Wargame Design: Sea People for In Strife and Conflict

One group of people I did not include for In Strife and Conflict were the (in)famous raiders of the Late Bronze Age; the Sea Peoples.  I did not initially add them because they did not have much interaction with the Assyrians.  The Assyrians were a Mesopotamian power at the height of the Sea Peoples encroachments.  The Sea Peoples were primarily operating on the coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean.  It was not until after the Broze Age collapse and the rise of the Neo-Assyrians.  The Assyrians moved westward and scooped up many of the remanent city-states left in the post Hittite and post-Sea People world.  Since In Strife and Conflict was focused on Assyrians, it did not seem like the Sea Peoples were a useful addition to the rules. 

 

However, the Sea People are a staple of the chariot war genre.  When people think of Chariot Wars, they soon think of the Bronze Age collapse; and that takes them straight to Sea Peoples.  Now, I am not a personal believer in the “Violent Migration” theory of the Bronze Age collapse, but there is no doubt the Sea People played a part in the system collapse that happened.  Plus, there is plenty of evidence about the Sea Peoples. 

 

There are a couple of things that make the Sea People a bit of a conundrum when trying to integrate them into Chariot Wars.  These are:

1. They have limited use of light chariots
2. They are mostly a light infantry force
3. There should be a lot of them
4. They were accompanied by their families
5. There is no real clear idea what this army looks like
6. It is made up of several tribes of people from across the Mediterranean

So, how does one go about making a Line-of-Battle for such an ill-defined, non-army, army?  Well, let’s dive into it. 

 

Who Are the Sea People?

Good question.  For many years, no one really knew.  However, they existed based on plenty of evidence left by the Egyptians.  This includes pictoral and written evidence.  Thanks to this evidence, Historians keep trying to trace the origins of the various tribes of the Sea People.  The origins of the Sea Peoples are not entirely relevant to the discussion here.  However, they hailed from Sicily, Sardinia, the Aegean, Anatolia, etc.  Before the Sea People “invasion” and the Bronze Age collapse these tribes and peoples were known in the area and even served as auxiliaries and allies of the city-states that would later collapse. 

 

For example, the Sherden was one of the tribes that made up the Sea Peoples.  However, we also know that they made up Ramses II Royal Guards and took part in the Battle of Kadesh.  At the same battle, the list of Hittite allies included tribes that would later be associated with the Sea Peoples.  The Sea Peoples seemed to have a mercenary, subject, or military relationship with the Chariot cultures of the region.  They were not strangers or unknown invaders. 

We also have wall reliefs that depict the Sea Peoples bringing their families with them in ox-drawn carts.  The Egyptians claim that the Sea Peoples came in great numbers but it is unclear how many were actual combatants?  This indicates that they were not looking for spoils and portable wealth.  They were looking to settle and move-in.  They were not “raiders” at all. 

 

All or our records on the Sea Peoples comes from what written and visual records remain from their enemies.  The writers assume that the readers are familiar with the situation.  Therefore, we are getting a limited and one-sided image of these peoples.  Other evidence comes from archeological evidence, which due to age is limited to certain materials.  Huge swathes of the culture of the Sea Peoples is unknown to us and potentially unknowable. 

This scene from the north wall of Medinet Habu is often used to illustrate the Egyptian campaign against the Sea Peoples, in what has come to be known as the Battle of the Delta (c. 1175 BC),^[1] during the reign of Ramesses III. While accompanying hieroglyphs do not name Egypt's enemies, describing them simply as being from "northern countries", early scholars noted the similarities between the hairstyles and accessories worn by the combatants and other reliefs in which such groups are named. Wikimedia Commons

The Sea Peoples Military

Again, we are working with very limited evidence on what the military of the Sea Peoples looked like. Indeed, creating a “universal” picture may not even be realistic considering the cosmopolitan nature of the Sea Peoples themselves.  We know a bit about the Sherden, who used helmets, corselets, and greaves.  We also know that they used round shields of Bronze, swords, and spears.  Occasionally, iron swords are mentioned as well.  For other tribes, Archers and thrown missiles weapons like Javelins also appear to be part of their arsenal.  However, different tribes seem to have had distinctive head gear or equipment.  It is unclear if this also meant that they had a different role on the battlefield.

In at least one pictoral representation, we see the Sea People making use of Chariots of a similar design to the Egyptians.  However, it is unclear if this is just an artist interpretation as that is what an army “should have” or if the artist was an eyewitness or working with an eyewitness of the battle.  There is not much other evidence to support that the Sea Peoples used chariots.  They are not discussed often, and the descriptions of battles are often only fragmentary or a line or two at best.  

 

There is a reference to the Sea People using a two-pronged land and sea strategy at the Battle of the Delta.  There is also reference to ships appearing in other sources.  This led to the name “Se Peoples” but not all the tribes associated and named as the Sea Peoples have any connection with the sea.  Therefore, even the term Sea Peoples could be a bit of a misnomer.  We do not know much about their sailing ability, ships, or their Naval prowess.  As the Battle of the Delta the naval arm of the invasion was defeated, but so was the land arm. 

 

We have no idea how the Sea Peoples organized themselves.  No idea who was in charge, no idea how they coordinated, and no idea how they fought as units.  Therefore, we have to make a lot of assumptions when it comes to the organization of Sea People armies. 

 

The sources seem to indicate that they were a fast moving, infantry-based army.  They operated as mostly light infantry, with a core of heavily armed and armored Sherden.  It is unclear how they integrated ranged weapons into their forces.  However, they seemed to favor close-up combat where many chariot based armies preferred archery or other ranged attacks as the primary attack arm. 

Beyond these broad strokes, we know very little else about the Sea Peoples military structures, doctrines, or how they fought.  The chroniclers at the time do not leave much detail.  The archeological record is not much better. 

Ramses II's Sherden Royal Guard at the front of his armies

 

Creating the Sea People Line-of-Battle

First off, I use 6mm miniatures on 60mm x 60mm bases for my games of In Strife and Conflict.  However, the game itself is base and model agnostic though.  You can use single-based 28mm, multi-based 15mm, or whatever you want.  The rules are interested in Unit-vs-Unit combat and does not have any casualty removal.  Therefore, when I talk about this Line-of-Battle I am refer to it by units.  

I think we have seen that the Sea People are not a homogenous group.  That means, as I build this Line-Of-Battle I will assume that various infantry troop types are available to them.  This could be split up on tribal lines, or a mix of headgear and weaponry as the army builder sees fit.  I think having different tribes represent different unit types is an attractive option to differentiate units on the battlefield but is probably not a realistic portrayal of how they operated in the field.  However, sometimes the needs of expediency make sense on the tabletop where they do not on the battlefield.  

Second, I went and reviewed the Unit Profiles in the core In Strife and Conflict rules.  Thankfully, they are a bit generic with some options.  I think these will represent the Sea People unit types we have seen well.  After I have a basic list, I will think if any other special Chrome is needed.  Here is what I think fits in with the line-of-battle based on the evidence and the needs of the army as a playable force: 

Light Chariots W/Javelins

Professional Infantry

Levy Infantry

Irregular Infantry

Skirmishers

Mounted Infantry (?) 

The core would be Professional Infantry, possibly Sherden.  The Levy and Irregular Infantry would give them numbers for flanking and Rear attacks.  A limited number of light chariot with javelins would fit the bill for what we see about the Battle of Djahy.  Skirmishers and Irregular would give them some enhanced mobility to pin enemy formations for the others to maneuver into position.  They would also allow them to use terrain to advantage. 

One thing I am noticing right away, is that general Infantry does not have access to Javelins.  This is something I will need to create some Chrome for them.  There are two ways to go about it.  The first is a unit upgrade as a Shoot weapon.  The second is to use a system similar to my Roman Legions in Wars of the Republic as a rule that is triggered by using King's Decree to reduce enemy armor.  This would give them some additional punch up close, but reduce their range options. 

The Mounted Infantry is a question mark to represent ox-drawn carts.  We see them in the artwork, but for moving families and not troops.  Therefore, I am not sure I want to add them in to the army list at this point.  

In the core rules there are two Special Rules that maybe appropriate for the Sea Peoples.  They are Iron Weapons, which some sources claim the Sea Peoples had limited numbers of.  The other is Terror.  This would impact how other units reacted to their charges or their ability to charge them.  Then, I might add a Thrown Weapons special rule for the Professional Troops to help with their "shock assault" capabilities. 

Sea Peoples in conflict with the Egyptians in the battle of Djahy.  Wikimedia Commons

I decided on the following:   

Sea People Line-of-Battle

0-2 Professional Infantry

- Thrown Weapons for +2 points

0-2 Light Chariots

- Javelins for +1 Points

1+ Levy Infantry 

- Upgrade with Javelins- Shoot 3 (6MU) for +1 Point

1+ Irregular infantry

- Upgrade with Javelins- Shoot 3 (6MU) for +1 Point

0+ Skirmishers

• Sea Peoples can arm 0-2 Units with Iron Weapons at +2 Points per unit
• Sea Peoples can Equip all Units with Terror for +2 Points per unit
• Professional Troops for Sea People may be armed with Thrown Weapons for +2 Points per Unit 

Thrown Weapons

The Sea People had a reputation for barraging their opponents with darts and javelins as they closed the distance to melee.  This was to soften up an enemy as they approached with casualties and laden-down shields.  

A Unit that charges, counter-charges, or is charged may spend a King's Decree to use their thrown weapons.  The enemies' Armor is reduced by 1 to a minimum of 1 in the following melee.  In the End Phase, the opponent's Armor rating is returned to normal.  

Sample Sea People Army 

Below you can see a sample Sea People army built using the Line-of-Battle above.  This is to give you an idea of what a Sea Peoples army could look like.  It is built to a 48-point force.  This force gives you 8 units and 9 King's Decree at the start of the battle. 

1 Professional Infantry                            12

- Thrown Weapons, Terror, Warlord    

1 Light Chariots                                       11

= Javelins, Terror

2 Levy Infantry                                        10                                    

- Javelins

2 Irregular Infantry                                  10

- Javelins

2 Skirmishers                                           4

Painting Sherden from Baccus 6mm

Final Thoughts

This army list adds a completely different style of play to your games of In Strife and Conflict.  Many of the Lines-of-Battle found in the core rules focus on Chariot Wars armies supported by archers and infantry.  The Sea Peoples are a completely different playstyle than the dominant fighting style of the region.  Therefore, any commander who wishes to use the Sea Peoples will have a to develop new strategies and tactics to help make these infantry heavy forces successful.  We do not know historically how the Sea People were about to do this and that is what makes playing a Sea Peoples force so exciting.  

Let me know if you think I missed out on any other Lines-of-Battle for In Stife and Conflict.  I will gladly look into expanding into more forces.   

Until next time! 

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On The Painting Desk- Persian Chariots

 

I have a pretty large Achaemenid Persian army all ready.  I painted it up to play the Ionian Revolt for Men of Bronze.  It has heavy and light cavalry forces, skirmishers, archers, Immortals, and Sparabara to make up the ranks.  However, one thing that I always wanted to add was some Persian Chariots.  Chariots had been a staple in Persian armies from the earliest periods all the way to the infamous scythed chariots used in the final battles against Alexander.  It felt odd not having more chariots in my force.  I had been bugging a few manufacturers to make a Persian chariot in plastic for a while now.  

Wargames Atlantic heard my cries.  However, instead of just making a Persian chariot, they were much smarter than me.  They made a "generic" chariot kit that could be used with all manner of  chariot based armies!  They purposely left crew out of the kit, and gave you the space to put on any crew you wished from Persians, to Minoans, to Gauls, to Egyptians, etc.  Pretty clever really.  As soon as they were up for pre-order, I picked up a set, and I got a box of Persians to crew them. 

Most of my existing Persian force was from Victrix.  However, I had been happy with my Wargames Atlantic Dark Age Irish, so decided to give their Persians a shot too.  I could use extra soldiers to bulk out me large Persian force anyway.  I was contemplating putting on a Battle of Cunaxa from Xenophon's Anabasis.  As that was a civil war, the bulk of the troops would need to look like they came from the Persian army.       

I eagerly broke open the boxes to take a look at what I had gotten myself into.  First, I had been assembling a lot of Victrix and GW models in the last few years.  Therefore, I was a bit surprised when the boxes had no directions.  I gulped, hoping I would be able to figure it all out.  However, upon closer inspection, nothing looked to complicated.  

Chariot Sprues

 

Persian Infantry Sprues

Persian Chariots seemed to be a two-man variety, with two crew and four horses.  I based this take on the Gold Chariot model from the Oxus Treasure vault.  There is some speculation, that the Persians were the first to yoke four horses to a chariot.  Obviously, this set would only have two horses.  In addition, there were no parts for Scythes in this kit.  A few upgrades I think Wargame Atlantic could add to their 3D Printing Tribes options would be parts to make a four-horse and/or scythed chariot.   

I am going to go out on a big limb, and say that Scythed Chariots may not have actually been a thing.  What?  Impossible you say!  Xenophon talks about them, Alexander's biographers talk about them, and so do Romans!  How can you say they may not have been a thing?  Well, all of those sources are from a Western perspective.  There is not really any surviving details from an Eastern perspective.  It is possible, that Scythed Chariot is just a regurgitated trope about "exotic foreign armies" where the truth was something different.  

There is no doubt that Chariots played a role in warfare in the East.  We know that prior to selective breeding of horses to carry riders, they were the fastest way to get around.  In addition, not all areas were suitable for raising horses as strong, big, and skeletally sound enough to carry people.  Therefore, the Chariot as a weapon platform has a long history across the world.  However, Scythed Chariots?  Not so much data about them.  For example, the Oxus Treasure chariot model is NOT a scythed chariot.  In fact, I could not find any Persian references to them at all, but I am not an expert. 

However, whenever Western sources talked about facing off against Eastern and other "exotic foreign" armies the scythed chariot seemed to have been a trope.  The writers loved to talk about the vicious wounds that these weapons could inflict.  They also delighted in talking about how ineffective they were against the stars of western warfare "Heavy Infantry".  Therefore, I am not sure how much of the story of Scythed Chariots is propaganda, intended to entertain, or just a common trope of East meets West narratives.  Classic Historians were as interested in entertaining and story-tellers as much as they were interested in educating.  

Anyway, so that leaves the question how did the Persians actually use a chariot?  There are a few ways they could be used: 

1. Shock platforms - Here is the "classic" example of the Scythed Chariot used in a charge to disrupt enemy formations through their speed, momentum, and power.  This is the de facto use in wargames for Scythed Chariots.   
2. Missile Boats - Here is a more traditional Egyptian style of scooting around and firing arrows at the enemy.  In this model, they act more like a disruption and skirmish force, using speed to maneuver, get into firing position, and then get away before the enemy can retaliate.   
3. Battle Taxi- In this style, the Chariots just move heavily armored soldiers around and drop them off in the thickest fighting.  This is the Homeric style.   
4. Skirmishers - This is a similar approach as traditional cavalry, where they go out and attack stragglers, small groups, or chase down broken foes.    

Xenophon talks about them as both option 1 and option 4.  However, I find it very likely that Persian chariots probably made use of bow-armed troops.  After all, Persian armies focused on speed and firepower for their success.  Cavalry and lightly armored troops with missile weapons were the norm.  Therefore, I find option 2 to be a very compelling use case for a chariot in Persian armies.  

After putting together the models, I find it hard to believe that chariots could ever be used as a Shock platform, they are delicate little things.  I also have a hard time believing people fired arrows from the back with any accuracy.  You would feel every bump!  They must have raced to an area, stopped and fired, and then got going again.  

It is important to note that we never hear about Chariots being a decisive force in either Persian or Greco-Roman sources.  They are treated as just another form of cavalry.  In fact, Sources seem to indicate that they may not have been deployed in their own units, but were probably spread across the frontage of infantry units to act as Skirmishers themselves.  Again, these seems to lean towards Options 2 and 4 as compelling ways for the Persians to have used them.  It is unlikely they would have been operating in large swarms of Chariots!

Granted, the most common Persian enemy was Steppe peoples.  This was a mix of horse mounted troops and foot infantry but most likely lacking the heavy infantry we see in Western armies.  Against such light foot-based foes, the Scythed Chariot may have been very successful!  Sadly, we know very little about the Persia campaigns away from fighting Westerners.  The Persians themselves left us few records on the topic.    

All of this to decide a simple question, how many men in the chariot and how to equip them?  Looking at the model, I think I can only fit 2 in each car.  Therefore, I will try to have 1 soldier/driver and 1 archer.  This fits my conception of how the Persians would use chariots as another form of mounted skirmisher rather than a shock unit on its own.  I am sure others will feel strongly a different way, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.  

All crewed up.  I decided to give this guys all armored bodies.  An investment in a chariot must have been pretty steep.  You would probably try to make is survivable with some skilled soldiers in it.  I also kept the horses, cars, and riders all separate for ease of painting.  

With that done, it was time to go onto painting.  The first step was undercoating.  My original Persians I brush under coated with cheap white acrylic paint.  I did not want these guys to look noticeably different, so I figured I better do the same with them. 

This proved to be a big mistake.  I had trouble getting my Armypainter paints to adhere very well to the models.  In the future, before assembling Wargames Atlantic miniatures I think I will want to give them a bath in warm, soapy water to make sure any manufacturing chemicals are cleaned off.  These can make paint adherence and issue.  In addition, you may want to consider using a plastic spray primer instead of brush priming with a white acrylic.  I think the smoother application of a spray would help resolve this issue.  

I also went back to take a look at my Persian Cavalry, and tried to paint my Chariots in a way that will "fit in" with my existing units.  That meant lots of "natural" colors in yellow and brown, with some accents using orange, light blue, and purple.  I wanted my charioteers to be colorful.  

Once I had the basic colors blocked in, it was time for washing and touch-ups.  This is the technique I have traditionally used for my ancients and my other Persians.  These guys would need to fit in.  For wash, I used an Armypainter Soft Tone which is primarily a brown based wash.  

The wash always helps a model look finished!  The last step was to decide how I wanted to base these models.  I was unsure how to approach it.  For my gladiator chariots, I based them on 1 large base.  I dug around, and did not find anything similar I could use on these models.  I also had plenty of 60mm x 60mm bases I could use.  Ultimately, I decided to not base the models together.  Instead, I kept all three parts separate.  The charioteers can be removed from the chariot, the chariot can be disconnected from the horses.  That way I could swap out crew and steeds with other models if I wished.  

The horses and the Charioteers had puddle bases built onto the model.  Therefore, I decided to paint the Chariot crew bases Oak Brown.  That was the same color as the interior of the Chariot car.  The horses, I based using my traditional method of Territorial Beige cheap acrylic painted base with scatter sprinkled onto it.  

Here is the final result....

The last thing was to put them in with my existing Persian Cavalry and see how they looked.....

Overall, I am happy to add these chariots to my forces!  The Men of Bronze core rulebook has a Battle of Cunaxa scenario.  I think it it time to dig that out and see what I need to make that happen on the tabletop! 

It also got me thinking about the Carthaginians in Sicily again.  The first war against the Greeks on the island featured Carthaginian Chariot forces!  

Until next time.

 

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Battle Report: In Strife and Conflict - Battle of Kadesh Test Run

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.  

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.  

The Hittites were stacking up and preparing to cross the Orontes, when the rest of the Egyptian army arrived on-scene.  With the arrival of the rest of the army, the Egyptians seize the initiative! The Sherden guards storm across the ford and try to attack! However, the ford is too much for them and they become disordered going across, falling short of their foes!  The Archers support the attack with a rain of arrows, that weaken the Hittite infantry on the other side. 

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 archers of the Amun division move in to support the Sherden at the Orontes shore.  With a great push, the Hittite spearmen and support manage to force the ford.  However, with the effort they are a spent force!  Heavy Chariots begin fording the river further upstream.  Seeing the Hittite spearmen fallback, an approaching Levy infantry becomes disordered!  

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.

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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Wargame Design: In Strife and Conflict

 

This game has been a long time in the making.  Those of you who are my Patrons on Patreon have had access to these rules for a year or so.  With their help I have been able to make some adjustments to the game to finalize these rules.  There help focused on finish off these rules.  As thanks, they got access to the finished product months prior to everyone else.  In addition, the Patrons have also had access to the RPG rules of Space Mecha Theatre, a G.I. Joe RPG module, as well as various other work in progress games.  Some games are at the earliest stages, while others are in late stage post-production.   

For the In Strife and Conflict PDF, I needed to paint a couple of armies as part of post-production.  Then, once the two forces were painted I needed to take some photos of them in action.  I am not a photographer and many people would argue I am not much of a painter either.  However, I took a lot of photos and not all of them made it into the rules PDF.  However, I didn't want them to to go to waste.  Therefore, I decided to post them on the Blog as a bit of a photo dump.  

I also decided to use this time to talk about some of the Design Goals.  This game had the following Design Goals when I built them: 

Natives block the Pass

The rules themselves use the Heirs of Empire system as a base.  They were written initially about 5 years ago?  It took that long to prioritize them and complete the post-production.  In that time, I got a lot of great feedback about how to do supporting, the turn sequence, movement speeds, and other points.  I was able to incorporate a lot of those ideas into the core rules themselves.  

Chariots rush forward to clash

As usual, I want all my games to be base and model agnostic.  These ones are no exception.  I used 60 x 60mm bases, but I realize that the base size I chose is not a "universal" choice.  Most people like 40mm frontages.  However, frontage is not really important in this game as long as both sides are roughly based the same.  However, there is some discussion about using multi-based units or single based units.  Therefore, you can really play with 2mm-54mm scale if the players wish.  This is a Unit-vs-Unit game.  

If you are familiar with Wars of the Republic or Men of Bronze you know that I worked to emphasize close combat.  However, in these rules I changed up the base mechanics to emphasize the mobility of chariots and to enhance the role of firepower.  Close combat will still have a role, but archery is much more powerful in these rules than my other ancient rules.  In addition, integrated archery is a key part for a number of core units.  

One of the interesting things about Chariot warfare in the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age is that no one really knows exactly how it worked.  In addition, different nations may have used their Chariot forces in different ways.  For example, it was commonly believed that the Egyptians used their Chariots as a mobile firepower platform.  Assyrians used their Chariots as a mobile shock force, and even used carts to move infantry around as "battle taxis".  Hittites had different types of chariots for different battlefield roles, but what were those roles?  Did they charge with spears?  Did they just get into an advantageous position and dismount?  It is not clear at all how large forces of Chariots were managed or coordinated on the battlefield.  Did they operate in large formations all together?  Did they operate on a tactical scale with squadrons operating alone?  Did they act as individual units?  What exactly was a "Chariot Runner"?  How fast were chariots compared to guys on foot?  How did you use them in a siege?  There are a lot of unanswered questions about Chariot Warfare, so a strong Point-of-View was needed for these rules.               

Therefore, much of how I decided the game would play was based on some assumptions I made about Chariot Warfare.  For fast-paced games, I chose to lean into the idea that Chariots were a mobility element of the army that could go faster and further than foot units.  Is this true?  No one is sure! However, for the purposes of "This Game" I wanted Chariots to be able to zip around quickly, shoot at other units, and hit harder than the equivalent foot units.  I wanted the Chariots to be the logical "core" of a force because they had benefits that other units could not bring.  We don't exactly know how the Ancients used Chariots but we do know they spent a lot of time, effort, and resources to have chariot forces.  Therefore, they must have been a key factor on the battlefield for a reason so I wanted that to be reflected in the game.  

Laying Siege to a city-state

 Like most of my games, I want players to be engaged at all times.  The best way I have found to do that was to make a fluid Initiative system based on using Command Points combined with triggering Special Rules for units with those points.  This is a standard conceit in my Men of Bronze- adjacent games.  In this game, I theme it around a resource called King's Decree.  The King was often the center of the army, and many of our surviving accounts focus on the role of the King/Pharaoh of the force.  It thematically made sense to tie Command Points to the King in this game.    

The game is designed to be played as a Unit-vs-Unit game.  Therefore, the exact number of models is not spelled out.  It depends on what the players decide a "Unit" is composed of and I leave it intentionally vague in the rules.  However, actions happen at a unit basis.  A Unit could be a single based model, a handful of single based units, or a few multi-based units.  It doesn't matter.  However, maneuvers and interactions happen at the unit-vs-unit level.  Special Rules are triggered at the unit level. 

Typically, the game plays with 4+ units per side.  I haven't really found a "top" to the number of units as the game can play pretty fast.  However, I think the "sweet spot" is 4-12 per side to play a game in about 1-2 hours of gameplay.  There is not really a "top" I have found yet as the rules are easy enough for larger games too.  However, unlike Heirs of Empire this is not designed for "Wings" of the army.  However, there is no reason you could not break it into multiple commands and have multiple players per side.  My personal belief is that armies in this period were not that large, despite what some scholars will claim about the size of the armies at battles like Kadesh.  Therefore, a "wings" system did not seem relevant for this game system, but wargamers being wargamers we always want more toys! 

A typical force size

Since this is a unit-vs-unit game, a big difference I make in these rules is that I assume all units are in the best formation for them.  Therefore, if you want to be in a different formation it takes the use of King's Decree to move them into a different formation.  This is similar to how I structured it in Heirs to Empire.  Therefore, most units have some turning and direction restrictions.  Not all units can go into a more maneuverable formation, and there is a cost to being in those looser formations.  

Notably, I did not include the "Melee Phase" in this game.  Instead, I opted to have all melee occur at the time of impact during an activation. I find that this approach makes controlling the Initiative much more impactful during the game.  It does lead to some situations with how "support" works and units charging in after a melee has started.  The rules are much clearer on these points thanks to feedback from my previous games that use this model. 

Two other things I did for this set of rules.  First, I formatted it to no longer use two columns per page.  Some of my early work did this, and I received feedback that it was harder to use as a PDF with that formatting.  Therefore, I went with single pages at a time which should be easier for PDF viewing.  Second, I wised up and finally added a QRS into the document!  That should be a handy resource to print out when you play your first few games.  

Chariots attack while the infantry forms a solid defensive base

Final Thoughts

If you are familiar with my Ancient games, you will see a lot of familiar mechanics and ideas in this game.  The main challenge of this rulebook was to match the core themes of Chariot Warfare with appropriate mechanics to try and catch the proper Point-of-View for the style of warfare within the rules framework I use for Ancient games.  That meant emphasizing the mobility and potential power of the chariots, and using infantry as a base to operate for support, firepower, and holding ground.  I also improved missile firepower compared to my Greek/Roman focused games. 

Overall, I am really happy with how the game plays.   This was a modification and not a revolution of the core system.  If you have liked my other Ancients games, you will like this.  If you have not liked them you will not like this one.  

Let me know if you have any questions.  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!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

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

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!