Playing Phil Sabin's Phalanx

It's not a secret that Phil Sabin is one of my favourite game designers. The evolution of my 15mm Ancients figure collection, for example, has been directed primarily by a desire to play Lost Battles. But sometimes it is good to try something different from the norm, and I decided to have a go at one of Phil's earlier designs, Phalanx, published in the Society of Ancients's Journal, Slingshot.

My original plan had been to combine Phalanx with the combat system from another of Phil's games, Legion II, but after setting up thought it was probably best to play Phalanx as-is first: if I'm going to muddle something, it's just as well to have a baseline to allow comparisons.

The first thing you notice is that Phalanx has quite a good selection of scenarios. I hummed and harrred a little, then settled on Heraclea. Pyrrhus would be perfect for my purposes. 

For the terrain I am using the Memoir '44 battle board, and for figures I rummaged through the collection. It looks a little cramped, but is not entirely displeasing to the eye (and certainly better than my attempt at making an offset squares mat a few weeks ago!). 

In Phalanx the armies deploy from a camp on their baseline, with the Romans moving first in this scenario.

Rome has six units of heavy infantry, two units of light infantry, two units of heavy cavalry and a leader (Publius Valerius Laevinus). Pyrrhus has himself as leader, five units of heavy infantry, two of light infantry, two of heavy cavalry, and an elephant unit.

Once an army has had four or more of its units routed (the general's unit counts as two) at the end of its turn it loses - unless it has fewer units routed than its opponent.  

The battlefield is an elongated hex (marked on my board by terrain pieces to indicate the boundary) and the only terrain in play is a river. Both armies deploy out of their camp, so it takes a little time for the armies to close. 

The battlefield from the Roman side after two turns. 

Movement is one hex per turn for most units, but cavalry get to move two. Light infantry and elephants can move two at certain times. There are rules around facing, when units change facing, and whether units can attack after performing a particular move. This all combines to give different units different limitations and give each troop type its own characteristics. 

Of course, it takes a little time to assimilate all these characteristics, and while I did not realise it at the time, there were several weaknesses in the Pyrrhic deployment

Pyrrhus's deployment is not ideal, but he hasn't realised that yet.

Enjoy the view while you may, horsemen!

As with most Phil Sabin games, the nuances of the combat system come out in modifiers. Phalanx is deceptively simple - three units versus an infantry or elephant unit will kill it, while two units versus cavalry will kill it. But there are exceptions: some circumstances add an extra attack unit equivalent; some disregard one. Again, it all takes time and experience to assimilate.

The lines clash - Rome is about to launch attacks.

In two more turns it is all over. Rome kills off a unit of cavalry on their left, exposing Pyrrhus. The Epirote army kills a Roman light infantry in its turn; Rome then has the numbers to kill the elephant and Pyrrhus's unit, taking them to four units lost. The Pyrrhus-less Epirotes can only pull back one on their own turn, so Rome wins 4 units to 2, which counts as a sweeping victory. 

Rome has cracked the Pyrrhic centre left, has superiority on the Pyrrhic right, and has killed Pyrrhus. Game over!

Phalanx is an interesting game. I played this solo, and it was very much a learning experience. The combat system is largley deterministic, which makes it difficult to solo satisfactorily, in much the same way that chess is difficult to solo satisfactorily. 

Next step will be to try it with the Legion combat system ported on. 

Society of Ancients Battle Day

Yesterday the Society of Ancients held their battle day. This year it was Adrianople; last year it was Bosworth. 

I have nothing against those battles of course, but as I do not have figures for them those battle days have passed without much comment or fanfare from yours truly. 

Battle day for 2023 will soon be announced. Apparently, the person who will do the presentation for it next year is Duncan Head, of (amongst other things) Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars fame. 

There is a flutter in my Macedonian and Punic Wars breast....

I am hoping that it will be Magnesia. 

Elephants, scythed chariots, Antiochus the Great, phalangites, cataphracts; legions, a camp, Eumenes of Pergamum and - da-dum-dum-dum - Scipio's younger brother?

EDIT - as it turns out, the battle will be 2nd Mantinea, which is an excellent choice, especially as I have a swag of more Xyston Greeks to paint. This might be just what I need to get started on them!

 

Slingshot 336

The other day I received the May/June issue of Slingshot, the journal of the Society of Ancients. I joined the Society in about 2007, if I recall correctly, and am glad to say that Slingshot is still in excellent health. 

It has survived the challenges of online culture, the rise (and fall, if recent pronouncements are to be believed!) of blogging, various changings of the guard, the odd ruction amongst the membership, and the sad toll that time inevitably takes on everyone, no matter how unpainted the lead mountain remains.

The current editor, Justin Swanton, has done a wonderful job of bringing a genuinely professional look to the graphics, layout, and typesetting. Justin is a published author himself, having written a historical novel and a book on ancient battle formations, and has a day job within the print industry, so he knows what he is about. 

Funnily enough, I actually disagree with a lot of Justin's ideas on such things as battle formations (I haven't read his book, but do follow conversations on these sorts of topics on the Society forum), and that is part of the charm of a society such as the SoA. People can have different views but still get along. All credit to Justin though: the quality of Slingshot under his stewardship has been extremely high, and he is indefatigable in promoting interest in ancient warfare. As an example, he also runs, and produces the content for, a youtube channel here.

Anyway, to return to topic, the thing I like most about Slingshot is that it is put together from the writings of the membership. That means you get a whole range of themes, interests, topics, and a wide variety of articles. Inevitably, some of these will appeal and some of these won't, but the idiosyncracies of Slingshot are the idiosyncracies of the membership, not those of an editor in a capricious publishing landscape desperately trying to hold on to dwindling market share.

The low level grumbling that occasionally attends the efforts of the wargame glossies is undercut in Slingshot. It is written by members for members: if you don't like the content, write something yourself! 

I guess what I really want to say with this post is that - despite its current professional appearance - Slingshot still holds true to its original amateur, collective ideals. Now into its 336th edition, long may that continue!

Paraitakene 317 BC

This year's Society of Ancients battle day (traditionally held on the first weekend of April) took Paraitakene as its subject. The battle day, organised by the tireless Richard Lockwood, is about getting as many Society members as possible together at one venue (though gathering elsewhere is also encouraged if getting to the venue is impossible) to discuss the battle and play it out on the table using different rules sets. It's a good occasion and a great example of what the Society is all about.

As I'm in Japan I wasn't able to get to the venue, but I did get a Paraitakane of my own in on Monday. As time was short, I used the tried-and-true Lost Battles rules, though I would also have liked to have experimented with To the Strongest, Scutarii or a modified Dux Bellorum.

Anyway, here's a quick report.

The armies deploy, both strengthening their right wings.

Eumenes' centre and refused left.

Eumenes has more elephants and the edge in heavy infantry quality thanks to the veteran Silver Shields, but Antigonus has the advantage in cavalry.

Antigonus' centre: phalangites and peltasts.

Eumenes' refused left.

Antigonus' right: a formidable strike force of veteran cavalry. 

The brave light cavalry on Antigonus' left.

The entire battlefield: Eumenes to the left; Antigonus to the right.

During the second turn, in order to achieve a decisive advantage on the right flank, Eumenes redeploys the light cavalry from his left to the right. This weakens his left even further, but he feels it is a risk worth taking to expedite the defeat of Antigonus' left and the rolling up of the enemy centre.

Antigonus advances all along the line, but pulls back the cavalry on his left to delay the first onset, reinforcing that wing with more heavy cavalry taken from his centre left.

The two centres meet.

The field.

The fight would be a true revolving door battle: a race to break the enemy's right and expose the centre.

The two centres commence the struggle, with both sides having some success in the central zone, but with Antigonus making no progress on the left.

Both strong wings bully their weaker opponents, with some thrilling exchanges as 'Favour of the Gods' changes hands, either averting catastrophe or pushing again for a breakthrough.

The centres locked in combat.

Antigonus presses forward inexorably on his right.

Seizing the moment, Eumenes and his companions lead the charge against the cavalry on Antigonus' left. He breaks two units, but the third holds on and, in a last-ditch charge of its own, cuts deeply into the Eumenid horse, leaving three of Eumenes' four cavalry units shaken.

This piece of heroism may decide the battle.

Heroic resistance and attack on Antigonus' left.

In the centre the struggle continues. Light infantry are shattered, but the Eumenid morale holds. On the right, Antigonus presses on with his attack against the refused flank. He shatters one unit of elephants, and they take the cavalry with them in rout. Only one unit of elephants stands between Antigonus and the flank of Eumenes' phalanx.

Antigonus' right rumbles forward.

Attrition in the centre. It is very close.

Eumenes attacks on the right again, and this time a unit shatters. Again though the army morale holds firm. Eumenes, when it is his turn to test morale, is not so lucky: he uses 'Favour of the Gods' to fend off a charge, but it succeeds anyway, and Antigonus not only breaks through on his own right, but does so also in his centre, where Eumenes' phalanx crumbles against a succession of concerted attacks, leaving only the Silver Shields still standing in place.

Attack one.

Attack two.

Attack three

Attack four.

And with that, Eumenes' army is in tatters.

The Silver Shields however are still there, and with Antigonid morale also fragile, there is still a chance that another successful attack or two could turn the tables.

The remnants of Eumenes' centre.

Having no choice but to risk all on a last few throws of the dice, Eumenes brings the cavalry up behind the Antigonid centre while at the same time attacking frontally with the remaining infantry. If they can shatter another unit or two here, having the cavalry to their rear could just about cause the Antigonid centre to panic and flee.

A phalanx sandwich. But will it be enough?

The Silver Shields pile in, but can make no headway. The attacks fail, and with that goes Eumenes' last best chance to pull the battle back.


The next two turns see Antigonus administer the coup de grace. It is not a nerveless victory though - 'Favour of the Gods' just manages to avert what could have been a disastrous end for Antigonus' stretched left centre.

Last rites.

Fittingly, the mighty A himself leads the battle-winning charge, and victory is complete: Eumenes' army is utterly destroyed.

****

Going on points, the victory was terrifically one-sided (110 points vs 48), but the battle was far closer than the result suggests. As it turned out, that heroic defensive effort by Antigonus' left shifted things in his favour just enough to ensure that Eumenes was always a step behind where he needed to be, and although Eumenes was only ever one or two significant attacks away from parity during the middle stages of the battle, those attacks never quite eventuated, due to a combination of effective use of 'Favour of the Gods' by Antigonus, failed attacks at crucial times, and Antigonid morale holding far better than the Eumenid when tests were required.

So a most enjoyable game, and there was plenty of excitement in it for the solo wargamer even though the final result was so decisive.

Next year's battle will be Telamon, and I hope to be able to fight that one out too.

So how did Caesar win that again??

A few shots of preparation for our Pharsalus Battle Day game on Sunday. At this stage I'm just lining up the troops and seeing how things look, but even with this it's hard to see how Pompey's 7000 cavalry and 2000 or so light infantry got so badly beaten up by 1000 cav and 2000-3000 legionaries!

Soc. of Ancients Battle Day preparation

This year the Society of Ancients' Battle Day subject is Pharsalus. As I have the figures for it, we're going to do our own battle day at my place on the same weekend that the Society is holding theirs.

We have six participants confirmed so far. I'd like to get one more so that I can act as umpire rather than player. As is usual with our games, there is a mix of people: a die-hard miniatures gamer from way back, a board wargamer who will play miniatures occasionally, two chaps who enjoy a game now and then, a new bloke into computer games, and myself.

The day is actually approaching quite swiftly, so I need to get things into gear.

The first step is to paint up a few bases of Donnington German cavalry and supporting infantry to augment the all-important available cavalry ring-ins pool. I could do with some generic eastern (i.e., from Asia Minor) horse, but I really don't know what such cavalry should look like at this time. I have stacks of Achaemenid Persians to paint and plenty of Greek cavalry from the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, but none of them have shields. In fact, now that I think about it, somewhere I have a pack of wild Scythians from old Glory that might be useful. Hmmm. Anyway, moving along...

The second step is to find the right rules. I have a few options here, but may even go back to using my own 'January Project' rules if I am able to umpire.

The third step is to assign the players to the most appropriate command roles. If I do it right, I think we could just about have people who don't know the battle playing the Pompeians and those who do the Caesarians. I'll prepare a little brief for each player outlining their character, their troops, and their role in the battle. If there is time and opportunity I might also include some personal goals which can be used to determine the most successful commander on the day so that even a player on the losing team could win man of the match.

Lots to think about, and a bit of painting still to do!

"Simple Campaigning" by John Graham-Leigh

Just a quick plug for a new product. John Graham-Leigh, Society of Ancients stalwart and accomplished wargamer, has just had a booklet of his simple solo/multiplayer campaigns released by the SoA. I've seen the PDF draft and intend to pick up the booklet.

It looks like it will be a good addition to the library. More info on the SoA blog here (which I also wrote, just to be clear, transparent, above board and so on!).

Lovely article in Slingshot 301

The most recent edition of the Society of Ancients'  journal Slingshot arrived in my letterbox this morning, so over lunch I had a quick browse, reading the first article, by current President Roy Boss, entitled "An Amazing 50 Years".

Well, what a cracking read it is. With this year being the 50th anniversary of the Society's founding, Roy talks a little bit about how Slingshot and the SoA have changed (perhaps moulded is a better word!) the landscape of ancients figure gaming.

As a latecomer to the scene (I only became a proper researching,collecting, painting and playing wargamer ten years ago), I have always taken the easy availability of figures, rules and information for granted, so to have Roy put the current abundance into perspective so well made me realise how much is owed to the founders of the hobby, and reminds one again why groups like the SoA who maintain a link with the early days of the hobby are worth supporting.

Thanks Roy, and thanks to all of those people, recognised and unrecognised, who have played their parts in the evolution of this wonderful little hobby of ours.

SoA Slingshot Journal Giveaway.

The Society of Ancients has a giveaway on, with five copies of the latest issue of Slingshot (292) up for grabs.  You need to send in your entry by Saturday, so if you are interested you should get in quick!

Details on how to enter (just an email and answer to a simple question) are on the SoA blog, here.

Society of Ancients Slingshot sale

The Society of Ancients has a sale on its pre-2011 back issue Slingshots on at the moment.  You can get a year's supply for the cost of one magazine + shipping.

 

You can find more info about Operation Balearic here.  John Graham-Leigh has done a great summary of the article highlights for each year, and you can find this at the link just given. 

 

There's some good stuff, and this is probably the last chance to get these issues.

 

 

 

 

The Society of Ancients on facebook

I've recently taken on a role with the Society of Ancients as their publicity manager.  The plan is that I will work in various ways to get more online exposure for the Society and its journal, Slingshot. Ideally, this will help to bring in new members and ensure that the Society remains in rude health for many years to come.

As part of this I've set up a Society facebook page which will be used to run competitions and post the odd bit of hobby or Society-related news. If you're on facebook and are interested in things ancient and medieval, please feel free to like the page, drop in there from time to time, and comment as you would like.

There should be some interesting things coming up!