ADLG Mycenaeans vs. Persians

This week I finally got in my second game of L’Art De La Guerre (following on from my introductory game June last year), this time 300 points and hosted by Andre at the Christchurch Wargaming Club. I decided to trot out my Mycenaeans who have not seen action in a long time, and opposing me Andre fielded Achaemenid Persians – so an anachronistic match-up but a not too far off semi-historical mix of opposing troop types – well at least if you ignore the wheels on the chariots (and think of them as cavalry)!

The Mycenaean centre-right Spearmen of Ergiyios’s III Corps (the man himself in the background).

My Mycenaeans were organised as follows (left to right as deployed on table):

Mycenaean (Pre-Trojan War) ~1280 BC
Initiative: 1

Corps IV: Tlepolemus (ordinary)
6 Spearmen with Tower Shields (heavy foot, pavise)
2 Slingers (light infantry, sling)

Corps I: King Atreus of Mycenae (competent)
6 Chariots, Dendra Armour & Spear (light chariot, armour, impact)
3 Bowmen (bowmen)
2 Libyans (light infantry, javelin)

Corps III: Ergiyios (ordinary)
6 Spearmen with Figure-8 Shields (heavy foot, pavise)
2 Light Bowmen (light infantry, bow)

Corps II: Attaginas (competent)
6 Chariots, Warriors w. Javelins (light chariot, javelin)
3 Bowmen (bowmen)
2 Libyans (light infantry, javelin)
 
1 Standard Camp

ARMY SIZE: 38
King Arteus’s shock troops of the Mycenaean centre-lift: Charioteers in full Dendra Panoply with lances, supported at left rear by bowmen. The rear chariot (bottom left) is General Arteus.
Attaginas’s II Corps charioteers and bowmen, protecting the Mycenaean right flank.

Meanwhile Andre’s Achaemenid Persians were composed as follows (this time goign from his right to left so in the order they opposed my corps as listed above):

Achaemenid Persians 479 BC
Initiative: 5

Corps I: Mardonius (Strategist)
5 Immortals (½ medium swordsmen, ½ bowmen, elite)
5 Sparabara (½ medium swordsmen, ½ bowmen)

Corps IV: Greek Ally (allied, ordinary, included)
5 Hoplites (heavy spearmen)
1 Skirmisher (light infantry, javelin)

Corps III: Cavalry (competent)
4 Persian Cavalry (heavy cavalry, bow)
5 Scythians (light cavalry, bow)

Corps II: Guard Cavalry (competent)
3 Guard Cavalry (heavy cavalry, bow, elite)
1 Persian Cavalry (heavy cavalry, bow, elite)
2 Bactrians (light cavalry, bow, elite)
3 Scythians (light cavalry, bow)
 
1 Standard Camp

ARMY SIZE: 32
Tlepolemus’s IV Corps spearmen with tower shields on the Mycenaean left.
initial deployment from behind the Mycenaean right flank.

As will be obvious the Persians won initiative and chose to attack Mycenae, placing the battlefield in the plains. The Mycenaeans’ managed to anchor their left flank on a river, however their deployment was hampered due to some pesky terrain (some fields and a plantation/vineyard) alongside the waterway in their deployment zone. A small Mycenaean ambush was however placed in the plantation to keep the opposition ‘honest’. The Persians were little hampered by the terrain on their side – being such masters of the rough going – and also had the added benefit of a gentle clear hill.

Atreus’s I Corps bowmen rushing to plug the left flank gap and to a destiny that will see them perform heroic acts worthy of Thermopylae to hold back the mighty Immortals & Sparabara!
Situation at the end of Round 1: both sides have advanced rapidly and at the bottom left you can see Atreus’s bowmen beginning their urgent wheel to reinforce the left flank.

Initially both sides advanced confidently, the Persians leading the way very aggressively marching towards the Mycenaeans – the latter having to perform some fancy manoeuvring in the centre-left to relocate Atreus’s bowmen to the left of Tlepolemus’s spearmen to counter the turning of the left through the rough terrain by the Persian Immortals and Sparabara.

End of Round 2 and the lines prepare for impact.

From here the pictures will do the talking for a bit…

Round 3 and everywhere the Persians flee the Mycenaean chariots!
Closer view of the situation on the left at the end of the 3rd round – Atreus’s bowmen visible at bottom right rushing to left to face down the Immortals (who are in yellow)!
Start of Round 4 on the Mycenaean right – although the Persians initially fled the Mycenaean light chariots are about to get turned on and pounded by assorted Persian cavalry including the Elite Guards.
On the left the Mycenaean ambush is, umm, sprung – life expectancy will not belong in the ‘Mycenaean Slinger Corps’… Meanwhile the Immortals inexorable advance continues (queue the Darth Vader march music…).
View down the lines from Mycenaean right flank, end of the Persian move in Round 4.
Round 4 end of Mycenaean move and the chariots on the right make contact with the Persian cavalry.
End of Round 4 on the Mycenaean left and the Mycenaean spearmen of Tlepolemus’s IV Corps charge into the opposing Hoplites, peeling off 1 unit to engage the Immortals as a flank guard.
On the right things begin to go south for the Mycenaeans in Rounds 4 & 5 – as 2 chariots are destroyed outright and the remaining 3 take several hits. In the centre however the armoured chariots continue to drive the Scythian light horse before them.
Round 5-6 on the left- the slingers are already destroyed in the plantation, however an armoured chariot has got behind the flank of the Greek Hoplite spearmen in the centre (the unit contacted about to be destroyed), and the plucky bowmen at the bottom centre begin their brave battle with the Immortals!
Round 6 on the right, the entire chariot force of Attaginas’s II Corps has been destroyed and the Bactrian & Scythian light horse roll forward virtually unopposed bar the right flank bowmen and a couple of Libyan skirmisher units with javelins. But in the centre the Dendra panoply armoured charioteers roll on forward.
Closer view of the centre at the time of Round 6, beginning of 7.

By Round 7 things were starting to look grim for the Mycenaeans, despite a good start the gods were not with them this day and they repeatedly failed to exploit advantages in combat (i.e. threw huge numbers of 1’s and 2’s for combat dice), and were slowly outmanoeuvred by the Persians. on the far left the 3 units of bowmen valiantly fought off 3 units of Immortals and 3 of Sparabara, and despite losing one of their number about the end of Round 6 the other 2 hung on tenaciously to bravely hold up that flank – and they destroyed some of the Immortals!

Situation at the forward left of the line in Round 7 – the Mycenaean spearmen facing the Hoplites and Immortals have taken heavy casualties and started to collapse – the last 2 units fight bravely on before succumbing about Round 8.

In Rounds 8-9 the Persians moved in for the kill however, in the centre the Scythian light horse got onto the flank of the armoured chariots, the remaining spearmen of the left (pictured above) were overrun; and with the final succumbing of the “brave bowmen on the left” the Mycenaean army broke and the battle was over. The Persians were about halfway to their break point, if I recall correctly.

The Mycenaean left flank spearmen with tower shields at the start of the battle.

Overall a great game, and thanks to Andre from the Christchurch Wargaming Club (New Zealand) for the game and the instruction. Now I must actually go and dig my rulebook out of my boxes of books and actually reread it!

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