Straw Dogs & Flaming Bulls

The inaugural meeting of the 'Old Berks' (Phil lives near Berkswell, so the name just suggested itself!) took place at Partizan three weeks before.  We all met last weekend to have our first game.  

So, the historical context for the battle (and don't tell me this never happened): after India, the Macedonians with Greek mercenaries pushed on into China, and there they met - amongst other things - Straw Dogs and Flaming Bulls!

John brought hordes (?) of excellent Chinese Warring States troops, which he and Steve commanded.  

John, incidentally, is the author of the excellent WAB supplement, The Art of War (above).  Knowing very little about ancient Chinese armies, I have found this an instructive and entertaining read.  My opponent had no excuse for not knowing his troops.  But, John, you still haven't signed my copy!

No detailed battle map this time folks.  It was 3000 points aside (1500 per commander), so you'll see from the accompanying photos that there were units galore

View from the Chinese right flank (John's command).  My, those chariots take up a lot of space!

And the Chinese left (Steve's command).

The Greek-Macedonian left (my command).  Light cavalry and light infantry in the foreground.

Phil's command on the right flank.

We had high hopes for the Hypaspists this time, after their previous relegation form!

The two heavy bolt-shooters were there to compensate for the lack of Greek firepower; to target chariots and tempting blocks of infantry.

A lovely, solid block of pike.  It was tempting for my hoplites to go and stand behind them for a while.

All the commands advanced towards each other to engage - some a little more ponderously than others.

Where the action was.  Phil's Companions plough into Steve's spearman, only to break them and pursue them off table for a quick nap.

The view from behind the Greek lines.

Looking ominous!

Crunch time!  Nasty spiky, halberds those infantry have.  I must say, I like the variety of troop-types and weaponry that a Chinese army can have.

The Old Berks toasting the recent arrival of Grandpa Phil's (on the right) first grandchild

Highlights of the Game

The aforementioned Straw Dogs were a couple of light infantry units - convicts who were no doubt trying to win their freedom by conspicuous acts of bravery.  That didn't happen on this day!

The flaming bulls were a ruse that could be taken for 50 points (read the supplement!).  We held our collective breath (not just because of the stench of burnt beef).  Steve released his bull at Alexander and his Companions.  Alex went 'Pah!' (passed the leadership test) and the bull went out! 

(Original image from the WAB Art of War book)

I had a couple of heavy bolt-throwers, hoping that they might take out some chariots.  That wasn't to be.  After killing some crossbowmen in the first turn (punching through 3 ranks) they didn't feature much after that, until one of them managed to get a unit of swordsmen to flee.

I brought along 3 units of Greek skirmishers to soak up the expected crossbow fire.  This they did.  However, the unit of javelin men got overexcited about the new bucklers that they'd received just the night before.  They destroyed a unit of Straw Dogs by pursuing them, then bounced into an approaching unit of light cavalry lancers.  They killed 2 for the loss of one, and held their ground!  However, by now they were down to 2 figures.

I was too cautious and advanced unnecessarily slowly.  As a result, mine and John's main troops never got into contact.  One more turn would have changed that.

Phil's and Steve's half of the table was where most of the fighting was.  A couple of Chinese units were broken, and the Companions went careering off the table in pursuit of some spearmen.

Phil's Hypaspist have never been lucky with their dice throws since they were first painted.  However, this time, when whittled down from fighting a number of units, they needed 3 or less to stay in the game.  The result: snake eyes from Phil!  You could feel his relief.

Lessons Learned

A 6'x4' table was a little tight for 3000 points.  There was little room for flanking anyone.

No-one should be setting fire to bulls.  It's just not sporting.

For more information on the battle, see Phil's blog at:

Phil's War Cabinet

Thanks for reading.

Andy (Old Berk)

Copyright

Please note: 

All images and text are copyright Andrew Moran and must not be reproduced in any form without the author's express permission. Thank you.