Looking at the map will give you a bird’s eye view of the terrain that the encounter is taking place over [Yes. It is ongoing!] Unfortunately it does not show the rise and fall in the ground, brilliantly sculptured for me by Kris Constable. There is considerable hidden ground and being the sort of solo gamer that I am then I ensure that my figures on the ground can only act accurately on what they can actually see. This caused considerable congestion, for me in real terms, getting the Red Pharaoh [the bad guy played by ‘someone else’] and all his troops on to the table to start the game. This was a real ‘terrain dictates deployment’ problem which I had not foreseen when setting up the game and terrain, which meant the Reds had to modify their initial deployment justified in true soloist terms, which became, “because they were moving over unfamiliar ground in the dark”.
My original plan for the Reds was to start their advance at the crack of dawn and to steal a march on the Blue Pharaoh [played by yours truly] who would be at his devotions in the temple/palace of Ra on the hill overlooking Abnub and the Nile. Only the pharaoh’s personal guard would be stood-to, while the rest of his force would be busy sorting out their animals and equipment after the previous days hard march. Only the combined frontier guard regiment of half chariots and half infantry would have detailed knowledge of the ground and their commander was waiting on the Pharaoh in the temple palace, while his men were billeted within Abnub itself.
Although a large and prosperous city, Abnub did not have the capacity to accommodate any more troops than the regular garrison and the monarch’s men were billeted as shown outside the city. The canal basin had a Roman trireme moored along with three merchant ships that had come to trade for grain. There was also an Egyptian coastal command ship that had just been repaired after considerable storm damage but had not yet got her full compliment of sailors and marines on board. The Nile was at its lowest level prior to the deluge, which would flood the plains around the city with thick, rich mud from which the locals would raise two or three crops in the coming year. [The unpredictable rise of the Nile was something I wanted to incorporate into the scenario without it swamping the complete battlefield. I therefore decided to only allow the rising waters to reach as far as the causeways depicted on the map and would throw a D100 every turn with the first turn requiring 100 to flood, the next turn 99 and so on. I believe in reality the ancient Egyptians could very accurately assess the rise of the Nile, but I needed uncertainty.]
The hills, Nile, canal, ridges, ford, roads and woods presented a complex problem for the Red Pharaoh to solve and the way I attempted to get around this was to give each unit orders of where they should march and the objectives they should take. This was done on a sketch map of the main terrain features which a trader or spy would have been able to give to the invaders. Only after these orders were written in stone [OK typed up] did I put out the rest of the terrain and I should point out this was quite some time later.
Knowing the general location of the enemy forces I had to use selective amnesia to position the friendly troops and I did this in the most tactical and logical manner; with the chariots located in the center rear and the infantry on the outskirts, as shown on the map. The location of the Red Pharaoh would be crucial to the game and I tried to be realistic in that he was located in a temple palace protected by a high wall and his personal guards.
The scene was set and I placed all the invading forces [that would fit] on the table and had decided to give them a D6 number of moves in the dark just to ensure they had a good deployment. I threw a ‘3’ and so each of the enemy units was moved forward at half speed – dodgy moving over unknown ground in the dark with the enemy not far away. Each move every unit threw a D6; 1 or 2 Swerve Left 45 degrees, 3 or 4 move straight on and 5 or 6 swerve Right 45 degrees. There will be no need to relate the chaos that this simple but so effective system caused and it was great fun in itself, in that not every unit was in its jumping off point when the time came!
General
It can be observed that I enjoy the visual aspects of a wargames table that is diverse in its tactical problems and this gives me considerable food for thought before and during the game. There are all types of troops involved in this battle, mounted, foot and on the water. There are obvious tactical objectives that need to be taken/held to ensure success for whichever side. I have already, belatedly noted the failure to have some sort of fortification on Sphinx Ridge to the west of the Gates of Horus which would have commanded both the river and the road is a grave strategic error on the part of the Egyptians.
The scene is set and dawn is breaking as in the various camps the troops of the Blue Pharaoh begin their daily chores completely unaware of the threat that is swiftly rolling in from the north.
“Let battle commence and may the gods be with us!”
[Urgently needed details of any firm that has 15mm Arab Dhows! Kenn]
More Chariot Saga
Chariot Saga 2003 Part 2
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