The Society of Ancients Convention provided a great opportunity to once again showcase my Alala! Greek Hoplite rules. The scenario was 1st Mantinea (418 BC) with the Argives and Athenians battling it out for mastery of the Peloponnese. We had 3 players on each side with others dropping in to watch the action.
The fully illustrated scenario may be freely downloaded from my website here.
The action kicked off when the Athenians on the allied left signalled the advance immediately.
With only C Grade hoplites the Athenian player could more easily upgrade his units’ aggression when on the move, He was also hoping to catch the Spartan allied left wing before they had time to reorder their ranks. His confidence was further bolstered by his superior cavalry supported by light infantry.
Despite superior Athenian horsemanship, their Spartan opponents were favoured by the gods and had the better of it when the cavalry clashed.
Drawing the Cerberus’ Bite card, the Spartan cavalry were aided by the Hound of Hades as they harassed the flank of the advancing Athenian hoplites. However the Athenian psiloi moved to shoot up the Spartans, forcing them to withdraw from the field.
The fact that my Hound of Hades marker was a small 15mm dog drew guffaws of amusement from the players. He looked far too cute to frighten the enemy.
I shall have to paint up a larger and fiercer looking beast!
The Spartans kept their men back as they wished to re-order their lines before engaging.
With the Athenians rapidly advancing on the allied left, the Mantineans and Argives on the right also signalled the advance. Archelaos commanding the allied centre had only 2 command points which made it difficult for him to raise aggression. When the Spartan Terror god card was drawn (a scenario specific card) his units became shaken even before they had begun to advance.
A fierce combat swung back and forth on the allied left between the Athenians and the Spartan allies. It was similar on the other wing with the Spartans gaining some ground.
It looked as if the Spartans were gaining the ascendancy but the two centres had not yet engaged.
Full of confidence King Agis led his elite Spartan citizens against Archelaos holding the Argive and Arkadian centre. Archelaos had only just managed to get his men back into fighting order so a Spartan victory seemed imminent.
Then disaster struck!
King Agis was killed in the fight and the fates intervened to guide Archelaos’ dice rolling. The Spartans retired in disorder leaving the field to the Argive and Athenian allies.
It was an exciting game. The early Athenian advance set the tone and although the Allies rarely succeed in wining the initiative they managed to dominate the action with the Spartans reacting to their moves. It could have gone either way until the very last moment when the untimely death of King Agis and the intervention of the fates on behalf of Archelaos snatched victory for the Allies at the critical moment.
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