Thracians versus Scythians Midgard Game

 

Scythians deployed

Thracians on the left, Scythians on the right

Thracian attackers advance

Scythians advance in the centre

Shooting commences

Last Sunday afternoon Craig came over and we played a Thracians versus Scythians Midgard game out in the shed. I added a Parthian shot trait for the Scythian and Getic horse archers, so they could shoot when they evaded. The Scythians advanced in the centre and charged a Thracian peltast unit. Single combat between the two attached heroes resulted in the death of the Thracian hero but the horse archers were destroyed themselves. The Thracian noble cavalry on the left flank charged the Scythian noble cavalry. The Scythians countercharged but were destroyed outright in the combat while only inflicting a single hit on the Thracians.

Back on the Thracian right flank the other Scythian noble cavalry unit charged the Thracian noble cavalry. The Thracians countercharged and were once again extremely lucky with their dice destroying the Scythians while suffering only a single hit. The Scythians were down to their last two reputation tokens by this stage and the Getic horse archers were able to destroy a half strength Scythian horse archer with shooting to finish them off. This was a rather unsatisfactory game as two combats with exceptional dice rolls for the Thracians really decided the result. Horse archer armies never seem to fair well under most rules that I've played.

A Thracian hero is killed but
the Scythian horse archers are destroyed 

Thracian noble cavalry and Scythian
noble cavalry line up a charge 

Thracian noble cavalry destroy Scythian
noble cavalry on the Thracian left flank

Same story on the Thracian right flank

Later Sargonid Assyrians versus Kimmerians Mortem et Gloriam Game

 

Side view with Assyrians left, Kimmerians right

Opposite end

Assyrian left flank

Assyrian centre

Assyrian right flank

Kimmerian right flank

Kimmerian centre

Kimmerian left flank

Last Tuesday afternoon I played a solo MeG Pacto game out in the shed. The Later Sargonid Assyrians took on an all cavalry Kimmerian force. This was my first MeG game with these armies, it was all a bit hit and miss, trial and error! The Kimmerian left flank optimistically charged the Assyrians early in the game, the noble cavalry broke in combat, while the horse archers retreated. The noble cavalry did managed to break the opposing Assyrian cavalry. On the Assyrian left flank the chariots and cavalry charged. The Kimmerian nobles eventually broke and one of the horse archer units evaded repeatedly until almost driven from the table. Meanwhile in the centre the skilled Kimmerian horse archers whittled away at the Assyrian Kisir Sharuti and Sab Sharri infantry. In the end they destroyed the entire centre and broke the Assyrian army.

Armies advance

Shooting starts

Kimmerian left flank charges

Combat doesn't go well

A retreat and a rout

Assyrian left flank charges

Horse archers evade, nobles countercharge

Assyrian cavalry charge again

Assyrians break in the centre

Jaxartes River 329 BC - Command and Colors Ancients

Saka deployed on the left, Macedonians on the right

Opposite end

Macedonian right flank with Companions led by Alexander

Macedonian centre

Macedonian left flank

Saka left flank

Saka centre

Saka right flank

View of the table from the Macedonian left flank

View of the table from the Saka left flank

Last Wednesday afternoon I played another solo Command and Colors Ancients (CCA) game out in the shed. The scenario was Jaxartes River with the Macedonians under Alexander taking on the Saka under Satraces. I made a few changes to the scenario making the Saka all light bow cavalry, except for one medium cavalry unit, Satraces' nobles, who were also bow armed. I also used the Parthian shot special rule introduced in Command and Colors Medieval (CCM) for light bow cavalry and the Saka medium cavalry were also able to use this when evading. 

This rule allows a unit to evade two hexes while firing with two dice and it can only be hit with the appropriate coloured dice ignoring all other results. The only change to the Macedonians was to allow the light cavalry Prodromoi to hit on swords as well, reflecting their use of the sarissa. Missile fire across the river was possible only for Alexander's catapults but troops crossing the river could fire and were targets themselves. 

In retrospect the Parthian shot rule was overly effective as the the Macedonians never managed to make any headway and a double flag dice result on the Prodromoi, a retreat of eight hexes and a casualty for every hex beyond the base line they were unable to retreat, seemed to typify their luck in the game. In the end the Saka slaughtered the Macedonians 7-2 victory points. This was a totally unexpected and rather unsatisfying game, given the complete reversal of the actual historical result. While the Parthian shot rule reflects the tactics of steppe nomad armies it may be better reduced to a single dice for CCA scenarios, as moving light bow cavalry normally shoot with only one dice anyway.

Macedonians attempt to cross the river in the centre

Macedonian javelinmen are forced to retreat

Macedonian pike cross in the centre with a double time card

Alexander launches an attack on the Macedonian right flank

Companions advance, Saka evade and cause heavy losses

Companions suffer under heavy bow fire

Casualties mount on the pike in the centre

Macedonian left flank launches an attack

Side view

Macedonians are destroyed or forced to retreat

Bolt-Shooting Torsion Catapults

Here are some bolt-shooting torsion catapults and crew that I've just finished painting. The three above all Vendel/Sgt Major figures and are early examples of oxybeles as illustrated in Duncan Head's WRG book Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars 359 BC to 146 BC (p.187). The one below is a later Hellenistic scorpion (p.188) with three crew and is by Relic Miniatures but doesn't seem to be on their website anymore, which is a pity. I will use all four for a Command and Colors Ancients (CCA) scenario of the Battle of Jaxartes River 329 BC, where Alexander used the catapults to provide covering fire for his troops, as they crossed the river and taught the Saka a lesson.