Little Battles

[dwkay57]

Another tale for those who really ought to have something better to do...

More of a simpler line them up and set them off style battle this time.

[dwkay57]

Oh no! Another boring battle report for those who need some help to drift off...

This was essentially a re-play of a battle I fought in November (but didn't write up). Since then I had tweaked the rules (as one does) to give the hoplites a bit more "umpf" and give the CinCs an additional characteristic (the Spartan was "royal" and the Theban a "warlord"). Despite these changes, the end the result was much the same, including that most of the terrain wasn't used, and moved the Spartans firmly to the bottom of my success league.

[Prufrock]

Lovely terrain and fine report, David!  Good stuff.

[Imperial Dave]

Agreed. Great battle report with a nice mix of photos and narrative with tactical analysis of the result. Good enough for a Slingshot battle-report 

[Justin Swanton]

Interesting report and well laid-out. Just one suggestion: might it be an idea to fix a camera overhead and get a panoramic shot of the battlefield at the end of each player turn? Just so one can readily see where each unit is by rapport with the rest of the army.

Can cameras be remote operated?

[dwkay57]

I'm afraid the keyboard and the camera shutter have both clicked and another battle report has appeared. Greeks again (sorry) but hopefully I've referenced the photographs a bit better.

This was the first battle I've fought after a major change to the melee calculations. Instead of a focus on precise positioning to calculate casualties inflicted and received I now use a more generic approach with emphasis on the degree and style of involvement and also have a new way to try to make the die rolls more consistent and reflective of skill levels.

The Athenians were also fielding some new troops for the first time. Hopefully this will be their final configuration, but I've thought that before....

[dwkay57]

This was planned to be a straight forward battle between two of my smaller armies that tend to be relegated to the support or ally role in bigger battles. This was to be the opportunity for them to shine (or not) in their own light.

However, when setting up a previous battle I noticed all the urban terrain I had "created" but never used. I decided this was the opportunity to change that.

[Jim Webster]

Love the terrain.
It strikes me that you're using 6mm figures as they should be used, in battles that include some of the pre-battle stuff. Rather than just lining up in formal battle

Jim

[dwkay57]

This is a larger battle than the last one - about 30,000 aside (over 1,200 figures in total) - between my Persians and a Greek alliance.

Being that much bigger I found that trying to write up the report in my normal style would either result in a novel or be too summarised to make interesting reading, so I explored an option that may be more suited to the digital age by creating an animated Powerpoint presentation.

Unfortunately, even in slide show format the file was too large to load so I had to tinker with it (cut the size of the photos down so I could squeeze the arrows into the margins) and turn it into a pdf. I'm not sure if this works as a concept but, depending upon feedback, it might be worth trialling again but using a different source application.

Feedback both technical and gaming welcome.

[sumerandakkad]

I loved the layouts for the battles recorded.
The Persian/Greek battle was especially well presented and narrated.
Whether the intention was a Platea refight I am sure I am not the only one to see the similarities. This time the Persians won. Perhaps it was more of a close run thing than envisaged.

[dwkay57]

Having just finished painting some Megarans and a few more Theban allies, I was looking for an opportunity to use them along with some hills I purchased at Salute in April. Flicking through the WRG "Armies of the Greek and Persian Wars" I came across Delium (424BC) and thought that would do as a basis. The Athenians would be supported by the Megarans and the Thebans could have the Corinthians to balance the numbers out and I even had a temple too!

So off I went and the rest - as they say - was nothing like history.....

PS. Somewhat surprised (but pleased) to see this thread has passed the 1,000 view mark. Is this a record?

PPS. I don't think most of them have been me.

[Erpingham]

PS. Somewhat surprised (but pleased) to see this thread has passed the 1,000 view mark. Is this a record?

Not quite a forum record - there are some over 3000 in army research.  Might be a section record though.

[Patrick Waterson]

Having just finished painting some Megarans and a few more Theban allies, I was looking for an opportunity to use them along with some hills I purchased at Salute in April. Flicking through the WRG "Armies of the Greek and Persian Wars" I came across Delium (424BC) and thought that would do as a basis. The Athenians would be supported by the Megarans and the Thebans could have the Corinthians to balance the numbers out and I even had a temple too!

So off I went and the rest - as they say - was nothing like history.....

Indeed: the Thebans appear to have scored a noteworthy 'own goal' with their battle-plan, which seems to have relied on the Leuctra/Second Mantinea 'best on the left, deep as you can get' approach but without the flank guards, an omission which quickly made itself felt.

Even so, the battle might have gone more like history despite the different deployment if the Theban cavalry had managed to stay out of action until both armies were engaged and it could drop in on the Athenian flank.

Good battle report, Dave.

[dwkay57]

Yes Patrick, my Theban commander tends to like to play the gang up on the left card a bit too often, but then some of the Greek commanders do tend to follow certain patterns. I was surprised in this encounter that the Corinthians hang around for so long and did stand up to an initial charge. Usually the cautious nature of their strategos and the low morale of their troops tends to make them a bit edgy and reluctant to engage and they spend most of the battle as bystanders.

[Patrick Waterson]

I think this paragraph summarises why:

"The Megarans plucked up their courage to attack the Corinthians who were now becoming a bit more doubtful but they stood their ground. A combination of being uphill and slightly better dice gave the advantage to the Corinthian Strategos who cut his opposite number down and heavy missile fire from the Corinthian light troops weakened the poorer Megaran hoplites. Very quickly all the Megarans were in rout."

Being attacked uphill by a force about half their size and killing the opposing strategos doubtless helped.  It looks like a good recipe to follow in future.