A improved Macedonian performance...

Last weekend so us go back to ancient times with a hail ceaser game using our Macedonian and Indian armies. As anyone who reads my game reports knows I don't have any sucess using my Macedonians and normally end up having heavy chariots and elephants rolling up my flank due to my army losing all order as I fail command rolls with an alarming regularity! Also the wall to wall bow fire the Indian army hits you with is a scary prospect and my battle lines usually ends up been badly disordered. With this in mind I decided to use my army differently than normal, instead of just skirmishes shielding my phalanxs I decided to use the peltasts in this role too, with the intention of covering the ground in as short as time as possible (obviously command rolls allowing) where I could bring to bear my javelins before closing into combat. No doubt I would end up losing these units but if it ment my Phalanxs got into combat basically fresh it would be a worthy sacrifice, and just maybe it may cause enough casualties on the Indian infantry to shake a division? I deployed my troops as my dad had scetched a map of his deployment as below,

The outset of the battle saw the armies take to the field on a very open terrain,much to the Macedonians liking!

Macedonian Companion and Thessalian medium cavalry are deployed on the Macedonian flank

Indian cavalry,light and heavy chariots deploy on the opposite flank to my cavalry

With my cavalry been deployed on the opposite flank in my opening turns I moved one of the cavalry divisions round the back of the infantry to cover the left flank of my hoplite Phalanxs, to protect them from the Indian cavalry and chariots. Despite the odd failed command they repositioned in relativity quick time thanks to been drilled and always been able to make a move when a order is failed. My infantry divisions both moved forward although the Greek Hoplites moved at a angle to stay out of charge range of the cavalry and chariots, (although this would not have been a problem as the chariots spent much of the game failing their movement orders thanks to a blunder roll by my dad early in the game.)

My deep formations of infantry face off against the long lines of the Indian infantry

As I had planned I sent forward a line of peltasts and slingers to engage the Indian infantry. Initially I was successful as the peltasts caused casualties and disorder among the Indian troops. My dad started to retreat his line at this time to escape the javelins and initiative range and continued to pour arrows into my peltasts. Although I was losing casualties I was still achieving my objective of protecting the Phalanxs as they advanced just behind.

Peltasts and slingers in the initial first clash with the Indian archers.

Massed Macadonian pikes in support wait their time to charge

Over on my right flank I had sent some Thracian light cavalry around the flank of the Indian elephants where they harried them with javelin fire before routing the supporting Indian javelin men.  I was able to keep these elephants occupied for much of the game with the ability to keep evading when charged by the elephants before returning to javelin range again the following turn.

The Indian elephants come under javelin fire

The battle continues in the centre with the Indian archers and the opposing peltasts 

Over on the Indian right flank the chariot and cavalry division blundered for a second time and went charging ahead a full three moves. This made them charge my companions and Thessalian cavalry who countercharged. I was able to defeat the over enthusiastic Indians and repell the attack with out my cavalry becoming shaken or broken which was a big bonus. The Hoplites after losing their skirmish screen charged into the Indian infantry over coming closing fire with out any disorder. Despite been out diced the Indian troops somewhat surprisingly stood their ground and held the Greek troops in melee (thanks to some woeful attack dice by me and some inspired break tests from my dad). However I had my own luck as a Hoplite Phalanxs somehow survived been hit by heavy chariots to the front and flanked at the same time by a unit of infantry. My dad rolled some shocking dice and I was able to hold my ground with a successful breaktest, and to really rub salt in the wounds the division leader who issued a follow me order to the infantry was seriously wounded after I rolled the required double 6! In the following turn I issued a follow me myself onto a unit of Thessalian cavalry who charged into the back of the flanking Indian infantry, this charge saw the Indian infantry break and the chariot give ground as my Hoplite infantry survived.

The thick of the action between the Mercenary Hoplites and the Indian infantry.

Back in the centre my peltasts infantry had been broken but they had managed to cause a few casualties on the Indian foot troops as well as shielding the Phalanxs from arrow fire. However this is were my plan stalled as I had a succession of failed charge orders with the pikes (until very late in the battle) as I was unable to get them into combat with the bowmen. On my right flank my second cavalry division was engaging the elephants and isolated Indian javlinmen.

Thessalian cavalry engage with the Indian elephants as the Phalanxs advance grinds to a sudden stop

The Greek Hoplites were now starting to finally get the upper hand as the Indian archers finally started to break, although a couple of units had become shaken in the process.

The durability of the Greeks proves to much for the Indian warriors over the course of the lengthy combat

Another fine morale test by my dad saw a unit of Indian archers somehow hold their ground despite been faced by two Macedonian Phalanxs, while the rest of the Indian infantry division reorganised itself into a organised battle line awaiting any break through by the pikemen.

The massed ranks of Macedonians make hard work of trying to defeat the Indian archers

With our time up we declared the game a draw. My Macedonians were definetly starting to get the upper hand and victory was definetly in my grasp. Although my new tactics worked reasonably well and I couldn't grumble at my command throws as I didn't fail to many, I feel a big factor in me gaining the upper hand was the inability of my dad to get his chariot and cavalry division to move for most of the game thanks to constantly failing their orders (he was hampered by the blunder which knocked the value of his commander down by a point to 7). With the chariots proving to be no threat I was able to advance on to his infantry without the worry of my flank been rolled up. Maybe if I hadn't failed the command to charge my pike Phalanxs into the Indian infantry towards the end of the game I could have secured a victory. As it was with failing my dad moved his infantry out of initiate range so I couldn't ever get a automatic charge into them. Excellent game though :-) 

The battlefield at the conclusion. The Macedonians had made a lot of ground pushing the Indian battle line well back into their half of the table.

A bad day at the office playing Hail Ceaser

Well I'm beginning to believe that my Macedonian army is cursed, I'm sure I have not won once with this army and this afternoons game I certainly kept the losing trend up, really it was just one of those days. Basically my Macedonian army moved half way across the board stopped and then refused to move any further, It's not even as though they had been halted by a hail of arrow fire as the my dads shooting dice was at best Bad! No they just failed command rolls over and over again, chuck into the mix 5 blunders including one by my army General and a unit of companion cavalry charging a Indian archer unit only to suffer a casualty from closing fire, fail its morale test with a double 1 roll and rout and you start to get tne picture. By the time i chucked in the towel my army resembled a disordered rabble with no idea what to do or where to go ha ha, this was a sure example of a day the dice gods are against you. As much as it pains me I have still uploaded some pictures of the game although I'll spare myself the agony of writing a blow by blow account ;-) 

Javlinmen skirmish ahead of the Indian elephants

Thracian cavalry move around the house complex 

The Macedonian line stuttering towards the wall of Indian archers

Companion cavalry blunder their first attempt at a charge

Indian skirmishes Harry the Macadonian Phalanxs who remain rooted to the spot

The inevitable happens as the stationary Phalanxs are flanked as a result of failing their command rolls

I attempted a charge with my medium cavalry but they,yep, failed their order to do so.

The final action of the game as the companion cavalry break before they make contact with the Indian archers

Where did it all go wrong? The great inquest into their defeat begins........

And finally here is the first war elephant (magister Militum) painted to use for the Alexander successor period, a really nice model :-)

I blame the dice, it's all the dice's fault...

Macedonians v Indians 4th century BC

As you can probably tell from the posts title it was yet another bad day at the office as my recent failure  to roll anything other than "s**t" dice rolls continued as I was given a sound thrashing (again) by my dads Indian army. This time we ran a smaller game of 650 points as it was a evening game so we would have time to gain a result. From the opening move I managed to blunder with the light Peltasts division and they went storming ahead of the Macedonian battle line, from this turn they never moved again in the game as I failed every command to move them, even when my army started the grand retreat and the threat of heavy Charrriots to their flank they still failed. Although my Phalanxs managed to get into action fairly quickly they failed miserably in melee and were repulsed by the Indian infantry, although it must be said they were fighting up hill against supported infantry, probably not one of my better moves but I was just eager to get stuck in. The bad luck didn't let up as I lost a Elite (questionable) greek Hoplite it which broke with a double 1 roll due to a single casualtie caused by the Indian archers first shot on them, the same outcome also saw a pike Phalanxs unit rout due to a second double 1 roll for a shooting hit morale check in the game. Through this outcome I also lost the division commander! Next up My medium and light cavalry took a chance when I approached the Indian heavy chariots to get into Javlin range. I fancied that out of 11 dice I would get a few 6's to force a morale test on at least a couple of the chariots...wrong no 6's and now the heavy chariots were in initiative range and the outcome was predictable as the Macedonian cavarly division was broken as the chariots charged home. And to compound my misery after speeding up the Indian right flank my Companion cavalry had a perfect opportunity to flank the line of Indian archers unopposed as my dad had struggled to with his command rolling to during the game. However with the companion cavalry perfectly poised they failed time and time again to charge home allowing my dad a chance to redress and bolster his flank when he finally got a order through. I did manage to get a couple of units to charge the infantry and amazingly PASS a morale test and comfortably destroy the infantry unit but I was unable to follow this up now with futher flank attacks as by now as the cavalry had suffered to bow fire and combat casualties, The remainder of the companion cavalry were still refusing to move. With my right flank turned the Heavy chariots made short work of the Peltasts as they hammered into the flanks and once this division was broken I called it a day as my army was in a rather sticky predicament and sounded the general retreat.

This Macedonian army is becoming some what of a Bad luck army for me at the moment as I really struggle to get the best out of it, il have to do some more research on tactics on how to utilise my troops better or failing that I'll definitely buy myself some new dice as that will sort all my wargaming problems out, good commanders always blame others for their failures :-) 

Macedonian pikes advance behind the skirmishes.

The Indian heavy chariots slowly advance towards the awaiting Macedonian medium cavalry and Peltasts

It may not fight very well for me but all those massed pikes sure do look nice.

therician cavalry and skirmishes harrass the Chariots 

The moment the Macedonian cavalry failed to disorder the chariots with Javlin fire and payed a heavy price

The first of the mighty Phalanxs break as the arrows fall amongst their lines

The one moment of sucess for the Maccadonians as the Companions steamroll into the Indian infantry and elephants

The end is nigh as the Peltasts are smashed in the flank from the heavy chariots 

The Maccadonian line starts to faulter under increasing archer fire

The final moments of the battle as the Peltasts are broken

My Maccedonians sounded the call to retreat and fight another day with their right flank turned

What's in store for 2015 and a little bit of Hail Caesar.....

Christmas over for another year and with the start of a new year I have started to give abit of thought on what my next project will be. No doubt I will be adding to my existing armies, my WW2 armies i constantly add to so I can't see it been any different this year! For my Napolionics French I would like to add another division of infantry, possibly done as Italians and my Macedonian force is complete (well for now anyhow). An early candidate for a new project is the war in Sudan 1882. I saw a superb Sudanese army on Pendrakens forum which really peaked my interest, especially the mounted Cammel units (what is not to like). If I venture down this road I will be using the tried and trusted Blackpowder rules so I think il order a copy of the Blood on the Nile supplement book to have alook at the forces to see if this twists my arm into doing them. The first show of the year and my personal favourite at York is just around the corner so no doubt the spending will begin down there and il probably head back home with more Fuzzy Wuzzies than I can handle :)

I managed to get a game in with my dad, despite him sounding like Marlon Brando on the Godfather due to a recent bout of flu. We ran a Hail ceaser "what if game" pitting my Macedonians against my Dads Chinnese army. The game was evenly balanced when we ran out of time with both sides losing a division each. Although my Phalanxs were turning the screw in the center of the Battlefield pushing the Chinese infantry back they were starting to become out of position so were becoming vulnerable to a counter attack. The Chinese Chraiots made short work of one Macedonian cavalry divisions and on the other flank both sides cavalry had fought to a stalemate. It was a interesting game aginst two evenly matched armies, I look forward to crossing paths with them again.

Here are a few photos of the game... 

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4th Century BC India battle

With no game this weekend due to the impending arrival of our second baby girl I have finally got around to putting up the pictures of last weekends game with my dad on to my blog. We ran a Hail Ceaser game using our Macedonian and Indian forces but this time I used my dads Indians for the first time. The game was a straight up battle at 800 points aside.

Indian skirmishes use there javelins to slow the macedonian advance 

Indian infantry ready there bows

The game saw both sides roll blunders in the early stages, half my Indian heavy chariots retired towards my table edge two moves taking a casualty each and my dad saw his Companion cavalry surge to tneir right out of control. Others than this the Macedonians made good progress across the field closing the gap to my Indian infantry lines. The early fighting exchanges were between our skirmish troops who had moved ahead of our main lines.

Indian archers let loose their arrows as the Phalanxs move into charge range

The Greek Hopilites ready themselves as the elephants approach screened by Javlinmen armed skirmishes

After a couple of turns taking fire from the Indian archers The Macedonian Phalanxs stormed into combat, only a couple of units were repulsed by closing fire. My dads Elite Hetairoi blundered on a follow me order and char he'd into a unit of bows on the hill, the following combat was loses and a double one morale throw saw them rout from the table. Unbelievabley the Hypastists also followed suit in rolling really badly in the combat phase and failing on their morale with a double one throw, both elite Macedonian units routed! Along the rest of the line the Indians just about held their ground along tne hill.

The doomed Hetairoi cavalry are beaten by the Indian infantry.

A clash of steel as both battle lines clash in combat

Greek Hopilites engage with the Indian elephants.

After my Indians had initially held the Macedonian pikes in the first rounds of combat my line started to be pushed back, my heavy guard unit failed with the dreaded Double one morale roll, a feat I manged to do on a futher FOUR occasions across my battle line which saw my central infantry division become broken. My infantry division on the right flank of my line managed to beat and destroy two Phalanx's units.

With my Chariots been completely out of the game due to the early blunder it was my elephants on the right Flank that managed to make head way against the Greek Hopilites although close to breaking the Greeks with their Phalanx rule held firm for the remainder of the game.

My Indian line in the centre breaks although it is worth high lighting the Indian bows who were flanked by the Rhomphaia armed Peltasts managed to roll 5 saves of 6 on six dice!

In the last stages of the game I finally managed to get my chariots into a range to charge although they came up short as didn't get the required command roll, taking advantage of this the Macedonian cavalry smashed into my chariots flanks managing to destroying one of them but as a result of becoming disordered in their sweeping advance they were unable to break the remaining chariots.

With this the game was at an end, although the game ended in a draw my Dad was definitely getting the upper hand. The early blunder to my chariot division really hampered my attack as I had great plans for these to smash the Macedonian cavalry and turn onto the Phalanxs flanks. My dad had managed to keep his battle line moving at a pretty good pace so managed to close with my infantry quick enough not to be to disrupted by my massed ranks of Indian bows. Although my Indians fought well the Macedonian infantry is a real tough nut to crack with the Phalanxs special rule meaning even if you win you need to do so by a margin of three or the combat is a draw. Once these troops get amongst your infantry your going to be in trouble, unless of course they are the Hypastists who for some reason despite been elite and stubborn seem to roll a double one and rout when it comes to morale in every game they have played! It was a nice change using the Indians but next time we play hail ceaser I think my dad is going to pit his Chinese against me to see how Alexander's troops fair against them, maybe il leave my elite troops behind for that one 😄