Fm Delium 424 BC.zip- (4.59 KiB) Downloaded 277 times
Designer's notes:
the main challenge here is to how to accurately model the depth of the Boeotian right wing. Having a group of units formed up one behind the other is problematic because any player will spread them out and furthermore this set up makes it fragile if the front unit routs through the rear units. The answer is to double the body count in the counter (although this has no effect gamewise) to simulate the greater mass of men and to make the counter's fighting attribute stronger than the standard hoplite. the standard hoplite unit being poor, the massed hoplite unit will be average, with a leader (but not for all).
the other problem, not specific to this battle in particular, but something that I have been looking into resolving pertains to the 'clumping' tactic. by that i mean the tendency of players to dissolve the battle line into discrete fighting groups, for instance bringing his whole centre to his right. it's a very efficient way to run a DAG battle but not historical at all, especially with infantry. thus the introduction of 'objective' counters (basically a baggage unit) that a player needs to protect (he is not forced to but peeling away will deplete his break points). This concept also allows for the channelling of particular attacks to fall into historical patterns.
The boeotian army was said to have been accompanied by up to 10,000 light troops. the source said however that waterways on both wings neutralized them and nothing is heard about their contribution. I therefore mostly ignored them. being a typical hoplite battle, it comes down to whoever crushes the others' left wing the fastest.
*i have used my time off and access to a research library to work on 5 scenarios: nicopolis 1396, kalka river 1223, poitiers 1356, delium 424 bc, and adrianople 378, in this order. yes, it 's what i do for fun nowadays... the other 4 are done and will be posted shortly.
