Russ came over this evening for a FOG bash before unleashing the rules on the guys on Thursday. We seem to be getting to grips with the rules as we got a result within a couple of hours.
Russ brought his Classical Indians so I took on the standard Alexandrian Macedonian army. Unusually Alexander lost the initiative and Russ set out the terrain with the aim of having a nice open area. With my slow moving pike and spears I was looking for a busy battlefield with lots of chunky terrain. I was the luckier of the two.
I had to set up first and had my pike nestle between two vineyards. Russ countered with his elephants leading the charge with his archers bringing up the rear in an experimental set up.
His chariots came down his right flank and cavalry down the left. My Companion cavalry countered his chariots and I also loaded up my Thessalian heavy cavalry on my left as well leaving the light horse to take on his cavalry on the right).
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| View from Russ' side of the table. |
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| My massed cavalry have the chariots in their sights. So Russ did a 90 degree turn and took them out of harms way. |
The Macedonian skirmishers rush forward to take on the elephants. Note Russ's right wing moving to counter my cavalry (otherwise his flanks are exposed.
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| The chariots move towards the main battle with the Macedonian cavalry turning in pursuit on the other side of the vineyard. |
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| And there they are! The chariots soon execute a 180 degree turn to face the right way as the foot move in support. |
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| The elephants scare off the Macedonian skirmishers. The pike, hoplites and hypaspists all try to charge at the same time but two 1's mean that two BG's fail to make the distance! Ah crap! |
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| Luckily the elephants' charge is blunted and comes in piecemeal and the massed spears manage to inflict cohesion tests on the elephants. Russ angles his archers on his right to get them in a position to shoot at my hoplites on my right. |
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| The problem with Average elephants. A failed death roll sees one BG break, and the archers behind failed their cohesion test. The surviving elephant breaks through the Disrupted archers and they go Fragmented. Then the pursuing hoplites manage to contact them and they go Broken. Two BG's lost in as many minutes. |
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| On the other side its looking better for Russ. The Hypaspists are fighting elephants and swordsmen and lose an epic melee 6 hits to 5! They drop a level despite Alexander fighting right next to them. |
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| But the elephants are losing numbers fast. Another unlucky death roll from Russ sees another Elephant BG break - and causes a chain-reaction of cohesion tests all down the line. This is where FOG gets brutal. Lost cohesion soon results in desperate situations. |
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| More and more Indian BG's go broken - and the elephants make it worse by bursting through already Disrupted BG's (dropping to Fragnmented) - which are then contacted by charging pike and spears making them go Broken. The battle is won at this point. Russ has lost all three elephant BG's and two lots of Archers are broken. The rest is a mere formality as the Indian centre is crushed. To add insult to injury, Alexander bolsters the Hypaspists after they somehow won a melee against Elephants and Swordsmen while being Disrupted and a base down. Russ' dice let him down badly here. |
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| The overhead view - the elephant shaped holes are easy to see. One lot of Indian archers has already lost 2 bases and is running for the hills. Another is broken and about to be charged by steady Pike. The Indian swords are now disrupted and facing steady Hypaspists with Alexander alongside them. |
Elsewhere, the chariots and light spear had managed to hold up the Macedonian heavy cavalry but it was only a matter of time before they could clear the roadblock. On the other flank the Macedonian light horse were just holding on (and drew a couple of melees) while the Macedonian slingers were popping in hits in support.
Regardless though, the battle was already won.
We discussed tactics afterwards. We both agreed that the chariots were the stars of the show and worth investing in more in the future. The elephants power was affected by going in piecemeal. Perhaps if the archers had led the line it may have been different but the consensus was that the Macedonians are a tough prospect. Plenty of mobility with 3 lots of cavalry and a lot of central punching power with the pike. Not easy to fight against and - this time - the Indians proved this to be the case.
Thanks to Russ for coming over and being such a good sport. And its been great to get some more FOG in!
