Battle Reports March 2004

(Spartans vs Thebans)

(Marian Romans vs Galatians)

(Seleucids vs Indians)

Later Hoplite Greeks: Spartans vs Thebans

Refought Leuctra as per the scenario on the website with all the Spartans and allies starting on hold orders except the cavalry.

Jon was Cleombrotus and of course rolled a six to start which meant he managed to get some of the allies rolling forward immediately as the Theban cavalry closed menacingly with the Spartan cavalry. Next round Jon rolls a 5 so even more allies get moving as the Theban peltasts on the right wing head forward to delay the allies, and the Theban Hoplites in deep formation (braced) follow up the cavalry.

The Theban cavalry charge the Spartans opposite them which means one Theban cavalry attacks Spartan peltasts. The levy Spartan cavalry is either routed or shaken by the charge and the peltasts recoil disordered.

The next move sees the Spartan cavalry rout through one of the Hoi Homoi units throwing it into disorder and the Theban cavalry order an immediate pursuit into the disordered and vulnerable hoplites. Jon then rolls a mass of sixes for command which enables the rest of the Spartan allies to start moving which is looking ominous for the outnumbered Boetian allies and peltasts facing them off.

The Theban cavalry commander is also worried about extracting his cavalry as the deep block of hoplites is sandwiching him between them and the Hoi Homoi, so when the second Spartan cavalry routs he again orders immediate pursuit into the disordered Spartans.

With the whole Spartan army coming forward the allied hoplites go forward to protect the flank of the Theban hoplites and support their now retiring peltasts. At this point the Theban cavalry charge into the disordered Hoi Homoi who promptly hold them and then throw them back. Their colleagues to left and right do better: routing the Peltasts and recoiling a unit of Hoi Homoi (Jon rolled a 1).

Inspired by this the Sacred band finally get stuck in attacking the remaining unengaged Hoi Homoi unit who recoil them disordered for their trouble.

Assessing the situation the Theban cavalry commander orders the repulsed cavalry to retire, gambling that the Theban hoplites they disorder in the process can be reformed before the Spartans follow up. Also with them losing he does not want to risk routing units passing through fresh but average hoplites.

The next couple of turns are decisive. The Spartan allies finally close with their opposites and start pushing the whole line back but this turns out to be a sideshow. The successful Theban cavalry continue to push back and finally rout one unit of Hoi Homoi (Jon rolled only 1's and 2's for that whole fight) and the deep Theban Phalanx in good order rolls into a Hoi Homoi unit and a unit of Spartan allies who hold in the charge but are gradually pushed back by superior weight of numbers.

The Sacred Band are having a pushing match with the remaining Hoi Homoi unit but that give the remaining Theban cavalry unit time to return from destroying the peltasts and take them in the rear.

With all 3 Hoi Homoi gone it was game over to the Thebans.

Comments

Outcome was historical except the Spartan allies got moving, which put the Thebans under pressure, but the Spartans have too much against them with Cleombrotus' insane deployment of his own cavalry immediately in front of his Spartiates.

Theban cavalry were very good, taking advantage of the disordered hoplites, but nonetheless one was thrown back and the other won through a succession of bad die from Jon. I would not expect shieldless MC to do well in this situation so it was good to see it done through good vs awful die.

Immediate pursuit worked, giving the cavalry the chance to hit disordered troops who otherwise could have re-ordered during the command phase and teaches you not to put poor troops in front of your good troops unless they have a gap or can interpenetrate freely.

Bracing rules worked very well giving an advantage but not a huge one; no "rout immediately" type results: just a hard slog as I would expect.

Elite vs elite is not a bloodbath as essentially they are equal and cancel each other out.

We combined command and leader casualty rolls into the command phase which worked okay. Jon as usual does not suffer leader casualties, but my brother had three seriously wounded Thebans.

Casualties overall came at a lower rate which meant combats were lasting a couple of round longer than usual (unless levy vs veterans!) but the game was still quick despite more variety in melee results. The battle lasted nine turns and took about 2.5 hours, and all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Paul Marsh

The Spartans Try Again

Later Hoplite Greeks: Spartans vs Thebans

Decided to play Sparta against Thebes as even forces in a 500 points fight using the armies at Leuctra as a base. The Spartans stayed the same but the Thebans lost one of their Veteran cavalry bases but gained three units of allied Boetian cavalry.

Sparta invaded down one of the innumerable river valleys, the river to their right and then some steep hills, orchards and vineyards to the left of the river, leaving only the Spartan left half of the board open.

Jon was again commanding the Spartans and placed Allied hoplites on the extreme left then going right the Spartans and their peltasts with the Phocsian and Thracian peltasts opposite the difficult ground. The allied Arcadian and Corinthian hoplites directly faced the difficult going too, with the Spartan cavalry in support.

Gary put all the allied cavalry across the small river and his peltasts facing the hills. The Theban cavalry and some skirmishers were on their right in good ground with the Boetian allied hoplites facing the Spartans and then the Theban hoplites, once again very deep, with the Sacred Band anchoring the far right.

The Thebans very quickly sent the allied cavalry forward as far as possible to threaten a flank attack into the enemy rear which compelled the enemy to try and defend the river, so the Spartan cavalry were deployed there with the Arcadian hoplites. Similarly the Theban peltasts rushed forward to take the high ground to their front before the allied Spartan peltasts could do so, who were also approached by the Theban cavalry. The Theban and allied hoplites were content to wait as the Spartan Hoplites and their Arcadian allied hoplites came forward.

The Thebans easily took control of the high ground which was quite menacing for the Phocsians and Thracians below as the Spartan commander was reluctant to send hoplites into the rough ground in their support and as they edged away the Thracians left this ground and found themselves and the Spartan peltasts charged by the veteran Theban cavalry. This forced the Theban hoplites to get moving forward in their support, although this meant their Boetian allies would be engaging the Spartans. The Theban allied cavalry were by now in a position to threaten the rear of the Spartan right flank but were content to tie up more numerous hoplite forces in that area.

The Theban cavalry charge threw back both peltast units as the main hoplite lines came together. Not surprisingly the Spartans easily pushed back the allied Boetians. The Thebans, however, in their deep formations, were either held or driven back by the Arcadians. Only the Sacred Band had success as they recoiled a deep formation of hoplites themselves, but tragically Pelopidas died causing one of the Theban units to become shaken.

The Theban commander now ordered a mass attack as the allied cavalry picked their spot and charged across the river into the Spartan horse driving them back in disarray. The peltasts came down the hill into the Phocsians recoiling them as the Theban cavalry routed the other peltasts. The Sacred Band revenged themselves by routing their opponents and as before the weight of the Theban hoplite phalanx ground back the other allies, even the shaken unit standing firm.

The sole success for the Spartans was in routing the Boetian allies with few casualties to themselves. But as Cleombrotus looked back all he could see was his allies routing or in disarray with Theban cavalry rampaging across the field, so he called for terms.

Comments

Jon played Cleombrotus to a tee! Letting the awful Spartan horse defend the river was not a good idea especially when he had lots of spare hoplites uncommitted facing the rough ground. And he could have sent hoplites in there to help out, they would be disordered but could still contest the ground.

Peltasts in the open against Veteran cavalry is not good for the peltasts as both recent games have proved.

Deep units are good but not invincible I am glad to repor: if they can keep rolling they are good but even if stalled can be a tough nut except when facing the Sacred Band.

The Spartans unmolested by their own cavalry did what they do best and were victorious: unfortunately the rest of the army wasn't!

Paul Marsh

Marian Mules Win Again

Marian Romans vs Galatians

Historical matchup as the Romans under Gary invaded Galatia to be met by Jon's non elite warband and Imitation Legionaries. The Roman left had some hills in the Galatian half of the board that played some part in the early game, but otherwise terrain was insignificant.

Both commanders deployed almost their entire cavalry on the same flank, the Roman right and Galatian left; the Romans having a slight edge with elite Bodyguard, German cavalry and a unit of Numidian cavalry. The Roman centre was a mixture of average and veteran Legionaries with a unit of Balearic slingers and Spanish Scutiari in support. Opposing them warband, Imitation Legionaries and the Chieftain's veteran warband; only one warband formed deep directly opposite the Roman veteran 1st Cohort.

The Roman left consisted of two units of Numidian cavalry and another unit of Balearics all thrown forward to oppose four more warband deployed on the hills. Having outscouted the Galatians the Romans also advanced their centre.

The game opened with the Balearics rushing forward to engage the enemy as soon as possible, those on the right supported by the Numidian cavalry. The two cavalry wings approached, the Romans more slowly as they adjusted their formation. The Roman centre stood where it was with the warband moving slowly but steadily toward them. Much of the initial skirmishing fire was ineffective although the Balearics on the hills managed to get a couple of good shots off as the warbands were slowed by the terrain. The Numidians were taking more casualties from the massed warbands than they were inflicting so were pulled back as the lone Galatian skirmisher unit moved across from the centre to add more javelin shots.

The action proper started on the cavalry wing with a mass charge by all units except the Roman Bodyguard and the opposing Galatian Nobles who were out of range and closed up for a quick flurry of javelins. With more HC we were expecting the Galatians to come off better in the charge and the first combat saw the Spanish Horse shaken by the enemy but luck turned against the Galatians as they were forced back everywhere else by the Germans and the Romans' Gallic cavalry.

On the Roman left the Numidians and Balearics carried on withdrawing from superior numbers of warband and the Roman commander saw that he had to delay the main clash as there was a real danger his left would be outflanked so he started withdrawing the whole centre facing the enemy, the Balearics continuing to shoot as they withdrew but to little effect.

The Germans followed up their advantage next go although their Gallic companions were held up, the Spanish routed and the Bodyguard charge repulsed. Once again the Roman centre fell back and finally the Roman cavalry got the upper hand as three Galatian cavalry units were routed and a fourth followed shortly after. The only reverse was the Galatian unit that routed the Spanish charged one of the victorious Gallic units in the rear but luckily only did enough damage to shake but not rout it and support was available.

As the Numidians continued to fall back the Roman centre's left was exposed and with good command die the Roman went on the offensive and the centres finally came together as the warbands delivered a ferocious charge to recoil the whole Roman line with the leftmost cohort taking on a warband and Imitation legionaries. However on the right the Romans drew off one warband with the Scutiari and the Numidian cavalry which gave the Romans an overlap there. During the melee phase the whole Roman line held despite being pushed back previously with the 1st Cohort, inspired by the Commander, standing firm against the deep formation opposed to them.

By this time the Roman cavalry had seen off the last of the Galatian cavalry rescuing their beleaguered comrades and fending off a charge from one unit that had been rallied. They then started to regroup and move toward the centre.

There the outnumbered cohort was finally being overwhelmed by superior numbers as was one of their colleagues. Elsewhere though one of the other veteran cohorts was hoding its own against the Galatian bodyguard and the first Cohort was driving back the deep warband which suffered a complete demoralistion. The overlapped warband was then broken by a charge into its flank by the unengaged cohort. As the Roman cavalry started to arrive charges were delivered into the rear of warbands which collapsed after such a long struggle and the Galatian chieftain decided to call it a day. He still had some reasonably fresh warriors on his right but with four units of Roman cavalry able to attack his rear he found himself outmanoeuvred.

Comments

Well the Galatians lost again, but a much closer game as it was a real tussle between the Legionaries and the warband using the new combat rules. The initial charge was effective but not overwhelming and it did need another good combat to follow it up which Jon was unlucky not to get. Thereafter a real scrap where the superior Roman armour counted and it was nice to see that huge warband held then pushed back by the first cohort. We used bracing AND a warband charge here but I have since decided the two are not compatible. Bracing is deepening a formation for a solid shove, a warband delivers a fast and furious charge so the two should not be used together.

It was nice to see the Romans withdrawing in the face of the enemy as Gary rightly concluded he had deployed too far forward and needed to give his cavalry more time once he saw they gained the upperhand. The light troops also did a good job distracting the enemy, evading where necessary and not so vulnerable now to being destroyed very easily but relatively ineffectual themselves in causing casualties. The Galatians missed having their own light troops as historically they did.

Combats still lasting a couple of melee phases longer than usual, more opportunities to pass morale tests and my brother likes the rules too.

Paul Marsh