On impact its 8 dice each with a +POA to the Macedonians BUT this has to be split to 4 dice per BG they are facing (Left and Right). Left comes in with 1 hit, Right with 2 hits. The Macedonians come back with 3 hits on Left and 3 on Right. They win the Impact. Both Left and Right need 4 or more on the Death Roll - they get 5 and 4 - no bases lost. Both need to make cohesion tests at +1 (Darius is close by) but at -1 for Right and Left (more than 1 hits per 3 bases) and a further -1 for Left (2 more hits than inflicted). So Right needs 7 and Left 8. The Macedonians need anything but a 1 on the death roll - and get a 3.
Right gets 8 (OK) but Left gets 4 and drops to Disrupted.
Melee starts. It's pretty even for Right but Left is up against it. Right is 4 dice vs 4 dice. They get 2 hits on the Macedonians, who in reply get in 2 hits plus 2 re-rolls for...2 hits. On the Left, its 3 dice vs 4. The Saka get 1 hit - the Agema 3 hits (with re-rolls). Again, the Macedonians win. The Saka death rolls are 3 and 4 - they get 2 and 1! Both lose a base (unluckily, it must be said). The Macedonian death roll is 2! Just safe.
Cohesion tests. Both BG's are at -1 (lost 25% of bases). Left is at -1 for Disrupted, Right is at -1 for 1 hit per 3B from close conflict (2 hits on 4 bases). Darius is close by so its +1 for both. Both need 8's. Left gets 7 and drops to Fragmented. Right gets 9 and is OK.
The bases conform. Both Right and Left feed their extra bases into the melee. On the Left its 3 dice to 4, on the Right its 6 to 4. The Saka finally have numbers going their way. On the Left they inflict 1 hit (after re-rolls) to 3. The Macedonians need those hits to count! On the Right, the Saka inflict 3 hits - so the Macedonians need at least 2 hits to win. They get 3 (with re-rolls) but now face a tougher death roll. Both Saka BG's need 4's - they get two 2's! Both lose another base.
On the cohesion tests, Left is already at -2. They get another -1 for 2+ hits more than they inflicted and -1 for taking > 1 hit per 3 B and -1 for 25% of bases lost. Darius offers a +1 but they now need 11. Right are less badly off - just -1 for hits per 3B and -1 for 25% bases lost.
So Left needs 11, Right 8. Left gets 12! Right gets 5! Left stays Fragmented but Right drops to Disrupted.
The Macedonians face a Death Roll at +2. They need 3+ and get 6. Phew - no bases lost but they easily could have.
The bases conform (for neatness). Left have 2 dice vs 4. They chip in with 1 hit (after re-rolls). the Macedonians come back with 2,2,1,1 - 4 misses BUT they can all be re-rolled. They turn into 3 hits!
Right have 3 dice to 4. They come in with 0 hits (3,2,2). Seizing their chance, the Macedonians come back with 4 hits (after a re-roll). Those 1 and 2 re-rolls are proving costly! So its 7 to 1 for Alexander.
Death rolls - Right needs 5+, Left 4+. They get 5, 5! No bases lost. Cohesion tests now. Left is -1, -1, -2, -1, +1 for 11, Right is -1,-1,-1, -1. +1 for 10. Left gets 11! Incredible! Right gets 7 and drops to Fragmented.
The next melee should be a walkover. Both Saka BG;s have 2 dice to 4. Left gets two 6's for 2 hits and Right gets just 1 hit. In reply the Macedonians get 2 and 2. They win overall but only force a cohesion test on Right. They need 9 this time - and get 8. A Rout. Their VMD is 4 so they move the full 5MU's away. The Agema cannot pursue as the BG is still scrapping with Left.
As all conflicts are completed, Left now tests because of Right's Rout. This is at -2 (Fragmented) and +1 (Darius) so they need 8+. They get 8 and stay to fight.
Darius has a choice - try to bolster Right, fight in the front rank with Left or stay out of it to see what happens. I rolled 4 for option 2 - so he could fight in the front rank but looking at the situation, its hopeless. The Agema can feed in to the melee (8 dice vs 2!) meaning that Left is sure to Rout or autobreak. So Darius joins Right to try to bolster them.
In the melee, the Macedonians feed an extra base in (giving 2 overlaps). 8 dice vs 2. The melee ends 5-1 after re-rolls. The death roll is 6 - and they don't make it. The VMD is 3 (and the Macedonians also get 3) so Left is lost.
The end result is that Darius failed to bolster and both BG's were lost.
Summary
Again, interesting. The Agema won again, this time against side by side BG's. Dice rolls went with both sides (Left hanging on well after logic says they should have gone and the Agema lucky when the Saka had the numbers in dice). But I have confidence now that the Agema can hold its own against the best Persian cavalry (Alexander wasn't needed in either encounter!).
These scenarios are relatively unrealistic, though. During a multi-round conflict like this one it is likely that other troops (for example the Persian heavy cavalry) would intervene and let the numbers tell. Similarly the Macedonians could release a unit of spears to support the Agema.
In truth, we know nothing until a real battle is joined. But I go in with a bit more confidence than I had before!
Interesting stuff Phil, does little to inspire me to send in my Saka Cavalry against those boys!.
ReplyDeleteIf it's any use my cavalry are grouped:
Bactrian Hvy Cavalry 1 bg armoured, superior, undrilled Bow & Sword (yes the bow is a rather nifty addition to these units hee hee)
Bactrian Hvy Cavalry 1 bg protected, average, undrilled, light spear & sword.
Saka hvy cavalry armoured superior undrilled, bow & sword
1 bg Saka horse archers - light horse unprotected, average, undrilled, bow & sword
I mixed and matched so I got as many bow units as I could. So with 2 x 6 base levy archers I get 5 battle groups (24 bases) of troops that can use bow. My entire army is 58 bases in total giving me 10 battle groups.
I also get 1 bg of slingers so over half the army can use missile weapons, I hope to be able to utilise this!
The bows can be quite effective. In the first scenario I assumed all the Saka had bows and they got 6 shots in and forced a cohesion test.
ReplyDeleteI'm worried about the amount of missile troops you've got. Slow moving foot could suffer here so I'm hoping my cavalry can do some damage - but we're outnumbered on the horsey front.
So you've got 4BG of horse - 3 heavy and 1 light - against 3BG of horse (2 heavy, 1 light).
You also have 3 BG of light troops (bow / sling) vs 2BG of slingers / javelins on mine.
That leaves me with 4BG of heavy foot vs 3BG of your heavy foot (if I go by the Macedonian starter army). I may have to think about balancing up on the skirmisher side to counteract those bows (at the expense of a BG of hoplites, perhaps).
On paper my heavy foot look more than a match for yours - but your skirmisher numbers are much higher.
What's your final points total then?
Should be fun on Thursday!