General Category > Battle Reports

Big battle Gaugamela

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Barritus:
A couple of weeks ago we had a three-a-side game while Lawrence G was in town for Wintercon. Given the Classical theme of the Wintercon comp we eventually settled on a refight of Gaugamela, using Luke Ueda-Sarsen’s material as the basis for the armies.

I created a 600 AP Macedonian army in four commands, while Jon created a slightly smaller Late Achaemenid Persian army in three commands. To make up for the points mis-match we changed the command rules for the Persians – all three generals rolled their own PIP dice but only Darius in the centre took the -1 on his PIP dice.

The Persians deployed first. Mazaeus on their left had a bunch of Irr Kn (I), Irr Cv (O) and (I) and LH, all fronted by a couple of scythed chariots. Darius in the centre had some Sp (O) and (I) flanked by supported Ax (O), with an elephant at one end of the line, and some Kn (F) Kinsmen and Indian LH in reserve. Bessus on the right had masses of Cv (O) (and some (S)?) and LH, again fronted by a couple of scythed chariots.

Alexander was on the left (because that was where Lawrence was), including some Reg Ax (O) and (S) in the front line, plus some LH (S) and (O) and Ps, and Alexander in reserve with the Kn (F) wedges. On the left-centre was Craterus with a command of Sp (I) and Pk (O), the Pk mostly deployed in 2-3 ranks. On the right-centre was Coenus with a command of more Pk (O) and Sp (I), along with some Irr Ax (O). Finally, out on the right was Parmenio with some Cv (O) and (I), Reg Ax (O), along with some Ps, LH and Sp.

The Macedonian line was considerably shorter than the Persian line, with most of Mazaeus’s command facing air – he was going to need a few PIPs to bring most of his troops into battle.

Our plan was simple – the infantry centre would lead the attack, supported by Alexander’s command, and Parmenio’s command would assist the attack in the centre while holding off Mazaeus’s command. Thanks to the complexity of his command structure, Alexander got the highest PIP dice, followed by Parmenio, followed by Coenus at right-centre, and Craterus at left-centre got the lowest PIP dice.

Thanks to Darius’s inertness the Macedonians moved first. Alexander attached himself to Craterus's phalanx and used his own PIPs to propel them across the table, matched by Coenus. The rest of Alexander’s command advanced more slowly, with the LH spreading out to the left. On the right Parmenio’s Cv headed for Darius’s infantry, while the infantry spread out to face the threat from Mazaeus.

In his first turn Darius was content to sit, while the flank commands advanced. Mazaeus started by bringing across his Cv (O), and aimed his scythed chariots at Parmenio’s infantry. Bessus on the other flank advanced LH towards Alexander’s, and the Cv and scythed chariots towards Craterus's Pk and Sp (I).

First contact was by the scythed chariots. Bessus’s two chariots died on Craterus's hoplites, while Mazaeus’s lasted a bit longer against Parmenio’s Ps. About the only impact of the chariots was that Parmenio’s group of Ax split into individual elements, allowing Mazaeus’s mounted troops to march closer than they would have otherwise been allowed.

But then came the contact in the centre. The Pk walked through the Persian Ax with little trouble, and also destroyed the Ele. Then, with an overlap, Coenus's Greeks began to destroy the Persians’ Greeks. After a few bounds Darius’s command was disheartened. Darius sent in an element of Kinsmen and this too was destroyed by the mighty Sp (I).

Over on our left, Alexander’s approach to Bessus’s advance was a little more nuanced, thanks to more maneuver room and more maneuverable troops. A battle between the LH of the two commands out on the flank favoured the Macedonians, and the Ax, both (S) and (O), also steadily made inroads into the Persian forces. In one bound Alexander used a brilliant stroke to double his PIPs, in order to keep on top of the maneuvering requirements. At the same time some of Bessus’s Cv engaged Craterus's hoplites. In the course of a few bounds of combat there were only a couple of losses on each side.

Meanwhile, over on the right, Parmenio was just about fending off the attacks of Mazaeus’s troops, as columns of Kn (I) and Cv (I) began to arrive. Here again the Ax proved their worth, killing a couple of elements, with their own losses not seriously affecting the command’s break point. The main problem was the inability of the Thessalian Cv to break through the Persian supported Ax, with the command losing a couple of elements.

With the climax of the battle arriving, Alexander used his second brilliant stroke to change his PIP allocations, giving Coenus the second highest PIP dice and Parmenio the third highest. This maximised the chance of the infantry breaking open Darius’s command, while still allowing Alexander to deal with Bessus’s troops. And steadily this was what happened.

The infantry began to turn outwards towards the flanks. Some of Craterus's Pk were able to hit Persian mounted elements in the flank and rear, steadily increasing their losses, and the hoplites of Coenus's command began to roll up the Persians’ Greek mercenary hoplites. Darius’s command broke, and this was enough to push Bessus’s command to disheartened. Alexander led some Kn wedges into a line of Persian Cv, with losses on both sides, but still the Macedonians’ Ax and LH accumulated losses on the Persians.

Eventually Bessus’s command broke, and this was enough to break the Persian army. Macedonian losses were moderate - no commands disheartened but Parmenio's was very close and Alexander's command had taken a bit of a hit too.

A thoroughly entertaining game played to completion in under three hours, including deployment time.

LawrenceG1:
Parmenio's mission was to stop Mazaeus command interfering with the rest of the Macedonian army, while also attacking the end of Darius'command  "and I don't care if you get broken".  A difficult task (especially after I swapped him to the low PIP dice) in which he performed well above the standard required.

The Persians made life difficult for themselves by leaving a gap between Darius' and Bessus' commands. Also I don't think the change from regular generals all with a -1 PIP to (in effect) irregular generals with only the CinC getting -1 PIP fully made up for the (60 AP-ish?) points disadvantage.

For what it's worth, I think these games are probably better done with all players dicing independently. Otherwise it can be pretty dull for the player with the low PIP dice. Since the CinC can actually give the orders for his plan to the other generals, there is no need to simulate it with a PIP assignment scheme. If we had done that I wouldn't have been able to get away with my PIP-guzzling tactics (antics, more like)  with Alexander's command.

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