rs2excelsior (Pontic 110-85BC) beat cromlechi (Egyptian 405-343BC) 53-28
Not much in the way of daring maneuvers or fancy tactics in this one. The Pontic army deployed their three pikes together, supported by some barbarian warbands and Pontic troops who wish they were Roman legionaries but aren't. Thureophoroi were positioned to take a rough hill to the right of the main Pontic line. Pontic cataphracts and lancers took the left flank, while the Iranian cavalry took the right. The Egyptians outnumbered the Pontic army, with a long line of alternating spearmen and archers backed up by some Greek mercenaries.
Knowing they couldn't survive the hail of Egyptian arrows for long, the Pontic army charged. On the left, the lancers crushed the right wing of the Egyptian army. On the right, the Iranian cavalry had less luck in the more broken terrain, but at least tied up much of Egypt's own horsemen. The thureophoroi made it to the hilltop and pushed the Egyptian light troops off, advancing to the main enemy line in order to get out of the rain of arrows. Unfortunately, in the open they weren't a match for the Egyptian spears and especially the Greek hoplites which came to support them, and were routed despite fighting bravely against the odds. But the main act was in the center. Screened by light archers, the Pontic main line crashed into the Egyptian line, and the sarissas took a deadly toll on the lightly protected Egyptian troops. The pikes even blew through a Greek hoplite unit which came to reinforce. The tribesmen proved their worth, scattering Egyptians before them, and one of the wannabe legion cohorts was overwhelmed by Egyptian forces coming down off of the victorious fight at the hill--though their sacrifice bought time for the pikes to do their work. The Pontic army was reforming, turning to face the threat to their right and rear, and facing an unenviable choice of attacking strong forces uphill or sitting under Egyptian arrow fire, when the commander of a thureophoroi battalion managed to rally his troops. The sounds of Pontic horns and shouted orders to the rear of their line caused a panic, thinking that Pontic reinforcements had arrived behind them, and the battered Egyptian army fled the field.
The final battlefield in the vicinity of the main infantry fight. You can see the Egyptians in possession of the hill which my thureos failed to push them off of. The re-formed Pontic lancers are to the left, preparing to ride back into the fight, and you can just see the fragmented thureo on the far right which ended the battle.
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