The Ballad of Bradicles

Eeyoricles shifted his shoulders, trying to get comfortable in his cuirass but having little success. He glanced over at the Hetairoi. Normally resplendent in their panoply, he saw their cloaks were dirty and torn. Their leader was on his knees looking up to the heavens, arms wide as if praying. Fairly normal before a battle, but not like this. Not with tears running down his face.

The horses themselves were in no better condition. They seemed skittish, and their riders had difficulty controlling them. Perhaps the smell of the elephants their Carthaginian allies had brought was setting them off.

“Damn you!  I’ll personally send you to Charon!  And without the coins!,” bellowed Bradicles as he kicked TimToo as he was fleeing the altar. Eeyoricles had never seen his brother so angry before.

Bradicles paused in his tirade long enough to turn to his brother. “That damn priest told the men the sacrifice was full of worms. Now everyone thinks they’re going to die.”

Eeyoricles watched the priest flee to the baggage train and felt a sense of relief. He reflected how odd to feel so relaxed about his impending death.

This game is a 2 vs 2 with Alvaro Erize, one of the authors of the Clash of Spears rules, facing off against his own son, Marco.  Simeon Turner and I round out this clash.  I face off against Marco and his Greeks with my Phyrric force while Alvaro brings a Carthaginian force, with an elephant!, to face off against Simeon and his Romans

We used simplified deployment with each player putting down one unit at a time at an agreed distance from the centerline. Each side will take a turn and only activate one unit for each army but restricted attacks so enemy units could only be attacked once. Players on the same side of course conferred but basically we fought the opponent in front of us.

This was my first time seeing an elegy in action so I was really excited to see how they worked. Also, the Erize brothers had laid out a really beautiful table so things were looking up!

Or at least they were at the beginning.

Added a third unit of pikemen. Now I need to decide what to add next

I finished up the objective markers. The pigs are from Warlord Games farm animal set.

This last game against Brett and his Romans swung back and forth multiple times. As it was, the game ended on Turn five with Brett having slightly more models killed with three break points and myself with just two and a bit. That last attack on the Slingers was a near run thing.

Overall the army performed as I expected. The Hetairoi cavalry is a glass hammer. They’re good for one charge and then just die. The Roman cavalry has heavier armor, and javelins and is a real threat. But the Xystons my cavalry use can, if they can pull it off, give a -2 to armor saves.

The pike formations are a bit odd. Less armor than Hoplites, no shield overlap, they’re just more likely to be disrupted by skirmish units. I decided I had to be more aggressive with them and close the gap quickly enough to actually be able to use those initiative 4 weapons before they died to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

I’ve had multiple players comment that they really worry about my big unit of slingers. I don’t get a lot of hits but I do get some and the bonuses of some fatigue. The fact that in multiple games they’ve survived in melee combat just boggles my mind. They might be due an upgrade!

Or maybe they just get some bacon.

Eeyoricles watched as the pikemen struggled to keep the pigs headed toward camp as the Pezhetairoi hastened the retreat of the lone Roman officer. Meanwhile out of the corner of his visor he saw movement. He spun around and raised his shield and spear. It was a lone warrior of one of the Roman allies. He trotted forward and dispatched him with ease. He looked at his spear tip and sighed. He was going to have to spend all night cleaning and polishing it. Again.

The heavy Roman infantry slammed into the Slingers and how they did not break, Bradicles could not understand. Perhaps the gods did favor them this day. Maybe TimToo was an actual prophet. The Romans had enough. They began to withdraw.

As the pikes brought the pigs back to camp and the Pezhetairoi watched warily for more Romans, Bradicles called out to his brother.

“Bacon?”

Eeyoricles just grinned.

Eeyoricles saw the Roman light troops scramble over the wall and begin herding the pigs toward their lines while the Roman allies pelted his Pezhetairoi with javelins, scoring a few hits. He considered ordering them forward but judged the time wasn’t right. Meanwhile the dense mass of pikemen split apart clearing a path for the mounted Companions.

Bradicles watched the Companion cavalry slipping between the pike blocks while the Pezhetairoi dealt with a nuisance on the left flank. Then he watched as the cavalry reformed and moved forward, first at a slow trot, then picking up speed to a fast canter the whole while staying knee to knee in dense formation.  Then he saw the Companions lower their Xystons as one as they surged forward the last few yards in a virtual avalanche of men and horses and watched as the Romans melted away as the Xystons ran them through. He almost pitied them. Almost.

But Bradicles glee was short lived as he saw a few Romans still standing, shaken, fear stricken but standing. And then the javelins appeared from behind the building, taking the exhausted cavalry down in a hail of destruction and despair.

Eeyoricles saw the second unit of pike hug the wall of the farmhouse as they advanced and then destroyed the javelin men. This left them exposed and the Roman cavalry reappeared and peppered the exhausted pikemen on their exposed flanks. Eeyoricles ordered the Pezhetairoi forward and reformed the remaining pike to deal with this new threat. The Roman cavalry fell back leaving one of their subordinate commanders dangerously exposed.

As Eeyoricles continued to study the map, Bradicles picked up his helmet and tossed at his brother’s head. Eeyoricles was able to grab it just in time.

“You need to be properly dressed for today’s activities” intoned Bradicles in mock seriousness. “You need to put on a good show for the men”. Eeyoricles just grunted and strapped on his helmet as he thought to himself, I’ll show my brother something.

Bradicles recognized his foe. Those damnable Romans with their heavy cavalry. Well, he’d have a surprise for them today. He wondered if Eeyoricles would seek revenge on them this day.

Bradicles watched his brother lead the left flank while he watched the right. He smiled to himself as he saw the Roman right hesitate. Things were going to plan!

Added another unit of Pikemen and expanded on my archers. I can now field up to 16 pike and 12 archers. For the current campaign turn I won’t be using archers at all as the slings are more effective. I will, however, field 2 eight man pike units.

Need to decide on the next unit to paint up. It’ll probably be the third unit of pikemen but I might do another cavalry unit of traditional heavy Greek cavalry (armed with javelins) or maybe work on that elephant.