Last week we played Abbasid Arabs vs. Byzantines. The rules used were Sword & Spear. For more information about these rules see
link
I was playing Abbasids, with 11 units – 2 arab lancers (one D3 armoured, the other D4), 2 Ghilman, 2 Spearmen, 2 Horse archers, 2 light foot archers, 1 medium foot.
My opponent was playing Byzantines, with 10 units – 2 Cavalry (D3 Armoured, Impact, Mixed bow), 1 Kataphractoi, 3 Skoutatoi (Spearmen with mixed bow), 1 Flankers (horse archer cavalry), 2 light foot, 1 light horse.
The Byzantine commander had to put down quite a bit of terrain, and he didn't want much so he chose a road as one of his choices. He also ended up with a hill in the middle of his deployment area, and there were a couple of pieces of rough terrain.
I outscouted him, so he deployed first, with the centre of his main line of troops on the hill, and skirmishers to the right. I certainly wasn't going to go up the hill against him, and the Kataphractoi were a big concern, so I deployed in two groups – spearmen and medium foot and one unit of lancers (the average ones) on the right, everything else on the left, with my skirmishers facing the Byzantine skirmishers on the far left. I was still very concerned about how I could avoid fighting the Kataphractoi, as being heavily armoured there wasn't much hope in me shooting them to much effect.
The position at deployment. Note that in all of the photos of the whole battlefield, the Arabs are on the right and the Byzantines are on the left.
Given that there was a road I thought I may as well use the bonus movement, so one of my units of Ghilmen charged off down the road at full speed, aiming to put pressure on the left and force the Byzantines to react.
My infantry and Arab lancers on the right. Seeing these photos, and how shiny they look has reminded me that when the weather gets a bit warmer I need to give all of these figures a spray with anti-shine matt varnish.
I wasn't able to do anything else in the first turn other than pushing my Ghilmen forward, as I didn't have many action dice due to my scouting efforts. The Byzantines pressed forward with mosts units, but pulled back the light horse who were threatened by the rapid advance of my Ghilmen.
End of turn 1. You can see the Action Dice that have been turned to show a 1, indicating that the unit has been activated that turn and cannot be activated again unitil the next turn. At the end of the turn all of the Action Dice are picked up and put back into the bag.
Turn two starts with an exchange of missile fire by the light foot, with the Byzantines coming off worse.
My forward unit of Ghilmen then manoeuvres sideways to threaten the light foot. The light foot have already activated this turn, so are now in trouble. Light foot need to be very wary of nearby cavalry, and should aim to activate later in the turn, to give them the chance of getting out of trouble.
The Byzantines in the centre head towards my left to react to the threat of the Ghilmen. My rightmost Ghilmen unit manoeuvres to the left to distance itself from the Byzantine advance.
My right wing pushes forwards, although it doesn't look like the foot are going to feature heavily in this battle.
End of turn 2:
In turn 3, the Byzantine javelinmen on the far left charge my light foot archers, who both manage to evade.
My Ghilmen ride down the Byzantine archers in front (who were too close to evade unless they had an Action dice showing a 6, which would give them the bonus movement required). My other Ghilman keep their distance from the advancing Byzantine lancers, whilst exchanging shots with the flanker cavalry.
The Byzantine centre continues to advance, but their spearmen mantain their position on the hill. This allows me to bring my rightmost unit of Arab lancers across the front of my foot (at the very top of the photo) to threaten the advancing Byzantines in the centre.
End of turn 3:
In turn 4, thing go very badly for the Byzantines.
In the centre the Byzantine lancers and Arab lancers charge each other (in hindsight this was a mistake on the part of the Byzantines, who would have been better off shooting the Arabs, who had activated first). This was a completely even combat, and with both sides being lancers, could be very bloody. Unfortunately for the Byzantines, it was very bloody for them, with their cavalry routing in the combat. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Byzantine general was killed in the rout, and the Arab lancers' pursuit took them into a perfect position to charge the flank of the Byzantine Kataphractoi next turn.
On the left the Arab horse archers charge the light foot javelinmen, who fail to evade. They are in rough terrain so my light horse do not get impetus in the combat, but it is a flank charge and this is enough of an advantage to mean I win the combat and inflict the one hit required (as they have aready suffered a hit from shooting) to wipe them out.
My Ghilmen shoot the Byzantine light horse, who break and rout.
At the end of turn 4, it is looking pretty hopeless for the Byzantines.
Byzantine cavalry try to close with Arab Ghilmen.
In turn 5, the Arab lancers get good Action dice and charge the flank of the Kataphractoi. Heavily Armoured troops are tough though, and they survive the flank charge. They are then charged frontally by the other Arab lancers, who came from the far right of the Abbasid line. Again the Kataphractoi survive, but barely.
End of turn 5:
In turn 6, the Byzantines are struggling with command and control due to their losses, which means they have fewer action dice in the bag than the Arabs. They manage to roll an action dice which will allow the Kataphractoi to fight with Impetus against the unit to their front, but it is not enough to win the combat and they break. The Byantine army has not quite broken (Armies break at 50% losses) but it will mean an army morale test at the end of the turn. However, the Byzantine commander decides that there is no hope of turning the battle, so declares it a victory for the Abbasids.
gets medieval.
