Thursday, February 16, 2017

Diadochi Campaign: Battle of Bithynia

Greek allies Antipater & Lysimacus were besieging Bithynia.  An army of the Asian alliance attacked to try & relieve the siege.
Antipater (me): 3 divisions: Phalanx, warbands & cavalry.
Lysymacus (Mike): 3 divisions: Phalanx, mixed infantry, cavalry.
v.
Eumenes (SteveJ & PeterC standing in for Greg in Canberra): 3 divisions: 2 infantry (mix of phalanx & medium bowmen, 1 cavalry (medium & horse archers).
Antigonus (Mark standing in for PeterW in Canberra): 3 divisions: 1 infantry (mix of phalanx & light), 1 heavy cav, 1 Seleucid horse archers.
The Greek allies are on this side of the table, Antipater on the left, Lysimmacus on the right.
Eumenes faces Lysimmacus, Antigonus & the Seleucid horse archers faces Antipater. 
Both sides advanced pretty much as fast as their command dice allowed.  The Asians were particularly unlucky with their cavalry - on this flank their horse archers held back & on the far flank their medium cavalry held back.  
Antipater's warbands charged recklessly ahead leaving his phalanx and cavalry way behind.  They dodges a bullet when Antigonis' cavalry fauiled to charge home on their exposed left flank.
On the far flank Lysimacus had some good luck when most of the enemy horse archers failed to evade & were ridden down. 
On the left Antipater used the phalanx to narrow the front of the cavalry fight to limit Eumenes' advantage in numbers, then threw good dice to gain the upper hand in the cavalry fight, breaking the heavy cavalry.
In the centre the warbands lost one fight, but broke a phalanx & the rest of their line stalemated with both sides shaken.
Right of centre Lysimacus' & Eumenes' phalanxes are battling it out.
On the far flank there is a confused cavalry fight going on.
It took a while for Antipater's phalanx to get at Antigonus' phalanx, but with them already weakened by the warbands it was soon verging on breaking.
On the far flank there's a great deal of mutual destruction but no decisive result.
The end came suddenly.  On the far flank all three divisions of both sides were on the verge of breaking, but it was Eumenes' cavalry and his infantry on his right that broke first - forcing an army break test so the remaining division also broke.  Lysimacus was left with three divisions on the verge of breaking, but safe with no enemies able to finish them off.
On the near flank, Antigonus' infantry is scattered, outflanked & 1 loss off breaking, while his heavy cavalry has broken & the horse archers are being driven back towards the table edge.
Eumenes retired his infantry & horse archer division before they could be broken.

It was a hard fought victory for the Greeks that could very easily have gone the other way but they got lucky at the critical points.

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