Tests of 'Alala!'

 'Alala!' is a set of wargame rules written by Simon MacDowell and published by the Society of Ancients "designed to recreate the ethos of ancient Greek warfare when hoplite phalanxes clashed in battle and the gods intervened in the affairs of mortals. Their principal application is for battles between the Greek city states during the Peloponnesian and Boeotian wars of the 5th – 4th centuries BC, but can also be used for the Persian Wars or later Macedonian conquest of Greece."  I bought a copy of the rules at Salute in April.  Over the last few days I have run two test games to help learn the ropes and assess whether they will be good for use for land battles in a planned campaign based on the Lamian War of 323 - 322 BC.

In this post I will outline how the rules work, give a brief account of the two test battles and share initial thoughts.  Two quick games - using identical forces and very similar deployment - are not sufficient basis for an in depth review but they have whetted our appetite to explore further.  The rules have a distinctive flavour to them and seem to capture the nature of hoplite phalanx warfare more closely than other rules we have tried so far.  

The Rules

The rule book is concise, well laid out and well illustrated with photographs and some diagrams.  After an introduction covering the design philosophy, the first couple of chapters set out how to organise armies and what other equipment is needed to play the game - lots of dice, quite a few markers and the pack of cards and quick reference sheet that come with the rules.  There are 36 cards in the pack, 9 of which are blank for you to add extra chance events to give flavour to the game if you wish.  You can also download free copies of the QRS and cards from the Society of Ancients website if you want more.

The first couple of chapters deal with organising armies, which is very simple as units of hoplites are the core.  Other units add colour but are very much secondary actors.  Each hoplite unit represents about 1,000 men.  These can operate independently but are best grouped together in what the rules call phalanxes - two or more units under the command of a general.  As long as units in the phalanx keep in close formation they can move together and benefit from the effects that the generals can have in raising aggression levels through using command points to encourage their men, which translates into combat bonuses.

Generals can have between 2 and 5 command points to use each turn.  There is a fairly short menu of what can be done with these points but it is well thought out and presents the player with significant choices.  You can spend points to draw cards from the pack first - cards that will usually give a benefit of varying use, but some are unhelpful or simply useless.  You can only do this before you give the signal for a phalanx to advance.  But, if you spend points drawing cards, your opponent may be using their points to raise his men's aggression and advance before you are ready, catching your men at a disadvantage.

Cards drawn from the 'god' pack can be good - as in this case

...or not so good.  The 'S' marker on the Allied Hoplite record bar shows that it has been reduced from 'Formed Up' status, the lowest level of aggression allowing offensive action, to 'Shaken'.  The attached commander - whose marker shows he has III command points - will need to spend a couple of these in the next turn to raise aggression from shaken to formed up

Taking care over initial deployment is crucial as hoplite units have very little ability to manoeuvre without picking up disorder, which translates into reduced combat effectiveness.  Even simply moving directly forwards can cause disorder if a 5 is rolled with any average dice used to determine move distance - representing lines becoming ragged if the unit tries to hurry.  Hoplites have to advance once the signal to advance has been given, unless the commander decides to halt them to redress lines (reduce disorder) but this can come at the cost of reducing aggression as well - so the player is again presented with a significant choice that will affect the combat ability of his men when they hit the enemy.

This massive Macedonian pike block has been signalled to advance and has opted to roll both average dice allowed for movement (using only 1 die is another option).  It rolled two 5s, so picked up 2 points of disorder which apply to the whole formation.  It could halt to redress ranks and remove disorder but will drop from 'Ready' aggression level to formed up and cede the advantage of charging to the hoplites if they choose to attack.

Skirmishers and cavalry move and shoot before the phalanxes move.  They have to take tests to see if they halt, continue with their previous action or can act as the player wishes.  Shooting tests are simply a matter of rolling a number of dice and getting a hit for each 6.  There are no saving throws.  Shooting at the front of a phalanx cuts the number of dice rolled.

When the phalanxes move, skirmishers and cavalry have to fall back before them, keeping 4" away (the range for shooting).  If a phalanx comes to 4" from an enemy phalanx it ends ordinary movement pending a charge phase.  In that phase, the side that holds initiative for the turn gets first choice as to whether or not to charge - which gives a combat advantage.  The other player cannot counter-charge but may charge any enemy units that have elected not to charge them.

Melées are then resolved by each side rolling as many dice as they can.  A full strength hoplite unit starts with 12 dice.  This is reduced by casualties, disorder or being shaken, increased by charging, high levels of aggression, support and a few other factors.  The range of modifiers to dice numbers is limited and it is always clear from troop positions and markers what to apply.  Individual die scores are never modified. A 5 or 6 on any die gets a hit for hoplites or lancers.  All other units need a 6.  If a commander is attached to a unit he gives an automatic hit but has to roll to see if he gets killed or injured in the process - a killed commander being replaced automatically by an officer with only 1 command point.  The outcome is found by comparing the hits obtained by each side.  Small or no differences give a draw, middling differences give limited gains/setbacks, large differences give victory/defeat.  Given the large number of dice being rolled, when evenly balanced forces meet combat is probably going to go on for some time.  Where one has an advantage it is more likely to win out but there is a possibility of the underdog causing an upset.  Cavalry and peltasts may attack the flanks or rear of a phalanx, other light troops can only throw missiles.

Fistfuls of dice for combat

Rules for follow up to combat are again straightforward, and that is about it.  There are no overall victory conditions, it being left to the players to end the game when a result is either obvious or unobtainable.

Originally designed for individually mounted 15 - 28mm figures, allowing casualties to be recorded by removing figures, the author provides suggestions for alternatives of multiple figures on bases.  With markers being used instead of figure removal, there is no reason why you couldn't use these rules with smaller scale figures where an entire unit is mounted on a single base if you don't have room for a large table.

How do they work out in practice?

The Test Games

Both battles use exactly the same terrain - open ground constrained on one flank by some rough ground and an impassable river, on the other by rough hills - and identical armies, one Theban, the other Macedonian.  The army choice made this not the simplest and most representative test for rules designed for hoplite on hoplite warfare.   The Thebans, unlike other hoplite armies, are allowed to deploy in depth rather than in single line (historically they were noted for doing this but we query why other hoplite armies may not do this as well?).  Macedonians can also deploy their pike units in deep formations - which gives combat advantages but increases the risk of being outflanked - and are allowed special lancer heavy cavalry that are stronger in combat and can have a commander attached to them, the only non phalanx unit that the rules allow this for.

Each side had 8 hoplite/pike units, a variety of skirmish and cavalry units and three commanders.  The Theban commander in chief was given 4 command points, his two allied generals had 3 each.  The Macedonian commander had 5 points and was assigned to the Heavy Cavalry lancer unit, his subordinates with the phalanx were a 3 and a 2.  Two of the hoplite/pike units on each side were rated as 'B' class ("well trained, experienced citizen hoplites and good professional soldiers"), the rest as "C" class ("Other citizen levies") which need 3 rather than 2 command points to raise aggression levels if they are not moving and which suffer more disorder if they attempt to manoeuvre.  If grouped in a deep formation with a 'B' grade unit they take the 'B' grading though.  The Macedonian Lancer unit is the only non-hoplite unit that can have a training and experience level and aggression setting.  This was designated as "A" class (battle hardened professional).

Our first game started with some very lopsided dice rolls for setting up. The rules suggest drawing cards or rolling dice to decide which player is to place a unit, starting with hoplites, and the Theban player found himself having to set out all his units before the Macedonians had placed any more than two of their own...

In a Leuctra like deployment, the Thebans massed in a 3 deep unit on their left, allies in single line across centre and right, skirmishers and cavalry on both flanks.

Macedonians set up and wait for the Thebans to come to them

The Macedonians responded by deploying their pikes in two large, deep blocks.  One overlapped the end of the Theban mass, the other faced the allies and would be overlapped at both ends by them.  Oddly, the lancers were placed between the two phalanx blocks where it found it could do little.  The Macedonians opted to hold back their men while their officers worked to raise their aggression.  It was the Thebans who quickly started to roll forwards, their commanders encouraging their men as they advanced.  The allied phalanx did not have enough points to keep control, so the individual units had to roll for movement and failed to keep in line.  Both sides had unusual results from control tests for their skirmishers and cavalry, many units failing to move to begin with, leaving the Theban hoplites to march forward by themselves.

The Macedonians make their move

Judging their moment well (having won the initiative roll at the start of the third turn) both Macedonian phalanx blocks advanced to charge range so as to seize the charge advantage. 

The outcome of the ensuing clash between the Thebans and Macedonians was shown in the 'Fistfuls of Dice' picture above.  The Macedonians got a 'Success', the Thebans falling back slightly and dropping an aggression level while the Macedonians went up a level.  The pike units in combat with the Thebans had support from the other pikes alongside them while the Thebans had a supporting unit on their right.   In the initial clash between the other pike block and the Theban allies, the Macedonians got a success in one combat but drew the other.  With three commanders with plenty of command points attached to their hoplites, as opposed to only 2 commanders with limited points for the Macedonians, the Greeks were able to redress the loss of aggression due to the Macedonian successes before the next round of combat and keep under control.

Attritional combat between Macedonians and the Thebans.

The second round of combat between the Thebans and Macedonians gave a draw.  Theban casualties were sufficient to remove a base at the back - but this does not affect combat dice rolls, an advantage that deep units have.  The Macedonians have only 3 casualties.  The supporting Macedonian unit on the right has stayed put rather than trying to turn into the Theban flank as it does not want to offer its own flank to some Heavy Cavalry that are out of the picture.  This combat is probably going to last a long time as both sides are rolling about the same number of dice and it will take unusually good rolls on one side with poor rolls on the other to give a decisive outcome.

and attritional combat between Macedonians and allies

After two rounds of combat between the allies and the other Macedonians, casualties are mounting on both sides but the allies are the first to have to remove a base. Because they are in single unit formation, not deep formation, their casualties are already starting to reduce their combat rolls, but this combat, too, could go on for quite a while.

Hoplites are not easy to manoeuvre

The allies do have an unengaged unit that is trying to turn and engage the Macedonians in the flank but it is going to take another couple of turns of wheeling to be able to attack and it has already picked up 4 disorder points - the maximum - as it is a 'C' class unit.

We stopped the first game at that point - due to time pressure.  We liked the movement and combat mechanics but felt that some adjustment to commander's ability to use command points after engagement had been joined should be considered.  We also thought that a change was needed for the effectiveness of a deep pike formation against hoplites.  For the next game we decided to have house rules that commanders could not use any points when the unit to which they are attached is in combat and to give pikes +4 rather than +2 for the first added unit in a deep formation, provided that they were not being attacked in flank or rear.

With those changes, a second battle was fought a few days later.

Deployment for the second battle (Macedonians on the right)

Setting up rolls were much more evenly balanced.  The hoplites and pikes ended up in much the same positions but the Macedonians had all their cavalry and most of their light troops on their left flank while the Thebans had a more even distribution of support troops, giving them advantage against the Macedonian right but facing heavy odds on the left.

Helpful divine intervention for the Macedonians

The Macedonian commander used his large allocation of command points to draw 'god' cards and did so to good effect.  He decided not to sit around encouraging his men but to launch an immediate advance.

An immediate advance from the Macedonians

Opposite the Theban mass, the Macedonian commander did not have the points to control his phalanx leading to one unit racing ahead and picking up disorder from rolling a 5.  Theban light troops and cavalry started to to close in, scenting opportunity to do damage.

Advancing at the double

The other Macedonian phalanx kept together but rolled a double 5 so had double disorder!

Cavalry get stuck in - the Thebans could have evaded

A cavalry clash developed on the Macedonian left, with their heavy cavalry charging home on Theban light cavalry.

Macedonian phalanx going in without support against the Theban mass, which has support to its right.

The Macedonians had been able call on Zeus to inflict some disorder on the Thebans, their commander in chief having not yet ordered his lancers to advance and so being able to draw cards.

Despite Zeus' intervention, the Macedonians suffered a set back in the melée, dropped an aggression level and decided to use another card to reduce casualties.

All by itself

The other part of the Macedonian right wing phalanx, out of command range, was required by a control test to continue moving.  The Theban light troops had to fall back in front of it, but were managing to inflict casualties from slingshot and javelins while their heavy cavalry was clear to start moving around the flank.

Macedonian pressure mounts on the left flank

The Macedonian commander finally led his lancers out to the left to follow up on the heavy cavalry that had destroyed one Theban light cavalry unit and drawn in the remaining Theban cavalry reserve.  The end unit of allied hoplites has wheeled to protect the flank against an expected break through by the Macedonian cavalry, at the cost of some disorder.

The Macedonian left hand phalanx hit the allied hoplite line as the Thebans continued their fight against the right hand phalanx.

The Macedonians had an immediate success against the allies, forcing one unit to retire, shaken.

Behind you!

As the Macedonian lancers had now swept away the remaining Theban cavalry and advanced around the allied right, the allies were in trouble.  They did an about face with two hoplite units to prevent a charge by the lancers against their rear, but this came at the cost of more disorder and presenting their backs to Macedonian peltasts.

Happily for the Greeks, the Thebans won a stunning victory in their melée against the right hand phalanx, which broke in rout.  The Thebans elected to pursue, but failed to move as far as the routing Macedonians so could not get a free hack at them and ended their move in 'unformed' state.

Again, with time pressures facing us, we opted to end the game then with honours even.  If the Macedonians had waited a turn to build aggression before advancing, they might have done a lot better.  Our house rule on deep phalanxes seemed to us to have tipped things a bit far towards them. 

Reflections from the test battles

The second battle confirmed the impression from the first that the mechanics for control, movement and combat work very well, their apparent simplicity giving both a good flavour of historical realism in movement and manoeuvre and crucial choices for the player to make about the conduct of battle.  The fistfuls of dice are fun to roll without giving wildly improbable results.

We realised after the second game that we had not rolled a single test for a commander being killed in combat.  The requirement for this is in the rules and on the front of the QRS, but there is not a reminder to do it on the otherwise comprehensive turn flow chart on the back of the QRS - which was the side we kept turned up for reference.  Our fault, but a thought to keep in mind for any future revision of the QRS.

I have learned that the author has proposed a revision to use of command points to limit commanders to acting only on the unit they are attached to while in combat rather than on all units in their phalanx.  This seems better than our blanket ban once in combat.  

Having a level 5 commander in charge of a lancer unit turns out to be a machine for generating lots of 'god' cards, something to avoid in future games.  We will also see how reducing the number of commanders and command points allowed changes the dynamics.

Clearly the rules are designed for hoplite on hoplite battles, not the greater complexity of Macedonian combined arms combat.  The author does give helpful suggestions about how to address these issues and encourages players to develop their own ways to manage further permutations of Roman, Carthaginian, Celtic and Persian troops and combat styles.  The basic framework of the rules seems quite robust for building on - we thought our modification of combat bonuses for a deep pike phalanx was good but the Macedonians then had too great an advantage if they get a charge in first.  Next time we will restrict Macedonians to walking into combat instead of charging, which we think is consistent with the operation of their phalanx and reduces the huge advantage they will have over a single hoplite line.  We will also allow hoplites other than the Thebans to form deep units.  It is clear from Chaeronea, Granicus, Issus and other battles that hoplites were not a simple push over for the Macedonian phalanx, so it seems fair to give Greek players more tactical options when faced with the pikes.

So, the impression so far is that 'Alala!' is an enjoyable quick play set of rules with good period flavour and good scope for further development if that is your fancy.