After Alexander's Death, a dispute
broke out between the foot officers and the cavalry officers over who
should rule the Macedonian Empire. The officers of the infantry
wished it to be Alexander's half-brother who was rumored to be an
imbecile. The Cavalry officers supported the unborn child of
Alexander's Persian wife, Roxanne. Through treachery, the Cavalry
officers were victorious int eh dispute. This led to the raising of
Perdiccas to regent.
As regent, Perdiccas ruled on behalf
of Alexander's infant son. In theory, he ruled the Diadochi.
However, many of the most powerful men across the new Hellenistic
world would not settle for anything less than total power of their
own. In a bid to seal his own power base, Ptolemy stole Alexander's
body and spirited it away to Egypt. This was a great affront to the
regent's power and Perdiccas prepared to march.
However, he could not leave the rest
of the Empire undefended. In Turkey, he appointed Eumenes of Cardia
to defend the region with the help of Neoptolemus the Satrap of
Armenia. This was to protect the fertile heartland of the empire
from the scheming and violent Craterus and Antipater in Europe. The
results of his efforts can be seen in the battle reports here
and here.
Perdiccas himself raised an army and
marched for Egypt. Ptolemy drew up his army on the opposite side of
the Nile and waited to face his foe. The Nile had traditional been a
key strategic asset in protecting Egypt and Ptolemy banked on its
help once more. The Nile was prone to flooding and had a strong
current. Perdiccas tried to use his elephants as breakwaters in the
waterway to allow his troops to cross. However, the footing was
unstable. The fording of the river failed and a considerable number
of lives were lost.
Angry at this unnecessary loss of
life, Perdiccas was approached by a delegation of his officers in his
tent. What exactly transpired is unclear, but Perdiccas himself was
killed. Soon the invasion of Egypt was canceled and the attempt
recover Alexander's body abandoned. Today's battle is an attempt to
“re-fight” the battle that never happened between Perdiccas and
Ptolemy. It is a great 'What-If” scenario as the following 6 Wars
of the Diadochi may have been very different if the official regent
of Alexander had lived, Alexander's body restored to Macedon, and the
Silver Shields stayed within the loyalist camp.
This battle is a
“What if” battle. This assumes that Perdiccas and Ptolemy did
have a battle at the banks of the Nile. Instead of a failed
crossing, this battle will be a forced crossing where Perdiccas is
trying to force his army across the Nile in the face of Ptolemy's
resistance. The winner will earn the right to keep Alexander's body
as a talisman of legitimacy of rule.
The Forces:
Perdiccas-
Left Wing:
Epilektoi Cavalry- Seleceus
Center:
Silver Shields- Antigenes
Elephants
Bronze Shields
Right Wing:
Companion Cavalry- Perdiccas
Total Point- 54
Ptolemy-
Left Wing:
3 Archers
Center:
Bronze Shield
2 White Shields
Right Wing:
Epilektoi Cavalry- Ptolemy
Asphract Cavalry
Total Points- 54
Mission:
This will be a
Forced Crossing by Perdiccas against Ptolemy. The objective is for
Perdiccas to get 10 points off the opposite board edge in 8 turns.
To make the game more like the historical situation, we will be
placing a river down the middle of the board. It will be considered
dangerous terrain. Nearby are various fields since the Nile valley
was a fertile farm land.
Set-up:
For this battle, I
am sure that the Silver Shields were in fact with Perdiccas. We know
this since one of the officers, Antigenes; that helped assassinate
Perdiccas. Therefore, I am 100% sure that the Silver Shields were
there with him. We also know for a fact that Perdiccas had War
Elephants with him as they were a key component of his plan to ford
the Nile.
Beyond the details
above, we have no idea what either army was composed of. Since no
battle actually occurred, no one bothered writing it down.
Therefore, we will need to guess at the organization of the rest of
the armies. Since Phalanxes are the core of Macedonian and Successor
armies, we can assume they were the core of these armies as well.
Ptolemaic Egypt was known for their efforts to raise a native
Phalanx, although the White Shields here are probably too soon. In
addition, ancient Egyptian armies were well known for their archers
so it makes sense that Ptolemy's force would have a strong archer
contingent. Finally, all early Hellenistic armies also relied
heavily on cavalry to try to mimic Alexander's successes, so both
armies need a strong cavalry element.
In this case, the
Ptolemaic are on the right side of the river. The Perdiccans are on
the left side of the river.
Turn 1:
Ptolemy and
Perdiccas both get their Commander's Gaze tokens for each wing.
Ptolemy has the advantage, but his strategy is to deny the river
crossing. Ptolemy bids all of his Commander's Gaze to go first and
beats Perdiccas for Initiative.
Ptolemy's army
moves up to contest the potential crossing points. Perdiccas' force
also moves forward, with the right wing Epilektoi cavalry holding
back.
Turn 2:
No one bids any
Commander's Gaze, and the roll off has Ptolemy win.
The Archers move
up to take position on the Ptolemiac left to cover the crossing with
firepower. On the Ptolemaic right, the Asphract Cavalry get
aggressive break into open order and cross the Nile. The Epilektoi
move up to support them. However, Perdiccas with his Companion
Cavalry successfully interripts and manages to charge the Light
horseman with his Companions. The Companions make short work of the
light cavalry and send them packing back to Egypt. However, the
Ptolemaic Asphracts do cause 1 courage loss to Perdiccas and his
bodyguards. The troops of the Epilektoi cavalry sees the Asphracts
routed and are Disordered.
The rest of
Perdiccas army moves up, with the War Elephants taking the lead. The
remainder if the Ptolemaic army stays in place, ready to push back
any enemy unit that tries to cross the Nile. The right side White
Shields pivot in case they need to repel the Companion Cavalry.
Turn 3:
Both Commander's
bid 3 Commander's Gaze tokens to try to win the initiative.
Perdiccas opts to increase his bid 1, and Ptolemy declines to match
it. The Perdiccans go first.
The Regent
harangues his troops to increase them back to 5 Courage. He then
declares a charge across the Nile at Ptolemy's Epilektoi on the other
side of the river. He uses all of his Commander's Gaze to get the
charge off, and the enemy cavalry can not counter-charge due to
disorder. A swirling cavalry combat erupts on the far side of the
Nile, where the Companions get the upperhand and cause 1 Courage
loss.
The rest of the
Perdiccan army begins to move up to the river bank. The Elephants
begin to cross, but the rushing river quickly disorders them and
causes them to lose 1 Courage. Seleceus Epilektoi Cavalry rushes
across the river with a charge and is also disordered, but they
engage a unit of archers. They impact them heavily, but the archers
hold.
The remaining
archers open fire and pin cushion the War elephants in the river,
causing 4 hits and reducing them to 3 Courage left.
Meanwhile, a unit
of White Shields moves tie up the Companions if they break through
the Epilektoi cavalry.
Turn 4:
Perdiccas has the
advantage in Commander's Gaze and uses it to guarantee he gets
initiative by bidding 5, to 0. Perdiccas begins to activate first.
With the help of
Commander's Gaze, Seleceus routes the first Archer unit. However, he
is too far away to push back into the next unit.
Ptolemy uses a
Commander's Gaze to try to interrupt, and is successful! A Ptolemiac
White Shield Unit charges in and joins the battle against the
Companion Cavalry on the Perdiccan Left. The battle is still not
decisive even with the help, and the Ptolemaic forces are forced
back, with both sides on the edge of defeat.
The Archers that
remain open fire on the War Elephants and reduce it to a single
Courage point left. The rest of the Perdiccan center rushes across
the Nile with no further casualties, but they are all disordered.
The Archers
engaged by Seleucus rout, and one of the remaining ones is shaken.
Turn 5:
This time Ptolemy
wins 4 to 2 on the bid for Initiative.
Winning is
critical for Ptolemy as his Bronze shields rush into the flank of the
disordered Silver Shields supported by their White Shield allies.
They hit hard, and the Silver Shields are pushed back into the river
with 2 Courage left, and the Ptolemaic units are down to 4.
Seleucus tries to
interrupt, but fails the roll-off. The disordered Archer unit
rallies. They then take aim and fire at Seleucus' unit. The Archers
open fire and rout the War Elephants and reduce the Epilektoi Cavalry
1 Courage to 3 total left.
The fight on the
Perdiccan left has bogged down as the Cavalry and Pikeman duke it
out. The fighting is pushed back into the Nile. Both units are on
the brink of exhaustion.
Seleucus and his
Epilektoi charge into an Archer unit, and the second unit decides to
support. They reduce the Archers 1 Courage, but they all hold.
Turn 6:
Perdiccas wins the
Initiative bid and hopes to use his Bronze Shields to save his Silver
Shields in the center. It is a risky move, but winning initiative
allows him to get in a flank charge on the big melee.
Decisive battle is
raging across the board. Perdiccas decides to start with the center
melee. The combat in the center is less than decisive as both sides
only lose 1 Courage in the swirling battle.
On the Perdiccan
left, the battle comes to a close as both the Ptolemaic and Perdiccan
forces are exhausted and break away. Both sides retreat away from
the battle, taking their Diadochi with them.
The Archers and
Seluceus combat is also indecisive as both units lose 1 Courage.
With the loss of
the Diadochi's, both sides take a collapse test.
Turn 7:
Neither
sides bids, saving the Gaze for re-rolls of combat. Ptolemy wins the
roll-off and decides to start in the middle.
In
the center, the Ptolemaic Bronze Shields supported by the White
Shields manage to see off the Silver and Bronze Shields of Perdiccas
and cause them to withdraw from the battle and back across the Nile.
The
Archer and Epilektoi battle remains indecisive as both sides again
lose 1 Courage.
Turn 8:
It is clear the
Perdiccans have lost, but we decide to finish off the battle between
Seleucus and the Archers on the right flank. Since the Archers are
now disordered, they lose the combat but remain unbroken.
Surveying the rest
of the battlefield, Seleucus withdraws back to the Perdiccan camp.
Conclusion:
Well, Egypt always
was a tough nut to crack. Historically, Perdiccas' army never made it
across the Nile, and it looks like if Ptolemy challenged the
Perdiccan forces at the crossing they wouldn't have made it anyway.
I think we can assume that after the results of this “What If”
battle, Perdiccas would still have been assassinated at the edge of
the Nile and history would have carried on as it did.
The decisive
component of this battle was trying to cross the dangerous river
itself. The War Elephants and the Asphracts both lost Courage in the
process, making them less effect fighting units. In addition, once
troops got into the river they became disordered. The troops never
got a chance to re-group and the 5+ Target Numbers started to tell in
the combats. Companions, Silver Shields, and other elite units
struggled.
In addition, I
lost track of the objective. I needed those mobile cavalry units
free to get across the board, but instead I let the Companions and
Epilektoi get dragged into costly combats on the fringes instead of
maneuvering around or away from them. I should have let the push in
the center start and then swung Seleucus cavalry around the archers
and towards the back of the board and tied up his cavalry with my
Companions. Oh well, my opponent baited me with “weak” units and
I ended up getting tar pitted when I needed speed to win. My
strength was speed and elite units, but I did not play up to their
strengths. The Perdiccan/Eumenes forces have won most of the battles
they have fought as an elite force, but it shows that playing to the
objectives is the key to victory more than army builds. That is a
good thing in my mind.
With Perdiccas the
regent of the Macedonian Royal family dead, is their any hope to
rebuilding Alexander's Empire once more? Is there no legitimacy any
longer or is it only a battle between strongmen?
