First Game of 'Alala! - Spartans versus Athenians

 

Armies deployed from the Athenian side

From the Spartan side

Spartans advance

'Alala! rules and QRS

Athenian light cavalry shoot

Heavy cavalry shoot

Last Wednesday afternoon Craig came over and we played our first game of 'Alala! with Spartans versus Athenians in the Peloponnesian War. The 'Alala! rules are written by Simon MacDowall, published by the Society of Ancients and are designed for battles between Greek city states during the Peloponnesian and Boeotian Wars of the fifth and fourth centuries BC. The rules are in colour, 24 pages, include a QRS sheet and a God Pack of cards. 'Alala means battle cry in Greek. They use a turn sequence of dicing for Initiative, Command Actions, Control Tests, Skirmish Actions, Phalanx Movement, Charges, Combat and After Combat Moves. Movement is variable with average dice and shooting and combat is resolved with D6 dice. Command and Control is managed by leaders attached to individual hoplite units, who must deal with Disorganisation Points and Causes while trying to raise Agression Levels and Morale.

Craig's Athenians and allies had three leaders, four Class B hoplite units, a heavy and light cavalry unit, a unit of peltasts and three units of psiloi. My Spartans and allies were very similar with three leaders, three Class A Spartan hoplite units, one allied Class B hoplite unit, a heavy and light cavalry unit, a unit of peltasts and two units of psiloi. I had the Initiative for most of the early turns in the game and the Spartans advanced with the psiloi, peltasts and cavalry shooting. The Spartan heavy cavalry and Athenian light cavalry charged on separate flanks, after combat both sides rode through their opponents. After advancing for quite a few turns the Spartan and allied hoplites charged on the flanks and the Spartan hoplites eventually charged in the centre. 

Hoplite combat was attritional with hits on 5 and 6 with a maximum of 12 dice and various modifiers including support, Eager, Ready, Disorder Points and Shaken. Results of combat are then worked out depending on the differences in hits for each side. In the end we ran out of time, the Athenian allied hoplite unit on the right was shaken and two Spartan hoplite units in the centre were retiring but a result still seemed a fair way off. I like how these rules are written for a specific period instead of the usual vast 4,000 thousand year time span of most ancient rules. No doubt as a first game we got a few things wrong. They have a number of interesting and innovative features and invoking the God Pack of cards is a lot of fun. Whether you would like them depends a lot on your personal taste in rules and the mechanics used. Personally I'm not a big fan of variable movement with dice and prefer combat where there are modifiers for the quality of troops involved.

Side view

Spartan heavy cavalry charge

Athenian light cavalry charge

Peltasts charge in the centre

Hoplite units charge on the flanks

Athenian allied hoplites are shaken,
Spartan hoplites retiring in the centre

First Battle of Mantinea ADLG Game

 

Argives & allies deployed with Spartans &
allies in front of Pelagos wood

View from the Athenian, Argive & Mantinean side

Armies advance

Skiritai & Brasidas’ Veteran Spartan hoplites

Aegis' Spartan hoplites and allied
Arcadian hoplites in the centre

Spartan & Athenian cavalry fight
on the Spartan right flank

Armies close

Last Thursday afternoon Craig, Garry and Rick came over and we played an ADLG game of the First Battle of Mantinea which was fought in 418 BC. Craig and Garry commanded the Argive, Athenian and Mantinean allies and Rick and I commanded the Spartan, Arcadian and Tegean allies. 

Thucydides has a nice description of the armies advancing to battle:

'...the Argives and allies advancing with haste and fury, the Spartans slowly and to the music of many flute players - a standing institution in their army, that has nothing to do with religion but is meant to make them advance evenly, stepping in time, without breaking their order, as large armies are apt to do in the moment of engaging.'

Thucydides, 5.70 Landmark Thucydides, p.343. translated by Richard Crawley, edited by Robert B. Strassler, Free Press, New York, 1996.

In our game, the Spartan and allies were a bit more ragged than that in their advance, but before long most of the left, centre and right flanks of both armies was engaged in combat. The Spartan cavalry broke on the Spartan right flank and the Athenians were able to roll up the flank of the Tegean hoplites. On the Spartan left flank and centre it was hard fought for many turns with the Mantineans and Argives. A few successful rally orders prolonged the combat but in the end the Spartans and allies were demoralised first and broke.

Spartan centre

Spartan right flank

Tegeans charge the Athenians,
Spartan cavalry is about to break

Left, centre and right flanks engaged

Argive hoplites in the centre slog it out
with Spartans & Arcadians

Side view with gaps appearing

Spartan cavalry blocked by skirmishers
and Mantinean hoplites

Spartans vs Athenians Mortem et Gloriam Game

 

Forces deployed from the Athenian side

Forces deployed from the Spartan side

End of turn one

On Sunday I met Robert down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon for a 28mm MeG Pacto game of Spartans vs Athenians. I haven't played a game down here for over two years, since the start of the pandemic but it was good to see Ian and all the usual suspects there. Robert was the attacker with his Spartans and we ended up with a mountainous secure flank on the Athenians' right and a wood on the opposite side. We used a 6' x 4' mat with standard 60mm base widths for distances. 

The Athenians were out scouted by 80% so had to deploy most of their army first. Both sides advanced quickly and we were in combat by the second turn. Casualties mounted and before long the Athenian centre was buckling under pressure from the Exceptional Spartan Hippeis. The Spartans burst through here and it was all over for the Athenians, with the Spartans easily winning 15-6. It was fun to get the hoplites out and play a game after such a long absence from the club.

Spartans and Athenians close in combat

Casualties mount, Athenian centre is buckling

Spartans burst through in the centre

Spartans win easily 15-6

Spartans versus Athenians ADLG Game

View of the table from the Spartan lines

Side view

Both sides advance

Athenians and allies right flank

Athenians and allies centre

Spartans and allies right flank

Spartan centre

Spartans and allies left flank

Left flank charges

Spartans close in the centre

Last Sunday Craig, Garry, Rick, Gary and I met down at the Vikings Club and played a 200 point Spartans versus Athenians ADLG game. Craig and Garry commanded the Athenians and allies, while Rick and I commanded the Spartans and allies and Gary sat out the game as a spectator due to potential work commitments. This turned out to be a real thrashing for the Spartans due to consistently bad dice rolling and the Athenians suffered very few casualties at all.

Spartan right flank takes casualties from archers

Side view of the battle

Action in the centre

Athenian pig in a poke

Spartan left flank and centre

Spartan right flank starts to crumble 

Casualties mount in the centre

Athenian cavalry threaten the Spartan left flank

It's only a matter of time...

Spartan centre collapses