Straight for the jugular - Optio Seleucid civil war game

[Justin Swanton]

Another two games with my mate Riaan proved how fast Optio can be. Here's the first game played at the Durban club last Saturday. Talk about short and brutal!

The scenario was the Seleucid civil war that eventually destroyed the Empire.  Alexander VIII Gryphos assembles an army of 4500 infantry and 1000 cavalry against the usurper Kyzikenos who has an army the same size.

Each army consists of 500 light cavalry, 500 Companion cavalry, 500 skirmisher foot, 1000 Syrian Auxilia, 1000 Imitation Legionaries and 2000 Pikemen. A far cry from the Empire's glory days but still good for a punch-up. Riaan took up Kyzikenos' cause whilst I led the forces of Alexander. The terrain was symmetrical - two gentle hills and two forests, the idea of the playtest being to see how two identical armies would perform against each other. Would it end in a draw?

Each army had one general and two commanders, hence three commands:




I began proceedings, with a cunning plan to switch my LH in column from my right to left flank and overwhelm Riaan's right.




Riaan moved up his cavalry whilst his infantry stayed put.




I kept my plan going.




Riaan moved up his LH and held back his Companions.




Now time to advance my infantry line, the idea being that my Auxilia would support my Companions in overwhelming Riaan's LH and Companions.




Riaan decided to await developments.




And in I went, Companions moving up ready to charge one LH command group whilst my LH shot up the other.




Riaan's LH facing my Companions chose the better part of valour whilst his Companions moved up to put pressure on my own LH.




As my LH pulled back I decided to get clever with my Companions, moving them up to ZOC Riaan's LH such that moving out of ZOC (only a move straight back allowed) would expose them to the tender mercies of my LH.




Riaan seemed to be sucking his thumb in bewilderment, just turning his other LH to face my Companions.




Meanwhile his other LH, shot to disorder earlier on, was able to restore its cohesion (there's a special phase for that). My general meanwhile went off to give some fresh orders to his infantry commander.




Chaaaarge! In go my glorious Companions, led from the front by the Illustrious Alexander VIII. His contribution tips the fight over the edge and the usurper Kyzikenos' LH rout. On to victory...or so I thought. Meanwhile my infantry move up to enable my Auxilia to put pressure on Riaan's remaining LH.




Riaan's free LH unexpectedly countercharge. My Companions, locked in combat with the other LH, cannot respond and take a loss in morale.




And now, suddenly, I realise the enormity of my error. Riaan's charge took place in the second movement phase of the turn (each turn has two movement phases followed by melee combat). In the ensuing melee my Companions - still locked in combat with the routed LH who haven't had the chance to flee yet - take more morale damage from Riaan's flanking LH and rout.  Alexander is wounded but survives. Can he turn the battle around?




No he can't! Routed command groups carry their general with them for the first rout move. They also move an extra square during that first rout movement. The Companions carry the general off the board! This initiates an immediate panic test for the rest of the army. The combination of two routed Companion bases plus the lost general is enough to make the rest of the army rout in turn. Game over! (and ouch!)

[Imperial Dave]

thanks Justin, as ever I find it really useful essential (for me) to have sequential high quality diagrams outlining the phases of the game. Superb

[Prufrock]

Presumably Kyzikenos' army has now - following some gentle persuasion and the odd magnanimous baggage-related gesture or two - around double the amount of infantry it had before the battle?

Nice report!

[Justin Swanton]

Thanks Dave and Aaron.

We decided that a small Optio army was a little too fragile re panic hits and upped them. Hopefully I last a bit longer next time. 

[Prufrock]

Hopefully I last a bit longer next time. 

A common refrain Justin, I'm sure!

[aligern]

Can't understand why Riaan did not advance with his infantry on his left and lap his auxilia around your unprotected flank. At the very least it would have  forced you to pull back your LH and given him a superiority on his right.

Re the cascading rout I have found this a real weak point in rules where seeing a rout is a major minusbon morale and cause of morale tests to nearby units. The problem is that , using such rules, an experienced player will concentrate on one unit to get it to rout and then hope that the surrounding units will get outlier throws and  themselves rout, adding to the misery of those near them. Better that a poor morale test on a unit seeing a nearby rout and failing is simply a drop of one level of morale. Better too if winning cavalry have a high likelihood of compulsory pursuit hor a move so that beating a cavalry wing does not leave the victor poised on the flank with an undamaged unit. That is a an incentive fir everyone to buy that cataphract unit!

[Justin Swanton]

Can't understand why Riaan did not advance with his infantry on his left and lap his auxilia around your unprotected flank. At the very least it would have  forced you to pull back your LH and given him a superiority on his right.

Mmmh...my imitation legionaries were echeloned back to stop just that from happening.

Re the cascading rout I have found this a real weak point in rules where seeing a rout is a major minusbon morale and cause of morale tests to nearby units. The problem is that , using such rules, an experienced player will concentrate on one unit to get it to rout and then hope that the surrounding units will get outlier throws and  themselves rout, adding to the misery of those near them. Better that a poor morale test on a unit seeing a nearby rout and failing is simply a drop of one level of morale. Better too if winning cavalry have a high likelihood of compulsory pursuit hor a move so that beating a cavalry wing does not leave the victor poised on the flank with an undamaged unit. That is a an incentive fir everyone to buy that cataphract unit!

Optio used to have a mechanism for dropping morale of nearby units every time a friendly routed, but I found that fussy to work out as you have to do maths: for a large army a single routing base isn't going to have an appreciable effect whereas it will for a smaller one.

The current cascading rout mechanism is quite simple: each skirmisher foot, elephant and scythed chariot base (not command group) inflicts one panic hit; every other kind of base inflicts two. For an army, say, that starts out with between 10 and 15 bases, veteran command groups within 2 squares of a router will rout once the total lost bases reaches 15 panic hits (router's panic hits added to previously routed panic hits), average command groups rout on 9 panic hits, and rubbish routs on 6.

Larger armies will require higher panic hits for command groups to rout. As a general rule the rubbish runs for it once 1/4 of the army is gone, the average stuff after 1/3, and the veterans after 1/2. This has been tweaked to allow for routed/killed generals. Quick and easy.

[Imperial Dave]

I get it.....so possibly as suggested, using larger armies will give games with less panic/routs to begin with

[Justin Swanton]

I get it.....so possibly as suggested, using larger armies will give games with less panic/routs to begin with

It all depends on size of army. A bigger army, say 20 - 30 bases, would need something like 9 panic hits to send the nearby rubbish packing, 15 to expedite the average troops, and about 25 (haven't got the rules in front of me) to convince the veterans army life is overrated. But routed bases always inflict 1 or 2 panic hits depending on their type.