Persian-Greek Wargame

        Since getting Neil Thomas' ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL WARGAMES, I have wanted to fight a game using the armies as listed in this book. With Mr. Thomas' rules, each army has 8 units. The rules also have recommended armies with their deployment on the battlefield. This gave me a chance to use my Peter Laing Greeks and Persians. The battlefield has three terrain pieces, randomly placed on the field ( I rolled two dice to determine where to place the pieces.) Both sides rolled for placing their armies. I used the recommended armies and deployed them based on the suggestion of the book.  The rules used were simplified BATTLELORE rules. As I felt that all Persian army units are armed with bows, I cut the range of fire to 2, instead of the 3 in BATTLELORE. Otherwise, the Persians could just maneuver out of close combat range of the Greeks.  Also, no matter what unit fired, they only rolled 2 dice for ranged fire.

The Persian army is at the top of the page: from left to right, 2 cavalry units,2 infantry units, 1 unit Immortals, 1 levy infantry, and 1 archer cavalry unit. The Greek army from the left; 1 unit light cavalry, 2 units Spartans, 4 units Hoplites, 1 unit levy spearmen.

The Persian levy take up position in the woods and manage to kill one Hoplite and force that unit to retreat. The Persian cavalry push back the Greek cavalry.

The Greek cavalry pushes back both Persian cavalry units. Two Hoplite units try to clear the woods of the archers. Units battling into the woods can only roll 2 dice, which equalizes light troops to heavy units. Meanwhile, the Greek spearmen push back the mounted archers.

All along the line the Greeks push the Persians back. The 2 Hoplite units clear the woods of the archers.

The Persians hit back and throws the Greeks left flank back.

The Persian attack continues to push back the Greek center. The Immortals wipe out one Hoplite unit.

The Greek general joins one of the Spartans units one of the Persian cavalry units.and eliminates  one Persian cavalry unit.

The Greek right flank swings wide and pushes the Persian back.

With the situation getting desperate, the Persian general joins one unit to rally his army. On the Greek left the Persian cavalry overruns the Spartan infantry unit and kills the Greek general. (Unlike the last game, I counted the general figure as a unit. The first side to lose 6 units loses the battle.)

Another shot of the above. The Persian unit (blue) in the center of the picture has fought in several battles, and played a key roll in two victories.

The Persians try to break the Greek center, without success.

Once again the Persian blue unit looks like they might turn the tide of battle.

The Spartans kill 50% of the Persian blues. The Greek spearmen on the right finally eliminates the mounted archers.

Another closeup of the Spartan attack against the Blue Persians.

The Greek cavalry eliminates the Persian cavalry. The Spartans capture the hill. One Hoplite unit kills two Persians and forces back the Persian general.

The Persians have lost 6 units. The Greeks have won a hard fought victory.