Battle of Mantinea - To the Strongest in 28mm

Afternoon All, Monday night saw the return of some ancient Greek warfare to the Shed, although this time we used To The Strongest rather than Hail Caesar. Credit must go to the TTS author, Simon Miller, for this scenario. A few months ago I contacted Simon with some questions and clarifications of the rules. He was swift to reply and in addition provided the scenario for the Battle of Mantinea (362 BCE). The following extract is from his scenario briefing...

Epaminondas the Theban led a coalition of forces deep into the Peloponessus. Thwarted in a surprise attack on the unwalled city of Sparta, Epaminondas moved northwards to threaten the pro-Spartan city of Mantinea, but a Spartan/Mantinean/Athenian force interposed itself between his army and the city. However, when the Spartans and their allies broke ranks to have lunch, Epaminondas unexpectedly launched his forces forward...

Spartan/Athenian Alliance on Right - the attacking Thebans to the left

Originally I had planned to run this game with four players with myself coordinating affairs as the umpire. Sadly two players dropped out at the last minute leaving Mark to fight it out with Vince. Mark, having arrived early chose to lead the Theban attackers with Vince commanding the Spartan/Athenian alliance 

View from the attackers side

Simon's scenario provided full orders of battle and deployment. I estimate that I needed about 50% of my total Greek forces - much of the cavalry and almost half of the Hoplites I have painted stayed in their boxes. What is apparent though is I need significantly more Javelin units.

The game kicked off with the Thebans attacking, their left flank already close to the Spartan right wing. Both sides had wings made up of skirmish cavalry and javelin armed troops.

As the Theban advanced across the line (remarkably no failed orders) Mark unleashed his first attack with slingers against the veteran Cretan archers allied to the Athenians. Direct hits and failed saves quickly despatched the bowmen.

The Spartans (Vince) were not happy and vowed that this unit would be avenged.

Spartan force not happy !!

Starting with his left wing the Spartan alliance failed to move forward en masse 

In the centre awaited a large block of Theban hoplites supported by a couple of heroes and Epaminondas (the General) himself.

The two sides crunched together and a general melee erupted across the line. The Spartan elites taking on the large Theban contingent.

Almost on a continuous basis Marks troops would hit and Vince's troops would fail to save, when Vince (Spartans) returned the honours they more often than not missed. Now in our gaming group Vince has a reputation from being extremely lucky with dice often scoring well over the odds. The cards in this game were doing him no favours and he was getting well and truly spanked !

As the centre brawled it out the Theban light horse were making short work of their opponents on the wings. 

By the mid point of the game all the troops were fully engaged and as you can see in the picture below a unit of Thessalian cavalry attached to the Theban army has now managed to get on the flank of the Spartan forces.

I

It was at this point the Spartan elite went down fighting to the opposite Theban Sacred Band, they had a chance of recreating history when a direct hit was scored on Epaminondas the Theban General but alas he only took a minor wound. This roused the Thebans to strike hard and our chaps in red were slaughtered to a man.

Things were looking very difficult for the Athenians/Spartan alliance. Their wings had been destroyed and their centre was in danger of collapsing. Could Vince, the Spartan commander turn things around in some ancient heroic deed ?

The simple answer was NO. He had to opportunity to fight back and as his force slowly disintegrated in front of us he ran out of Victory medals (the manner by which a victory is judged, as units disappear medals are lost to the opposing player. Very similar mechanic to Billhooks)

A stunning Victory for the Thebans commanded by Mark, not only did he thrash Vince he managed to do so without losing a single unit. Congratulations Sir

Was this scenario balanced? The forces were remarkably similar in both quantity and quality, the Thebans enjoyed a slight superiority in light troops but not one that should have created such a landslide victory. From my perspective as spectator and umpire Mark played a blinding game, activating units in the right order (and more importantly successfully), getting the first hits in and making crucial saves when required. His opponent just had shocking bad luck.

Think we will revisit this battle again soon

Thank you

Battle of Chaeronea (338BC) - A 28mm Wargame

 Afternoon All

Following my last post which focussed on my completed Macedonian/Successor army (HERE) , it was about time that this force saw some action on the table. 

Over the last couple of Monday nights we have refought the Battle of Chaeronea in two very brutal games.

This post wont detail the specifics of the battles but suffice to say that the Greeks won the first engagement and the Macedonians the second. These were extremely tight affairs and the results could have gone either way. This is definitely a balanced game.

 

Background

The Battle of Chaeronea was fought in central Greece in 338 BC. It was fought between Philip II of Macedonia and an alliance of Greek City states (chiefly Thebes & Athens). The battle was the culmination of Philips desire to be the dominant player in the North Aegean Greek peninsular and resulted in a final victory for the Macedonians.

The two sides met on san open plain near the city of Chaeronea which was boundaried by the Kephisos river and the foothills of Mount Thurion. The two sides were relatively well matcjhed with about 30,000 troops on each side. However the Macedonians were significantly more experienced and had much greater numbers of horse. Alexander, Philip's son commanded the Macedonian Companion horse on their left wing. The Macedonians fought with 15ft long pikes (sarissas) which gave them a longer reach that their Greek hoplite opponents. Many of the Greeks had been pressed into service to face the Macedonian threat and were as a result somewhat raw. The Athenians took the Greek left wing with the men of Thebes holding the right. The honour of holding the end of the Greek right wing fell to the Sacred Band, an elite unit of 300 hoplites.

The actual battle was a masterclass of Philips generalship. He drew out the Athenian forces to face his experienced phalanxes and wore them down in a brutal melee. As the Greek forces wavered Alexander lead a charge across the field splitting the City State Alliance in two.

At this point the Greeks morale crumbled and many fled the field. Only the sacred Band held firm dying to a man to give their companions are chance to escape.   

Wargaming the Battle

Using Hail Caesar this was a very straightforward battle to organise, both sides are comparable in size (number of units) and the field is open save for the flanks. 

Macedonians order of Battle

Right wing under Phiip (rating 9) plus two sub-commanders (rating 8)

6 units of Phalangites (veteran/Elite)

2 units of Hypaspists (veteran/Elite)

light troops (3 x slings, 3 x bows, 3 x peltasts, 2 x light horse) - all small units

2 units medium cavalry (small units)

Centre two subcommanders rating 8

8 units Phalangites

6 units of various light troops

Left Wing under Alexander (rating 9)

6 units of Phalangites

3 units of medium cavalry (Companions)

6 units of various light troops

Greek City States - all commanders rated at level 8)

Left Wing 

Eight units of Hoplites (of which four are levy)

Twelve units of skirmish troops - slings, bows, peltasts, lt cavalry)

Centre Wing 

Eight units of Hoplites (of which four are levy)

Two units of small medium Cavalry

Right Wing 

Seven units of Hoplites (of which four are levy)

One unit Sacred Band (Elite, Veteran Hoplites - count as Spartans)

Twelve units of skirmish troops - slings, bows, peltasts, lt cavalry)

The following are a series of photos from the games in no particular order

There are no special rules in play other than the standard attributes awarded to each of the units.

It became apparent in game one that the Greeks were better placed to attack given they would lose out against charging sarissas.

The game ebbed and flowed across a 16ft table

The ranked units looked fabulous - with about 1600 figures on the table

The impact of the cavalry was minimal in both games - they did manage to pin units but no stunning charges

In the first game the Macedonian centre collapsed under an assault by the Greeks - the flanks held firm giving the city states the win.

Fortunately we played this three aside and with a general familiarity of the rules across the table both games played out in about three and half hours.

We are going to try this battle with to the Strongest later in the year.

What next...well I have started on the Persians.

More games soon

Macedonian/Successor Army now complete

Good Afternoon Folks

Delighted to report that I have completed another army ! Back in March I notified the world that I had started on my Macedonian/Successor army. Link HERE. At the time I had purchased the forces and already completed 300 Phalangites in 2022. So wind the clock forward and the force is complete.

All the figures present are either sourced from Warlord Games or Victrix. All are 28mm and plastic.

The total force consists of

18 units of Phalangites /Pike ( each unit 32 figures strong)

2 units of Hypaspists (32 figures each)

3 units of heavy cavalry (8 figures each)

3 units of Companion Cavalry (8 figures each)

6 war elephants

10 command stands

When this force does come to the field it will be supported by the light troops and Hoplites painted for my Greek Army

The total force arrayed in three ranks covers a sizeable part of my table

The Macedonians (minus the elephants will battle my Greeks), then they will battle my next army project (Persians) and finally they will pitch themselves against each other (Successors) 

The Heavy Cavalry are gorgeous victrix figures. Four packs made up my six cavalry units - the shield transfers are spares I had from my Greek Project.

The Companions have been distinguished with purple cloaks and their long lances.

The cavalry commander started off life as a mounted Roman General but a head and shield swap brought him into line with the period.

Likewise my Macedonian General and standard bearer were Roman Generals but again a switch of heads and shields was all that was required.

The two units of Hypaspists both started og in the lives as Victrix Hoplites but again using head swaps they have been repurposed. 

The shield transfers are old GW ones I had knocking around

This unit I suspect might be refeered to as the Captain America unit ! Should have found some white stars

The core of the army are the Pike - all are Warlord Games plastic pike units. Ranked in fours with 32 figures to a unit

The famous silver shields !!

The infantry commanders are just spare plastic figures I had mounted on round bases

Finally I have six war elephants...these beauties are all from Warlord Games 

Each has been given a different paint style

Just need to add some tufts to these bases to finish them off....

So that's another force complete and they will appear in my next Monday night game.

Next up the Persians 

More soon