ADLG - Game Report 327

Seleucid (42) vs Alexandrian Macedonian (39)

For my second game at the Wessex Wargamers I brought out the Seleucid's to face Kev S's macedoines. I was invited to attack in the plains. I deployed with a strong centre based on the pikes, with the elephant right and the cavalry to the left supported by the Thracians and lights.

I wanted to try and exploit both flanks before the pikes came into contact.

Both left and right flank both made good progress. Although the enemy cavalry on the left has moved to screen their left, which has meant that the numbers of heavy cavalry in contact will be equal; although the enemy are elite and only one of mine is.

Once again, my cavalry has been outfought by the enemy, while on the right the Seleucid elephant and supports have not been as successful as their Arab counterparts in the previous battle. The pike line is well placed to divide and conquer and to hopefully generate overlaps for when the enemy pikes move forward to attack.

And that is where the picture story ended as I forgot to pick up the phone again. What I did manage to do was to move the end pike unit in support of the cavalry while the remainder of the pikes and hoplites moved forward to force the enemy pikes into committing themselves to battle with me having supports and them not.

Outcome

Despite my cunning the Seleucid's perished, while the Alexandrian Macedoines only lost 8 of 22.

Lessons Learnt

The plan was sound, but two things went wrong. Firstly, the enemy outfought us (the enemy dice tower threw up lots of sixes to my ones and twos). Secondly, the lack of command dice for the Brilliant commander prevented the lights and mediums influencing the left flank battle.

ADLG - Game Report 326

Arab Indians (135) vs Syracusan (50)

It was time to reciprocate visitation and for some of us to accept an invitation to attend the Wessex Wargamers on a Saturday. Paul and I accepted. My first game, another practice for Kegworth, was against Jon's Syracusans. Although the Syracusans were an ahistorical opponent for my Army, the fact that the enemy were infantry heavy would be a good test for me, again. I won the initiative and decided to attack in the plains. On this occasion we managed to divine the correct flank to post the cavalry command on our left opposite the enemy cavalry.

The Syracusans were supported by some heavy impetuous foot on their left which was the last thing I wanted my own foot to face off against, or at least not until I had made some inroads into the enemy strength. Therefore, I decided to march the infantry to the left to increase the distance from the enemy! Meanwhile we led with our left wing hoping that the cavalry with the benefits of their impact could rapidly overcome the enemy horse.

It was time to swing the foot command into line to support the elephants and to fill the gap that was currently occupied by the bowmen. On the left one of the Hindi light cavalry has already perished against a horse archer!

Contact was made by the cavalry and the elephant and their impetuous swords in support. While the Arab cavalry was not at their best, the elephant its supports were. They broke through in one round of combat!

The cavalry wing has already lost a third of its number and of the survivors two are damaged. While in the centre the bowmen are buying time to allow the Arab spearmen to close the gap. In the centre the Elephant command is trying to exploit the breakthrough whilst it fights to defend its own flanks.

The remainder of the Arab Cavalry, now at less than 50%, has reformed to hold the line. The elephant command has survived the various attempts on its flanks and is continuing to widen the breakthrough it created. The Arab spearmen have engaged the enemy where it can gain some advantage; they are waiting for the rest of the army to win the day for their army.

Outcome

An Arab Indian victory in which we destroyed 27 Syracusan cohesion points and lost 16 of our 25.

Lessons Learnt

The Wessex wargame club is as close (in time travelled) as Entoyment for me.

The observant amongst the readers will note that in the last iteration of this army there were 4 light cavalry and only 3 in this game; my mistake I let one in the box!

On other days the elephant command may have bounced against the enemy infantry, while the cavalry may have bested their opponents.

ADLG - Game Report 325

Arab Indians (135) vs Tamil Indian (120)

And for the next game I played Paul's elephant heavy army. Apparently, he meant it to be Burmese but he made a mistake in his army design and date validity for the competition. He therefore rapidly morphed it into the Tamil Indians. I was invited to defend in the plains. I deployed the mirror image of the previous game (horse left, elephant centre, foot right.)

Once again, I didn't want the cavalry to be overly disadvantaged by facing the elephants. I therefore moved them to the right once again to exploit any opportunities that presented themselves or which I could engineer.

On the face of it we have the advantage of numbers in the centre and right. How ever it was uncertain how long this would last given I had left the light cavalry to hold the left flank.

In the first clash of arms the Hindu swordsmen bested their Tamil opponents in the centre, but at the same time on of the Tamil elephants reciprocated on the other Hundi Swordsmen. Some of the impact heavy cavalry have been sent into attack the hinge in the enemy line.

Our Elephant fell in battle, and in doing so has exposed the flanks of the swordsmen and the cavalry!

However, the brave light infantry has been sent into fight the Tamil elephants and have severely wounded one of them. The Hindi swords have turned to fight the flank of the Tamil swords. While on the other flank the cavalry has destroyed their swordsmen opponents and has pursued into the gap.

The light infantry with javelins has destroyed an elephant while the remaining elephant in the centre is being overwhelmed by the cavalry in flank and rear. Further to this elephant's left the other elephant is also being attacked in the flank and front, and the attached general died in the combat. The Light Cavalry sacrificed themselves to buy us time to win in the centre and right.

Outcome

A Tamil victory suffering 21 of 25 hits. I think by fighting with the Light Cavalry rather than evading I gave up on the opportunity to secure a mutual destruction.

Lessons Learnt

To evade off the table or to fight that is the question.

In this game redeploying the cavalry worked well, albeit that towards the end the lack of command dice prevented them adequately exploiting the gap they created.

ADLG - Game Report 324

Arab Indians (135) vs Anglo-Danes (180)

We were in the final few days before we had to submit our army lists for Kegworth. I had just about decided to use Arab Indian, so a few more trials seemed to me to be sensible. So our next week-day meeting (Friday) I brought them out for another battle, and this time against Kev S's Anglo-Danes. This would not be a perfect match-up but it would help work out what I might do if confronted by an infantry-heavy army. I won the initiative and decided to attack in the plains. At this stage I placed the foot command on the left near the coastline, with the Elephant centre and the horse on the right.

I decided that what I needed to do was to try and establish a breakthrough the enemy's shield wall with my spears and elephants and then break the cavalry through any gaps I could create. Hence the cavalry is seen moving from the right to the left as a second line.

What I didn't anticipate was that the enemy would open up on their left and in doing so create gaps and flanks I might have been able to exploit if I had stayed where I was. Of course, there is no guarantee that they would have done so if I had left the cavalry there!

There is one flaw with the masterly plan I put together, and that is what would I do if there was no breakthrough. Or as in this case the enemy were ablet o cop their way through the forest of spears I presented them.

Consequently, I was forced to throw in the cavalry to hold the line. And we all know that this isn't going to go well if they charge into the heavy foot. The elephant's loss was unfortunate!

We managed some small gaps but nothing that came any where wide enough to allow us to penetrate the line into the backfield.

Outcome

I conceded defeat having lost 20 of 25 to the 9 of 22 of the Danes, so that we could both move onto another game.

Lessons Learnt

The enemy left flank wasn't open, but at least I could have stretched them more on that flank.

Although I think there is a case that if the combats had been marginally better the plan had an outside chance of succeeding.

Think more about how I can reduce the line of infantry to 6 units.

ADLG - Game Report 323

Seleucid (42) vs Alexandrian Macedonian (39)

For my second game it was refight against Robin's Alexandrian Macedonian army, a redesigned and revamped army which was now up to 26 units against my 24. I was invited to defend in the mountains. The brush on the left and the impassable terrain on the right rather naturally constrained the battlefield for an infantry battle. I deployed the CinC to the left with his medium and light troops to contest the brush, while the foot and elephants swung round to face of against the enemy wall of pikes.

The CinC rather gamely let his lighter troops forward while he remained in the rear with the cavalry and his pikes. Meanwhile the remainder of the army advanced.

Both lines are well aligned, and it looks like it will not be a simple merging of the two lines but a series of disconnected clashes as bits of the line contact each other; where is the drill master when you need them?

Who should worry about alignment, it all comes together when you need it to. That is apart from the Thracians in the brush who have failed to impede their Thracian opponents at all!

In the first clash of pikes on the left of our line the elephant won its combat and advanced into the enemy position. At the same time the Seleucid heavy cavalry engaged their opponents and has damaged them. A sole light cavalry unit is protecting their flank from the enemy Thracians now happily playing in the brush.

The Seleucid heavy cavalry has soundly beaten their opponents and can now move into the backfield, although one of their numbers was forced to fight the Thracians as they emerged from the brush. The remainder of the enemy Thracians are now trying to move into our own rear. As for the infantry battle, the Macedonian pikes have destroyed one of our own pikes but it doesn't yet look like they can gain much advantage from it. The rest of the pikes have engaged; a whole lot of shoving going on!

In this battle the Seleucid Thracians destroyed one enemy pike block thanks to their two-handed cutters. While the rest of the overlaps we had won were able to manoeuvre against the flanks of the Macedonian pikes and destroy them. The highlight of the battle, but not from Robin's perspective, were the Seleucid Light cavalry which destroyed two of the three enemy Thracians emerging from the brush without taking any losses

themselves.

Outcome

A Seleucid victory losing 20 of 24.

Lessons Learnt

A game of "ifs" for both of us; if my heavy cavalry hadn't won so quickly; if Robin's Thracians hadn't been held and then defeated by the light cavalry.

Can I make the CinC a strategist?

ADLG - Game Report 322

Bulgar (160) vs Tang Dynasty (175)

While reviewing the valid armies for Kegworth I happened on the Bulgar's which coincidentally very similar to the Ostrogoth list I had used at Oxford. It was different because the Bulgars were heavy spears and not swords. Nonetheless I thought, why not give it a go. I cobbled together a list and army and took it along to our next Thursday at Entoyment. Jon offered battle first against his Tang. I was invited to defend in the plains, and deployed classically, foot centre and cavalry on the wings.

The first thing to do was to avoid wasting my cavalry against his spears and let the left flank do as it will; left to the protection of two light horse archers. Concentration of force on the right wing was the way to go; fortunately, the command and control was sufficient for me to make progress. Importantly the right-wing cavalry moved forward to make space and in doing so potentially brought them in charge distance of the enemy cavalry; that is the enemy light cavalry evaded and we were to go long.

And they did evade and we did go long, and crashed into the line of enemy cavalry as we cam over the brow of the hill. Meanwhile the foot has wheeled to their left bringing their bows within effective range of the enemy foot.

The right wing cavalry has destroyed the enemy horse and the entire enemy left has now been exposed, including the camp.

The foot has engaged and we were fortunate to have the assistance of the bowmen on the flank of the enemy line. Without their assistance it is likely that our own line of foot's right flank might have been exposed. That is until the left wing of cavalry in column has moved to engage the enemy's foot's rear. The enemy camp is in sight and there is only one light cavalry unit to oppose us.

The left flank of our spears has been compromised as has the enemy's. The challenge who would fall first and who could get reinforcements to the centre first?

The opposing lines of foot were crumbling from their left, while in the distance the camp fell to draw a line under the Tang's resistance.

Outcome

A Bulgar victory losing 12 of 24 and sacking the enemy camp.

Lessons Learnt

I was fortunate to be able to redeploy early, however, in spite of this only one of the redeployed heavy cavalry units played an effective part of the battle.

An army that merits further trials.

ADLG - Game Report 321

Arab Indians (135) vs Shatuo Turks (177)

Kevin wanted his revenge for the last battle against the Arab Indians, and this time he had revisited his Shatuo Turks list; I have forgotten how many variants he has tried! I was invited to defend in the plains. I suspected another flank march or at least something malevolent in ambush behind the hill, so I decided to place the foot on the left, cavalry on the right and the elephant in the centre. Not, and no spoiler alert, perhaps the best options.

Unfortunately, the Elephant commander became hesitant, with which we decided to wait for the enemy to close to us.

And the enemy refused to close the distance and activate the hesitant elephant commander. For our part we decided to at least start bringing some of the spearmen forward to close the gap.

The enemy light cavalry on their right wing withdrew with the threat of our bow men which allowed the remaining spearmen to advance. Additionally, we deployed from the ambush in the gully the light cavalry attached to the elephant command once that commander decided it was now time to become involved in the battle.

By now the enemy cavalry on our right had overrun the Hindi medium and light cavalry and was now within reach of our camp. All that was left to guard it was one light cavalry unit. The question for us would be how many casualties could we inflict in the centre before the camp fell?

The battlefield had become quite chaotic, it would be a question of who would get the better command and control to exploit any advantage they could see. Everywhere flanks were being exposed, and units were being picked of piecemeal.

The determined aggression and resistance of many of the enemy light horse archers while in combat allowed them to make inroads into the Arabs and our losses escalated.

Outcome

A Shatuo Turks victory in which they lost 12 of their 25. Examining the Arab list after the game I realised that in this and all the previous games I had forgotten to deploy an Arab Bowmen unit! I seem to like fighting with one arm tied behind my back, although it is unlikely to have made a difference in this game!

Lessons Learnt

Remember to check the number of units before you have to deploy!

The right flank would have been a far better piece of ground for the infantry to defend.

ADLG - Game Report 320

Serbo-Croats (162) vs Abbasid Arab (134)

For the next Thursday outing at Entoyment I decided on something completely different. In looking at armies valid for Kegworth I spotted the Serbo-Croats and specifically the Croat option. The army I put together had an interesting mix of elite impetuous and non-impetuous heavy cavalry, medium infantry with two-handed cutting weapons and heavy spears. I was invited to attack in the plains. Given the inherent flexibility of the Arab armies to either be horse-heavy or foot-heavy I decided to deploy classically, with cavalry and medium foot on the wings with the foot in the centre. The right wing was left in column to allow it to manoeuvre depending on how the Arab's deployed.

Confronted with the massed bows on the enemy left, the Croat horse on the right were refused, but their medium foot was moved forward to the centre to engage the enemy spearmen. On the left we did advance.

The centre moved to provide space for the medium foot to move into, by moving to the right to face off against the bowmen. On the left the cavalry has engaged with honours going, at least initially, to the Croats.

The Croat cavalry have engaged and defeated the majority of the Arab horse. While the spears and medium foot have moved forward to engage the Arab foot.

The Arab left has moved forward to try to bring its bows into range of the Croat cavalry. While the centre and left of the Croat line are trying to complete their victory.

The Arab horse has been defeated, but its foot seems willing to try and continue the fight. This has meant that the Croat cavalry on the right was forced to engage the Arab bowmen.

Outcome

A Serbo-Croat victory suffering 20 of 24 cohesion hits.

Lessons Learnt

The Croat army list is interesting, but it lacks retaliatory bow fire. However, it is a valid candidate for Kegworth.