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| HaT 54mm Carthaginian war elephants |
Click the pictures to enlarge
The past couple of days have seen me working on repainting a pair of HaT 1/32 scale (54mm) Carthaginian war elephants and getting them based. I also assembled three more elephants that are still on the painting table.
The following two pictures provide close ups of the individual elephants after they have been based on MDF board. Note the Carthaginian light infantry skirmishers protecting the elephants from attack by the Roman light Velites.
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| Roman elite plans on chucking a spear into the hyde of the elephant. Some Carthaginian skirmishers have a different idea. The elephant and Romans are HaT figures and the two Carthaginian soldiers are from John Jenkins Designs. |
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| Close up view of the elephant being defended on the ground and from the howdah (the wooden tower) where the soldier has a very long spear that is capable of reaching any Romans on the ground level. |
There is nothing like a bunch of elephants that identifies a war game as one from the Punic Wars of Rome versus Carthage. The beasts are fun to paint, add some color to the overall look of the game, and I imagine that they will cause a lot of interesting situations and tales on the war game table top.
I will have five elephants once I finish the remaining ones on my painting table, however, I would imagine that four would be enough in a game.
Does anyone care to share some rules ideas on how to use elephants in an Ancients game? I'd appreciate some input because I have no idea of how to write rules ideas for them. I plan on writing my own rules for my Punic Wars Project, something along the lines of what I used in my Khartoum game for hand to hand combat. The rules have to be easy to learn so that they can be used in a convention setting.
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I would have a fear test for anyone charged and a bonus on the charge. They also kill D6 each turn of melee. Any enemy cavalry must take a test to see if horses baulk. The elephant has multiple 'wounds'. When it gets down to less than half a dice roll is made to see if it remains steady. If not, then it either panics or goes nuts. You can use a direction die (Games Workshop makes them) or paint arrows on a die. Then it goes in a straight line in the given direction until it dies or goes off the board. It goes into melee with whoever it comes into contact with and that includes allied troops. An additional rule is, each move the elephant is targeted roll a dice to see if the mahout, crew or elephant is hit. The elephant is the bigger target so the chances of hitting the men is less and they can be given a saving throw. if the mahout is killed then go back to the previously mentioned berserk rule with the chance the elephant stays in place defending its rider's body! James of Quantrill's Toy Soldiers
ReplyDeleteThe main thing is that they are a lot more effective against close order foot than light troops, and horses are scared of them. It is traditional in Wargames rules to have an 'elephant rampage' rule should they rout or whatever, which usually involves stomping on any and all units nearby.
ReplyDeleteThese last three posts of your 54 mm+ figures and terrain are an absolute delight. The elephants and crew look beaut after your painting upgrade too.
ReplyDeleteMartin and James have covered the main ideas regarding elephants in any rules that I have seen that relate to the accounts and the concept that we have of their effects, on enemy and possibly friends, in combat.
Regards, James