Well, this was an entertaining little game, and close to a historical matchup.
I took a three command army, with: the C-in-C leading a group of Cv (S) and Kn (X/I) wedges, plus some Ax and Ps; one sub commanding some Bw (X/O) and an Art (O); and another sub leading some Bw (X/O) and an Art (O), plus some Cv (S).
I was the invader, in autumn.
There wasn't much terrain on the table, but it did play a bit of a part. On my right flank was a waterway. Roughly in the centre at the front of my deployment zone were a couple of small marshes. Starting on the left side of my table edge, and curving around to the right in a large arc was a road which reached the waterway near Doug's table edge. A short distance from the waterway, Doug placed a small BUA on the road. There was also a small patch of rocky flat on Doug's table edge, but it played no part in the game.
Doug had to deploy first. He placed a large force of Cv (S) on his right; a block of Bd (I) and Bw (I) in the centre, and a force of LH and Ps on his left, near the waterway. It looked remarkably small, and it was only after I finished deploying that I realised Doug had only deployed two commands. As he had baggage for three, this suggested he had a flank march (not even Doug would use an Exaggerate Numbers stratagem to simulate extra baggage!).
There were no weather effects.
I deployed the C-in-C on my left, facing Doug's Cv (S). The small infantry command went in the centre, and the remaining command on the right.
The next bit of fun for me was that deployment finished an hour before dawn. As I was the second deployer this gave me the option of attacking Doug's encamped army. I decided to do so (first time I've tried it), and as a consequence realised that Doug didn't get to use his Delay Battle stratagem.
It got better: because the battle began with visibility less than 400 paces, I got to move first (after deploying second).
I then proceeded to roll two sets of dismal PIP dice, meaning that when Dawn broke I still hadn't actually reached Doug's army. It didn't really matter. Doug's first set of PIP dice were terrible too, meaning he had few options, particularly for his LH (O) facing my Cv (S). Doug's best hopes were that his Cv (S) slightly outnumbered my C-in-C's Cv (S) and Kn, and that his Bd (I) might cause problems for my Bw. Plus, he pointed out that, as wedges, my Kn didn't have a quick kill against his Cv, which caught me by surprise (but which was entirely correct).
The first action was a bit of Egyptian archery against a Cv (S), pushing it back. I responded with artillery against a Bd (I), killing it. Doug then charged his Cv (S) into my C-in-C's mounted troops. This was a calculated risk on my part - I couldn't afford to sit around, so had to move into charge reach and let Doug make the first contact. The result was one lost Cv (S) on my part, a gap I filled with a LH (S). Doug pushed my C-in-C back, and elected to pursue.
In my next bound I charged where I could on the left, and also charged the right wing Cv into Doug's Ps and LH. On my right, the sub-general killed a Ps, giving a wingman bonus to the next Cv. The results weren't quite as good as I'd hoped, with only two dead LH, but I pursued where I could, in the expectation that the factors would eventually count in my favour. On my left my C-in-C also killed his opponent, providing wingman bonuses to each of the Kn wedges. They and the Cv between them killed a couple of Egyptian Cv (S), but I also lost the LH on my left, providing a massive opening for Doug in his next bound. In the centre the archers and artillery opened up on Doug's Bd (I), breaking up his line but not killing anything.
Doug duly took the opportunity presented to him on my left, swinging a couple of Cv around into the rear of some of my Cv, killing them. Both commands were taking a walloping. But on my right the Egyptian LH were also taking a pasting, pushing that command to the brink of collapse.
I should mention that while all this was happening Doug's flank march stubbornly refused to come on...
Finally some of Doug's Bd made contact with my Bw (X/O), but my lads were up to the task and pushed the Bd back. More archery against other Bd was successful, and this was finally enough to tip Doug's left wing command over the edge. I let the Bw go impetuous, eager to clear the broken troops from the table as quickly as I could, although now it was the Bd's turn to fight stubbornly. Meanwhile, the Cv on my right pursued eagerly, and their work was enough to shatter the command.
But over on my left, disaster! We traded a couple more losses, and this was finally enough to break my C-in-C's command. In desperation I charged the C-in-C into an Egyptian Cv (S), declaring a Brilliant Stroke as I did - the first chance I'd had to do so. If I destroyed the Cv it would break the Egyptian right wing and win the game. Alas all I achieved was a recoil...Doug's Cv then swamped my C-in-C and killed him, shattering my left wing command.
We were now in a curious position - Doug's only active troops were his C-in-C and four elements of Cv (S)! His other on-board command was shattered and nearly all off the board, while his flank march still hadn't arrived. Losing any one of those five elements would be enough to break that command and with it the army. But now with a shattered left wing, I had no troops anywhere near these five elements.
Now began the job of reorienting my army. I moved the victorious Cv of my right wing forward onto the road, detaching two elements to attack his (fortified) baggage, and sent the rest of the Cv up the road from right to left towards Doug's remaining Cv. The Bw also laboriously turned into column and expanded, heading towards the Cv.
And now Doug's flank march arrived - a heap more Cv (S). They advanced across the rear of the board until they reached the road, and the last of the routing elements of my left wing. They destroyed a couple of Ax, then turned most of their number into column and marched down the road - towards the few remaining Cv of Doug's C-in-C's command - while two elements looked eagerly at my (unfortified) baggage.
Doug's Cv overran the Art of my centre command, then turned to their flank and charged frontally into the Bw (X/O) of the same command. They all repulsed. I attacked a lone Cv with a couple of mine, but I lost the combat. Fortunately for me, however, one of my Bw (X/O) double bases managed a 6-1 in shooting against a Cv (S) element from the Egyptian C-in-C's command, achieving that long-sought-for casualty. Doug's command broke, and with it the army.
Apart from the C-in-C's command my losses were fairly light, but the C-in-C's command was the largest in my army. This meant the result was either 18-7 or 16-9 to me.
Thanks to Doug for a thoroughly entertaining game.
And yep, five elements on the table and his army was fine!
