ARES Second Test

Following on from the first very simple road test of the ARES battle rules, which I played solo, for a second trial I brought out some more figures and set up a game pitting my regular sparring partner, Gareth, against his son while I umpired.

The clash was between a Greek force defending a narrow point against a mass of Gallic invaders intent on robbing a nearby temple.  The Greeks fielded a hoplite phalanx 2,500 strong.  These were just standard citizen soldiers with no ability to do much more than hold their line.  They were supported by 700 cavalry - 350 of them just open order skirmishing types with javelins, the others close order melée types - and 1,500 light troops, 500 each of slingers, archers and peltasts.  They were commanded by General Hippolikos, who had 2 command and 5 action tokens to use in the game - so limited ability to direct his men after battle began, but well able to help lead his men in combat and rally them - provided he didn't get himself killed in the thick of it.

Facing them across a narrow plain was the Gallic leader Agaborax (3 command, 3 action tokens).  He had with him two warbands, his own of some 2,250 fierce warriors, able to use additional ardour points to improve their chances in melée, and an allied band of 1,500 men who were not as keen on fighting so could not use ardour points to increase their melée chances.  These were backed up by 1,000 javelin men 500 slingers, 350 skirmishing cavalry and 350 close order medium cavalry.

The North end of the battlefield ended in rocky hills in which the Greek general had placed his slingers.  These can be seen in the left foreground of the picture above.  The phalanx was placed at the top of a low rise, running south towards a small, steep rocky hill on which the Greek archers and peltasts were placed.  Beyond this, the Greek cavalry covered a narrow plain before wooded hills defined the southern end of the field.  Agaborax deployed his skirmish infantry in a long line covering most of the Greek position.  His cavalry were at the Southern end, aiming to drive the Greek cavalry away and then swing round behind the hill held by the Greek archers and peltasts to attack the phalanx in the rear.  The two warbands faced the phalanx.

To keep the table uncluttered and to conceal from the other side how much ardour remained for each group, a simple counter holder was made for each side.  The picture below shows that for the Greek army

The game began with a rapid advance by the Gallic forces.  The Greeks held position, letting the Gallic cavalry come a long way forward at the southern end of the field.  The light infantry skirmishers were held back by the Greek archers on the central hill but otherwise came forward to harrass the Greek phalanx before the warbands arrived.  Agaborax' band was moving up well but his allies were having to shift position to avoid the skirmishing around the hill and so were falling a little behind.

The cavalry clash seesawed for a bit until the Greek melée cavalry joined the fray and drove off the Gallic medium horse leaving only some desultory skirmishing between the light cavalry but no further threat to the Greek flank.

But even as the threat of a flanking sweep by his cavalry faded, Agaborax was leading his men up the slope and crashing into the Greek hoplites.  Although his allies did not attack with him, and although the Greek's had an uphill advantage and their General put himself at the front of the line to encourage his men, the ferocity of the Gauls and Agaborax's heroic example in the front ranks pushed the Greeks back and inflicted stress on them.

If the Gallic javelinmen had succeeded in causing stress to the Greek line before the warband charged, the Greeks would have had to take a stress test.  As it was, the Greeks fell back but the gallant Hippolikos who had been unhurt in the initial combat used another action point to good effect and rallied off the stress.  The Greeks gritted their teeth and awaited the next assault.

 

 

Both warbands raced in together and hit the Greek line.  In this situation, each of the Gallic groups are fighting a melée but the Greek phalanx, being a single group, fights as one.  The outcome of both melées is determined before the result is applied.  Being attached to the larger warband, Agaborax could (and did) use an action point to help this group but could not influence the other, while Hippolikos's action point influenced the whole of his line.  In the first round of the melée, the allied warband was thrown back, stressed both by the unshaken Greek line and by harrassing javelins at its flank (one of the very few times in the game that skirmish troops had any effect).  Agaborax' band was made of sterner stuff (and had better dice rolls) and caused the Greek line to recoil.  One more push and it might break or be driven off the table!

 Agaborax and Hippolikos again had both survived despite having hurled themselves into the heart of the affray.  Agaborax decided to use his last action point to throw his band forward again in a follow on attack against the Greeks, despite the loss of support from his allies.  The Gallic horde swept forwards again, but again the Greeks stood firm with a drawn result.

We agreed to conclude the game there.  When we examined the state of the opposing armies, it looked like one more push from the Gauls might have done it.  The Greek phalanx was down to only 3 ardour points and Hippolikos had used up all his action points in leading combat and rallying his men.  Agaborax had also used up all his points and his men had burned through a lot of ardour in their attacks, but they had started with more to begin with and had 5 left, which would have been enough to get them through a couple more rounds of melée, only one of which they would need to win.

Other observations were that the skirmishers had been almost useless and the rules governing their movement, along with those for cavalry, had ambiguities that need ironing out. Also, the game did not give rise to any test of Generals giving commands to groups other than those to which they were attached, so those rules remain untested.  So, more things to iron out and think about when setting up the next trial.