Dice or No Dice

Yesterday saw a very enjoyable trip up to Oxford to see Nick, an old friend and war-gamer from Hong Kong.  I took with me printed cards for Strength and Honour armies to refight the Second Battle of Chaeronea.   It was the first time Nick had played these rules and he seems to have taken them rather seriously.  Seeing that omens were taken before battle he claimed to have sacrificed the neighbour's cat to obtain good fortune.  He certainly had an excellent roll of the dice for Sulla's command points before battle began and the end result was catastrophic for my Pontic army! We lined up with the Pontic phalanx facing the Roman legions on one side of the field, a mass of other troops on the other.  Legions and phalanx were both chary of coming to grips - and even when they tried to commit saw an extraordinary run of 1s.   The phalanx eyes the Legions and the Legions return the gaze, neither showing much inclination to move forwards. Fighting begins on the Pontic left, but their s