Indians are tough?

[Patrick Ward]

I just took early Macedonians against Indians. They sent a line of 6 elephants right for my Pike Phalanxes and I managed to have 2-3 Phalanxes concentrating on each one. Didn't have to do too much except revel in the joy of watching routed elephants run amok through the Indian archers disrupting and routing one after another.

Their archers are brutal though and I had to accept a number of casualties but with some light and cav distraction it wasn't too bad. Once you get close to them they're quite fragile.

(of course I don't feel quite so invincible now I've just noticed it was set to Legate .... )

[shawkhan2]

The Indian archers almost did in Alexander the Great. Huge bows and really long arrows made them very tough to handle.

[GiveWarAchance]

I'm getting slapped around quite badly right now in a game as the Mountain indians.
I should also add that I'm playing against a regular government Indian army that was about 50% bigger with 7 angry elephants. The hail of arrows from his line followed up by the charging elephants was too much for my house of cards army to stand up to.

[jomni]

I'm getting slapped around quite badly right now in a game as the Mountain indians.
I should also add that I'm playing against a regular government Indian army that was about 50% bigger with 7 angry elephants. The hail of arrows from his line followed up by the charging elephants was too much for my house of cards army to stand up to.

Should have stayed in the mountains.

[kujalar]

I wondered, if some troops should have "large shields" ability that would increase their protection against missile fire from the front arc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwWXuh9oKSY
These shields are quite small, but when stationary, the whole group is totally covered.

for example. Spartans could stand better against persian arrows blocking the sun, if they could cover under their shields.

[Pixel]

And I'd say the Indian versus Indo-Greek matchup is pretty even with the Indians having a slight advantage in being able to field more elephants. Their chariots are a bit tricky to use but the mobility they have is nice. The Indo-Greeks field less Elephants and the pike phalanx options can be decisive but are slow moving. They hate being flanked too. So much archery in this tournament round.

Seeing how the Sarmatian Lancers can devastate the Bosporan lights in the first Beyond the Fringe round if they aren't supported by war band or imitation legion style infantry makes me think that they would do a good job against the Indians if they manage close and avoid the hail of projectiles. The Lancers might not enjoy the elephants though so you'd definitely have to pick up some javelins or something to harass the long trunked giants with.

[ahuyton]

I played one game with Parthians against a real opponents who used Indo-Greeks.

He unfortunately knew what he was doing and used the combination of pike, elephant and Indian bowmen very effectively. The bow were lethal, frequently disrupting my horse archers with one shot so yes, I think they can be very effective. It is difficult to get close to them. But I am not complaining. Without the pike support, they my be vulnerable to heavy infantry. I had mixed fortunes with my cataphracts, one getting shot to death but another getting in close and causing some mayhem. Not enough however, as my opponent won comfortably 60%-40%.

[grumblefish]

I think the Nabataeans are worthless without the right terrain. I have a map with a nice, rough hill against Romans right now. It's going pretty well I think, but if it was just a flat plain then I would be absolutely screwed. There's no way to pump enough arrows into a line of Roman HF before they hit you.