Seleucids
vs Antigonids
Successor playtest battle
22 may 2010
Recently we have been playing a few
successor games
with the WAB 2.0 rules for the supplement of Jeff Jonas. One of
these was a battle of a Seleucid army against an Antigonid army.
Although the Seleucids and Antigonids were not in open conflict
after Demetrius 'Poliorcetes', we liked to play these two armies
against each other.
The
Armies
The Antigonid empire army has not much good
cavalry, and a continues lack of elephants. But the Thracian
mercenaries you can hire makes much of that not a real
problem. I really love these Thracians with their colourful cloths.
And their Rhomphaia is also one of my favourite weapons.
Odryssian Cavalry (Foundry)
The Seleucids empire have an infinite choice of mercenary troops,
ranging from Galatians, Thracians and Greeks to Iranians,
Medians and Arabs. And don't forget those strange scythed chariots.
Or, in the later periods, imitation legionnaires.
Luckily the successor supplement has all these choices woven into
interesting, but consistent lists. Here is our choice for the day:
Antigonid army |
Seleucid army |
Left |
16 Thureophoroi |
8 Elephant Escorts |
25 Galatians |
2 African Elephant |
8 Illyrian Skirmishers |
10 Cretan Archers |
|
10 Thracian Peltasts |
|
11 Trallian Slingers |
Center |
1 Successor king |
1 Strategos |
1 Standard Bearer |
1 Standard Bearer |
24 Regular Phalanx |
20 Guards Phalanx |
24 Regular Phalanx |
24 Silver Shields |
24 Regular Phalanx |
24 Katoikoi Phalanx |
Right |
25 Galatians with chieftain |
9 Horse Archers |
10 Companions |
11 Seleucid Cavalry |
16 Bastarnae |
|
16 Thorakites |
|
8 Illyrian Skirmishers |
|
TOTAL:
2000 pts |
TOTAL:
2000 pts |
The
Left
My
Galatians and Thureophoroi were facing no less than TWO elephants!
They were of the African type (probably captured from the Ptolemaic
empire during one of the Syrian wars), but no less scarier. But
Elephants are a psychological factor if anything. So I decided to go
for it after manoeuvring the first few rounds to try to prevent two
elephants running into one unit at the same time. I managed to get
one elephant in the Thureophoroi and one in the Galatian warband.
The Galatians won by luck because they slew some of the elephant
escort troops. The Elephant stampeded back to Syria.
The
Thureophoroi were not so lucky, but they used the give ground rule
because they outnumbered the elephant 2:1 (elephant counted as 5
models). The next combat round they did the same, mostly because the
elephant did not make many wounds. But the third round I managed to
make two wounds on the elephant! He could not 'save' them, because
the new rulebook does not give elephants an armour save (which I
think is an error). This elephant also stampeded back to whence it
came from.
The
Antigonids were winning on this side...
The Seleucids above and Antigonids below.
The
Right
Here
The Seleucids put all their cavalry. Knowing that the Antigonid
cavalry is a little bit less effective, I decided to play it on safe
here, with five units to protect this flank.
The
Seleucids advanced quickly. In panic the Antigonids tried to set op
a trap. But the Seleucid bow archers with feigned flight and
Parthian shot killed 25% of my Bastarnae, making them run to the
edge of the table. My companions were also ineffective against them,
because they kept hiding in the woods after every Parthian shot. Out
of sight I can't charge them... So eventually I had to move my wedge
out of the way behind my centre, making them useless for the moment.
Then
the Seleucid wedge charged my Galatian warband. And they failed to
win the combat. They fled with only 5 models left (thus counting as
under half strength), but rallied. Quickly the Thorakites blocked
the gap between the edge of the table and the woods, making it
impossible for the Seleucid cavalry to do anything the rest of the
game.
Now
I had to get my (rallied) Bastarnae and companions into position to
help in the coming combat at the centre of the battle. But the
Parthians were still shooting and hiding, and shooting and hiding...
The
Centre
Then
is was finally time for the phalanx battle. Two phalanx units
charged into my right phalanx. My brother won the first combat
giving him a momentum combat bonus the next round. He changed the
position of his general and army battle standard in the redress fase
of the game to enable them to fight too in the next round.
But
I also had my units into position. In my turn I charged with my
second phalanx into the front of the existing combat. During that
same turn both my Bastarnae and companions hit the Seleucid phalanx
in the flank. Rhomphaia, wedge, charging pikes; nothing could go
wrong anymore. I won the battle. It was nearly 17:00 hours, so it
was over and done....
...I thought.
Parthian horse archers (Magister Militum)
The
Result
But
the Seleucid phalanx did not panic due to the flank attack. My
brother did loose his close order bonus and rank bonus and phalanx
benefits. But he had his second unit still counting his ranks. And
he made ONE wound more than I did... This cancelled out the flank
attack bonus. A draw?
Antigonid companions charging into the flank of the enemy phalanx
But
no. Due to the momentum gained the previous combat, he won by 1
point. And you might guess what happened... Yes, everything that
could go wrong, happened. A unit failed their break test. And the
reroll. And broke. Panicing my phalanx with general and army battle
standard. They flew. Were pursued. And caught. Thus destroyed.
Killing my general. Panic test for the rest of my army... Shall I
continue?
A
quick look at the new victory points gave my brother about 1300
points against 200 for my army not even counting the destroyed or
fleeing units. A clear victory for the Seleucids.