Go Minimally Into The Desert - circa 617 AD

[Chris]

For my last "print to play" wargame of 2015, I elected to adapt a battle report (as well as the title) from Rick Priestley's colourful and popular Hail Caesar rule book. And so, in mid-December, two triple-size armies (3 core forces plus 300 points worth of bonus units but none with veteran status) were drafted from the Later Sassanid Empire 531 - 632 AD list (from the Warflute site), put together (an inexpensive and simple process), and then arranged on terrain that looked somewhat similar to the shaded diagram found on page 141 of the aforementioned rule book. As I am not able to attach pictures of the tabletop (the file size is too big, apparently), the following description will have to suffice.

There was a fairly substantial if still gentle hill on the left of the Royal army. This was where the Arab contingent was located. Between this force and the enemy ("rebel" force allied with Byzantine interests) there were a couple of large patches of scrub. (This is a new terrain type developed for my Armati 2 scenarios and is based on the broken ground category defined in the Impetvs rules.) In the center of the field, there was another gentle hill. A portion of it was covered by scrub. There was an oasis located in the center of this vegetation. On the bare portion of the hill, there was a centuries-old and fallen into disrepair watch tower. A little further beyond this portion of the hill, there was a patch of soft sand. A couple more hills dotted the tabletop. One was on the far right flank (butting right up against the short edge and on the right side of the Royal dispositions), and the other was a larger hill located directly behind the infantry center of the "Rebel" army.

Deployment
The all-powerful 1d6 was used to assist me in the deployment of the warring factions. In brief overview, it is a simple process of constructing a number of tables and then rolling a die to determine the result. For example, Where and how are the elephants deployed? A roll of 1 means that every pachyderm is on the right flank. A roll of 2 means that they are all on the left. A roll of 3-4 results in a split of the animals between left and right. On a roll of  5-6, the elephants will be set up in the center. An additional roll determines where in the assigned sector the animals will be placed. A roll of 1-2 results in placement on the far right side of the sector. A roll of 3-4 means that the elephants are located in the center of the sector, while a roll of 5-6 places the pachyderms on the far left side of the sector. If necessary, additional rolls can be made to determine if the elephants are integrated into heavy infantry formations or if they are positioned in front of or behind friendly cavalry units. Granted, this unoriginal process is a bit of "work" but it addresses the problem of unintentional bias or favoritism which often afflicts solo wargamers. (Not that my immune system has ever been compromised!)

The faction allied  with the Byzantines (one imagines temporarily) and endeavoring to depose the current ruler of the empire deployed on the far side of the tabletop (the one with the hill behind their center). The Sassanid cavalry was massed on their left and arranged in 4 lines. The first contained a unit of Subject light cavalry, 3 units of Mercenary horse archers (in 1 division) and a group of elephants (2 units) to their immediate right. The second line consisted of a division of Subject light cavalry (2 units) and 2 separate units of Seistani light cavalry following close behind (perhaps too close) the pachyderms. Two divisions of heavy cavalry (3 units of Dihqan and 3 of Sogdian) formed the third line. The fourth line or reserve contained another division of Dihqan heavy horse (3 units) and 3 individual units of Asvaran Clibanarii. The general of the army was on this flank. He was not attached to any formation but was just to the left front of one of the units of Clibanarii. The infantry of the army was arranged in the center. There were 5 divisions in a single line; each division had 3 units of heavy foot. The Sassanids held the center and left of the line with 3 divisions. This formation was screened by a single division of 8 units of skirmishers. This formation was under the command of a sub-general who had the presence of mind to position himself and his staff on a hill overlooking his men as well as the entire battlefield. The Byzantine infantry divisions were on the right side of the center sector. These spear and bow armed foot were screened by a single division of skirmishers containing 6 units. The right flank of the army was assigned to the Byzantine cavalry. Three units of light horse were placed as a screen and arranged in divisions of 1 unit and 2 units. The heavy cavalry was deployed in 3 single-unit divisions behind these light cavalry. There was also a pair of elephant units that formed a link between the Byzantine foot and their mounted brothers.

The Royal faction (so named because it had a unit of Palace Guard heavy infantry) deployed their formations with the Arab contingent covering their left flank. Six units of  light cavalry were arranged in 3 divisions. These "squadrons" were supported by 3 units of heavy horse arranged in 2 divisions. The foot component of this flank consisted of 3 units of Daylami light-heavy infantry deployed as a single division. The center sector held the infantry of the army. There was a screen of 11 units of skirmishers covering 3 divisions of foot. These main line formations were a mix of infantry and elephants. Two of the groups contained 5 units (2 of foot and 2 elephants), while the third formation had 3 units of foot and just 1 elephant unit. Two large and rather useless divisions of Levy formed a third line. There was a sub-general placed and the interval between the masses of Levy troops. The unit of Palace Guard was over on the right, accompanied but not attached to the general of the army. The Persian cavalry of this army was stationed on the right flank. Six units of Light horse formed the first line and these groups of mounts and riders were deployed in 4 divisions. The second line consisted of 6 units of Dihqan heavy cavalry in 3 divisions. The reserve contained 3 units of Asvaran Clibanarii operating independently. A sub-general was positioned in front of the center unit of these heavy horse.

Rule Note
In addition to continuing to test and tweak a number of rule amendments, I drafted a command and control procedure for this fictional civil war scenario. To remove some of the omnipotence from my hands, only a certain number of divisions would be permitted to move each turn. The number of divisions, or single units, was calculated by adding the current army initiative rating to the result of a 1d6 roll. To this number I added 2 for the army general and 1 for each of the sub-generals. Under ideal circumstances then, 15 divisions or individual units would be able to move in a single turn. Once army initiative started to decrease (as a result of division splits) and generals became involved in combat or were rendered hors de combat, the ability to command and control formations would decrease. The range of results from the 1d6 would represent orders not getting through on time or not being acted upon in a timely manner.

Brief Summary of the Action
The Byzantine light cavalry on the Rebel right drew first blood on the day when a volley of arrows landed with some effect on a unit of Arab cavalry. The Royal army could claim honors though, with regard to first enemy key unit broken, when, on this same flank, they routed a unit of mercenary horse. As the battle developed, this seemed to be the theme. The Rebels would engaged and wound the targeted enemy formations, but they could not break these units as quickly as they own units seemed to melt away. The contest on the Rebel right grew in intensity as both sides fed more units into the swirling melee. Again, and initially, the Byzantines did well against the more numerous enemy formations. However, the tide did turn and once the Arab heavy horse moved up to participate, things did not go so very well for the Byzantine contingent.

On the opposite flank, a similar if slightly more frustrating story played out. The light cavalry of both sides engaged in a deadly dance of feint attacks and withdrawals while the heavier formations of horse slowly moved forward. As on the right, the Rebel horse  inflicted a number of hits against the Royal "regiments" but could not complete the task. In addition to losing a number of units on this flank, the Rebel formations were consistently disordered or disordered with unit losses from men carried away in rout, when the panicked survivors of broken formations streamed back into their ordered ranks. This frequent occurrence resulted in several units being charged when they were not truly prepared to engage the enemy. The result was having to fight in a melee on less than favorable terms. As if this were not frustrating enough for the Rebel general on this flank - the commander of the army, poor command and control dice prevented the direction of additional formations into the chaotic melee. On reflection, however, spatial constraints would have prohibited any effective use of reserve formations on this flank.

In the center of the field, the contest was slow to start in comparison to what was taking place on the flanks. Skirmishers from each side raced ahead of their heavier brothers in arms and loosed or threw numerous missiles at each other. These ragged volleys had  very little impact overall. After a few turns of this ineffective fire, the Royal skirmishers were ordered to charge their counterparts and a disjointed melee developed between the opposing lines of skirmishers as the heavy infantry of both sides watched. Initially, the Royal skirmishers had the advantage, but they did not win fast enough for their heavy infantry supports. Eager to get to grips with the enemy heavy infantry, the Royal "battalions" and attached elephants advanced to contact. Friendly and enemy skirmishers were pushed aside or simply shoved to the ground and dispatched as a warm up to the more important fight. The Rebels, with one exception, were able to handle the enemy elephant charges with determination and discipline. The contest swung back and forth as first one side gained the advantage and then the other side would score more hits in a particular round. Once again, the Byzantine foot did stellar work, at least up to a point. Turn 8 witnessed a horrible series of melee dice rolls for the engaged Rebel units. Even though they had secured the initiative and therefore the direction of combat resolution, the dice gods did not look upon the Rebel cause with kindness. This unfortunate and ultimately undoing sequence of events started over on the right when an exhausted unit of Byzantine heavy cavalry was broken after an extended contest versus some Arab heavy horse. The streak of bad luck continued  across the center of the army as unit after unit of heavy infantry took additional losses and was broken. An impressive total of seven Rebel units were destroyed in this turn. When a panicked elephant unit (very close to leaving the field) was added to this total, the break point of the Rebel army had been reached.

Assessment
Using a d6 to assist in deployment resulted in a fairly realistic arrangement of the rather  large armies. The "procedure" was certainly simple and stress-free. There was no worry about favoring one side over the other. If there were any problems, I could just blame the dice! As it turned out, I was happy that the dice set the main bodies of cavalry against each other - put them on the same flank. Due to poor command and control, however, the Rebels were not able to use their entire strength in this sector of the field.

While the command and control amendment is not wholly original and requires an additional calculation and die roll during the game move, I thought it added another level to the proceedings. I was no longer in the comfortable position of being able to move each and every unit or division as I pleased. To a certain degree as well, I could no longer rely on being able to automatically respond to an unexpected development on some part of my miniature battlefield. If I exercised better control on one flank then invariably, the formations on another part of the field were left to fend for themselves. This is not to remark that the process is perfect, but it does show some promise. I can offer the same remark about the numerous rule revisions used in the contest.

In brief overview, the rule allowing heavy cavalry to support friendly light cavalry in melee (a tactical modifier of +1) worked rather well, I think. In conjunction with the rule allowing interpenetration and light cavalry to adopt skirmish formation, this amendment  helped reduce occasions where heavy horse sat and waited for the lights to finish fighting before getting into the fight. The elephant "fixes" adopted and adapted from the LA Group, worked very well. On a couple of occasions, elephants did panic after taking missile or melee hits. Rolling for their "crazed" movement after the initial rout provided for some entertainment as well as worry. Based on Phil Barker's recent brief in Slingshot, I may change the rule regarding cavalry versus pachyderms. In the described battle, a couple of units of Royal heavy horse sacrificed themselves to prevent Rebel elephants from making a breach between the right and center. It was a rather quick and one-sided contest. The elephants were exhausted but unhurt. The cavalry was, well . . . ruined is an apt description. As for firing, I am getting better at not having to refer to the range table for the various types of missile weapons. I think the modifications to protection value based on range work, as do the restrictions to skirmisher fire (hits by these units cause fatigue markers until unit break point is reached and then subsequent hits result in actual casualties). I continue to work on rout path distances and the associated impact of a routing unit running into friends. The Rebels certainly suffered more from this amendment than the Royals did. It seemed like every other "routed into" morale check roll turned up a 1, which is the worst possible result. (The impacted unit is marked as disordered and loses 1 bp of unit strength. If it is contacted by a fresh enemy formation in the next turn - before it can rally - then its melee die roll is reduced by 2.)

In summary then, the result of the fictional contest was satisfying. I was pleased that it was not another one of those bloody contests wherein both sides are almost driven to breaking point. To be sure, the Royals won the contest decisively, but the victory did not  come cheaply. Their army break point was 19 key units. The final tally showed that they had lost 13 key units. As with the Rebels, the majority of these broken formations were of the light cavalry variety.

To all readers:
Thanks for taking the time to wade through this report. Here's wishing you and yours a Happy/Merry Christmas and Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

[Jim Webster]

sounds like a tough battle to be a light cavalryman in Chris 

Jim