On the Right Flank:

Pithon looked at his force and seeing the advantage he had on all fronts threw everything at the rebels. His Right Flank started to force the issue immediately. Skirmish Cavalry dispensed with the bow and hit the Saka Skirmishers on the move with the Saka the worse for it. This was followed up by Heavy Cavalry. The enemy skirmishers could not get a shot off. Their firing was totally ineffective and when they were finally able to get a decent shot off they were so close that Pithon's right flank heavy troopers would be impaling the lighter enemy units. They saw one unit disintegrate and that seemed to not to take the fight out of them but disrupt their plans. Pithon sent messages to his right sub-commander to hurry and eliminate the enemy lights but they continued in melees. The enemy was throwing in his units piecemeal. Slowly the heavy's were winning.

To Pithon it seemed like ages and all he could see was dust ascending to the heavens as the enemy kept throwing in more light cavalry into the fray. Finally, it was apparent to Pithon that the heavies would hold the field but not be able to influence the main battleline as pikes and spears had already crossed.

On the Left Flank:

Pithon cursed that there were no reports coming from the left. He did not fear the left. His orders were specific, advance slowly. Do not get surprised; stay in close contact with the pikes. Do not loose as everyone else will win. What more could he say to the biggest question mark of his command. Yes, he had heard the talk. The elephants could stomp on a man and crush is bones to the core. Pithon knew that elephants could stomp in many ways. He had not been training with them that long, were they any good? No matter, the rest of the army would deal with these rebels. All he would ask is no suppress.

With the first reports in it appeared his sub-general was riding with good fortune. The elephant closest to the pikes were on the move. His skirmishers were shooting but the rest of the mass was holding its own, not advancing; not fleeing. The Cretans were shooting at the elephant skirmishers and the skirmishers were running. The elephants were being peppered with bowshots. Indian bowman returned fire and the Cretans started losing men. Nothing more was heard from that arena.

In the Center:

Pithon's Macedonian bowmen started shooting the hillmen. Immediately they got the range and the hillmen started leaving; sometimes one could be seen heading for the rear other times two. Who could blame them, it wasn't really their fight and with spears they would have to get closer. They never got their chance. The long spears of the Greeks rolled past them. They would get to the Pikes and see who would hold the field. The Pikes slowly continued their steady advance.

Pithon was not worried. His sub-commander had learned well and gave the charge at the right time. The Greeks had also charged and four Pike blocks (the sub-commander included with an 8-stand block) met in a head to head clash, neither giving any ground. Slowly the Greeks started giving way. The Rebel leader quickly assessed the situation and threw himself into the fray. What mattered now were quick battle results. Pithon also saw this and brought up the Guard Cavalry. The cavalry on his right were just winning and could not hope to influence the situation in the center. His guard might find a flank.

In the Center Right:

Pithon's own command was held in reserve, except for his Skirmishers which had hastened the collapse of the enemy's cavalry on his own right wing. It would serve as a pivot to ensure the enemy did not escape. Meanwhile, his subordinates were issuing commands to both cavalry and infantry. The enemy was stubborn and courageous but invariably they were too weakly armed to stand up against his forces. Pithon looked to his left; there stood his Guard Cavalry. Inching up slowly; waiting for the word to be unleashed. When they were let loose, woe be anyone in their way.

Climax:

The Pikes were pushing the Long Spearmen back but the Spearmen were not disheartened. The Colonists appeared and the Greeks cheered. They were bowmen but anyone on a flank could do considerable damage. To the spearmen's right they saw their only pike block charging and fighting an Elephant. It was winning and pushing it back.

Pithon's commanders would have none of this. The only unengaged Pike block maneuvered against the flank of the Greek Pikemen. It was over in an instant. Within moments the Guard Cavalry charged and the Colonists disintegrated. The Greek Heavy Infantry withered when pressed with Pike blocks and seeing their last reserves gone, with no hope of victory they fled the field (actually the game was called at this point a svelte 2.5 hours of playing time).

Aftermath:

I asked at the end of the battle how everyone felt about the rules and the game and they felt very good about everything. Most of all everyone had fun and learned a thing or two. I will say that the people who played did a fine job. They learned quickly and I did not have much to do after about an hour and a quarter. I made myself look as though I was doing things like answering questions but really the gamers were doing the charts. At about 10:00 PM on a Saturday evening after gaming for 9+ hours that sounded real good to me..

Afterthoughts on the battle:

This is not your normal battle. First, the rebel forces have very little to be positive about. While they are outnumbered by only a little where they are really hurting is that they lack the quality the Selucid Army has. Most sane gamemasters would take these forces and fool with the command points to offset the enemy advantages; not I! I tend to think that the real challenge in Ancient Warfare is getting many units with very few command points. Which units are truly worthy of those precious command points. The rebels had a disadvantage in these in which they were hard pressed to offset.

In gameplaying the cavalry battle the Selucids have an advantage but it is not as pronounced as it played out in the battle. The rebels have lots of Skirmish Cavalry but they were not able to take advantage of their bowfire. In the past I have seen the heavy cavalry wither and upon charging be so shot up that a subsequent charge (not a countercharge) has the remnants fleeing for their lives. This was never realized in this game. On the other hand the Selucid sub-general lost about 3 figures while wiping out 6 stands. Rarely have I seen a more lopsided victory. Still after all of this the still intact right flank was not able to partake in the main battle. This was mostly due to the distance and the terrain that they would have had to traverse.

I tried to warn the rebel commander in chief of something I had found out all to quickly when I game tested this scenario. Do not fight javelin armed heavy infantry against Pike (it was a let's have a brain cramp day). It is hardly a fight. The Long Spears are a bit better but the masses of the Pike were too much for them. Once they locked without any threat to their flanks or earlier losses due to firing the question was never in doubt, just how long would it take. The rebels needed to shoot the pike but could not throw their javelins, as they would then be charged. It must have been a frustrating event in so much as the rebel heavy infantry charged instead. If the pike charge the SI they will run and the pike will not catch them but disorder instead. Because of that the pike will not charge but again, once a person has played the rules once or twice they become unusually brilliant when playing someone who has not played before.

Finally the Elephant commander had a frustrating time of it. He had plenty of mass but few command points. He was also not able to get any from the Pike sub-commander and if he did they would have had to roll to see if it had any effect. With those restrictions he did a good job just getting his force into the fray. He also had to deal with restrictive terrain (the terrain benefited the rebels but they rarely used any to their advantage). The rebels advanced against the Elephants and Pikemen. Now that's moxie!

In short all commanders had to deal with circumstances that they had not been able to anticipate in the beginning of the battle. This was the first time for all but one player and all of them did pretty well, whether they carried the day or not. Again, given the scenario it should be realized that the rebels were working under a great disadvantage.

Introduction