The Battle of Tanagra 457 BC : First Peloponnesian War

The Battle of Tanagra was fought in 457 BC between Sparta and Athens during the First Peloponnesian War. There isn’t a lot of information on the battle but from the various sources the following is a very brief summary.

When the Phocians made war on the cities of Doris the traditional homeland of Doric Greeks—Sparta sent a relief force under the command of Nicomedes with an army of 1,500 Spartan hoplites and 10,000 of their allies.

Athens, already contemptuous of Spartan treatment and now suspecting her of negotiating with factions within Athens to undermine their democracy, manoeuvred to cut off the Spartan army isolated in Boeotia.

Meeting the Spartans on the plains outside Tanagra in 457 BC Athens under the command of Myronides fielded most of her land army, supported by troops from Argos and by contingents from their other allies, making up altogether a force of 14,000 men. Although both sides sustained "great losses," the Spartans were victorious.

A great opportunity to get (nearly) all my greeks on the battlefield 😀

The initial setup, Athenians and Spartans would have taken the far right end of their respective lines, the place of honour, with less deserving allies towards the left. The Homoioi are the true spartan citizens. The Spartans true to history have very limited light troops although their alllies the Boeotians have some light cavalry. The Athenians are supported on the right by some Thessalian cavalry but in the historical battle they swopped sides so we created a special rule whereby a failed nerve test would see them change sides.

A closer look at the Athenian citizen Hoplites 

The spartan perioikoi looking to impress their commander Nicomedes

The two battlelines start to break up slightly as they advance

The Athenians have a small contingent of Athenian archers

As the battlelines close the skirmishers trade slingshot and arrows but apart from getting in the way they have little effect

The Spartans beat their shields and adavance to the sound of twin flutes

The Argive Hoplites tremble and wish they hadn’t allied with the Athenians !

The Athenians can’t wait to get to grips with the Boeotians but can’t get the skirmishers out the way to charge

The first big clash as the Spartan crash into the Argive phalanx

At the other end of the battlefield the lines have been broken

The skirmishers continue to jostle in the centre

A huge melee in the centre (the white dice marking casualties show that each phalanx is gradually being worn down and will enventually break) the battle will turn on who can hold the longest

After several turns of to and fro the Athenians get the advantage and are able to start to turn the spartan flank

The last Boeotian phalanx is also close to breaking

The Athenians can sense victory but are already very tired

Flipping history on it heads the Thessalian cavalry never fails a nerve test and holds true to their Athenian allies

The remaining Spartans unbroken gather around their commander before withdrawing from the field in good order

The final shot of the battlefield the exhausted Athenians have won, but don’t have the energy to chase down the Spartans

Well we tricked history with this one, the Spartans can always find more allies and they can march home claiming a draw but we know different.

A very fun battle, true greek battles can feel a little static as the push of hoplite on hoplite turns the fortune of each city state but this was fun. For those with a need to know such details the battlefield is 6x4, we played with Kings of War with some house modifications and some specific house stats for certain units. This is nearly all of my Hoplites, and there is only one in the lead pile awaiting production. I do need some more greek light cavalry though 😀