Manlii v Julii Game 28

Game 28 – Byzantine Era 2: Early Byzantine post Maurikian army reforms

Maurikian Byzantine (Alec 173 pts) v Sassanid Persia (Gordon 180 pts)

Major Invasion 609 CE (ADLG Std, 6-Sept-2023).

Battlefield Effects: Byzantine: Generals variations

The Plan (penned in advance of the battle)

This is a Byzantine Major Invasion of Sassanid Persia in 609 CE.  As there are three Prestige Points available for a Byzantine victory both of us were keen to bid low; I went down to 173 points which proved to be the winning bid.

As it is a Byzantine invasion I will be forced to attack to win my three points, Gordon on the other hand, as defender, can play less aggressively and has the luxury of waiting to see how the terrain falls. The Persians only have a very small amount of decent infantry so I expect the battle to be one of cavalry jostling for position. My advantage is that my my cavalry have the impact ability, Gordon's is that he can select a certain number of cataphracts and elephants; I also have the Battlefield Effect.

So, I will go with one infantry command, one small cavalry command and one large mixed cavalry command commanded by a Strategist (as I had already won a battle as the Byzantines in this era under the campaign rules I was allowed to upgrade my C-in-C to a Strategist), and await to see how the terrain falls and deploy accordingly.

That’s the plan!

The Battle

Firstly I rolled to see which Battlefield Effect I would get - I rolled a two so ended up with 'Inspired', meaning I would get to boost the command points of one chosen command.

As usual I am on the left of the pictures and Gordon on the right.

The terrain region chosen by me was Plains and ended up as below, a coastal zone on my left with a village, a gentle hill in Gordon's rear centre and two fields on my right. The village and hill provided Gordon with a potentially suitable defensive position which I suspected he would take advantage of.

Deployment was as below, Gordon surprised me by both maximising his infantry and then placing them on the hill (together with an elephant unit) thereafter placing the bulk of his heavy cavalry on his left. On his right he placed a line of light horse as far forward as he could and one cataphract unit right back on his table edge. This meant he was not intending to make the village a cornerstone of his defence, there was a worrying ambush in the village though.

As I didn't want my infantry or cavalry to get bogged down in the village I placed my heavy infantry on my right supported by a couple of light infantry bowmen ready to occupy the rough going, my small cavalry command in the centre and my large cavalry and light horse command on my left.

Position after Turns 1 and 2 as below. I've advanced across the line, Gordon has advanced with his left wing. Our two light horse groups have started firing at each other on my left - Gordon coming off slightly better with two hits on my forces to my one on his. I used my Battlefield Effect to enhance the command ability of my Strategist family representative commanding my left wing, giving him three extra command points on turn one and one extra every turn for the rest of the game.

Position after turn 4 as below. I charged my heavy cavalry through my light horse to contact his and Gordon unsurprisingly evaded. Unfortunately for Gordon he rolled up on his evade move so two of his light horse had to interpenetrate the cataphract on the table rear edge which took them out of play. To make matters worse his commander for that command was attached to one of those light horse so ended up out of play and counting as lost too!

Seeing the result I decided to not advance with my centre and right for the time being but I did move a couple of light horse over to start peppering his heavy spearmen on the hill with arrows scoring two hits. Gordon responded by beginning to move his infantry round to face me and bringing two of his heavy cavalry over from his left towards his right. 

The position at the end of turn six as below. I advanced with my centre and right, charging one of my heavy cavalry in the centre against one of his heavy cavalry. I managed to disorder it in my turn and finish it off in his - the only casualty of the game as it turned out. In his turn Gordon charged one of his heavy cavalry into mine in the centre - despite me having the advantage of Impact and support he won the fight. He also began to advance his elephant and Dailami elite medium swordsmen forward in the centre too. 

The position at the end of turn eight (and the end of the game) was as below. I charged my infantry forward on my right - Gordon evaded with his heavy cavalry, in the centre I rallied my disordered heavy cavalry and proceeded to disorder Gordon's. In the centre Gordon charged forward with his elephant and Dailami towards my heavy cavalry. I evaded away from the elephant but won both the fights against his Dailami.

At this point the score was 12-1 in my favour and as there was still an hour and a half before we called time Gordon decided to call it a day. My intention was to advance into the village to make sure the ambush was only a bluff and then advance my cavalry past it to overwhelm his cataphracts and turn his flank.

The battle was largely won by my shooting pressure on the Persian army, making Gordon realise he wasn't going to be able to sit in a defensive position. I think Gordon was hampered by the requirement of ADLG to decide on the command structure before seeing the battlefield, I suspect if it had been the other way around (as in MeG) he would have split the infantry and put the Dailami in the village.

Gordon's comments

Pre-Game

I simply have to avoid losing. Alec bid 173 points. With the Byzantine battlefield effect that was probably still better than going for 180 points. However, I thought that I could choose an army that would hold in place long enough for a draw, so let him win the bid.

To win as Byzantines you need lots of cavalry. The infantry are not likely to win in a time limited game. The Byzantine cavalry have the advantage in combat against the Persian bowmen. So, I thought to maximise the Persian infantry, some of whom are good, and look to maximise terrain.

I put all the infantry in one command, with an elephant. A reasonably strong cavalry wing to skirmish and delay destruction, and a very poorly thought out small command of the compulsory light horse and one cataphract (just to annoy). 

The Deployment

Alec chose Plains, but the terrain was pretty good. Flanks were protected and I had a wee hill to sit on.

Put the infantry in the centre on the hill in front of the camp. Cavalry flank on the left where the terrain is open. Cataphract and light horse on the right to try to minimise movement on that flank. The village was basically a blocking terrain and had no troops in it.

Plan was to sit tight as long as possible.

Alec’s deployment rather buggered that plan. As did my very weak right flank command.

Alec massed his infantry on my left flank; a mixed blessing as my cavalry could slow him down, but didn’t have much chance of doing damage, especially with his relatively strong cavalry centre. His right flank was a most unpleasant surprise – all his elite cavalry and lots of light cavalry. So, I am going to have to hope for some unusually good skirmishing on my part and that he won’t like the ambush marker and the cataphract and hold back a bit. My infantry are going to have to redeploy slightly to protect their right flank. 

The Game

As invader Alec goes first. A quick advance to engage my light horse on the right and slower on his left with his infantry. Some shooting slightly in my favour, but with his strategist probably easily recovered.

I move my left flank forward to slow him down. The infantry makes some minor moves to cover the right flank.

And then it all started to go wrong. His right flank cavalry charged through his skirmishers and my light horse rolled high to evade. Two of them had to interpenetrate the cataphracts and left the table, taking the commander with them. Light horse need space and with cavalry armies that can be a problem with the relatively small size of wargame tables. Mind you, most other gamers don’t seem to have a problem, so just my inability to use light horse. Unfortunately, they are compulsory.

After that his light horse approached my infantry and started to shoot them to pieces (my rally rolls failed) and the lack of commander on my right flank meant that I could not easily use the rest of my light horse and cataphract to do much about it.

My left flank continued to skirmish and fall back, but given the failure of my right flank that was threatening my centre with envelopment. I had to move the centre to attack. Dangerous against his superior cavalry and for my infantry.

It didn’t go well: lots of damage to my troops and almost none to his.

I clearly wasn’t going to win or even force a draw so conceded. 

Post-Game

Terrain was good but I was out-generaled. My initial deployment would probably have been more sensible with the infantry on the right and the cavalry holding the centre and the hill. That would have removed some worries about being outflanked. The infantry as always going to be outshot but it might have given me more time to simply sit and take it, rally occasional loss, and wait for the time bell.

A command of 4 light horse and one cataphract is asking for trouble.  

Result

 Byzantine win - three points to the Manlii