Chaeronea 338 BC - Macedonians vs Thebans and Allies

Last Saturday saw the 'Old Berks' reconvene for a WAB 1.5 game.  This time another Greek vs Macedonian battle; very loosely based on Chaeronea.

From the battle-map below, you can see that the Greeks had proportionally more cavalry and skirmishers than they may have had in the real battle.

Phil and Steve paired up as the Macedonians and John and I as the Greeks.  We are still getting familiar with the rules so, this time, introduced a modest amount of scenery to see how that played out.

I'd decided that I'd been too cautious in recent games, so the Greeks - perhaps uncharacteristically - engaged the Macedonians on both flanks.  A rather stupid decision on my part saw us concede the initiative at the start, but, fortunately, this was compensated for by the oracle rolls: 3 for the Macedonians and 8 for the Greeks. This helped us considerably in the forthcoming battle.

Unlike the original battle, the Theban Sacred Band survived.  However, in our version, they didn't even make contact.

The initial dispositions - from the Greek left.

...and from the Greek right.

We deployed the hoplites (3 units) in ranks of 3.  Although not strictly Theban (the later armies were famed for their very deep formations), I was interested to see if the wider frontage helped narrow the odds against the Macedonian pike phalanxes.  Two units had heavy armour which gave a 3+ saving throw, but made the advance painfully slow due to the extra armour reducing their movement

The Theban Sacred Band (centre) flanked by 2 hoplite units.

Eventually the centres did collide (well, 2 units did).  With the one hoplite unit 'bouncing' a pike unit.

Skirmishers on both sides had an interesting battle.  Greek javelinmen on the left flank chased off and eventually routed a Macedonian Hipparch and his accompanying Thessalians, whereas on the other flank the Agrianians held (and were whittling down) the Theban heavy cavalry.

Greek peltasts and Macedonian skirmishers contest the woods.

Greek HC cavalry chase off Macedonian peltasts, whilst completely ignoring the Thessalians right next to them!

The Greeks took back the hill and the woods after initial Macedonian advances.  However, the Companions made an appearance on the hill shortly after.

Roughly the midway point of the battle.

View from behind the Greek lines.  Now there's space, the Inn of the Prancing Peltast (and its vineyard) could make an appearance!

Final turn - the Macedonian right had disappeared whilst the left was contested.  The Greeks had more units there, but the Agrianians were tying up the Theban heavy cavalry and Alexander had surged forward with the Companions and routed a unit of peltasts. 2 more turns would, potentially, have seen the rolling up of the Macedonian centre.

A great game.  More rules learnt and tested.  I think we spent as much time chatting and planning our next ventures as we did playing.  But that's all part of the fun!

The now obligatory Old Berks photo.  From left: John, Andy, Steve & Phil.

Some further photos from the battle.

Copyright

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