ADLG - Game Report 15

Galatians (72) vs Graeco-Bactrians(46)

Another army for me to try my luck with. I have to confess that I consider myself still in the experimental stage of ADLG gaming; trying different armies and tactics to see what can work, what cannot and what is damn right suicidal.

For this experiment I chose the Galatians. I mixed in some Greek's but I have to confess that I think the Army List is a little ambiguous on this Army and a couple of others in relation to options and tribes. I shall be asking questions in the forum to see if the wise and well read can explain to me the options better.

My initial deployment placed my Cavalry on the right, and the main infantry commands in the centre and left. My plan, as much as it was, was to delay and hold on the right, and to use my elite heavy swordsmen in the centre to breakthrough past Paul's elephants and their supporting medium javelinmen. 

I had reasonable command dice and for once the impetuous Galatians closed the distance quite quickly with my line conducting a right wheel to engage. I even withdrew my cavalry to better protect my flank. Albeit at the expense of two light cavalry units. 

Contact is made, and this is where it started to fall apart. My attack in the centre did not go well. The Elephant destroyed and elite heavy swordsmen in one round of combat and disordered another. I destroyed one of the javelinmen but the other was a stand off!

After this I missed an opportunity to zoc his light cav and prevent his cataprachts from closing in rapidly to destroy my cavalry and chariots.  On the left we closed to close combat with the pikes, and along the line we failed to have any success with the majority of my troops losing the first round of melee.

Outcome

With the disorders caused and the losses from the cavalry engagement and the centre my army lost cohesion and lost the battle.

Lessons Learnt

• I perhaps allowed the cavalry to become too engaged, and expected much too much of them to succeed against the cataphracts.
• I certainly missed the opportunity to use zocs to pin and delay to my advantage. 
• I could have aligned better on the charge on the left, but in the end the dice ruled against me.
• As for the centre; let's just say that when the gods are against you .... bow down and await your fate