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Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Chariot Wars!

After the Rein-Bow Warriors (RBW) playtest discussed in Playtest Notes, I kept the table and units in situ for another chariot wars clash.  Rather than using RBW as the Rules of Engagement, this next battle would see Basic Impetvs (BI) on a grid in play.  In place of The Rejects’ regular Monday night Paint & Chat session, I would host a remote game for five of the group.

All but one of the Rejects have never played (or maybe even seen) a game of BI played.  Only Steve has played BI before and that has been in some of my games.  Since I had four players completely unfamiliar with the rules, I suggested the players think of this session as a Basic Training to the rules.

After a brief overview of the rules and with QRS in hand, we took to the table.  In this engagement there were three Egyptian players to two Hittite players.  As a seasoned veteran, Steve opted to take one of the Hittite commands as well as the King.  Richard took the other Hittite command.  On the Egyptian side of the table, Ray took the Pharaoh's command while Lee and Surjit took the Egyptian right and center. 

Figuring this as a training mission, I took no screenshots and few photos during the game.  Yeah, that is my excuse!  Luckily for the chroniclers, Richard kept good notes and snapped a number of screenshots during play.  Richard provides an enjoyable recap of the action at Basic Impetvs Meets Chariot Wars.  I recommend visiting Richard's blog for a battle account.

As in the RBW playtest game, both sides are roughly equivalent with the Egyptians having an edge in archers and the Hittites having an edge in spearmen.  Hittites hold a one chariot advantage.
The two armies face off.
Egyptians in the foreground.
Hittites ready themselves for battle.
Egyptians do likewise.
As the battle gets underway, the Hittites take the initiative.  Hittite chariots are brought forward on the wings.  Hittite bowshots from one of the chariots disorders one of the Egyptian units of massed archers in Pharaoh's command.  To counter the enemy chariots, Ray brings up Pharaoh's chariot alongside another chariot to cover both the Egyptian right and center.  Lee and Surjit bring their two chariots into the center to control that space.   
The two battle lines close.
Both armies bring their chariotry to the fore.
Gaining the initiative on Turn 2, Ray strikes out with Pharaoh and his wingman.  With Egyptian skirmishers slipping out of the way, the Egyptian chariots attack!  In a prolonged dogfight, the chariots exchange missile fire until the Hittites break.  One Hittite chariot is destroyed.  The second is put to flight.  Although Pharaoh's chariot is badly damaged, the victorious Egyptians follow up in pursuit.     
Pharaoh attacks!
The Hittite left is gone!
On the other side of the table, the Hittites consider the battle lost but vow to fight on.  The ease at which Pharaoh cuts through the Hittite left (The Gods were with him!) emboldens the Egyptian Army.  Screened by a wall of skirmishers, the chariots on the other flank scream forward.  In a vicious dogfight, each army loses a chariot.  To prevent a breakthrough of his battle line, the Hittite King brings his chariot forward to engage the enemy.  Although the King appears to be gaining the upper hand, he breaks off the fight once the Egyptians bring up massed archers and put him under the bow.
Chariot clash on the Egyptian left.
The Hittite King engages the enemy
but retires once the enemy brings up massed archers.
Having chased the fleeing Hittite chariots vigorously, the Pharaoh finds himself behind the enemy lines.  Exhausted from their efforts, the two Egyptian chariots are attacked from behind.  In a matter of minutes, the over-extended chariots including the Pharaoh are dispatched by enemy foot.  Oh, the humanity!
The Attacker becomes the Attacked!
With their left secure, the Hittites advance.
The loss of the Pharaoh, three chariots, and assorted foot units is enough to push the Egyptian Army over its break point.  The Egyptian Army withdraws...without its Pharaoh.   
The Hittites take the battle ground!
Although this outing was designed as a training scenario, the players picked up the basic concepts of BI quickly (I think).  Only two turns were completed in a little less than two hours.  Quick result, for sure, but with the loss of Pharaoh, the Egyptians found themselves in a tight place regardless.  By the end of Turn 1, all players figured the battle over with an inevitable Egyptian victory.  My, how the tables turned on Turn 2.

Congratulations to the Hittite generals, Steve and Richard.  To the Egyptians (Ray, Lee, Surjit), the Hittite Army was only a pip or two away from breaking themselves.

What might have been...

Whatever it might have been, I thought this exercise great fun.  Maybe they will return to the BI table again, confident in the knowledge gained in this outing?  If so, I may increase the Army Breakpoints a few points to lengthen the game.  An increase may not lengthen the game much if we see the near complete destruction of the chariot arms as in this contest.

For me, up tomorrow is an away (remote) game with a look at the WotR.  An away game is on deck for Saturday too with an Ancients battle.  It's a busy week.

42 comments:

  1. Remote learning and playing? Still, it's worth the price of admission just to see the chariots make dust on the table top.

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  2. The pharaoh is dead. Long live the pharaoh!

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  3. Chariot armies are all about the chariots and from your last write-up, I got the impression that RBW does try to give a chariot perspective game.

    Going back to a more traditional type of game (BI), did you feel that one system was noticeably better than the other in conveying ‘chariot wars’ or was it just different things doing different things?

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    1. Yes, RBW is chariot-centric with all else seemingly secondary. Perhaps surprisingly, both games accomplished much the same during play. Some processes may be modeled or abstracted differently but the overall ‘feel’ is not that different. But then, I am no expert in this period of warfare.

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    2. While wars of the period do seem to be chariot dominated, were they really? Or are they the focus because they are the elite and nobody took any notice of the hard fighting done by the infantry. How you answer that question will affect your rules preference, I think

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    3. Good point, Anthony! Often the elites are the ones telling the story. We all bring our notions and prejudices on warfare both to Wargame design and the Wargame table.

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  4. The pharaoh definitely overextended himself. Could the pursuit have been halted, or was it a case of the Egyptians automatically pursuing? An entertaining game and one I would have enjoyed participating in.

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    1. Yes, pursuits could have been halted at the conclusion of any enemy disengagement. Ray got his blood up and forged ahead.

      Well, if you are interested in a remote game, we can remedy your desire to give it a whirl.

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    2. Finding the time is the problem at the moment, in between my regular face to face gaming, but I'll definitely take you up on it one of these days Jonathan. I have many happy memories of the Rivoli email game.

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    3. When you are ready for a game, let me know.

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  5. A good view from yourself Jon of the game and to compare with Richard's thoughts etc. Interesting that upping the breakpoint might lead to the loss of the chariots and therefore the game with not much increase in game time per se. Do we know if the chariots fought to the death so to speak or were to precious to risk mutually assured destruction? I wonder if they were kept back to deliver the coup de grace or were they the main offensive arm of both armies at this time? I only ask as I know next to nothing about this period!

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    1. Thanks, Steve! Like you, I would be tempted to keep some of the chariots in reserve ready to exploit opportunities and to prevent my army from breaking before the infantry became engaged.

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  6. Read the batrep and inwardly digested a few lessons from it. Love the dust clouds flung up behind the chariots, an excellent indicator of movement (adopted from rein bow warriors?)

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    1. Good to see you taking some notes! In BI, chariots in motion need to be denoted as such for several reasons. I simply put the dust clouds made for RBW into double use.

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  7. Perhaps your Pharoah needs to build some temples to the appropriate gods........he seems a mite unlucky!
    Neil

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  8. Being cut off behind enemy lines seldom works out.

    Another fine game, Jon.

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  9. I wonder what the Egyptian for "Hubris followed by Nemesis" is. Pharaoh certainly pushed his luck. And who can blame him.

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  10. Enjoyed your report. I look forward to taking a different approach next time.

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    1. Thank you! A different approach? You were victorious in this game.

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  11. A lovely looking game Jonathan…
    Somewhat appropriate that in a training game the Pharaoh truly learned a lesson 😁

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks, Aly! Yes, the Pharaoh learned a lesson but will that lesson carry over to the next game?

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  12. Superb game and I'm sure they will have enjoyed BI, a great set of rules

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    1. Thank you, Neil! Well, if this is any indication of enjoyment, the Rejects are coming back for a second game next week.

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  13. Lovely looking game, after elephants chariots are the best thing in ancient warfare!
    Best Iain

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  14. I'm just here for the spectacle! Wow! - Scott

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  15. Good to see the ‘ancients’ back on the table and with added dust to boot 👍

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    1. Yes, good to see the Biblicals back out onto the table. Hope your health is improving and we will see you back in action soon.

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  16. Another epic Biblical encounter there Jonathan, I feel that chariot warfare is akin to the Republican Roman maniple system it must have worked but we are not sure how
    or why🙂

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the clash, Phil! There is a lot we do not know about the ancient past.

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  17. That was a really enjoyable game (despite being on the losing side!) and I'm looking forward to replay on Monday.

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  18. A young pharaoh then, lacking in wisdom and a sense of self preservation. Seth was a little too zealous in his patronage this day.

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