EDITOR'S NOTE ...Did you ever hear of the time that the famed Samurai met and defeated the Greek forces of Alexander the Great? No...?, well, you just haven't read your WRG Ancients, 6th Edition.
The following article, submitted by Seiitaishogun** Hiyatomi Elsworthojo, describes such an encounter.
- ** Seiitaishogun..."barbarian-subduing great general" Now don't jes' sit there an' tell me you ain't never learned nothin' by readin' the REVIEW.
It would seem that if, as the battle description relates, the WRG 6th Edition is so free with its "plus 2's" for the Samurai, there will soon be a run on the inventories of the local hobby shops for these fierce fighting men.
A BRIEF BATTLE REPORT FROM THE OLD COUNTRY
My early Samurai army was marching home from a successful campaign recently when, somewhere in the Levant, it was confronted by an upstart mob claiming to be the army of Alexander the Great.
From the fact that their commander was a mere callow youth I concluded that ( especially using the WRG 6th Edition) they would not give my boys too much trouble and decided to give them a lesson. The forces were as follows:
| Alexander | Hiyatomi Elsworthojo |
|---|---|
| 1. Hypaspists 20 men | A. Soldiers 20 men |
| 2. Peltasts 12 | B. Soldiers 20 |
| 3. Phalanx 24 | C. Samurai Foot 10 |
| 4. Phalanx 48 | D. Soldiers 20 |
| 5. Lt Cav, lance | E. Samurai Foot 1O |
| 6. Hoplites 24 | F. Samurai Foot 10 |
| 7. Companion Cav 6 | G. Samurai Foot 10 |
| 8. Companion Cav 6 | H. Samurai Mounted 10 |
| 9. Companion Cav 6 | I. Samurai Mounted 10 I. Samurai Mounted Bodyguard 4 |
| Total 152 | 124 |
The practiced eyes of PW members will immediately perceive the imbalance in the deployments as shown in Figure 1. Alexander, in his pride, thinks to break the thin line of Samurai before his phalanx and exploit the gap with his cavalry while holding his right flank on the woods.
Little does he know of the flexibility and controlled ferocity of Samurai under WRG6!! My men now boast longbows and a "+2" for ferocity on uncontrolled charge , but the latter is a misnomer, since by deploying them out in the open, and by judicious positioning of my own bodyguard, I can unleash their charge at will ( on average dice throws, anyway! )
This is just what happened. The phalanx plodded forward; my Samurai stood and plied thier longbows with a will. The phalanx suffered fire for 4 successive bounds before they were close enough to charge. Meanwhile, my mounted Samurai had closed off my open right flank, wreaking much havoc in the ranks of Alexander's light cavalry with their bows, and my Samurai's faithful soldier followers had cleared the woods and worked their way into the enemy's rear areas.
Alexander launched a despairing charge... but to no avail against my "+2's" and the threat of a charge next turn in their rear! Not many escaped.
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© Copyright 1980 Wally Simon
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