I want to eventually run an "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, I ran this scenario a few times to see how different folks would play it.
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 outline in the main rulebook for the battle.
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.
 |
| King Muwatalli II and his Hittite Army |
The Pharaoh is out ahead of the main army with his Sherden Guards and some Archers of the Ra division. The rest of the Egyptian army will begin trying to get to the battle starting in turn 4.
 |
| The Ra Division out front near Kadesh |
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 seem to be following a more historical depiction of the battle. The King and his chariots are going around the city and towards the fords on the South side of Kadesh. Meanwhile, the Pharaoh confident in his divine heritage moves forward, as the Hittite infantry move to block him crossing the ford.
As the Pharaoh moves across the Orontes, he draws first blood with a volley of arrows into the Hittite skirmishers. His Sherden were on the shore looking to follow. Perhaps the Pharaoh has bitten off more than he can chew?
Battle Phase
Poor Command and Control by the Pharaoh allows the Hittites to reinforce the ford on the North side of Kadesh. This blocks the Pharaoh from forcing his crossing, and gets him tangled up with Hittite Spearmen. The Sherden Guards are following-up, but fording the river has delayed them from helping the impetuous Pharaoh, The Heavy Hittite Chariots begin to cross the Orontes River south of Kadesh, the upper branch.
Hittite Skirmishers join the fight at the ford with the Pharaoh. With the aid of the light troops, and some re-rolls; the Pharaoh is easily routed! Meanwhile, other parts of the Egyptian army begins to enter the field of battle. A unit of Light Chariots, 2 Archer units, and a Auxiliary Infantry unit with bows. Too little, too late!
The Hittites reinforce their shoreline on the North side of Kadesh, while the Egyptians rain arrows down upon them. The Hittite King and his chariots race around Kadesh towards the second ford and the bulk of the Egyptian army. The newly arrived Egyptian forces move to try to reinforce the last ford before the Hittites can get to it.
Egyptian bowfire clears the Hittite Spearmen off the ford, and the Sherden begin to march across again. However, the crossing is the target of murderous and accurate bow and javelin attacks from the Hittites as the Sea People cross.
To the South of Kadesh, the Hittite chariots get to the second ford of the Orontes and find the Egyptians blocking their advance. The enemy has been located at last! The lead chariot throws their javelins but fail to cause much disruption.
The Hittite Heavy Chariots are met with murderous Egyptian bow fire, and the initial attack is quickly blunted and sent reeling! Failures of King Mutuwalli II with Command and Control lead tot he heavy loss of life.
The Hittites decide to bid all of their King's Decree except 1 to get initiative, and once they have it they launch a charge with their Heavy Chariots, determined to break their way across the ford. The charge hits home, and pushes the Egyptians back and wavering, losing two courage but at the cost of 1 in return.
At the Northern ford, the Egyptian Light Chariots seize the initiative and push across the Orontes. They open fire on the disrupted skirmishers and send them fleeing to the four winds. However, the Archers are too busy re-organizing to press the archery duel. However, Hittite counter-fire is enough to drive the Egyptian chariots back, scattering them yet again!
End Phase
The momentum of both sides has been blunted, and the battle is winding down. The Hittite Heavy Chariots try to push through the last ford South of Kadesh, but the disrupted Egyptians manage to stay strong with support from a nearby archer unit. At the other flashpoint, Egyptian archery forces the last Hittite skirmisher to switch to Open Order and fall back. This leaves them disrupted. However, the Egyptians do not try to force the ford yet again.
In a last push, King Mutuwalli II throws everything he has into the battle South of Kadesh along the shores of the Orontes River. However, despite disrupting the Egyptian lines, he can not break through. For their part, the Egyptians are content to have held the Hittites back, and do not try to cross the Orontes again.
Conclusion
Some big divergences from what we know of the historical battle. The Hittite Chariotry followed a more historical approach, but were held by the Egyptians. Meanwhile the Pharaohs efforts to cross the Orontes and act aggressively were obviously and painfully halted. He was forces to flee back to his camp with his tail between his legs! This looks like a much closer battle than the last Battle of Kadesh we fought.
Hittites earned 24 point but lost 18 points for +6 points. The Egyptians did the inverse. Therefore, the Hittites win the battle again!
This less than decisive win matches what we know of the aftermath of the actual battle. Kadesh seems to have stayed in Hittite control, Egyptian influence in the area waned, and the Pharaoh did not venture forth again into the Levant. A relatively historical outcome for this one.
Final Thoughts
Crossing a contested river is hard! Both sides failed to manage it! Missile power ruled the day. A single missile unit was not enough to stop a determined advance, but the force that was better able to coordinate their firepower was able to route attackers. In addition, the chariots were very mobile and allowed rapid re-deployment and maneuver, but were not overwhelmingly powerful in the attack. That seemed about what I wanted out of this ruleset.
I think the next step is to create some unit cards with one side being game details, and the other being some historical details. I.e. why chariots? Who was Ramesses II? What was needed for Bronze weapons? Why Bronze? Etc. I would also like a timeline of the "historical" battle that I could project during the game as we go through some of the phases of the battle. Maybe a map of the area as well? Anyway, the tools to make it a "learning" game. Then, I will be ready to take it to the local libraries and college for some demos! Two players on the Hittite side, three on the Egyptian side, and me as the GM should be do-able.
Until next time!
Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!
You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun!
Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website
No comments:
Post a Comment