Hoplite Warfare with a difference

In his account of the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC, Herodotus gives a break down of the contingents of hoplites provided by each city state and then addresses the number of light troops : "The light-armed from the rest of Lacedaemon and Hellas were as one to every hoplite, and their number was thirty-four thousand and five hundred", however "there were in the Spartan array seven for each hoplite, that is, thirty-five thousand, and every one of these was equipped for war."  That is, each Spartiate - full Spartan citizen, of whom there were 5,000 in the army  went into battle with seven lightly armed retainers behind them.  This deployment is reminiscent of earlier poetry that exhorts lightly armed men to shoot missiles at the enemy while standing or kneeling alongside the hoplite.  It is not how we usually organise light troops or hoplite formations on the table-top battlefield. 

We don't hear of the Spartans fighting like this at a later date but, whether as a matter of necessity to beef up their numbers against a far larger Persian army, or as a last appearance of an older style of warfare, at Plataea the Spartan troops did fight in this non-classical way.  Not only that, they were facing Persian infantry who fought in comparable style - a front line of spearmen equipped with the spara, a large wicker shield, protecting and backed up by a mass of archers.  How does one game out such a style of fighting?

Games recently played using Simon MacDowall's 'Alala!' rules have prompted me to think how they might be adapted to handle a clash of Spartans and Persians in the Plataean manner.

A Persian line, sparabara to the front, archers - and other figures standing in for archers - behind.  Persian formations of the time are depicted as 10 men deep.   Having 4 ranks is probably over-representation.  'Alala!' would treat a 4 rank formation as a 'deep' formation.

An opposing front line of Spartan hoplites with light troops behind them - three rows of these probably being an over-representation of the seven per hoplite but they are less densely based than the Persians

In 'Alala!', units of hoplites are made up of 24 figures in two ranks.  Commanders use control points to keep them in good order, raise their aggression levels, then launch them at the enemy when the time seems right.  They risk getting disordered if they move too quickly, giving commanders a difficult choice between halting to remove disorder at a cost in loss of aggression, or carrying on regardless and hoping disorder doesn't affect performance too badly.

Light troops and archers are treated very differently.  They form much smaller units, move around a lot more easily and are not covered by the aggression level and disorder effects to which hoplites are subject.  

The rules do contain suggestions for handling Persian spear & bow armed close order infantry.  These are that they should be treated as hoplites with the following exceptions:

 a) they may shoot with 1 D6 per 4 men (rounding up);

 b) they may not charge but may advance into combat if they did not shoot that turn;

 c) their highest aggression level is 'Ready' (which gives +2 dice in combat, against +4 for hoplites that are 'Eager'); and

 d) they may be supported on the flanks but not from the rear.

How well might these rules work if applied to the hybrid Spartan phalanx as well, and how would combat then go between the two formations?  

I assume that for the Persians, the front rank Sparabara should not shoot.  They provide the protective screen for the archers behind.  If the Sparabara formation is only 2 ranks deep, they will get only 3 D6 shooting effect from the second rank.  The same would apply for the Spartans.  The hoplites in the front rank don't have missile weapons, only the troops behind.  If one applies the normal rule for light troops targeting the front of a hoplite unit - to deduct 2 dice from their allowance - each unit would get only 1 D6 for missile fire.  As they hit only on a 6, that is not really significant.

The requirement that they cannot charge but may advance into combat if they did not shoot that turn is understandable for the Sparabara - charging while carrying a large wicker shield presents challenges - but still presents them with difficulties as to when missile fire might be used at all.  As for the Spartans, it goes against the evidence that they did charge, after the Tegean contingent had led the way.  Furthermore, the missile range in 'Alala!' is 4", which is the same as the charge distance.  Any Spartan unit that has advanced to charge range in its move is not going to want to stand still and let the enemy shoot at it but rather to get to grips.  Having already moved, under this rule it cannot shoot.  It will simply advance into contact in the charge phase.  

Once in contact, the rules are silent as to whether the bows or javelins in the rear ranks can still be employed.  I assume not, but it is not clear how the lightly armed bowmen and Spartan light troops are counted, if at all, in hand to hand combat while standing behind the front rank spears.

Putting a unit of Spartans and one of Persians together to help think through the mechanics - crunchy on the front lines, soft in the middle.

The limitation on aggression level may make sense to balance out the presumed fire-power of a sparabara unit, but doesn't seem to accord with any evidence of lack of aggression on the part of the Persians at Plataea - or for the Spartans.

So, the position my thinking has reached is that the rules as they are need quite a bit of tinkering with to produce an interesting game between these two hybrid formations.  Some early play testing of ideas have not indicated that a good way forward has been found.  So, this becomes yet another project to play around with as the spirit takes me!

Looking at it from behind the Spartan line but not seeing a way forward yet.