Macedonia vs. India- Fight to the River- Part two

Hi again,

Continuing on from the last update, I'll report back on this battle to its conclusion.

As with the previous week's gaming, I was commanding the Macedonian forces, whilst the Indians were controlled by a different player for each division.  Overall, my die rolls had enabled me to smash one of the Indian divisions, and all I had to do was break one more of the three in order to force a withdrawal.

The forces on my left flank managed to array themselves in a sturdy battle formation, glaring nastily at the mounted component of Pete's own forces.

Pete wasn't going to let the demonstrated ability of my troops to obliterate their Indian counterparts get in the way of a good scrap though, so ordered them in.

With better troops and more support, I obligingly countercharged!
On my right flank, Bill was having a fairly tough time organising his troops to act in a co-ordinated manner, his cavalry taking the order to 'close as quickly as possible on the damaged Macedonian cavalry' a little literally, as they promptly succeeded in moving 27 inches across the table and charged home.  Normally this wouldn't be a bad thing, however Bill tried to bring up his chariots in support and failed the order.  His division was in danger of being destroyed piecemeal just as Jason's before him.

In the combats that followed, on the left flank, Pete's cavalry continued the Indians' ill fortune as they lost by 1, but broke and routed as a result of a dreadful morale check.  The combat against the chariots once again proved that they are TOUGH, although with my support and my general in there it still turned out a draw.  I was feeling pretty confident at this stage; The chariots had taken four hits (their stamina was 6 so I was almost there), my cavalry was supported on both flanks and the commander was there to help as well.  So this explains why, in my turn, I moved up my infantry across the rear of their formation, sideways on to the melee.

In the proceeding combat, my dice finally turned, and my hitherto undefeatable cavalry got, well, battered to bits to a paltry one hit in return.  The ensuing morale check resulted in me being pushed back in disorder, straight through my infantry who became disordered as well.  This left my left flank in what can only be described as the 'Prettiest Battleline Ever'-

Pete's victorious chariots swept on into the dazed and confused pikemen, who were not only facing completely the wrong direction but also in complete disarray.  I could smell a bit of an embarrassment coming on.  The chariots chewed up a goodly portion of the 'phalanx's hits allowance, and forced them into retreat as well.  However, the handful of desperate attacks managed to just force the Indian's over their stamina, causing them to become exhausted and they withdrew back to their lines, no doubt a tad more smug than they were on the approach.

For my part, my battleline was knackered; many of my own units had become exhausted in the fighting, and my own overconfidence had left units in each other's way when it came to reorganising my forces.

My right flank had suffered disproportionately as well to Bill's cavalry charge- many units were carrying damage and now were facing off against theoretically poorer, but as yet uncommitted troops.  At this point both sides spent a couple of turns trying to prepare themselves for the final showdown as best as could be improvised.  Pete was rallying hits off of his chariots whilst they sheltered behind a screen of infantry, Bill was trying to bring all of his units to bear at the same time, and I was endeavouring to get non-shaken units to the fore, supported by their shaken comrades behind if possible.  I was having trouble rallying hits off of units I recall, so was feeling vulnerable.

The next few pictures show the resulting confrontations after the lull in the fighting.  The Indian chariots came back for another go against the Macedonian cavalry, whom I gave a chance of redemption to.

On the right flank, battle was joined as Indian chariots went in to the Macedonian cavalry there, who suddenly decided that they'd fought quite hard enough already, thank you very much, and packed up and left without much by way of reply.  The Indian chariots then crashed into the Greek auxilliaries, who'd been involved in some pretty heavy fighting already.

The supporting Indian infantry on the right, sensing a change in the air, finally launched themselves off of the hill and into the fray.

The combat on the left saw the chariots narrowly beaten, but they were able to limp off again, having shaken the Macedonian cavalry so that no pursuit was possible.

Combats raged up and down the line.  I was only a unit or two away from losing, and if I could just break one of the two divisions facing me then I would be able to break through.  In the end, it was javelin work from a humble unit of light cavalry that did the trick.  Circumventing the protective screen of Indian infantry on my left flank, my light cavalry snuck around and harassed the chariots, who were trying to rally for another confrontation.  The unexpected attack made them scatter and leave the board, breaking Pete's division and winning the game for me!

The chariots are just out of shot in this camera, having already run away before I could bring the camera to bear.  D'oh!

Overall, it was a great game.  Up until about halfway, I really thought I'd sold the Indians short- not a great thing seeing as how I was supposed to be GMing the game and took the Macedonians all for myself.  My dice rolls were exceptionally jammy as well, which further scewed the outlook of the battle.  All it took though was one reversal and the consequences for my formation was almost disastrous.  Had the Indians been able to co-ordinate better, had their units taken less damage and been able to pile in straight away, I could have been torn to pieces many miles from home.  As it was, the Macedonians survived the attack, reached their fleet, and collected their supplies.  No doubt the trip back to the main army would be as hasty as possible!

I hope you enjoyed this report.  Soon I hope to have reports and pictures of a rather special game that's proven very inspiring, just from looking across at it from my board!  No hints yet though- that would be telling!

Leigh