Slitherine

This is my first attempt at an AAR. I'll endeavour to add as much detail as possible regarding my choices.

Stage 1: Army Selection

It is a set battle at 700 pts between Sparta and Persia. The Persian list has terrible cavalry (18-22 pts for a tin can that loses on impact fights as one melee then breaks off to do it again - a 10pt cavalry without the frills is better) but at 700 pts I have few options besides quality when choosing what to field so I'm stuck wasting points on them. In a 500 or less point battle I only field the minimum Median cavalry (3) and don't purchase the elite and make said cavalry my generals. Besides this the Spartans are supreme in melee so I purchase my Immortals without armor as the 3pt difference total 24pts and I can funnel it into creating an additional troop general. As far as I'm concerned being 1 or 2 down in POA during melee doesn't make a difference. I'm gonna lose either way so if my army is brought to melee under his terms then I'm finished. If I play well then when I melee it will be from a position where it matters little about the result and all that matters is how I impacted him. Otherwise the remainder of my army choice is academic. Pick-up everything that shoots and make it average unless armed with javelins which I'll make poor.

I've looked at my DAG list and built my army so now before accepting I go to the Spartan list and create a 700 point army trying to imagine how to negate the Persian archery. The list is basic - spears running from one side to the other. The points make the battlefield just right for his army so that I can't maneuver around him and all he needs to do is move forward. He has some LF but they have little impact as I'm fielding even less and relying upon MF bow. The best counter for the Spartans besides being armoured tanks, with only a single direction to worry about, is to purchase his sub-standad cavalry but in fact are awesome since they have light spear and for less points outclass my over-priced cavalry. So I anticipate he'll buy all the cavalry to allow his men to catch any dancing bows.

Now I go back and edit my list and purchase all the chariots and elite cavalry to counter his cavalry. I can see that he'll have excellent generals at 700 points so I purchase 4 troop commanders with the express purpose of doing a double-move first turn. After that they just sit around as we'll be too close and I'll use them to strike any cavalry that charges my line. Also they'll command the Median cavalry as a mobile reserve to plug any disasters. I would purchase field commanders but the net radius will be better with 4 troop commanders if I'm to max out my army size. The generals need to be better quality if you intend to melee so as to improve army morale in combat which is not my strategy.

Stage 2: Deployment

I start with a higher initiative so select default terrain to allow my MF to have a better chance fighting in patches of terrain but still want wide open spaces to get the maximum out of my bows. If when creating his army I could see it wouldn't stretch from side to side with armoured spear then I'd choose very open terrain to increase the odds of outflanking.

Terrain is generated and I lose the initiative roll so his terrain selection is favored and results in a map that couldn't be better for me though I'll have to be careful with the woods as when I turn and retreat into them I may get caught in the rear if it is poorly timed. Now I deploy Immortals in the center as it is all open there ad they are drilled and best at retreating while shooting. Then extendthe archers to each edge with mobile troops dispersed behind. I prepare a secondary line with the assyrians to increase bow fire in a localized are. Always attempt to concentrate fire on what particular part of the line to achieve a game affecting result. Desultory fire against many units is pointless.

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Turn 1: Forward

Basically I move the entire army forward to close the distance and eliminate as much of his double move. I'm moving away from my incredible defensive terrain because I need time to pepper his lines with archers but the intent is to fall back to the hill and fight on the ridge. This strategy has faults in that I put some units at threat to his cavalry when they break from behind the line to catch retreating units and if I mistime or poorly handle the retreat I'll place my line in a state of confusion and susceptible to being caught or destroyed piece meal. On the otherhand if all goes well I'll rout a couple of units before he impacts though that may not be enough of an impact at this size of a game.

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Turn 2: Skirmishing Begins

Moving off the hill now allows my units to start firing. I begin positioning my mounted elements but try and constantly move them around to psyche out my opponent. In truth he has nothing to fear from them as his spear wall will have more POA if I decided to suicide myself and charge. I start aiming at units that I can achieve 50% hit rates as they are the poor skirmishers. With a bit of luck I can cut one or two down to near break levels should he remain in bow range. I begin moving the spears to take up a position on the ridge with support from the Assyrians. The spears will be up a POA on impact versus the spartiates and same again in the melee. The Assyrians will be a point up on impact but down one in melee unless the spear becomes disordered.

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Turn 3: Skirmishing Continues

I start falling back now with the Medians forced to run away but the Immortals capable of turn retreat and turn then fire. I start concentrating fire on the superior spartans to soften his center but being armored stops a lot of the damage. He'll hit my ridge line with a healthy spear wall but breaking through should deplete him sufficiently that I will have opportunities to counter attack at a latter stage. My wings I'll pull back as his cavalry is coming out to play and I start moving the chariots to each flank to handle any mounted threats.

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Turn 4: Another Volley

I'm continuing to withdraw and place fire upon selected units. They are starting to get worn down. Hitting his poor LF is getting them ready to auto-break. Hopefully he won't realise his predicament and keep skirmishing with them. Moved some cavalry out purely to take shots at him but they will retire immediately. The key is that none of my units remain wthin charge range on the flanks while tempting him into the center. In truth his spears are 2POA up in melee in the woods with 2 dice versus 3 so if he decides to come in then I'll withdraw to the hill behind.

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Turn 5: First Contact

His initial charge in the center went a lot better than the odds would suggest but my men are holding. The far left Lydian has been crushed so I don't think he'll hold on too much longer. The other points should fare better. My right flank Medians have turned to see if they can bait his cavalry in. I've moved my cavalry to hit their flank if he tries. It would be crazy if he charges as he'll place himself too far ahead of the supporting foot and after impact and countercharge by my cavalry he will be forced to break-off without having achieved zip. Continuing to concentrate missile fire on selected units and his LF and a couple of spartiates have seen much better days. On my left flank to stop any thrust into the woods I'm placing my marines hidden behind the line. They'll make short work of anything charging the medians there.

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Turn 6: No Charge

I think Anders has made a fatal mistake. He is deciding to hold his line back and fight in localized spots. This is allowing my arrow storm to take toll of his waiting troops. In addition he is deploying his LF to the front to be shot to pieces. I only need to drop them to 65% for 2 BP's and his return fire is ineffective at best. Fighting piece meal in the center allows me to maximize the use of bows and easily maintain strong defenses on the ridge. Even if one routs I'll be able to plug the hole or countercharge the attritioned spear reaching the heights with fresh units. This all feeds into his poor deployment from game start so he is limiting his choices. From outset I could see that if he deployed his army to attack the center after advancing onto my right flank where it is open he could of crushed the Persians. Like too many players the haste to attack will be his ultimate undoing. If he held his center way back, advanced his left and used a minimal force to refuse his right he could of struck the hill from two sides and the hill is weaker to defend from the open flank. In this way he could of flanked the entire Persian host.

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Turn 8: Gaining the Upperhand



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