banshee hero, tomb waith, and kept the mourngul from healing. In the end, I lost 2 from the stack.

My halberds died by the end of turn 4, but they held on for 3 turns while fully engaged with two mournguls.

The other heroes were these

My demis got behind, killed a spirit, and were just about to "retreat" past them and cap his objective turn 5.

Overall, it was a good game and I get the feeling Free Peoples are one of the biggest winners so far.

The best part, our battalion is still useful in alleigence, unlike the Dispossessed.

And I almost forgot, morale. I felt that with my large stacks, my armor buffs, my magic, and my rerolling 2 dice for battleshock I would be ok, and it felt great. The only battleshock I failed was on the greatswords. Besides that I did not lose more than one guy a phase. Unbreakable didnt feel that necessary to me.

[The Jabber Tzeentch]

Can units be both in the regiment battalion and in a great company at the same time? Nothing seems to say they can't

[Tizianolol]

Guys im not a free people player but i have a question about companyes!

if i got like 20 guards supported by xbow

what happens if enemy charge xbow? I can still shoot when he charge? Can big unit of guards counter charge?:)

[MrCharisma]

1 hour ago, The Jabber Tzeentch said:

Can units be both in the regiment battalion and in a great company at the same time? Nothing seems to say they can't

I can't see why it wouldn't. A Great Company is just a deployment option before the battle begins. 

[MrCharisma]

14 minutes ago, Tizianolol said:

Guys im not a free people player but i have a question about companyes!

if i got like 20 guards supported by xbow

what happens if enemy charge xbow? I can still shoot when he charge? Can big unit of guards counter charge?:)

The Crossbowmen would get a round of shots before combat when you activate the Piper abilities. 

The Guard can counter charge if it's in range to activate the Drummer abilities, or within range to activate a Great Company ability if the Allegiance is Free People. 

[Tizianolol]

Ok ! so i counter charge with guard with drummers or allea c'è ability ? Or i can try drummers dice role and alliance ability?:) i mean if im in range with drummers and alliance ability, have i to chose?

[MrCharisma]

9 minutes ago, Tizianolol said:

Ok ! Ty! If my shooting unit is handgunners, can I activate my alleance ability? Or they have to charge only my unit of guard?:) i asked my question badly:)

Handgunners also have the Piper, so the same rules apply. If the enemy ends it's charge within 3" of the unit, they get to shoot.

The counter charge is dependant on who is charged. If the handgunners/crossbowmen are charged... they just get their shot. If Guard are within range, they can attempt to counter charge.

If the Guard are charged, the handgunners /crossbowmen can fire a round of shot... assuming they are in range for the Pipers/Great Company.

 

There are two sets of rules. If you are using a Free People Allegiance, then you apply the Great Company rules (assuming you're using these units within a Great Company)... otherwise, use the Piper & Musician rules that feature on the warscroll.

[Tizianolol]

Ok thx a lot! For sure free people got an interesting playstyle!!

- last question: on your exemple, if handgunners are charged i can countercharge with guards for my great company rules?:)

[MrCharisma]

On 8/25/2017 at 8:24 PM, MrCharisma said:

I'm running this Mixed Order/Primarily Free People army tomorrow at a 2 day tournament. 

I'm feeling good and hopefully don't face too many filthy WAAC lists. 

BTW if anybody is interested, I came equal 4th (technically 5th) at this 5 game / 44 player tournament.

I'm going to write up a blog post later but some of my victories included a list with 27 Skyfires (in one list) and 3 Bloodthursters (in one list).

I walked away with 3 Major Wins, 1 Minor Win, and 1 Minor Loss. I was 2 competition points off coming 2nd.

Clan Skryre filth had come first :-(

[Donal]

8 hours ago, MrCharisma said:

BTW if anybody is interested, I came equal 4th (technically 5th) at this 5 game / 44 player tournament.

I am interested! Will you post it here?

 

[ledha]

crossbowmen and handgunner can shoot if they are charged. With the great company rules, they can shoot AT THE END OF THE CHARGE PHASE if no one is less than 3" of them (so in melee)

So most of the time, you will shoot only one time, except if someone tried to charge you and missed the charge while starting the charge near 3" of the other unit your shooter are supporting.

[Donal]

1 hour ago, ledha said:

crossbowmen and handgunner can shoot if they are charged. With the great company rules, they can shoot AT THE END OF THE CHARGE PHASE if no one is less than 3" of them (so in melee)

So most of the time, you will shoot only one time, except if someone tried to charge you and missed the charge while starting the charge near 3" of the other unit your shooter are supporting.

or twice with crossbow doubletap!!!

re: the target for supporting (shooting or charging). Can you target any enemy within range? It doesnt seem clear that you have to target/charge the enemy unit in combat with the unit that you are supporting.


 

[Nico]

The shoot on the scroll only kicks in from a successful charge (so it is mutually exclusive with the new rule as there will now be enemy models within 3"). It's not 40K Overwatch.

[Duck1986]

As a complete aside from the excitement of GHB2017...

In skirmish, what do we feel the best ranged units are for Freeguild? Without any bonuses of ordered volleys etc, it's less clear cut than in a big battle I feel.

* Handgunners rend is good, but unbuffed a 5+ to hit is tough.

* Crossbowmen seem a good choice, with a 20'' range they'll reach most things on the board, and have a possibility of rend - but they don't get their double shots.

* Archers - decent range, re-roll hits of 1, and also I feel their extra move after set-up could be more useful in this situation than a full battle - can they run during their extra move?

 

On top of this, there are also more expensive outriders and pistoliers to consider - again, their roll requirements unbuffed aren't fantastic, but they do have the benefit of getting across the board quick.

I'd be delighted to hear everyone's thoughts on this! 

 

[ledha]

13 hours ago, Tizianolol said:

Ok ! so i counter charge with guard with drummers or allea c'è ability ? Or i can try drummers dice role and alliance ability?:) i mean if im in range with drummers and alliance ability, have i to chose?

the counter charge fire is when your ennemy is charging you. The freeguild grand company rule is at the end of the ennemy phase charge. It's not a the same time. So the ennemy declare he charge your xbow. They fire. He make the move. He make all his charge move. When his phase is over, you counter charge/counter shoot if you can

[Duck1986]

13 minutes ago, ledha said:

the counter charge fire is when your ennemy is charging you. The freeguild grand company rule is at the end of the ennemy phase charge. It's not a the same time. So the ennemy declare he charge your xbow. They fire. He make the move. He make all his charge move. When his phase is over, you counter charge/counter shoot if you can

I might be mis-reading your description, but for the Piper ability it's activated when an enemy unit ends it's charge move within  3'' - it's important to do this at the right time, because (unfortunately for us) Crossbowmen lose their double-shots and Handgunners lose their "steady aim" bonus once units are within 3''. If we shot before they charged, we'd get bonuses we're not entitled to.

 

I think however that the way the rules work mean that you wouldn't end up in a situation of firing twice, even with piper ability and company rules - as you only fire with the Piper ability when the unit finishes it's  move within 3'', but then at the end of the charge turn with the Company rules, you can only fire in support of a unit if the firing unit doesn't have enemies within 3'', which they would in this situation.

The best situation is to avoid having the ranged units charged at all, as they lose some tasty bonuses - so get that Freeguild Guard as obvious as possible to be a charging target for your opponent! (whilst somehow retaining LOS!)

[ledha]

Just now, Duck1986 said:

I might be mis-reading this, but for the Piper ability it's activated when an enemy unit ends it's charge move within  3'' - it's important to do this at the right time, because (unfortunately for us) Crossbowmen lose their double-shots and Handgunners lose their "steady aim" bonus once units are within 3''. If we shot before they charged, we'd get bonuses we're not entitled to.

 

I think however that the way the rules work mean that you wouldn't end up in a situation of firing twice, even with piper ability and company rules - as you only fire with the Piper ability when the unit finishes it's  move within 3'', but then at the end of the charge turn with the Company rules, you can only fire in support of a unit if the firing unit doesn't have enemies within 3'', which they would in this situation.

The best situation is to avoid having the ranged units charged at all, as they lose some tasty bonuses - so get that Freeguild Guard as obvious as possible to be a charging target for your opponent! (whilst somehow retaining LOS!)

No you are right. Sorry i just wrote it in auto mode haha