I want to eventually run a "Educational" game around the Battle of Kadesh at my local libraries. This will be with people who don't know anything about wargaming and probably don't know much about ancient history. Chances are they will be a mix of children, teens, and adults. I have never done anything like this before.
Therefore, I want to test run the Battle of Kadesh scenario from the In Strife and Conflict rulebook to see if it will do what I need it to do for the demo game. Therefore, let's get it on the table and see what happens!
Forces
Egyptians
3 Light Chariots
- Composite Bows
- General
1 Professional Infantry
2 Auxiliary Infantry
- Composite Bows
4 Archers
Hittites
3 Heavy Chariots
- Javelins
- 1 General
1 Auxiliary Infantry
2 Levy Infantry
- Bows
2 Skirmishers
Mission:
We followed the set-up and parameters located in the In Strife and Conflict main rules.
Set-up:
Of course, we will be playing today on a 72MU by 48MU board with each MU equal to 1 inch.
Using the core rulebook rules, we set-up the table per the scenario. The Egyptians start with a limited number of units on the table, representing the Pharaoh and his advanced force. The Hittites get all their troops to start with on the other side of the river.
Crossing the Orontes River is Dangerous terrain, but only Difficult at the Fords. The fields around Kadesh are also Difficult. The city itself is Impassable.
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| Hittites on the left |
I will be giving an overview of the battle below, pulled out into my usual three sections of Maneuvers, Battle, and End Phases. I will then give some final thoughts at the end.
Maneuver Phase
The Hittites start with 8 King's Decree to the Egyptian 3. The Egyptians will increase when more units enter the board.... hopefully. It is no surprise, that the Hittites can easily bid enough to go first. As the Hittites press forward, the Pharaoh looks to threaten crossing the river west of the city. He sends runs back to his main force, urging them to join him for the battle. As the Hittite main force approaches the opposite side of the Orontes, the Pharaoh wisely turns away.
With that, the Battle of Kadesh begins in earnest.
Battle Phase
Hittite bowman from the follow-on infantry try to barrage the Sherden with arrows, but they fail to find their mark. Hittite spearmen wade into the ford and attack the disorganized Sherden. The men of Hattusa are supported by a unit of Skirmishers. The fighting is indecisive and neither side seems to be able to dislodge the other. Meanwhile, the Egyptian army rushes to aid their forward units. 
The battle at the Ford rages, as a second Hittite Skirmisher unit manages to charge the Sherden from the flank. It is enough to start to push the Pharaoh's guards back to the shoreline. Meanwhile, the Hittite Heavy Chariots look like they are going to try a dangerous crossing!
The Egyptian army is moving up to support their chariots, when the Hittites try to steal the Initiative, but fail. Egyptian Light Chariots pepper the crossing heavy chariots with arrows, but only cause minor casualties. The Heavy Chariots come roaring out of the river and attack! They catch an Egyptian Infantry unit and the Pharaoh's unit with their attack! The Pharaoh could not Evade as he was out of King's Decree, but a supporting Light Chariot unit snaps to his aid. The Chariots exchange casualties. The Chariots vs. the Infantry cause the Egyptians to be pushed back.
An Egyptian Archer unit charges into support the Egyptian Infantry against the Hittite Heavy Chariots. The battle is fierce and both units are reduce to 1 Courage left. A second Egyptian Infantry unit manages to move up and lend support as well, enough to rout the Hittites!
With a unit of Heavy Chariots routing, the Hittites need to start making collapse tests! One of the Levy Infantry turns tail and runs!
End Phase
Egyptians maintain the initiative, as the Hittites do not have many units left. However, the Pharaoh is in danger! None of the other Egyptian units can get to the Pharaoh to help out. Ramesses puts up a valiant fight, but ultimately has to flee the field, along with his supporting Light Chariot unit. Meanwhile, the Hittite King Muwatalli II emerged from his river crossing and attacked the severely depleted Egyptian infantry unit and easily routed it.
With their Pharaoh fleeing this time, the Egyptians had to make some collapse tests. The two remaining Archer units decided to withdraw in good order. With the Egyptians shaken, the Hittites took the initiative!
King Muwatalli II crashed into the flank of the remaining Egyptian unit and caused it to reel back, batterdd. However, the troops quickly re-organized. Meanwhile, the last Egyptian Light Chariot unit maneuvered close to the badly mauled Hittite Heavy Chariots and filled them full of arrows. The survivors turned and fled. At this, the remaining Hittite Levy Infantry became disordered.
The destruction of the Hittite unit forces another set of Collapse tests on the Hittites. They both passed. With that, King Muwatalli II surveyed the battlefield and the coming dusk. He withdrew back across the Orontes River and castled up within the walls of Kadesh, his remaining infantry joining him.
Conclusion:
Before we go to the points, neither side completely collapsed, so this will be a pyrrhic victory at best. King Muwatalli II will also gain some propaganda points for driving Pharaoh Ramesses from the field of battle.
The Egyptians scored 37 VPs for routed units and lost 55 points for - 17 points. Ouch!
The Hittites scored 55 points and lost 37, so + 17 points!
A minor victory for the Hittites!
Final Thoughts
Let's go the historical record on this one! Here is how the battle of Kadesh unfolded per Ramesses own propaganda.
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| Per Wikipedia |
Our battle took place a bit differently. Here the battle took place on the South side of the river, while our battle took place on the opposite side, before the river split and the walls of Kadesh. In out battle, the Hittites did manage to break through the Amun division with the Pharaoh, but did not engage with him until a bit later. Ramesses would have us believe that he manage to force the Hittites back, but in our battle he fled the scene. Historically, it was a draw but there are signs that it was a Hittite victory as Egyptian influence in the region waned after the battle. Some minor discrepancies, but the overall flow and outcome of the battle seems to match with what we saw historically. Just the point of decision changed a bit.
As the Egyptian player, I think the battle folded about how I had planned it, minus losing the Pharaoh. Interestingly, the Hittite player thought about using his chariots to move around the South side of the city as the real battle did, but decided not to due to the turn limit. He did not think he would get to grips with the enemy fast enough.
Next time, I will consider making the river Impassable instead of Dangerous terrain. The Hittite Heavy Chariots crashed across with little problem. However, if I make it impassable the fords will become the major choke points and killing grounds. That may limit the free-wheeling nature of Chariot Warfare and detract from the flavor of the game. I will have to test that out.
Overall, a fun little battle that took about 90 minutes to complete. Until next time!
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