I Feel The Pain

Back to War and Conquest last night and once again a run out for the Seleucids, this time they were up against Legio XII under the command of Simon, we went for 2,200 points this time but it proved a mistake, more later.

I managed an average Seleucid force with three phalanxes, Thureophoroi, Thorakitai, javelins, slings and Cretan archers plus the elephant, no cavalry at all this time, I couldn't spare the points to be honest. Simon sent his list to me so that I didn't have to lug too many boxes, it surprised me as it consisted of four cohorts, some skirmishers and two bolt shooters, and only seven horse archers no versatility there, my hopes rose as I realised my flanks were more than likely going to be pretty safe.

We used a little format I have for choosing terrain and I put one wood down to upset the line of sight of the Scorpions and Simon helped by putting another down, I could keep Nellie out of the way until I needed her. I put a phalanx with support on my right with the intention of tackling the cohort opposite while my Thorakitai would take out the bolt shooter on the hill, my lacklustre slingers would shield and help where they could. I also planned to attack in the centre with the remaining two phalanxes which left the elephant and  Thureophoroi to tackle the last cohort which I hoped to hit in the flank. Simon had chosen three raw cohorts but with the Centurion upgrade and a Tribune leading each their morale was going to be tough to break.

 

I set out to destroy the enemy skirmishers and had fair success at this if not overwhelming, my Javelins beat the slingers and my archers took down the horse archers, they also started shooting at the bolt shooter to their front and made it move. I now had to withdraw my skirmishers while the two phalanxes went into the attack. On the right I destroyed the bolt shooter on the hill and got ready to hit the cohort engaged with my phalanx in the flank, I had to run my skirmishers up against Simon's here otherwise they might have shot down the Thorakitai to the point where they would have had to test and may have run. On the left the elephant crashed into the cohort to its front while the Thureophoroi got ready to charge in support.

The whole line was now in combat and I was on the receiving end of the legionaries, at first I was winning three of the four combats, but then Cohors I turned the tables and started to knock one of the phalanxes back, the melees were taking a long while as the struggle ebbed too and fro, the Roman command, despite losing a couple of Centurions, kept their men at the front. As we approached the witching hour Simon was prepared to give me the game, at that point I was winning two fights while on the right I was just about to flank that cohort which should have put an end to their struggle, but unless you actually fight who knows. One of my phalanxes in the centre was being beaten and I think it would eventually have gone.

What with chatting and setting up we lost about an hour before we started and this, along with the extra points almost ensured we would not finish the game as it is now obvious that my Romans do not simply break and they have to be cut down to almost the last man. My dice luck wasn't bad but it wasn't brilliant either, Simon's seemed to pick up in the latter half of the game but he still had his moments, several times in combat we both failed to inflict casualties or only one. Simon's four cohorts held out a lot longer than I had thought, however there was not a lot of time to properly destroy the flanks before sending in my centre which is what I would have preferred.

I got the elephant rules wrong, again, I only struck the enemy with three strikes when it should have been five, I better buck up as the Postie has just brought my second elephant. I also have to take care and avoid the long pikes, I hit them several times leaning across the table. Bolt Action next week against Julian's Italians or DAK, not sure which, but it will be nice to command the British for a change.