Alala! gets pikey

 After his resounding victory last week Gareth asked for more Greeks this week.  I decided to ring the changes by fielding a mix of Macedonians and Greeks in a 'What if?' scenario.  What if the Lamian War had not gone as it did and instead of Leonatus coming to a sticky end against the Greek alliance he won his battle against them and then attempted to execute his plan of taking out Antipater and making himself ruler of Macedon?

This gave the justification for lining up two armies each containing Macedonians along with sundry Greek allies.  On one side, Leonatus, backed up by Craterus, brought four blocks of Macedonian phalanx supported by four units of Greek allied hoplites and a variety of light troops and given extra striking power by a couple of units of Macedonian lancers.  Opposing them, Antipater had only two blocks of Macedonian phalanx but had allied contigents from Boeotia and Sparta.  The latter had two A class hoplite units to counter-balance Leonatus' advantage in cavalry.  Antipater had only two cavalry units, one light, one melee, but significantly more light infantry. Leonatus took command of the Macedonian cavalry and had three subordinate commanders while Antipater had only two subordinates and would command his own Macedonian phalanx.  The numbers of phalangites and hoplites on each side was equal.

To set up, rather than use the screen from the last battle, or the card drawing system given in the rules, I tried out having each side mark down on a plan where each unit would be and then set up in accordance with the plans.

The battle lines drawn up - both weighted heavily to the left, as in the previous battle but with all of Antipater's force pushed as far forwards as allowed while Leonatus (me) had angled his Macedonians back and left his Greek allies as far back as possible (three of the four being C class units) and putting his trust in his powerful cavalry arm out on his right, supported by light troops.

Gareth, who had drawn Antipater, rolled a 3 for his command points, only a 2 for the Boeotian commander and a 4 for the Spartan leader.  He detached one of the Spartan allied units to add to the Boeotian command, but placed this to the rear of the two deep formations of Boeotians.  Leonatus rolled a 3 for his command points, as did Craterus and the other Macedonian phalanx commander but the Greek ally commander rolled a 5, some compensation for the generally poor quality of his troops.

Starting deployment, Antipater to the left, Leonatus to the right.  The best Macedonian troops are in the foreground, flanked by skirmishers in the woodland.  In the far distance, Leonatus' cavalry outflank the enemy line.

The position after 2 turns.  Leonatus' phalangites have not moved as their commanders work on raising their aggression level.  After one turn of encouragement, Antipater has decided to attack, signaling the advance and then failing to control his men as he used his remaining control points to again raise aggression, letting each unit advance individually.

On the other wing, Antipater's light infantry had not moved forwards quickly.  He sent his only cavalry unit forward to try to slow down Leonatus' cavalry while turning the Spartan allies on the end of his line to give some protection to his flank against the expected loss in the cavalry melee, accepting the disorder that this manoeuvre entailed.

Leonatus' leading cavalry regiment had suffered some disorder through advancing too quickly and only drew its melee.  However, it killed at extra point, reducing Antipater's cavalry by a full base, due to the presence of Leonatus, and on a draw the two units ride through each other.

Getting the initiative on turn 3, Leonatus ordered the advance for both divisions of the Macedonian phalanx - indicated by the casualty markers moving behind the units.

Movement on turn 3 brought the divisions on the end of each line into charge range.  Leonatus' men had higher aggression levels but were threatened with enemy light troops on the flank, their own peltasts having fared badly in the initial exchanges.

The first infantry clash ended with a draw on the nearest fight but a set back to Antipater's men in the second.

In the cavalry fight, the remnants of Antipater's horse met the second line of Macedonian lancers, who had also become disordered...

...but the result this time was disaster for Antipater's men, who departed without troubling their second adversaries

Seeing the Spartan line breaking up, one end moving off surrounded by enemy cavalry and light troops, the other end wheeling to attack the end of Craterus' phalanx, Leonatus' Greek allies decided it was time to advance against the remaining unit facing them.  If they got the initiative on the next turn, they should be able to stop the unit wheeling against the flank of Craterus' phalanx.

Unfortunately Leonatus did not win the initiative on the next turn.  Even more unfortunately, in the melee against his outflanked phalanx unit, after the initial rolls had given Antipater's men a 9:5 advantage Antipater was able to play his one 'The gods decide' card - which had been gifted to him early in the proceedings by Leonatus - forcing Leonatus to reroll one of his successful hits.  The reroll failed, leaving Leonatus with only 4 hits to Antipater's 9, making it a defeat rather than just a set-back!  The only consolation was that Leonatus' defeated unit managed to outrun its pursuers so was not immediately routed.

Even worse, the Greek hoplites, taking on the Spartans with the advantage of an uphill position and support on both sides were also defeated!

At the other end of the line, Craterus' phalanx drew its fight and Craterus himself had a scare when he rolled a 1.  Fortunately his follow up roll was a 6 so he just took a light wound and lost a command point.

Having given Craterus a reprieve, fortune continued to smile on him as his other unit defeated its opponent which routed, Antipater himself being swept back in the rout out of contact with his men.

That is where Gareth and I had to call an end to play on the night, with me conceding that my chances of recovering from the blows I had been dealt were somewhat slim.  However, the troops were left out on the table and in the morning I returned to the field to see what another turn or two might bring.

Leonatus won the initiative for the next turn (honest!).

My cavalry were not able to move against the enemy rear as Antipater had managed to wheel his reserve hoplites and bring up light troops to support it.  However, the isolated Spartan ally hoplites at the top of the picture could do nothing to protect themselves from the swarm of light cavalry and skirmishers now in their rear.

In the centre, I had a chance to repay the Spartans for charging the flank of my Macedonians by charging them in the flank while his victorious Thebans would not be able to manoeuvre to help their friends in their fight, at least for a couple of turns.

And maybe Craterus could win his fight against the last of Antipater's phalanx units?

My light troops did not disappoint, savaging the helpless Spartan allies.  One more turn of such treatment should rout them.

But, the hapless unit defeated in the previous turn by the Spartans, rallied by its good General and feeling that lightning could not strike twice found that it could, losing a second fight by 1:8

The flank charge against the Spartans went in but with 15 dice against 5 could only manage 4 hits against 2 (when attacked in the flank a hoplite unit only hits on a 6 rather than a 5 or 6) so only achieved a set back against the enemy

A set back for me in the next fight - 4:8!

And Craterus could only manage to secure a set back in his fight

I decided that I would not subject myself to the indignities of another turn and packed away the figures for another day, lamenting my failures to roll the dice and draw the cards as well as their paintwork deserved.

Leonatus still lives but his hopes for a swift defeat of Antipater have been dashed.  Will he be able to regroup and renew his attempt to seize the throne of Macedon?