Saturday 14 December 2019

Battle for the Thymbris Plain : Blood in the Sand

Once more into the depths of history and a border conflict to the East of the known world. A time when land and expansion are on the minds of many of the ancient kingdoms rulers and tyrants. Reports have found there way back to King Nannacus II of Phrygia that his western borders have been raided by a force from Mysia. The enmity between the two kingdoms has existed for some time when the offer of marriage between the Kings sister had been rejected. Moving through the mountains this invasion is clearly intent on reaching the productive heartland of Phrygia so a sizeable force has been sent to meet the Mysians. Having manoeuvred for two days the armies have now faced off across the flat valley of the Thymbris River. There will be no subtly today both forces are intent on destroying the enemy and holding the ground for themselves.

The battlefield at dawn, although cut by the River Thymbris this will only slow any movement and is crossable it’s entire length
The Phrygian right flank a strong contingency of calm and horse archers
In their centre units of bowmen with large wicker shields two forest elephants and a single chariot
The Mysian left wing is predominantly infantry
The Phrygian line advances
....using its superiority in ranged weapons to weaken the Mysians
The Mysians are also advancing to try and get into combat
Inevitably the elephants from both sides start to push ahead
and are no close to clashing between the two armies
No one is sure if the blocks of infantry will be able to withstand the charge
Over the river Median spearmen are charging down the small incline
The chariot crashes home as well...
some time has elapsed here and the Phrygians are turning the Mysian left flank
The last elephant of the battlefield attempt to crush another unit
Mysian heavy cavalry has started to turn the Phrygian left flank and suddenly a lot of space has opened up
At this point the battle was drawing to a close the Phrygians have clearly dominated the right flank but have lost the left.
Our victory conditions were based on unit s which managed to get beyond half way, this proved to be the Mysians who when we added up had also lost slightly fewer units so a minor victory was awarded to the invading Mysians.
A trophy was duly set up on the battlefield by the Mysian General who also captured the two Royal princesses as part of the Phrygian camp. Clearly a rescue will be required and it is a long way home.
A fun game played over about 5 hours, we used slightly modified kings of war but added some complexity using bolt action dice for command, but not giving either side enough so difficult decisions needed to be made through out on where to focus effort. It worked pretty well but needed a little modification.

As I had them out I to9 a few photos 

The recently painted Phrygian/ Persian royal family
My current Persian army
A side shot of the Persians, I have plenty more to paint some skirmishers and immortals to start with
and a chance to put all my elephants in a line 😀 if nothing else it shows the size variations isn’t to bad all five were fighting in the battle.

22 comments:

  1. Nice post Matt, thinking about a new project for 2020 involving swords and sandals.....
    So you battle report is perfect timing.
    Cheers
    Stu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Stuart.......a new project to start the new year well done !

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Thanks A, nice to get lots of my figures out in the table 👍

      Delete
  3. Splendid, splendid, really look forward to instalments of Blood in the Sand, second only to the Sea lion campaign.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Phil I have been missing Sealion too so more to come 😀

      Delete
  4. Always good to see your Ancients in action. The parade at the end does you credit too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks David, sometimes just nice to get stuff out of their boxes !

      Delete
  5. Super game, Matt! I enjoy seeing your Persian army out for a parade. Fabulous looking army.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely table and armies. I have had Kings of War Historical just sitting there for too long, it deserves to be cracked open.

    As an aside, Milites Mundi came through the mailbox yesterday, it is Gripping Beast's new ruleset, based on Swordpoint but intended for mass battle of 15mm and smaller and I suppose to fit with their new 10mm range they are introducing - which I think has Persians. Anyway, Swordpoint is up for re-print and apparently some of the thinking in MM will find its way into the second edition Swordpoint rules. Everything is compatible with the existing Swordpoint army lists.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Norm interesting to know, I think the challenge as with so many periods is sooooo many rulesets. I have on my shelves, KoW, Warhammer ancient, clash of empires and hail Caesar, all are good, I also have skirmish games. None are quite perfect...

      Delete
  7. A wonderful looking game on an immersive and splendid terrain...and great showcase, love the collection of elephants and the Phrygian/ Persian royal family...Excellent post!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Impressive looking game! Well done.
    Not an era I game much but it's always good to see AARs posted!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks , I do like a good ancient battle where you can have spears, bows, elephants chariots and camels etc etc ......

      Delete
  9. Fabulous gaming, Matt! Love the beautiful figures and terrain. The elephants are particularly lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Many thanks Dean the tanks of the ancient world 👍

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great looking game, love the parade and the elephants!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete