Warbands for Total War:Warhammer?
Some other posts made me think this was a good time to post something I've been thinking about for a while. In tabletop, Warband referred for a short time to a format where each side brought 500 point armies (think two large units, some warhounds, and a Hero) with some restrictions. This system could be adapted to Total Warhammer for additional strategic flexibility and flavor. Here's my ideas on implementation:
You can generate a Warband from any Lord by choosing a Hero and several units. The Warband will then separate and begin acting mostly independently, with the same percentage movement as the parent army when they left. Each Warband should have only one Hero, and not more than 5 units, usually 3 (though you could let, say, Vampires do 6 Zombies and a Necromancer). The Warband gains a movement bonus in the same province as the Lord which generated it, and small upkeep penalty outside this province. The Lord can choose to go into a special encamp stance or garrison a city to slightly reduce upkeep of attached Warbands. For the purposes of supply lines, only the Lord counts as an army.
With this kind of flexibility, you can detach a small force to help garrison a city while a main army pushes forward. You could give several
Each Warband consists of 3 units and one Hero, unless modified. Units can be basic (think Spearmen, Archers), Special, taking two slots after the first choice (for example Irondrakes, Greatswords), or Rare, generally not allowed as part of a Warband (eg Dragons). So, for High Elves, I could make a Warband of Spearmen, Archers, and White Lions, or two Sisters of Avelorn units.
Each Hero will generally modify these somewhat. Leader Heroes, like Thanes, Captains, Masters gain a unit slot. Heroes which represent a unit should make those units Basic or Special, such as a Dwarf Master Engineer with artillery or a Banshee with Ethereal units. Faction effects should also be considered, for example Grimgor's warbands might consider the first two units of Black Orks to take one slot, or Imrik making Dragons and Dragon Princes more accessible.
Mounted Heroes deserve special consideration. Generally, Mounts should be treated as the unit at base would be, so that Carnosaurs ridden by Scar-Veterans are considered a Special unit, but not a Cold One.
I'll lay out my ideas for three factions I'm familiar with: High Elves, Dwarves, and Vampire Counts.
Dwarves:
Heroes:
* Thane: Leader (4 slots) * Master Engineer: Flame Cannon is Rare, Cannon and Organ Gun Basic * Runesmith
Basic:
* Miners (all) * Warriors (all) * Quarrelers (all) * Rangers * Thinderers * Grudge Thrower * Bolt Thrower
Special:
* Bugman's Rangers * Longbeards (both) * Slayers (both) * Hammerers * Ironbreakers * Irondrakes * Cannon * Organ Gun
Rare:
* Irondrakes (Trollhammer) * Gyrocopters (all) * Flame Cannon
Factions:
* Ungrim: Slayers (both) count as one slot up to twice. (two can be taken in two slots * Thorgrim: One unit of Hammerers can count as one slot (two can be taken in two slots) * Grombrindal: The first two Longbeards in a Warband take one slot (three can be taken in three slots) * Belegar: Not sure * Thorek: Runesmiths are Leaders
Vampire Counts
Heroes:
* Vampire: Leader * Necromancer: Leader * Banshee: Can only sustain Hexwraiths and Cairn Wraiths outside Vampire Corruption * Wight King: Can only sustain Black Knights and Grave Guard outside Vampire Corruption
Notice the "outside corruption"? i thought this would be a fun mechanic for undead. other forces can move with the hero, they just take 75% attrition.
Another VC note: for one slot, you get 2 zombies units. I wanted to give a reason for zombies to exist and also work on the fantasy of hordes of mindless undead with an intelligent leader.
Basic:
* 2 Zombies * Skeletons * wolves * bats * Crypt Ghouls * Corpse Cart (base) * Sylvanian Crossbows and Handgunners
Special:
* Grave Guard (both) * Black Knights (both) * Cairn Wraiths * Corpse Cart (Lodestone, Balefire) * Black Coach * Crypt Horrors * Vargheists
Rare:
* Hexwraiths * Blood Knights * Mortis Engine * Varghulf * Terrorgheist
Factions:
* Von Carstein (Vlad, Isabella): Vargheists can count as one slot an extra time (two units in two slots) * Sylvania (Ghorst, Mannlet): Grave Guards (sword/shield) and Black Knights (base) can count as one slot an extra time (two units in two slots) * Kemmler: Banshee and Wight Kings suffer half attrition to non-typical forces outside Vampire Corruption
Bloodline Lords (effect applies to Warbands attached to the Lord):
* Strigoi: Crypt Horrors are Basic and Terrorgheists are Special * Lahmian: Movement bonus is not removed in other provinces * Blood Dragon: Blood Knights are Special, the chosen "side" of the tree (Grave Guard or Black Knight) is Basic * Necrach: Each Warband can bring one Skeleton unit without using up a slot * Von Carstein: Vargheists are Basic
High Elves:
Heroes:
* Noble: Leader - Eagle mount counts as Special * Mage: Dragon mount counts as Special * Loremaster of Hoeth: After the first Special unit, one unit of Swordmasters can be taken with one slot * Handmaiden: After the first Special unit, one unit of Sisters of Avelorn can be taken with one slot
Basic:
* Spearmen * Archers (both) * Rangers * Silverin Guard * Ellyrian Reavers (and Archer) * War Lions
Special:
* White Lions * Phoenix Guard * Swordmasters * Lothern Sea Guard (both) * Shadow Warriors/Walkers * Sisters of Avelorn * Silver Helms (both) * Ithilmar/Tiranoc Chariot * Great Eagle * Fire Phoenix
Rare:
* Lion Chariot * Dragon Princes * Bolt Thrower * Frost and Arcane Phoenix * All Dragons
Factions:
* Tyrion: Lothern Sea Guard are Basic * Teclis: Mages and Loremasters are Leaders * Alarielle: Handmaidens are Leaders * Alith Anar: Shadow Warriors/Walkers are Basic * Imrik: Fire Mage Dragon mounts are a Basic slot. Dragon Princes are Basic for Nobles. Fire and Moon Dragons are Special. * Eltharion: There's so much here between Mistwalkers and the Jail, you could write a whole faction section. I'll just do: Doubles movement bonus for Warbands in the Lord's region, halves upkeep penalty outside Lord's region.
What do y'all think? Would this make the game better? I tried to strike a balance between strategic flexibility and the AI derping with the "led by Hero" and slots. How would you work other races?
TL;DR - We could get some of the freedom of general-less armies by introducing a Warband mechanic to Total Warhammer.