Heirs to Empire is a game set in the era of the
Diadochi. This is the time when
Alexander’s generals squabbled over the remains of the Empire after Alexander’s
death. This rule set tries to capture
the feel of commanding armies in this time period so the scale is an
army/battle scale game. That said it is
miniature agnostic and units are abstracted in the gameplay. Instead, it focuses on the interactions of
troops types working together and using the Commander’s Gaze to influence the
flow of the battle.
Eumenes had once
been the secretary of Alexander himself. He was not Macedonian, but his
position provided him great privilege and respect amongst the troops. He
was a well-known general in his own right.
After Ptolemy stole
Alexander’s body and spirited it to Egypt; The Regent Perdiccas organized an
expedition to punish the upstart Diadochi. He gathered an army and
marched towards the Nile. Perdiccas charged Eumenes with protecting Asia
Minor from the greedy Antipater and Craterus from attacking out of Macedon and
Greece. To aid him, Perdiccas placed Neoptolemus the Satrap of Armenia
under Eumenes’ command.
However,
Neoptolemus had his own ideas. Instead, he had sided with Antipater and
Craterus. Instead of joining Eumenes, he intended to attack him.
Eumenes learned of the Satraps plan and marched his army out to punish the
upstart. The battle for Alexander’s empire was about to begin.
This is a re-fight of a previous battle while I was
playtesting the rules. However, the last
time I played I had no scenarios and it was simply a set-piece battle. Since then, I have built a new set of
scenarios and a campaign system for the game.
Forces:
Eumenes of Cardia
Center:
Silver Shields- General
Bronze Shields
2 Thureophoroi
Left Wing:
Companion Cavalry- General: Eumenes
Right Wing:
Epilektoi Cavalry- General
54 Points
Neoptolemus, Satrap of Armenia
Center
1 Bronze Shield- General
2 White Shields
Left Wing:
1 Asphract (Javelins)
1 Epilektoi- General: Neoptolemus
Right Wing:
1 Asphract (Javelins)- General
1
Archer
54 Points
Mission:
Today’s battle will be a Forced Crossing where Eumenes is
the attacker. He is attempting to get up
to 10+ points of his army off the opposite board edge past Neoptolemus’
troops. If he does so in 8 turns then
Eumenes wins.
Set-up:
Today we are using a 6x4 table. It is set-up as the
steppe of Turkey. Historically, Neoptolemus was supposed to support
Eumenes in the defense of Asia Minor from invaders from Macedon. Instead,
he turned to Antipater and Craterus in Macedon. In response, Eumenes
marched to face the Satrap. Today’s battle is to represent Eumenes trying
to move to his stronghold in Asia Minor, not 100% aware that Neoptolemus is no
longer on his side.
The center is relatively flat and open, and good place
for Phalanx combat. The North has a series of rocky hills to block LOS
and make movement more difficult. The South flank has an oasis.
This will also serve to hinder or block movement.
At this point, it is more likely that the Silver Shields
would have been deployed with Perdiccas in Egypt. However, to avoid
confusion I am placing them with Eumenes, the commander they followed after
Perdiccas’ death. In addition, Thureophoroi were probably not developed
until a later date, but they serve essentially the same role as Hypaspists in
Alexander’s army with slightly different gear. Therefore I am using them
here to represent the Hypaspists likely found in Eumenes army instead.
Beyond these details little is known about the actual composition of either
army historically.
Turn 1:
To start, each wing of the army rolled to determine their
Commander’s Gaze. Eumenes had 9 points,
to Neoptolemus’ 6. Neither side bid for
the initiative, so they rolled off.
Neoptolemus won.
Neoptolmus’ army slowly moved forward, waiting to see if
Eumenes would try to interrupt. He did
not. The Satrap of Armenia’s forces
maintained the line waiting to see what Eumenes would try to do.
Eumenes army also moved forward, with the cavalry wings
using Commander’s Gaze to break into Open Order, but staying in the battle
line. This would allow them to maneuver
freely when the right time arrived, and reform if needed using Commander’s
Gaze.
Turn 2:
This time, Neoptolemus has the advantage in Commander’s
Gaze, and uses it to bid 2 for initiative.
Eumenes bids 0.
The center of Neoptolemus’ army moves forward, with a
Phalanx of White Shields hanging slightly back to act as a reserve infantry
force. The Right flank also moves up to
support the advancing Bronze Shields.
Meanwhile, on the Left the Javelin Asphracts break into open order and
move to the flank. Neoptolemus keeps his
Epilektoi Cavalry close to the main battle line. He is hoping to hem and possible turn the
flank of Eumenes’ force.
Eumenes again let’s the Satrap move without trying to
interrupt. Instead, he sends his open
order left wing cavalry scurrying towards the oasis. His Companion Cavalry cuts across the front
of the main battle line, and uses a Commander’s gaze to re-form. Meanwhile, the Phalanx moves up behind the
cavalry scramble.
Turn 3:
Neoptolemus has 9 Commander’s Gaze to 8 for Eumenes. He decides to bid 1 for initiative to try to
counter the former Secretary’s moves.
Eumenes bids 0.
Neoptolemus moves his javelin Asphract cavalry to the
center and has them reform as they run parallel to the enemies’ Companion
Cavalry. He attempts to Move and Shoot
with them, but is disappointed to find he is out of range! Seeing this, Eumenes decides not to
interrupt. The Epilektoi Cavalry of the
Satrap moves up to stay in command radius of the light horseman.
On Neoptolemus’ right, the Asphract lancer cavalry
declare a charge and rush into the Open Order Epilektoi Cavalry of
Eumenes. It is a desperate delaying
tactic with the hope that the Open Order of the heavier cavalry will be their
undoing. Eumenes can not react with a
Counter-charge as the unit is in Open Order and hence considered “Disordered”. They can not use Special Rules. This leaves the Archers disordered as they
are out of command range of the Satrap’s right flank general.
In the ensuing melee, the Asphract lose 3 Courage, while
the Epilektoi take 1. Both unit’s used
their remaining Commander’s Gaze to re-roll failed attack dice. The Asphract’s have become disordered and
pushed back 2 basewidths by the Epilektoi of Eumenes.
Neoptolemus’ Bronze Shields and Archers turn to support
the flank, while the White Shields form up a solid battle line in the middle.
Eumenes waits as the flank fight unfolds and lets
Neoptolemus show his responses. Eumenes
then continues to move past the front of the enemy lines with his Companion
Cavalry, making for the opposite flank edge.
His main battle line moves forward to engage and pin the Satrap’s
forces. Then, his right most Thureophori
charge the nearby Javelin Asphract and catch them in the flank. However, the Asphract declare an Evade, and
the infantry decide to try and pursue.
The light troops fail to catch the horseman.
Turn 4:
Eumenes bids 3 Gaze to 3 to win initiative. He is half way to his time limit to achieve
the objective. He rallies his Epilektoi
Cavalry and reforms them. They then
press the attack to rout the enemy light cavalry. The Epilektoi take one more Courage hit, but
the Asphract cavalry are put to rout and turned around as they are pushed back
three base widths. The Epilektoi pass
their Discipline Check and stay Ordered.
Neoptolemus spends a point to try to interrupt, but fails
the roll-off and Eumenes continues to activate units. The Companian Cavalry continues to run past
the flank of Neoptolemus’ army.
Meanwhile, the core units move forward to pin the rest of the
force. The Thureophoroi throw their
Javelins at the Archers and Javelin Asphract respectively. One requires the use of a Commander’s Gaze to
Move and shoot. The Archers lose 3
Courage and are disorderd, and the Javelin Asphract lose 1 and are disordered.
Things do not look good for Neoptolemus’ army. The archers turn and fire on the Epilektoi
Cavalry to try and break them. They
reduce them a further 1 Courage, they have 1 left. In desperation, the Bronze Shields use a
Commander’s Gaze to charge the Thureophoroi threatening the archers while
Neoptolemus’ and his Epilektoi charge into the other light infantry unit. The Javelin Asphract’s race across the center
of the board to try and get in range to finish off the Epilektoi of
Eumenes.
The Bronze Shields reduce their foes two Courage and
Disorder them after a failed discipline check.
However, they take 1 Courage loss in return. The battle is pushed back 2 basewidths.
Turn 5:
Both Eumenes and Neoptolemus bid 4 Commander’s Gaze for
Initiative. Neither had anymore to up
the bid, so it goes to a roll off.
Neoptolemus wins!
The Archers fire on the Epilektoi Cavalry and get 1
hit. With armor two, it is not enough to
rout them. In desperation, the Javelin
Asphract move into them. Both units are
routed in the ensuing melee.
From there, the two White Shields charge into the Bronze
and Silver Shields of Eumenes army respectively. The Epilektoi and White Shields trade hits
with the Theurophoroi, Silver Shields, and Bronze Shields respectively. However, Neoptolemus’ Bronze Shields put
Eumenes’ Theurophoroi on the center left to rout.
Eumenes and the Companion Cavalry head for the board
edge.
Turn 6:
Neoptolemus sees that he can not stop Eumenes and his
Companion Cavalry from escaping past his troops and to the baggage train
behind. He bids 0 Commander’s Gaze while
Eumenes bids 1.
This allows Eumenes to get to the board edge with his
Companion Cavalry. With this,
Neoptolemuus signals the withdrawal and he and his Epilektoi Cavalry flee the
field.
Conclusion:
Eumenes wins again, and Neoptolemus escapes with his
life. This is a rather historical
outcome as well. We know few details of
the battle except that Eumenes won. If
we look at other Successor battles, they were frequently won or lost when one
side managed to get past the other army and into the rear area. That is what happened here.
Both sides took a beating in this battle. If it would have continued, the White Shields
would have eventually fallen to the better Eumenes’ phalanx. It is doubtful that Neoptolemus’ Bronze
Shields could have maneuvered back around to support their fellows in a timely
way. However, the Theurophoroi of
Eumenes would have been routed by then as well, and the freed up cavalry could
have led a successful flank attack.
However, by then Neoptolemus’ baggage would have been in Eumenes’ hands
too.
Cavalry is underwhelming as an offensive weapon in this
game. That is by design as they were
considered an ancillary part of the fighting in Successor warfare. Shooting can weaken an enemy unit quickly,
but is unlikely to finish them. Phalanx
units can take pusnishment and stick like no other units. The new Open Order ability with cavalry and
light units worked as intended and allowed them to maneuver more freely. Finally, the scenario seemed winnable by
either side in the time frame allowed.
So, I guess it is working as intended.
After his defeat at
the hands of Eumenes, Neoptolemus fled to his ally Craterus. The allied Successor’s once again marched
across the Dardanelles and into Anatolia intent on facing Eumenes. The campaign for Turkey was not over.
