Chaeronea, To the Strongest! Style

Scott's beautiful 15mm hand-painted shields

Scott hosted an inaugural To the Strongest! (TtS!) game using his finally painted 15mm ancients' armies.  On the slate for this day's battle was the 338 BCE battle of Chaeronea between the Macedonians and Greeks.  While I bought a copy of TtS! when first published, no opportunity arose to give them a try.  Until now.  Perhaps not having a ready-made grid mat at hand caused my procrastination?  Perhaps.

The long Greek battle line

When Scott scheduled the game and announced an ancients battle, I figured we would be using his fine 28mm collection.  I was surprised to see 15mm armies arrayed upon the gridded gaming mat when we walked downstairs and entered his game room.  Pleasant surprise, for sure.

Greeks pinning a yellow-shield phalanx

Being absolute newcomers to TtS!, Kevin and I would face off while Scott adjudicated and kept the game moving along.  With Kevin taking up station on the side of the table behind the Macedonians, the Greeks were left for me to command. 

The lone Greek cavalry

Greek Center under Lysicles

The battle began with the Greeks advancing all across the battle line maintaining a close cohesion.  The Macedonians had trouble coordinating their movements due to a number of inopportune aces being drawn from the deck.  In TtS!, an ace stops most activations dead in their tracks.

Greeks advance

While the Macedonians wait

Alexander's left wing cavalry came on boldly into the Greek Hoplites on the Greek right but a sudden repulse made the Macedonian cavalry much more timid.  Fortunately for the Macedonians, both Alexander and Phillip act as Greek Gods in this game each having three rerolls per turn.  Even with Greek success in disordering the Macedonian cavalry, Alexander calmly withdrew, reordered his cavalry wing and waited for the Greeks to come on again.

Greek right

Alexander's cavalry disordered and driven back

Come on again, the Greeks did too.  By now Kevin realized the power and invincibility of his cavalry arm and used a combination of first strikes, multiple activations, and rerolls to thwart any Greek thoughts of making a breakthrough on the Macedonian left.  After destroying a unit of Hoplites, Alexander turned the right flank of the Greek army and began to roll up the Greek line. 

Piles of cards signifies action on the right

With the Greek right crumbling, Greek attention shifted to their center and left.  After much bashing of spears and shields, the entire line was in chaos with pockets of opposing units in deadly clashes.  All semblance to ordered lines had vanished.  Finally, the Greeks accepted the likely outcome of battle and withdrew from the field.  A victory for the Macedonians!

Clash on the Greek left

What are my first impressions of TtS!?  Well, it is a fast-paced game with much tension, drama, and a fair bit of luck.  It was both fun and frustrating.  More fun than frustrating, by a wide margin.  The game mechanisms are quite simple and after a few turns we rarely looked at the QRS.  Movement and combat resolution were rapid with the grid and deck of cards.  Everything seemed intuitive and straightforward.  An elegant system that moves along very quickly.  Since not every unit may act in a turn, force management is important.  I could see tactics developing after having experienced a few games.  I already have a number of thoughts in mind for the next battle.  We completed two Chaeronea battles in under three hours.  That is a huge accomplishment.

TtS! is a fun and challenging game that I want to try again soon.  The game motivates me to put 28mm ancients into the painting queue and build myself a gridded mat.  I think I could defeat the Macedonians next time...