Part 7 (Details of Parts 1 - 6 in LW 103)
Flushed with their success at Pharsalus the Celts had moved off in their two columns towards their rendezvous at Mount Oeta from where they planned to fall up and sack the city of Doris. Nothing of interest happened to either of the columns on their marches, all the Greeks fleeing before the barbarians.
The messengers sent by Aristoshus of Crannon, the wily Greek veteran, had done their job well and warriors and units all keen to engage the enemy had been mustering at Doris. News of the advancing Celts along the coast had caused the Greeks to deploy a large portion of their forces to the bottleneck that was Thermopylae, this resulted in the invaders being forced to move inland where the rugged mountain tracks lay. This had not forced any changes to Wulfric but his scouts that had been spotted by the Greeks at the site of many a famous battle, were taken to be the main force by the warriors guarding the coast and so they maintained their position. Light cavalrymen reported to Wulfric that there was no sign of Brennus and the other column but that the two passes leading towards Mount Oeta were full of Greek soldiers and they looked to be in a strong position.
Known to be rash, Wulfric was stopped from attacking the Greeks head on by Olaf of the Cimbri although Teelak the Belgae was on Wulfrics side. Halting short of the Oeta Plain the Celts pitched camp amongst the woodlands while horsemen were sent out to contact Brennus and inform him of the situation.
Two days later Brennus and his war chiefs rode into the southern camp and a War Council was immediately called and a plan of action worked out for the following day. The army was to be divided into three prongs and the northern and central prongs were to smash through the corresponding gaps into the passes beyond while the third prong was to threaten the southern gap until the other attacking columns had done their work. The problem of charging face-on to a steady and ready phalanx of Greek pikemen was fully understood and the Celts decided to use their missile men to soften the enemy holding the northern gap and goad the central defenders with javelin attacks by the cavalry. Late into the night warriors prepared for the battle.
Forewarned by his sentries of the approaching Celts Aristoshus had his men into position before the sun lit the new day only to discover the enemy had not yet appeared. Breakfast fires were lit and the troops broke their fast. Higher in the sky climbed the sun and still the Celts failed to appear, eventually at the 9th hour formations of enemy were seen entering the plain from the northern and southern routes. To the Greeks the mass of Celts seemed never ending but what a rabble, nothing to fear from that mob of barbarians.
Mountains
Slowly the eastern part of the plain filed with the Celtic army which swirled about and then some organisation began to take place and three columns started to move into the rich grasslands headed by nobly clad warriors on prancing steeds. Higher rose the sun and still the Celts streamed from the forests. To the undulating tunes of their pipes the Greeks also moved into their battle positions and singing their battle hymns prepared to meet the advancing Celts.
Screaming their warcries a band of Insubre archers sped away from the northern Celtic force and raced towards the waiting Greeks in the northern gap. Arrows past in flight as the Greek archers from Seres shot at the fast moving Celts. The Insubre slingers had been ordered to support their archers in the attack on the gap but the slingers refused to advance and although the Celts eventually drove off the Greeks they lost a lot of men in doing so. An arrow was found transfixing the slingers leader to a tree on the day after the battle! When the Seres archers were forced to withdraw behind the Argos phalanx it was the turn of the Alloburges to prove their mettle, screaming their battle cries and burnishing their weapons they charged the Greeks, who waited the onslaught of the warband with levelled spearheads and a disciplined calm.
No Greek fell in this attack but the Celts were broken by the amount of casualties they had received and they limped back the way they had come only to be pushed aside by the fanatical Gaestati who were fired with bloodlust and the desire for glory. Onto the spears drove the naked warriors. Hands grasped sharpened steel, points entered shields and flesh, swords chopped at shafts and screams rose high above the melee. "Advance" ordered the Greek officers. Hoplites in the rear ranks put their shields into the backs of their comrades in front and pushed and pushed.
This unexpected manoeuvre halted the Gaestati in their tracks and as the pressure behind the spears increased the barbarians were forced back step by step. Over the sounds of the combat rang out the clarion call for the Gaestati to break off and fall back and with a few final gestures of defiance the warriors turned and ran towards their standard. Bravery had not been enough and although casualties had been caused on the Greeks the phalanx was still in good order and able to hold its ground. "Halt" "Wounded to the rear, spears to the front, close ranks" ordered Alexi of Argos who knew that his men were vulnerable at that moment due to the exertions they had been under and the losses they had suffered. Reaching behind the front rank of Hoplites were given new spears to replace those lost earlier, men that had suffered wound were led to the rear and the phalanx realigned its ranks, any enemy wounded within reach was despatched and the Greeks prepared to hold their ground.
The fact that two warbands had been defeated by the Greeks had no effect on the Insubres and they raced forward only to be badly mauled and sent reeling by the victorious Greek defenders who by now had suffered over a quarter of their original strength in casualties and were weary from their exploits. General Aristoshus had watched with pride the actions of the men of Argos and had ordered the Hoplites from Xylib to take over the defence of the northern gap in order to rest the weary heroes. Loud rang the Victory songs from the Argos phalanx; three times the waves of barbarians had smashed onto the rock of Argos and three times the Celts had broken. For years to come songs would be sung of the Heroes of Argos and their deed at the Passes of Oeta. The battle for the northern gap had temporarily halted while both sides regrouped their forces.
In the centre the archers of Xante who were screening the Spartan phalanx were so accurate with their shooting that Selur of the Boii had his warband move back out of arrow range. This withdrawal of the Boii allowed the Senones light cavalrymen to dash in and shower the Greek archers with javelins which forced the bowmen to seek the shelter of the phalanx. Back swept the horsemen and this time Spartan hoplites fell to the rain of javelins, seeing a chance the Gaestati charioteers who had been stationed to the north of the Boii whipped their ponies into a gallop and bore down upon the phalanx. This action went drastically wrong and instead of dashing in throwing their javelins turning about and racing away the frightened ponies plunged to their doom on the spear points of the Spartans.
Terrific was the noise of this collision. Men and horses screamed in pain and fear, chariots catapulted their occupants into the mass of the pike ranks, slashing hooves and heavy chariot wheels crunched over fallen bodies adding to the din, cries for help in a multitude of tongues rose from the blood splattered foes, shouts defiance, blare of war trumpets, unheeded orders were shouted by harassed commanders, war cries mixed with battle oaths, pikes splintered, javelins flew, swords met and above all rose a thick pall of dust. Casualties grew on both sides. Piles of dead and wounded began to cover the ground. Wrecked chariots and their crews littered the gap.
Frenzied horses lashed out in pain and fear. Friend struck out at friend in the blinding dust cloud. Over 80% of the Greek front rank and gone down under the wheels and hooves of the reckless chariot attack who had lost 40% of their original strength in those few bloody minutes. The Spartan formation had been broken into by the Gaestati warriors and although grossly out-numbered they were in their element whereas the Greeks were drastically hampered by their long spears. The loss of so many of their comrades had no effect on the Celts and they cut their way into the densely packed Greeks with their bloodlust running high.
At the southern gap General Elephas had had considerable trouble getting the phalanx from Corinth to move into position and his attention was so taken up with this problem that he failed to spot the Celts infiltrating the wood on his northern flank. This was to prove costly. Keeping his warbands back from contact with the Greeks Wulfric had decided that by using his javelinmen to attack the defenders he would really gain their attention which was what he had been ordered to do. Word was passed back to General Elephas that the tribesmen to the front of the Athenian phalanx had began to advance, banging their shields and raising their warcries, quickly he left the slow moving Corinthians and rushed to the front of his position.
About 80 paces short of the Athenians the warband stopped and increased its nerve-racking racket. Elephus ordered the phalanx to advance 30 paces in the hope that this would lure the Celts to attack but the only result from this move was that the barbarians increased their noise until at a single trumpet call the noise ceased. Puzzled by the barbarians actions the Athenians were unexpectedly assaulted with two swift flights of javelins thrown at short range from the woods on their immediate left. Lyak the Athenian commander was amongst the first to fall and confusion hit the Greek ranks.
Gaeva, war chief of the Gaestati, had decided to wear the Greeks defending the northern gap down with javelin fire and his plan was highly successful. Still un-reinforced by Xylib the Argonian phalanx was suffering under the hail of missiles and as the casualties increased the Celts got bolder and moved in even closer to the battered Hoplites. Minute by minute the casualties were increasing and still the sluggards from Xylib had not relieved him, so Alexi decided to gamble and passed the word through the ranks that when the retreat was sounded all the Hoplites were to run through the ranks of Zylib, about face and form up to their rear. "Retreat" ordered the trumpet.
So fast was the reaction to the call that the Celts were caught out and the Argonians achieved their objective without loss. The Xylibians closed ranks and advanced upon the stunned Celts. Anger replaced shock and the Gaestati leapt over the piles of fallen warriors in pursuit of the Greeks and were slaughtered by the spears of Xylib. Only when the Celts fled for their lives was the massacre stopped and the Greeks held the northern gap behind a barricade of bodies.
An enterprising scout of the Gaestati, Botet the Bold, had discovered the hidden way to the sacred pond and was exploring farther into this mystery while his fellows were dying in the gap.
In the Central Gap the end came quickly for the Spartans hoplites as the Celts cut into their packed ranks. Unable to defend themselves from the blood fury of the barbarians the Greeks dropped their shields and pikes and fled to the rear. Victor and vanquished streamed to the west leaving the gap open and undefended. General Aristoshus had the Delphi cavalry under direct command and by his presence alone was able to make them stand their ground when the Spartans broke. This example enabled the remainder of the Greeks to remain steadfast even though the defeat of the Spartans had shaken them to their cores. Seeing the success of the charioteers the Boii warband ran in hot pursuit only to be faced by General Aristoshus and the shaken Delphi horsemen who formed up behind the broken chariots, horses and bodies that blocked the central gap.
Cowering behind raised shields the Athenian hoplites in the southern gap felt helpless under the rain of javelins, having no light troops with which to drive the barbarians off. General Elephas decided that he needed to act positively in order to restore the situation, he ordered the Athenians to advance and attack the warband to their front. They refused to move! The Senones light cavalry had also begun to launch hit and run attacks on the front of the phalanx. Under fire from front and flank without being able to reply, their commander dead, the Athenians were doing well just to hold their ground let alone advance! This message was passed back to their General.
All was not lost though. The Senones light cavalry had got into a mess in the narrow confines of the gap and Perisotes of the Papas cavalry raised high his battle cry and charged into the barbarians. In the small space only a few horsemen could actually get into contact but the superior arms, formation and discipline of the Greeks won this fairly bloodless contest and soon the combatants were racing east across the plain towards the main warbands of the barbarians. Their lighter weight, nipper mounts and the greater fear of being killed soon enabled the Senones riders to out-distance the men of Papas who with great discipline swerved to their right and hit the Belgiae warband in the flank. This unexpected attack quickly resulted in the Belgae fleeing for their lives hotly pursued by the Greek horsemen.
Brennus had rode from the north to the south of the plain just in time to see the Greeks beat the Belgae, this was enough and he ordered to his carnyx to sound the "Retreat". The call was picked up all over the battlefield by the Celts and reacted to. For over two hours the battle had been raging and although the Celts had managed to smash through the central gap this had not been exploited and the Greek reserves had soon filled the vacancy. The general situation was:
- Northern Gap. Firmly in the hands of the Greeks with a carpet of battle debris and bodies 40 paces deep completely across the entrance and the bodies in places 2-3 high, a formidable barrier.
Central Gap. Although not so many had fallen in this area compared with that in the north, the debris presented much more of an obstacle being chariots and horses as well as men. No organised advance would be possible through the mess that covered that area.
Southern Gap. No impression had been made as far as territory goes by the Celts but their tactics had shaken the Athenian phalanx. That apart the Greeks had been successful in this area.
"Missiles are the only way will the Greeks be weakened enough for us to have a chance of attacking them head-on". "My noble Lords, I Betot the Bold have a plan which will give us success!" The interruption by the Gaestati was taken most seriously by the gathered Celtic war chiefs, who eventually gave him hearing and his plan eventually adopted. It was agreed that Betot would lead a select band through the secret way by the sacred pond coming around behind the Greeks and once he was in position he would raise his war cry which would be the signal for all the warbands to attack. The Greeks caught between all the converging forces would not stand a chance. All the Celtic missilemen were to engage the enemy until the signal was given.
Believing the next main attack would come in the south, General Aristoshus decided to lure the Celts deep into his position before closing the trap on them. Orders remained the same for the central and northern gaps but the Greek Commander pulled the Athenians back deep and hid the peltasts from Melos on the north and the cavalry of Papas in the south, both these units hidden behind the woodland. To ensure no repeat of the Celtic infiltration of the forests Aristoshus positioned the Xante archers there. The scene was set. All the Greek dead and wounded had been evacuated down the pass to Doris while the barbarian casualties had been finished-off and stacked as barricades in the gaps.
In order to hide the actions of Botet and his force from the Greeks Brennus had his warbands completely cover the gap and his archers and slingers (sl) were pushed forward to engage the Seres bowmen. This move was successful and no hint of the outflanking manoeuvre was spotted by Xylib. Celtic horsemen were keen to get involved in the battle but the terrain was against them and many left their horses behind and joined their warband to fight on foot.
The missile battle between the Seres archers and the Insubres slingers and archers was soon over and the Greeks for the second time that day picked up their wounded and retreated behind the phalanx. While the archers and slingers picked off the Xylib hoplites without hindrance, warriors began to unstack the bodies that blocked the gap. Casualties were increasing by the minute so Silon the Xylib commander ordered the Hoplites to withdraw 60 paces in order to increase the range at which the Celts would have to fire, he also hoped to lure the lightly armed troops over the barricade where his men could successfully engage them. The flanking move by Betot was going very slowly with first one unit and then another halting because of the narrow track they were forced to use and every time one unit stopped the whole column was affected.
In the central gap the soldiers from Corinth were coming under accurate javelin fire from the Boii, so accurate and deadly that the Corinthians were forced to give ground. The Celts nimbly followed the phalanx moving from pile of debris to pile of debris and all the time throwing their javelins, retrieving those which had not hit a target and throwing them again. The lot of the phalanx was not a happy one.
Senones javelinmen had ventured into the trap laid for them in the southern gap but the Papas charged out too soon, disclosing the ambush and allowing the tribesmen time to run for safety. Perisotes realized his error and quickly attempted to get his disordered cavalrymen into a fighting formation again but his predicament had been spotted by Wulfric of the Senones who was personally leading his mounted nobles and digging in his heels, waving his bejewelled sword the Celt galloped directly into the Greeks followed by his warriors. Peristores had been unable to reorganise his men but still reacted to the Celtic challenge by ordering the charge to be sounded. The ground between the two woods was soon filled with a mixed melee of horsemen with the Greeks getting the better of the initial impact but within minutes the superior formation of the Senones gave them the advantage and the Greeks were forced to break-off the combat. Elated with their victory the Celts gave chase!
It had taken Botet well over an hour to get his flanking force through the narrow tracks that led around behind the Greeks' position but finally he was ready to attack. From the north of the Greeks' position was heard a barbarian carnyx which worried the defenders but to their enemies it order "Attack!" Silon in moving his phalanx back in order to increase the range of the Insubre missile warriors had placed his troops directly in the path of the screaming Gaestati. Caught in the flank the hoplites were no match for the Celtic swordsmen and after a few bloody minutes the Greeks were fleeing for their lives, hotly pursued by the Gaestati.
Through the northern gap poured the Insubre archers and slingers closely followed by their main warband, over the remaining bodies left in the gap they stumbled bent on killing all the Greeks they could get their hands on. Celtic horns, carnyx, trumpets and voices relayed the message south down the plain, "Attack!" "Attack!"
Unleashed the Boii warband began to move towards the central gap only to discover their javelin running back towards them hotly pursued by the heavy cavalrymen from Delphi, who had been used to relieve the pressure on the Corinthian phalanx. Jumping obstacles, riding around others the Greeks chased through the gap.
In the southern gap the attempt to break-off the combat by the Papas was a complete failure and they were caught in the rear and the Senones cut down over 70% of the Greek cavalry, capturing the personal standard of General Elpas but not the commander himself and the standard of the Papas. The surviving Greeks galloped past the shaken Athenian phalanx and up the pass to the city of Doris.
Aristoshus had not been idle during these setbacks and had ordered the Corinthians to leave the central gap and form-up on the track facing north, which would give him a base from which to operate. Alexi of Argos had been withdrawing slowly in the face of the increasing numbers of Celts who were moving through the northern gap and he received orders to position himself on the right of the Corinth phalanx.
Into the woods ran the fleeing hoplites from Xylib hotly pursued by Betot and the Gaestati, into the mountains ran the archers of Seres unnoticed in the general confusion and the numbers of Celts moving through the northern gap increased. Slingshot and arrows began to take their toll on the Argos phalanx as it moved slowly backwards towards its ordered position. The Corinthians had managed to reach their new position and were ready to face the oncoming barbarians, the hole they had left in the central gap had been adequately covered by the horsemen of Delphi. Zeroc had chased off the Boii javelinmen and having moved through the gap and seeing the disorder of the warband in front of him had formed his troops into a solid battle line and smashed into the shocked Boii who instantly routed. Outnumbered nearly 5:1 the Greeks had made a memorable and heroic attack, which combined with the subsequent pursuit resulted in over 60% of the Boii falling as casualties.
At the southern gap, Wulfric had managed to control his jubilant cavalrymen and had began to rally them, those that were not busy collecting enemy heads!
The northern gap and pass was now in Celtic hands, a lot of who were busy killing the Greek wounded and looting their bodies. The pressure on the Argons was finalized when the Insubre warband charged into them and sent them fleeing for their lives. Brennus ordered the Allogurges cavalry to pursue the running Hoplites but the horsemen wanted more glory than that found in riding down fleeing foot soldiers and charged the Corinthian pikes head-on! Not waiting for the collision the Greek hoplites flung down their shields and pikes and ran into the woods. It was all over for the Greeks and Aristoshus rode up to the peltasts of Melos and banding them with the Athenians formed them up covering the southern pass hoping to retreat to Doris without hindrance. It was not to be and combined javelin attacks by the Celtic cavalrymen soon broke the remaining Greek soldiers who fled for their lives.
THE END
How the Dephic cavalry finally broke off their successful attack on the Boii and made it to their own city and how the Xante archers hidden in the southern wood were overlooked by the Celts and managed to slip through the barbarian camp at night and escape is part of another saga...........
TERRAIN
By removing the terrain modules which contained the river parts from the PHARSALUS battle and replacing them with flat modules the scene was set for the EOTA battle. Knowing the hilly nature of that part of Greece and wishing to fight an action on the same lines as that fought by the Celts in 279 BC at Thermopylae when they pulled the same move on the Greeks that the Persians had done almost 200 years earlier.
ARRIVAL AT THE RENDEZVOUS
It would seem to have been standard Greek actions to place a force at Thermopylae when threatened with attack from the north, so Celtic scouts would undoubtedly have spotted them and this would have forced the war chief to move west into the mountains to make his RV. A D6 for each force was thrown the highest score arrived on the plain first, the difference between the two dice being the days before the second column arrived. Now Wulfric was a Rash commander, as was Teelak of the Belgae and there was a good chance that they would attack before the rest of the Celts appeared which considering the Political Chart, previous clashes and the Celtic love of gold and glory, was highly possible. With 2 of the war chiefs being Rash and the other Bold, each commander threw a D6 and the totals of the Rash commanders dice were placed against the Bold commanders throw. The highest having the choice of action. Needless to say Olaf threw a good die and the column waited for the remainder of the army.
GREEK PLAN
This, as before, was worked out in advance and only if the General saw something was he able to react to it and only could he personally give orders to a unit, he had no couriers! A good mount is recommended for the commander. After the initial series of attacks, the Greeks were allowed to revise their orders in the light of the new situation, these were written before any action was considered on the Celtic side.
CELTIC ADVANCE
Using the Dice and Card system, the advance of the Celts was slow and disjointed, the Alloburges slingers suffered from both bad die and bad cards never making the first battle.
CELTIC ATTACKS
In accordance with the Shock of Impact rules the war bands went out of control and attacked when they got within range of the enemy, this caused considerable chaos in the northern gap and in the second part of the battle they were kept well back out of range! The attack by the chariots on the Spartan phalanx was a fine example of how the rules took over the unit added to amazing die throws, which counteracted the losses suffered this gave a lucky break to the Celts, for although they lost the chariot unit one of the better Greek phalanxes had been broken and damage done to other Greek units. Feint attacks by horsemen on the Hoplites were done within the rules.
WITHDRAWAL OUT OF MISSILE RANGE
I allow a commander the opportunity to move his men back out of missile range as long as his unit does not disobey any orders by leaving a position. Both sides used this method of keeping casualties down.
HIDDEN MOVES
Only completely honest actions by a solo wargamer can enable Hidden Moves to be carried out. I make units act as though the hidden enemy does not exist, Athens ambushed by Senones javelinmen from the woods, is a prime example. There is also the possibility that with so many units to move and the fact that troops in woods are not put on the table (by me anyway) it is easy to forget they are hidden there, occasional glance at the Battle Plan keeps the memory ticking over in these instances.
DISCOVERY OF THE SECRET TRACK
Although the Greeks had been in position for some days they failed to protect this vital pathway. In 279 BC the Greek locals betrayed the route to the Celts but all the natives had fled before the barbarians arrived so scouts had to be employed, in the wargame scenario. Each cavalry unit in the northern part of the plain, a total of 5, were allowed 2 scouts each whose task was to find the secret passage and to do this they each threw 2 percentage dice and needed to score 90% to achieve their aim. In real terms this gave the Celts 10 opportunities per game move to discover the track, had I wanted to make the discovery harder I could have halved the scouts or amended the percentage needed. However it was essential that the trackway was discovered fairly easily to keep to the overall game plan.
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