"How did ancient armies deploy?" Topic

Hail Caesar is my first ancients rules set. I've been slowly amassing figures for both sides, and just recently hit a point where deployment is starting to matter. Until now I've had nearly identical forces on each side, so it really was a matter of just lining them up and charging, but now the variety of light and heavy infantry, skirmishers, ranged and cavalry are making those initial deployment decisions more critical.

Hail Caesar has very little to say about deployment. How do other rules handle it, and how did actual ancient generals handle it? I was thinking that both sides should draw up their deployments "blind" before deploying, but wasn't sure if one or the other side could then respond by shifting cavalry or light troops.

My suggestion is to look up maps of ancient battles, gives you an idea how troops were set up. There are often some maps on Wikipedia articles. You can also check Osprey campaign books that highlight certain battles and go deeper into the how and why an army would deploy in the way they did.

The main theme is to deploy the infantry in the center line and put cavalry on the flanks where they would maneuver. Armies also liked to anchor one flank on a river, hill or impassable feature to prevent the enemy from flanking them and concentrate the fight on one flank. Skirmishers would deploy to guard avenues of approach and guard the flanks as well.

Some armies would put elephants in front of their line, ideal for softening up the enemy, but if things went wrong and the panicked animals tried to make a break for it through your own lines …

The Greeks, Macedonians, Persians, Romans etc tended to have their own specific deployment. The most succesful generals were able to make the right variations on the theme and win battles without going into experimental mode and diminishing the strengths and advantages an army would have.

There is a great deal of speculation on how ancient armies actually deployed and fought or why they deployed in a particular fashion. Most descriptions of deployment are really vague. The general descriptions given above by Patrick R are as good as any.

There are a large number of deployments shown in the scenarios for GMT games Command and Colors Ancients wargame. The scenario books are a free download on their site.

link

Hoplite armies probably deployed file by file from the right leading to a fequent overlap on the right of the line in each army. The finest troops held the position of honour on the right of the line and often enjoyed an overlap.

Later in the period there is evidence of this overlap being played for, and of the left being refused (hence the clever army's strong right engages sooner … the battle is decided before the enemy's strong right gets engaged) …

Infantry was generally deployed on the flat and in the open … if an army deployed in a strong position, the enemy might well decline to engage and the army which had taken up the strong position would have to come down onto the level ground.

Cavalry and light troops could be deployed more fuidly around the main battleline formed by the phalanx.

IMO, rather than blind, a plausible Hoplite Period battle should deploy, possibly alternately, from the right, with light troops and cavalry being added after all the heavy infantry are deployed.

By the period of the Second Punic War, the position of the army's camp seems to be more critical in creating an axis of deployment … Hannibal being willing to reposition the camp in order to create a new axis before battle (or make battle more or less likely) – so, certainly by the Republican period, the first ploy is the positioning of the camp …

One could write an entire book, however, on the various possibilities of what happened at Illipa where some potentially very sophisticated stragtagems seem to have enabled Scipio a considerable degree of redeployment to the flanks. Or perhaps not.

The process of offering battle might in some circumstances take several days, and armies would not willingly engage at a disadvantage. How much of this you want to incorporate into a figure game is problematic, of course …

Big topic …

Phil

Ancient German and Gallic armies deployed by tribe and then cavalry, chariots etc deployed to the Lanka. It is likely that tribes mustered and 'drilled' and knew their frontages. The overall commander would ride the front placing the tribal leaders by precedence and then their men would rom on them. Because it he men fought in groupsand the right people had to be in the front rank with the correct supporters behind them they would have to adopt this or a Similar system. Ariovistus German , multi tribal army emerges from its camp and forms up reasonably quickly…if they had taken an age thenCaesar would have set upon them. He does this several times so someone must have agreed the order of leaving the camp and the deployment points.

Huns and other horse archer armies form up by clan. They appear to have had defined frontages and varied depth of the units by the number of ranks needed to use up all the men

You did not indicate WHICH two armies you are building…

Most armies planned their deployment the night beofre or had standard deployments as to who went where
They would then march out in column and turn left or right to form a line of battle
Generals would then sometimes keep reserves to plug holes or exploit gaps etc
Not many generals had the organisation or their troops the training to deploy in reaction to the enemies deployment in the way some wargames rules allow.
I think your idea of blind written deployments a good one

I wonder what it feels like to the the guy at the very end of the line.

I wonder what it feels like to the the guy at the very end of the line.

Depends!!! If being "last man" meant you arrived too late to fight in the DISASTER your warlord, or general, or king, or emperor, had just walked your comrades into, you might feel pretty lucky if that meant you also had the best chance to get away --- to live to see another dawn!!!

as a friend of mine remarked about the citizen hoplite requirement to serve in the different ranks according to which year it was.

year 1 is my front line year ' stop pushing back there'

year 8 I am at the back 'two steps forward you slackers'

TT, interesting as to how they would form the whole line in column in the camp? Forming people up takes a lot of space.

As to adjusting formations before combat it does seem to happen. There is time to change who faces up to whom as at Plataea for example. There are certainly Roman examples.
It would seem that if you were far enough away you could change things without having the enemy rush forward.

It would seem that if you were far enough away you could change things without having the enemy rush forward.

Agricola seems to have had PLENTY of time to:

1) Draw up a battle plan --- as the Celts massed on the slopes of Bennachie;

2) Address his men as they marched past him in units out the gate at Durno -- if they left the camp by more than one gate, then perhaps the senior Legate did his best to inspire those stalwarts who missed being inspired by "the Chief" himself on their way? In this, Agricola would follow Alexander, who rode along the line at Issus, calling out individually to men he recognized, and otherwise shouting encouragement to each unit, generally trying to inspire the men "overall" by reminding them of their past glories. Doing this would make a lot more sense than assuming he could gather them 'round and "speak" to 20,000 men at once, w/out aid of them sitting in a theater designed for such acoustics (or the aid of a modern electronic public address system!!!);

3) March his army across the Urie (Ury) stream;

4) Deploy into battle line;

5) Defeat the Caledonian Host;

6) Pursue until darkness fell…

OK, let me rephrase: I wonder what it feels like to be the guy at the end of the flank.

DEPENDS!!! As in, you're wishing you were wearing some, as this is a high risk spot for undies.

Better than the second guy at the end of the flank wondering where the first guy went….

in my Medival renactment days at one battle there where 1000 or so on my side basicly 3 ranks 300 wide. that battle I was there in support of a friend in his unitand on the front rank.

I looked left and saw 150 men and looked right and saw 150 men and thougth "I am stupid".

Lord Ghee