To celebrate my recent purchase of ARMATI 2 and return to the familiar folds of this well-fortified and world-wide camp, I thought it might prove engaging and entertaining to attempt a refight of the Second Battle of Mantinea.
At the acknowledged risk of being taken to task by academics, I relied solely upon the map, order of battle, and summary explanation found on page 65 of WARFARE IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD. At the accepted risk of being verbally tarred and feathered by miniature enthusiasts, I fielded two-dimensional cardboard armies designed on my computer [1].
In very little time, I had a functional and fairly colorful battlefield set up on my six by four-foot tabletop. Granted, I would never win any awards for the look on my table, but that was not my purpose. I wanted to get reacquainted with ARMATI. I was also interested in testing a scenario-specific rule concerning the depth and impetus of the Theban phalanx commanded by Epaminondas.
Late on the morning of 15 February, I sat back and admired my "work." The steep ridge lines which served as bookends for the Allied hoplites were quite evident, as were the woods behind the Allied position. The majority of the tabletop was unremarkable. I decided not to represent the road that ran along the Theban right and then through the Athenian hoplite formations. I also decided against including the small river or stream (it is not named in the referenced diagram) as this terrain feature evidently did not have any impact on the historical engagement. I do wonder about this though, as it appears that the massive Theban phalanx crossed this "obstacle" on its way into the Allied right and the stream does intersect the line formed by the 7,000-strong contingent of Mantinean hoplites.
With regard to initial deployments, I tried to replicate Phase 3 of the aforementioned diagram on my table. Standing with the Spartan king (behind the Spartan contingent of course), from left to right, the Allied line consisted of: 6 units of Athenians, 2 units of Achaeans, 2 units of Elians, 3 units of Spartans, and 7 units of Mantineans. (A scale of 1 unit represents 1,000 hoplites was established for this project.) The flanks of the Allied position were screened/guarded by cavalry and light troops. (These units were based on a scale of 1 unit equals approximately 500 men.) On the far left flank, there was a unit of peltasts, a unit of light cavalry, and a unit of heavy cavalry. The right flank hosted the same units of horse but replaced the peltasts with a unit of skirmishing slingers.
In terms of control ratings and break points, I decided to give the Allies 5 heavy divisions and 4 light divisions. As to break points, I did not count any of the cavalry or light troops as key units. The Mantinean contingent was allotted a break point of 3 key units. The Spartans were given a break point of 2 key units. The Athenians and other contingents were granted a break point of 4 key units.
On the other side of the flat field of Mantinea, the Thebans were also assigned 4 light divisions. To better reflect and represent the echelon approach of the heavy infantry, the Thebans and their allies were awarded 8 heavy divisions. In contrast to the Allied army, the Theban and Thessalian heavy cavalry in the employ of Epaminondas were classed as key units. In further contrast, I decided to treat the Thebans and their allies as a single army and not an alliance of various city states. Epaminondas would be defeated with the loss of 10 key units (any combination of hoplites and heavy cavalry).
The atypically deep Theban phalanx was deployed approximately 42 centimeters from the Mantinean hoplites. Five units of hoplites were arranged in depth, followed by five more units directly behind. Epaminondas was attached to the center unit in the first line. To the left of this impressive formation there was a four-unit formation of skirmishers and peltasts. Further to the left was a unit of light cavalry. About 6 centimeters behind the light infantry and slingers/javelinmen, there was a two-unit line of heavy horse. A similar deployment was found on the far right flank of the battle line. The main difference here was that the Argive contingent of hoplites were not deployed in depth. These 5,000 heavy infantry had the greatest distance to cover before reaching the enemy line. Proceeding right to left – up the staircase as it were – the Locrians were next in line. These hoplites marched along with the contingents from Euboea and Malis. Sicyonese hoplites were to the left of this group, with 2,000 Thessalian hoplites completing the line before the massive formation of Boeotian hoplites.
According to page E of ARMATI 2, all Greek armies have an initiative rating of 4. Given that Epaminondas was on the offensive, I increased the Theban initiative rating to 5 and left the Mantinean/Spartan/Athenian alliance at 4.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE REFIGHT
The light troops and cavalry of both sides were quickly engaged and due to their superior numbers (and better dice), the formations under Epaminondas were able to rout their counterparts. However, a unit of pesky enemy slingers was able to inflict some damage on the left-most unit of the large Theban phalanx. On the right flank of the offensive, two units of Thessalian cavalry found themselves trapped between opposing lines of hoplites. (This was a bit of a departure from the historical "script." The Athenian contingent and other allied units stepped off and began marching forward to meet the enemy.) An attempt was made against the advancing Athenian heavy infantry. It did not go well. Soon, it was just hoplite versus hoplite. Here too, things did not go very well for the forces under the overall command of Epaminondas. It was not a pushover for the Athenians, to be sure. Many casualties were suffered by both sides and many units were soon exhausted by the ferocity of the combat.
On reaching the Mantineans, the Theban phalanx did not "crash" into and through it so much as floundered against an unexpectedly stubborn defense. Five deep phalanx units, supported by another five deep units, bumped into four units of Mantinean hoplites. It took three melee rolls before a unit of Mantineans broke and ran. The other units stood firm against the pressure. (Sidebar: Under ARMATI, heavy infantry phalanx units are not given impetus. For this refight, I granted the deep units of Thebans impetus and gave them a +1 bonus for the extra depth on the first turn of melee. The stationary units of Mantineans did not deny the impetus, but would not be routed if they lost the melee. Instead, the Mantinean hoplite units would lose 3 BPs. [Typically, a heavy infantry unit has 4 BPs.] On subsequent turns of melee, the Thebans could only benefit from extra depth and so, would add 1 to their melee roll.)
While the Thebans continued to struggle with the Mantineans, the units following on the right flank of the massive formation reached the Allied line. Thessalians battled more Mantineans and the Sicyonese hoplites were roughly handled by the Spartans. In broad terms, the fighting extended from one end of the field to the other. Winning the initiative did not really help Epaminondas, as the Argives and other contingents were beginning to fail on the right. Much to his chagrin, the phalanx picked upon by enemy slingers broke in melee against the line of enemy hoplites. Fortunately, the unit directly behind was not carried along in the rout. The Mantinean hoplites finally did give way under the grinding pressure of the Theban formation. The Spartans, even though they had lost one-third of their force, were continuing to beat up on the Sicyonese.
According to the terms established before the first move was made, the loss of another unit of Sicyonese hoplites was the tipping point for the Theban army. Its morale was broken and even though the Matineans were no more, Epaminondas did not have any friends left on his right flank. An argument could be made for a draw, seeing as both armies had destroyed the right flank of their enemy. However, the break point totals could not be ignored. The loss of the Mantineans had been significant but it had not broken the Spartans or the other allied contingents. The destruction of the Theban right and the resistance to the impressive phalanx resulted in a defeat for Epaminondas.
ASSESSMENT
My makeshift model of Mantinea served its dual purpose. I was able to get reacquainted with ARMATI and I was able to test a scenario-specific rule amendment regarding the significant depth of the Theban phalanx. I confess that I was a little rusty at first, but as soon as a few turns were played, I was moving at a fairly rapid pace through the turn sequence and melee areas. The scenario-specific rule amendment functioned well enough, I suppose. The dice prevented the Thebans from completely smashing the Mantinean defenders. There is of course, always room for improvement. Perhaps I should have granted the Thebans a plus 2 modifier on the first round of melee? Then again, I cannot imagine that I will be replaying Mantinea anytime soon.
On reflection, I was definitely engaged by the project. I was not as entertained, unfortunately. Hoplite versus hoplite combat with ARMATI tends to be drawn out and repetitive. (I would hazard a guess that this is the case with many rule sets.) While finding the right mix of rule variations still eludes me and determining the best size of counters remains a work in progress (it was noted that my current hoplite stands became very crowded with casualty and fatigue markers during the game), I am looking forward to conducting more inexpensive experiments (both historical and fictional) with the ultimate goal of finding that right rule mix and perfect counter size.
Notes
[1] I see that boxes of plastic 28mm hoplites are available from Warlord Games. Some assembly is required, but 42 figures can be obtained for 32 dollars. At a scale of 1:48 (each figure representing a block of heavy infantry 8 across by 6 deep, thereby allowing a 12-deep phalanx of 960 men to be represented by 20 figures arranged in 2 lines of 10), the interested ancients wargamer would need roughly 960 figures to represent the 46,000 hoplites present at the historical battle. This would require an investment of around 730 dollars. This figure does not include cost of paints, brushes, and basing material. Further, the figure does not include the cost of light infantry, cavalry, and skirmishers. Fifteen-millimeter hoplites can be obtained from Tin Solider. These are sold in 8-figure packs. It would cost just over 400 dollars to collect the 960 hoplite figures required to field both armies at Second Mantinea. Again, this estimate does not include the cost of paints, basing material, or additional non-hoplite figures. Baccus offers 96 figures in its Ancients packs. Only 10 packs of hoplites need to be purchased to stage Mantinea in 6mm scale. The financial investment would be around 83 dollars. However, if one wanted to take advantage of the "mass appeal" of these tiny but excellent figures, the scale could be adjusted to 1:24 and so, result in an outlay of about 170 dollars for just the hoplite component of the armies engaged at Mantinea.
For sake of comparison, my cardboard counters were made for about 13 dollars.
ponders nirvana.