THE ARABY ARMY

by Tom Setzer and Erik Setzer

Araby is a hot, and arid land, where water is precious and only a few areas are truly fertile, these areas lie mainly along the great rivers. It is only in these river valleys where you will find large concentrations of people, and the cities of Araby. Much of the land is desert or scrub land, having few trees and necessitating careful irigation to produce crops. Oasis are far apart and few.

The Empire of Araby is a huge and decadent Empire made up of many Caliphates, each under the rule of the Sultan of all Araby. Araby is dominated by humans sharing a common culture and language, Arabic. Like the Old World, there are numerous remnants of other declining races who still survive in remote areas. As much of Araby is desert, remote areas are fairly common. The World's Edge Mountains are here, as everywhere, full of Goblin strongholds and underground dwellings.

Arabians are great breeders of horses, and they have some of the finest cavalry in the world. They also breed sheep, goats, and camels. They make fine tapestries, rugs, and fabrics, which they trade along with spices to the rest of the world. You can find Arabic merchants in most of the southern ports of the Old World and they venture as far north as the Empire and even Kislev.

The fierce nomad tribes of the Arabian desert are constantly warring with each other and raiding the settlements along the coast. It is from these fierce tribesmen are where the Caliphs and the Sultan get their light cavalry, and it is feared in many lands.

Many of the Arabic Caliphates are little more than pirate kingdoms, making constant raids upon the shipping of the merchant nations of the Old World and causing death and destruction wherever they sail. There have been many attempts made to stamp out these pirate nations but so far the attempts have failed.

The peoples of the Old World fought a great crusade against Araby in centuries past and animosity and conflict still abounds between them.

 

ALBION ARMY SELECTOR

TROOP Type Attacks Hits Armour Command Unit Size Points Min/Max Special

Al-Halqa Cavalry 3 3 4+ - 3 110 1/- -
Mamluks Cavalry 4 3 4+ - 3 135 -/2 1
Wafidiya Cavalry 3/1 3 6+ - 3 65 -/2 2
Nomadic Tribesmen Cavalry 3 3 6+ - 3 90 2/- 2
Engineers Infantry 3/1 3 6+ - 3 75 -/1 3
Ghazis Infantry 4 3 6+ - 3 100 -/1 2
Crossbowmen Infantry 3/1 3 0 - 3 55 -/- -
Jabaliyya Infantry 3/1 3 0 - 3 100 -/- 2, 4
Naffatun Infantry 3/2 3 0 - 3 +35 -/- 1, 2, 5
Catapult Artillery 1/3 3 0 - 1 75 -/1 7
Ballista Artillery 1/3 2 0 - 1 55 -/1 -
Cannons Artillery 1/2 + bounce 2 0 - 2 85 -/1 6
General General +2 - - 9 1 125 1 -
Hero Hero +1 - - 8 1 80 -/2 -
Fakir Wizard +0 - - 7 1 45 -/1 10
Wyvern Monstrous Mount +2 - - - 1 +80 -/1 8
Griffon Monstrous Mount +2 - - - 1 +80 -/1 9

Special rules

1. Mamluks.  Mamluks are the bravest of the Araby cavalry.  They are not frightened by anything.  Mamluks are not affected by terror causing units or monsters.

2. Wafidiya, Nomadic Tribesmen, Jabaliyya, Naffatun, Ghazis.   These troops are skirmishers, with a loose formation, making them harder to hit with ranged and melee attacks.  Any roll to hit these units, whether with missile attacks or melee attacks, is at a -1 to hit.

3. Engineers.  Handguns are rare but powerful weapons.   A handgun shot can pierce armour easier than an arrow or a crossbow bolt.   Therefore, count enemy Armour values as one worse than normal when shot by a handgun.  So an Armour value of 3+ counts as 4+, 4+ as 5+ and 5+ as 6+, whilst an Armour value of 6+ can't save against a handgun.

4. Jabaliyya.  The Jabaliyya are armed with javelins.  These are used as a normal ranged attack, but only have a 15cm range.

5. Naffatun.  Naffatun are purchased as detachments for units of Jabaliyya.  You may only purchase one stand per unit of Jabaliyya.   They add +1 stand to the size of the unit.  This stand uses the stats listed for Naffatun rather than normal Jabaliyya stats.  They fight as part of the unit and can be removed as a unit casualty if you wish.  They never count as casualties for the purpose of issuing orders, which means there is no -1 penalty as there normally would be for units suffering a casualty.
Naffatun stands never count as part of the unit's formation when determining whether they more at full or half pace, so no movement penalty is incurred if they are arranged out of the unit's regular formation.  As a result, Naffatun are both more adaptable and more expendable than other troops.
Naffatun use Naptha bombs to make ranged attacks.  These work as normal missile attacks, except that they have a range of 10cm and hit on a 3+, representing their short range and wide burst.

6.  Cannons.  Cannons are Cannons.  Rules for Cannons can be found under Artillery and Machines (p. 67-71) in the Warmaster rulebook.

7.  Catapults.  Catapults are Rock Lobbers.  Rules for Rock Lobbers can be found under Artillery and Machines (p. 67-71) in the Warmaster rulebook.

8. Wyvern.  Generals, Wizards and Heroes may ride a Wyvern.  A Wyvern can fly, increasing its rider's Move from 60cm to 100cm, and it adds +2 Attacks to those of its rider.  A unit which includes a Wyvern rider causes terror in its enemies.

9. Griffon.   Generals, Wizards and Heroes may ride a Griffon.  A Griffon can fly, increasing its rider's Move from 60cm to 100cm, and it adds +2 Attacks to those of its rider.  A unit which includes a Griffon rider causes terror in its enemies.

10. Fakir.  Fakir use Empire spells.  These can be found in the Warmaster rulebook.


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