Gladius

Legion versus Phalanx

2011-11-27T00:59:00.003-05:00

In the Society of Ancients magazine issue 278; Patrick Waterson wrote an interesting article on Legion, Phalanx and Pachyderm. In this article Patrick describes the reason why the phalanx was invincible when an enemy only faced its front. Time after time, battles showed the Legion was rolled over by the phalanx unless the terrain broke up the wall of spears and the legionaries took advantage of the gaps and / or outflanked the phalanx. In such cases the legionaries always won. This demonstrates the fragile nature of the phalanx and the need for combined arms support for the phalanx to win the day.
The question posed by Patrick is - Does the rules set reflect the real world described above? Testing of the Ancient Warfare engine shows that a massed rank phalanx of 12 ranks (512 men) will roll over the legionary units to their front. However, if there are only 6 ranks deep (256 men) or less, the phalanx will in the process of grinding down the legionaries suffer too many casualties. The net result is the phalanx disintegrates and the pike men rout. The legionaries also suffer to the point where the combat units are no longer battlefield worthy. Hence the need for the Legion to have 2 or 3 lines of units to continue the battle.
It is interesting to discuss if the rules used in this computer game give too much benefit to the legionary or only reflects the fragility of a phalanx that lacks depth. Alexander used a phalanx that was 8 ranks deep whilst the Hellenistic armies faced by the Romans used 16 ranks deep and at Magnesia 32 ranks deep.
Certainly, once the phalanx is disrupted by terrain or combat its effectiveness is reduced sufficiently for the legionaries to win a frontal struggle. How accurately do you think Ancient Warfare games reflect combat between the Legion and the Phalanx?

The Use of Light Infantry

2011-03-21T10:01:00.001-04:00

by Lucius….

Light infantry should primarily be used to keep enemy missile troops away from your main body and to harass the enemy main line. Missiles will weaken but will not destroy an enemy MI / HI unit, but it is possible to cause enough loss to an enemy unit that their morale breaks and they rout from the battlefield. However, it is unlikely the enemy will stand and receive missile fire sufficiently long without taking some counter measure such as the use of cavalry.

Light infantry without missiles are effectively useless and a liability as their loss will award victory points to your opponent. The only time you should consider moving your LI into melee combat is to engage other LI.

Cavalry is the nemesis of light infantry. If caught by MC or HC shock troops your LI can be eliminated very quickly. Good practice is therefore to provide support for your LI with either MI or HI or cavalry of your own.

If supporting with MI or HI, place your missile troops just 2 hexes ahead. This allows your heavier infantry to charge through and protect them. If cavalry are the supporting group then ensure they can reach your LI within ¼ of their movement allowance to protect them from oncoming enemy units. Remember your own units cannot charge through your LI unless the combined stack level is 100% or below. An example is shown below where HI is providing the support (click for a larger view):

When skirmishing, remember that LI use 30 action points for every volley fired. That means you can't move your full movement allowance if you intend to reserve APs for fire. In clear terrain, for example, you can move only 3 hexes. Note that if enemy units are already in range then the skirmish command will cause units to fire before undertaking any movement.

Foots archers can fire over intervening friendly forced. Overhead fire has a reduced range – e.g., the composite bow can range to only 6 instead of 9 hexes – so it's often useful to place your archers directly behind the main line as seen below:

Another useful role for LI is scouting. They move rapidly and can penetrate rough terrain easily. Use them to dispel Fog of War. They can be easily lost when used in this role, but the information benefit can be well worth it.

Create New Group button

2011-02-13T09:35:00.001-05:00

…by Lucius

When playing with the ‘Command Control’ option on, the Create New Group button is your best friend.

Command Control gives a player realism and a whole new level of challenges. Once you have mastered the basics of the game, I recommend you always play with this option on.

With the Command Control option in play, all units within a group must be within the command range of their leader or risk becoming fixed in position and unable to move. There is nothing worse than mounting a full-scale attack and finding some of your key units are suddenly immobile because outside command range. To avoid this you are advised to take 2 key actions –

1 – Always check the command range of your leaders (use the toolbar ‘sword’ button to display command range) at the start of your turn. Re-assign units to a new group and leader if the units to be moved may end up out of command range of their original leader. Note – Legendary leaders can command any unit within the leader's range, not just those assigned as part of its group.

2 – Keep your leaders out of harm’s way. Loss of a leader can cripple your attempt to move the army forward. Loss of a leader also has a significant impact on the morale of units in the same group. I only use leaders in combat as a last-gasp attempt to hold a position and when the number of units remaining in the group is very few. Even if a group is destroyed except for the leader, the leader can be re-assigned to command another group. You may consider this to be a bit ‘gamey’ as many ancient battles were fought with their leaders in the front line and many battles were lost for the same reason. Ultimately it is up to you.

Any new group that you create is immediately operational in the game but it will not free up a fixed unit until the next turn.

The Testudo

2011-02-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

Paul, a.k.a. Lucius, esteemed programmer and designer, explains the use of the Testudo in the games in a document to be found here. The document is downloadable and you might want to include it in your manual printout. The existing manual does not give enough information on the use of this formation but it will be updated.

Tim

Roman Tactics: Cavalry

2011-02-11T09:01:00.001-05:00

…by Lucius

Back to my favourite period in history – the Punic Wars and particularly the Second Punic War…

Everyone thinks of the Legionary when we talk about the Roman army but Roman cavalry is less well-known. The Roman army of this earlier period used its own citizens or local Italian allies in the main cavalry force. Not until the conquest of Gaul and later did other nationalities begin to provide the principal numbers to the cavalry arm of the Roman army.

This article will look at use of the Roman Citizen / Italian allied Heavy Cavalry (HC).

These cavalry are shock troops designed to crash into an enemy and use the long sword or short spear for the kill. They are high in point value and should be used sparingly. Look to support them with Legionaries or light troops. Although traditionally used on the wings of an army, heavy cavalry, when numbers are small, can be better placed as a strategic reserve to the rear of the army. They can then be used at the critical point to turn a battle, stop a flanking attack, or seize the initiative when a gap appears in the enemy line.

Do not commit your HC to a frontal attack on large numbers of light medium, medium, or heavy infantry. The enemy infantry will absorb the shock of your HC charge then start to kill more than they lose. Maximum benefit comes by charging into the rear of an enemy unit. HC can also roll over artillery units and light infantry.

The other key role for HC is to face off against enemy cavalry and neutralise the threat of an enemy envelopment. In this way they give the main infantry line time to destroy the enemy centre.

Size? The optimum number is usually between 30 – 60 per unit. If the combat is expected to last more than two turns I seek to operate units with a strength of 45 each. Remember that cavalry units > 50 suffer a fatigue multiplier and can wear out very quickly in combat.

Morale in Ancient Warfare

2011-02-03T09:58:00.001-05:00

… by Lucius

Morale – better known in the game as fatigue -- is at the heart of Ancient Warfare. Most battles are won or lost on the state of an army's morale and you ignore it at your peril. The purpose of this short article is to bring morale and fatigue back to the forefront of player's minds, and to remind them of some of the specific rules that govern it in the game.

When a unit's fatigue level rises to 70 it automatically routs. Once rout occurs the unit disintegrates into a rabble and losses to it can increase dramatically as the unit is no longer capable of defending itself. Moreover, a rout can seriously affect the morale of nearby units and a chain reaction can begin that can quickly unravel your entire situation.

There are 3 levels of fatigue – Low (no problem controlling units), Medium (disadvantage when in combat), and High (unit unlikely to respond to your commands, poor fighting ability, low kill rate on the opposition). A player can use the quick colour guide to see at a glance the level of fatigue among his units. Click Display – Show Unit’s Fatigue Level to reveal the units suffering from low, medium and high fatigue. This works both in 2D and 3D views.

Fatigue increases from several causes. The level will increase by 1 for each casualty suffered, by 2 for each quarter turn the unit charges, and 2 per quarter turn the unit undergoes forced march.

While units rout automatically at level 70, rout can occur earlier as a result of a poor reaction test. Many things can cause a unit to undergo reaction testing – it happens all the time, if invisibly, in the game. To avoid failing these tests, it's very helpful to have friendly units in good morale adjacent. Conversely, having a routing unit nearby can lower the chances of passing a reaction test.

Units along the fighting line can fatigue quickly. To avoid a problem the Roman player may wish to use the special capabilities of legionary units to refresh the front line. See the "Retire Front Line" command under the Units menu. Once withdrawn, fatigued units can rest and if the battle is well-managed they may actually return to the fray.

This ability to retire the front line is unique to the Roman side and is one of the reasons the Roman player can be hard to beat if he manages his forces well. However, the Roman player faces a Catch-22 here; if the unit is too fatigued it may fail a reaction test and disobey the order to retire from the front line. All the more reason to pay the closest attention to fatigue levels.

To recover from fatigue a unit must not move, fire, be fired at, charge, or melee in a turn. It must also not be in a building or involved in destroying a bridge or creating a palisade.

New Scenario for Alexandrian Wars

2011-02-01T13:10:00.000-05:00

The recent game survey revealed that the majority of players prefer to game against the AI. We'd like to meet this demand by designing scenarios that are optimal when played against the AI only. Here's a new one from Paul called "Mountain Pass". Take the Macedonians against the Persian AI and enjoy!

You can get it here.

New Punic Wars Scenario

2011-01-27T12:50:00.001-05:00

I designed this in Punic Wars even though the time frame puts it in the range of Gallic Wars -- the reason being, to take advantage of the Iberian counter mix.

From the scenario description:

The first battle in the epic military career of Quintus Sertorius in Spain. After landing in Spain with a small force of Roman infantry and Mauretanian cavalry, Sertorius moved toward Lusitania to assume command of the revolt against the rule of the Sullan faction. The Roman governor of Hither Spain, Lucius Fufidius, sought to interdict him near the Baetis River. Plutarch states that Sertorius had already merged fully with Lusitanian forces by the time battle was joined, but some modern historians are less certain. This scenario supposes that a junction happens during the course of the battle. The size and composition of the Sertorian army is given by Plutarch, but the army of Fufidius, though known to be larger, is mainly conjectural.

Note the presence of Lusitanian reinforcements on the left edge of the map.

Romans, 11k+, Sertorians, 10k+. Romans are first side.

Get it here!

Mass v. Multiplicity

2011-01-26T09:20:00.001-05:00

…thanks to Al Amos for persistently pointing out this problem. He's been crying in the wilderness for a long time.

There's a problem with the way phalanx combat is represented in Alexandrian Wars and Greek Wars. While not technically a bug, it certainly is a major design oversight that allows the AI and some players to easily distort history. Let me illustrate:

Hoplite warfare relied on mass. Crudely put, the bigger the phalanx, the harder it could push, and the harder it pushed the more likely it was to eventually roll over its opponent. Ancient Warfare recognizes this quite well; the larger the group of spearmen, the more positive modifiers it will get in melee. For example, this unit of hoplites gets +2 in melee because it

it has > 12 ranks in depth. To get that much of a modifier, you need > 287 men. This is a formidable unit and will crush just about anything smaller.

Let's say it and 5 other units like it are involved in a nose-t0-nose fight with similar units of strength 288. The smaller unit will have the same +2 at the outset, but lacking those extra 50 men it can't hang onto it after the first round of casualties. Those extra 50 or so bodies make a big difference, just as they would in historical othismos. After just a few turns, in my test scenario, the rout is complete:

The smaller blue guys (Athenians) are running away from the Thebans, having taken losses of over 600 men to the other guy's 300. And this rout will happen every time.

Perfect. This is exactly what we'd expect to see in an accurate historical representation of hoplite warfare. Mass wins!

The problem is, the AI doesn't care about history. It cares about the numbers, and about winning. What the AI (and some gamey players) will often do in these situations is split its units. Instead of one unit of 288, it will convert to two of 144. Why would it do that? A unit of that size won't even get a +1 modifier in melee. They're sure to lose even worse than before, right?

Not. The reason is that the game allows more than one unit in hex to melee. And the way the math works, sometimes two units of 144 are better than one unit of 288.

Look at this:

Same battle, the one the Thebans (green) won so easily before. But this time the Athenians are fighting in multiple units of 144. And what a difference that makes! The tables have turned completely. The rout is on (the white highlights indicate routed Theban units). Theban morale is at 5. It's over. Not a single Athenian unit has routed and though they are only about 100 ahead in KIA the totals are about to get a whole lot more lopsided.

So, the problem is that the game allows multiple units to subvert the historical effects of mass, unrealistically.

There is a further unrealism involved: two phalanx units should not be allowed to melee from the same hex. The only way they could do so, physically, is by rotating front to back Roman-style, and that is just not feasible with this type of unit in such a small hex. And they just wouldn't split like that, historically.

The fix should be easy enough (I hope!) and I expect to see it in the next upgrade. Again, this is not a bug per se but an oversight that too readily allows historicity to be trumped by gamey calculation.

Movement Sequence

2011-01-19T12:24:00.001-05:00

An under-appreciated aspect of the Ancient Warfare engine is Movement Sequence. Units move in order of type and sometimes this can create traffic problems that lead to confusing and unanticipated results. This is never more apparent than in scenarios involving units that are on roads.

Here’s an example drawn from “The Long Road Home” in Gallic Wars. We have baggage trains, civilians, infantry, and cavalry strung out along a road. You might think that the road order will take precedence and the units will move serially in a nice even fashion. Not so. Due to the sequencing rules, civilians, for example, move before baggage trains; so when the civilian in the middle tries to move, he runs into a baggage train in the square ahead. He can’t pass through the hex, so the engine may have him try to sidestep by going off the road. Likewise, cavalry moves before infantry, so the cavalry at the head of the column will find the roadway blocked too and likewise will go off the road in an effort to get around the infantry.

So you see what can happen. The entire road column might disorganize and leave you with a mess on your hands.

Much depends on stacking limits, please note; if in the blocking infantry and the moving cavalry together are < 100% of stacking, the cavalry can potentially move through the infantry, but that will result in mutual disruption due to violation of the interpenetration rules.

The same thing can happen with non-road movement too. Traffic control is just as important on an open field as on a road. Units there move at different times too and sometimes a unit will block the way of another. There are several possible results. The blocked unit can fail to move; it can move in an unexpected manner; or it may interpenetrate the blocking unit, possibly causing disruption.

So please pay attention to movement sequence. If you do, you’ll keep your forces in a far better state of organization, and that is critical to victory.

Here’s the Movement Sequence as given in the latest version of the manual:

1 - MC	9 - LHI	17 - Mantlets
2 - HC	10 - LMI	18 - Stone throwing engine
3 - MI	11 - LCh	19 - Battering Ram
4 - EHC	12 - LI	20 - Assault Tower
5 - SHC	13 - LC	21 - Leader
6 - HI	14 - Civilians	22 - Camelry
7 - HCh	15 - Bolt shooting engine
8 - El	16 – Wagons

As for those road scenarios, the best way to avoid the impending chaos is to move units at the head of the column only and create gaps between different types of units to avoid one unit bumping in to another. Remember, one unit can only move 1/4 of their movement points before the other friendly units try to move. This is repeated 4 times before the end of the turn. So you can make it work with a little caution. And don’t hesitate to do a little tweaking in the Scenario Editor!

Macedonian Phalangites

2011-01-17T17:01:00.001-05:00

…by Lucius

As in history, the Macedonian phalanx in the game can be an awesome weapon. Unless faced by another formation of pike men, an experienced phalanx will literally run over the opposition.

However, you need to be careful, because the phalanx is very brittle and easily routs if attacked in the rear.

To appreciate just how impressive the phalanx can be and how exposed it is to the rear, we will look at the combat modifiers in the game:-

For a phalanx of pike men 256 men deep in one unit, the game allows the first 3 ranks to be in combat. This means 24 x 3 ranks = 72 men attacking with modifier –

+1 if troops armed with pike with 8-12 ranks deep (that is with a unit strength of >255 and <385 )

This would typically result in an enemy HI unit loosing 30 men in one turn (note that there are up to 4 melee phases in a turn).

If a phalanx is hit in the rear by say an enemy HC unit, the combat modifier for the attacking cavalry is–

+3 if attacking the rear, right rear or left rear of a pike or long thrusting spear unit.

This would typically result in a phalangite unit loosing 70 men in one turn (again, note the number of phases per turn).

Losses such as this would result in the defensive unit routing after 1 or 2 turns.

How do you attack the rear of a phalanx? The most effective way is to pin it facing forward with an equally strong infantry force then loop round a mobile shock unit capable of charging in.

A pike phalanx gains positive melee modifiers as its strength increases, but the positive effect on morale of having friendly units to the sides and rear is in my opinion more important. Accordingly I prefer to have 2 rows of 256 pikemen rather than a single unit of 512.

Survey Follow-up Question…

2011-01-15T11:56:00.001-05:00

As Lucius noted below, we're seeking more input on how the interface can best be improved. Help us out by answering this quick question:

Lucius on AW Survey Results…

2011-01-15T10:11:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who entered the survey and submitted their comments. All comments are taken seriously and often tested out by HPS and if suggestions appear to improve the quality of the game they are included in the first update possible. Over the years, HPS has included many points from the public in its development of the Ancient Warfare series.

The survey was very helpful in clarifying and confirming a number of points believed to be true by the HPS team. The survey said –

1 - Players do enjoy the 3D view and it is seen as a positive aspect of the game.

HPS is looking in to a 3D zoom out view to give a better overview of the battlefield whilst still providing a 3D view. Readers’ opinion on this possibility would be appreciated.

2 - Further development of the interface is required.

Improvements to the Interface have historically been centred on the player’s desire to reduce the number of clicks to achieve a certain action or result. The game’s development has now reached the point where there are many views as to what would constitute an improvement to the Interface. Further comments are welcome on what type of Interface improvement you are looking for.

3 – Program documentation is considered good but 30% said it was only OK.

HPS has found many people do not read the Rules document provided with the game so a quick reference sheet will be created.

4 – 24% want digital downloads.

HPS are working to provide that facility.

5 – 56% only play against the computer AI and do not use the Play by E-mail mode.

HPS will create more scenarios designed for play against the AI. Keep checking the HPS web site for free downloads. www.hpssims.com

6 – Players requested a further 2D zoom in view with unit details on the counters.

The Ancient Warfare game does provide a ‘fly-by’ box. When this option is ticked a player can move the mouse over any friendly unit and the type and strength of the unit(s) in the hex appear in a grey box by the counter. This option is available by clicking menu – Display – Unit Fly-By Box

HPS will consider a more detailed 2D zoom in view.

Lucius

Using Light Chariots…

2011-01-13T13:52:00.001-05:00

by Lucius….

Light chariots are really skirmishing platforms. Ensure the chariot is armed with a javelin man or archer. Then, use the skirmishing command to keep one step away from your enemy and wear them down. The chariot is highly mobile in flat open terrain and can tie down a large enemy unit. Continual missile fire will disrupt the enemy formation and make it susceptible to the main attack with your infantry.

Always keep the chariot unit at strength 4 or less to ensure the ‘Over Stacking’ rule does not stop your movement.

Chariots are no good against formed organised infantry units. However, if they come across undefended enemy light infantry then they can run them down.

Keep the chariots away from enemy missile units as they can eliminate the chariots quickly. If chariots encounter enemy LI then issue the command to charge them immediately instead of trading missile fire.

Game Giveaway concluded…

2011-01-10T13:47:00.001-05:00

The Ancient Wars Game Giveaway is now over. The last 10 copies of Gallic Wars went out on a first-come, first-serve basis this morning. I have to say, this was fun!

The games are shipping from the UK, so please allow a bit of time for them to arrive.

Alexandrian Wars on YouTube…

2011-01-10T13:17:00.001-05:00

Bluntforcegamer has uploaded a bit of footage showing various scenarios and the action in Alexandrian Wars…. see it here:

http://youtu.be/NqLXGPZ5h2Y?a

Thanks, Jason!

Lucius on Tactics…. Lesson 1

2011-01-08T10:03:00.001-05:00

Use of Elephants

Elephants are particularly vulnerable to enemy light infantry (LI) with javelins. To protect them it is recommended they are always surrounded and supported by your own LI missile units. Normally the elephants and LI are assigned as one group.

Elephants on the Attack:

Elephants can assault large infantry formations and cause significant losses but this tends to be a suicide mission. Frontal assault on a Roman Legionary formation is more effective than one on a Macedonian Phalanx formation.

If you have large numbers assign 8 per unit and place each unit adjacent to the other, no gaps, and charge the main enemy formation for maximum impact. If this is done, keep your other units well to the rear in case the elephants go on a rampage and turn towards your own line.

Elephants on the Defense:

Personally I prefer to place my elephants on the flanks - to prevent enemy cavalry outflanking my main infantry body and circling to attack the army rear. Elephants disorganise cavalry units and prevent them from entering adjacent hexes. By stationing a few elephant units on the flanks you can neutralise the enemy’s attempt to win the flank with his cavalry. Similarly, placing an elephant group at the rear of your main body gives you a reserve that can hold off any enemy cavalry that may have won the flank battle.

Next article will be -

The best use of Gallic Light Chariots

Digital Download Coming from HPS

2011-01-05T19:48:00.001-05:00

I just had this in from Scott Hamilton at HPS, with a request to post it:

All new HPS releases will be available in digital download format (as well as CD). We will also go back and make the older games available on DD as well.

Thanks for the news, Scott! Hope we have a time-line from you next....

Ancient Wars Game Giveaway!

2011-01-05T09:14:00.001-05:00

To get the New Year started properly Lucius is giving away a few copies of Gallic Wars and Punic Wars....

To qualify you have only to take a simple quiz.

The quiz will require some knowledge of Ancient Wars. That's a bummer for those who don't have any of the titles and would like to get their first one, but existing customers naturally have priority.

There are several questions, and you have to answer only one. You can choose the question based on which AW title you are most familiar with.

The questions and complete quiz instructions can be found here. Good luck!

The Classic Cavalry Charge

2011-01-04T19:50:00.001-05:00

… by Lucius

The effective use of shock heavy cavalry can be devastating to the defender. How is it done?

Heavy cavalry are no match for massed ranks of steadfast infantry with spears. To be effective they need to hit the enemy in the flank or - preferably - in the rear.

Below is a screenshot of Alexander’s famous household cavalry charging into the rear of a Persian infantry block. In two turns these regular Persian spearmen were routed with enormous losses. When you look at the combat modifiers it is easy to appreciate why the Companions are so effective.

Here's the math. The Elite HC in Wedge formation gain the following positive modifiers:

+1 if attacking the rear, right rear or left rear of a non-pike / non-long thrusting spear unit.
+1 if unit is ‘Elite’.
+1 if a non-militia, non-levy unit is charging in to contact.
+2 if charging in or subject to uncontrolled advance to the rear of a unit.
+2 if Heavy Cavalry charging in to contact.

A total of +7 for an attacking unit can easily cause losses of over 50 men in one turn!

So why were those Persian infantry facing the other way? Look again at that screenshot and you will see a Macedonian phalanx facing them. This pins down the Persians and prevents them from turning to face the rapid envelopment from Alexander’s cavalry.

Ancient Warfare Survey

2010-12-31T08:14:00.000-05:00

We've created an on-line survey to gauge player feelings about Ancient Warfare. Please have a look at it. It's only 8 questions and won't take long at all. It will be a big help to the games' development.

You can find it here: Ancient Warfare Survey

Thanks, and Happy New Year!!

Ancient Wars Map Stockpile...

2010-12-30T13:31:00.001-05:00

Players may not know that maps from any Ancient Warfare title can be used to design a scenario in any other AW title. The maps are totally convertible from one game to another. This fact can compensate for lack of a map editor.

To make it easier to access all those maps, you can get all of them here in convenient zip format!

Links...

2010-12-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

Apropos Lucius' recent post on Greek City Wars, here is a link to the scenario he created. Also available at the link is a an article by Goldsworthy on Othismos. You may not agree with his conclusions but the article provides a good survey of the debate on this question.

Get them here....

Greek City Wars

2010-12-26T14:14:00.003-05:00

…. by Lucius
Conflict between Greek states was always a close-matched affair typically between opposing phalanxes. Very often these battles were strictly phalanx-on-phalanx, with few other supporting forces being present. The use of cavalry and peltasts in support, as used in this new scenario, developed late on.

I will set out to demonstrate why tactics as used by the Theban General Epaminondas were so successful in their time. Hoplite warfare used the weight of rear ranks to continue the spear-to-spear battle longer than the opposing phalanx could sustain and eventually broke the enemy resistance. The term used to express the phalanx ‘shove’ is Othismos. Epaminondas deepened the phalanx, adding many more ranks and making the othismos thereby more powerful.

As seen below the Theban main phalanx has more ranks than the opposing Athenian hoplites and compensates for a lack of hoplites elsewhere with a thin screen of peltasts and cavalry. The Rules Manual highlights that close combat positive modifiers can be gained by weight of numbers and this is what we are about to see.

Start position – Both armies have just over 1000 hoplites and a further 10% strength as light troops (1200 points). The Athenian army is set out for traditional phalanx warfare with 6 men deep (144 men per unit). The game only recognises the othismos on the strength of an individual unit, not a stack of units in the same hex. Hence I have created Theban units in the Scenario Editor with strength of 336 men (14 ranks deep) giving more than twice the phalanx depth of the Athenian units.

Turn 2: the phalanxes are in melee and the Theban light troops are harassing the Athenian hoplites and keeping them from supporting the main battle…..

On Turn 3, Athenian hoplites facing the deep Theban formation break quickly and rout. A massacre follows. However, the AI is not beaten! It turns inwards the uncommitted Athenian hoplites on the flank of the Theban phalanx and causes significant losses themselves. Within one turn the Theban hoplite unit hit in the flank routs:

Turn 4 – The Athenian phalanx has broken and their hoplites are routed. Significant losses can now occur to the routing forces and this is usually sufficient to demoralise the rest of the army resulting in a victory for Thebes –

Battlefield Tactics

2010-12-21T08:44:00.001-05:00

…. by Lucius

I have been asked to explain how the maths works for different combat situations. However, before I do that, I want to point out that the Ancient Warfare series was not created to assess in minute detail the different combat factors associated with different weapons and conditions. These calculations, although present, are kept in the background to allow the player to have fun playing the game and to appreciate the tactical methods of the Ancient World.

When I play a game, and I have won many against human opponents and against the Computer AI, I seek to apply the tactical doctrine of the time. If you apply the tactical methods employed in their day then the game system will give you a good chance of winning. It is worth reading the document ‘How to Win’ that comes with the game.

Phalangites for instance are very effective in combat to their front as the massed array of pikes can just roll over enemy units. However, hit the same men in the flank or rear and they lose large numbers. More often than not, you can totally destroy large phalanx units when they are hit in the rear or caught in column marching formation.

Battlefield tactics applied over the period 3000 BC to 1000 AD were very similar. These tactics could be categorised as –

Attack tactics -

Envelopment from one or both wings
Direct frontal assault
Ambush (trickery and surprise often guaranteed victory before the battle had even started)
All out assault on one reinforced wing whilst the other weakened wing held its troops back and avoided contact. E.g. Alexander at Gaugamela.

Defensive tactics –

Fortified position
Hit and Run (skirmish)
Counter charge when the enemy commits his cavalry

The right tactic depends on the terrain, the type of troops in your army and the likely composition of your opponent’s army. A German tribal army for instance is likely to have a large proportion of foot warriors and a few noble heavy cavalry.

The master of the ambush was the Carthaginian Hannibal Barca of the Second Punic War and all of his famous victories are modelled in the Ancient Warfare game Punic Wars.

The ubiquitous Roman Legionary is renowned as a steadfast, reliable soldier and one who would kill 2 to 3 barbarians before he fell himself. However, you can only achieve this ratio in the game if you use the Roman formations and tactics of their time. Given that the game operates on a points system where each man is worth so many points, the Roman soldier costs more than a barbarian tribal warrior. Hence as a General of a Roman army you are often outnumbered and you need to kill more men than you lose to win a victory.

As was true for many ancient armies, you must keep your Line formation straight and solid, no gaps, do not allow any units to get isolated and attacked from the flank or rear. Even the famous Legionary could not stand up to an all-round assault.

To appreciate the maths conducted in the background, we need to recognise the benefits that can be gained by a good tactical plan. Let us consider a phalanx of hoplites approaching a Persian combined infantry / cavalry force …

The history books will tell you that the Persian infantry and possibly their cavalry will be armed with a composite bow and spear. The Greek hoplites only have a long spear and sword; this leaves the hoplite seriously exposed to archery and the phalanx could lose men and suffer disruption to their Line before they even reach the enemy. In this situation the tactic for the Greeks is to rush the Persians and make contact before his archers cause too many losses. The classic encounter that demonstrates this is the battle of Marathon. However, if the Persians swarm around the flanks and rear of the phalanx with their cavalry the Greek hoplites will have no chance. This is where it is essential to secure your flanks. Your own cavalry force or lighter, more mobile infantry than the hoplites – a group of Peltasts, for example - could achieve this.

The game covers a large number of combat modifiers but to sweep away the enemy in front of you it is necessary to gain a number of positive modifiers at the same time. Gaining a +1 modifier against the same enemy type armed with the same weapon will result in a long drawn out battle slowly wearing the enemy down. This was often found to be the case in the Greek City Wars where one phalanx would pit itself against another.

To gain a large number of positive modifiers in combat you need to set up the right conditions before contact is made. This is where your battlefield tactical plan comes in to play. To be a successful General you need to get the most of the best trained and armed troops in one place at one time against a relatively weak point in the opponents army.

For example, your heavy cavalry can sweep away a group of enemy light infantry skirmishers but beware you are not being sucked in to a trap where the enemy can counter charge with his cavalry or draw you into a field of fire where enemy missiles steadily wear away your strength.

I will now show you a small encounter where the right tactics can pay off handsomely –

Shown below is a small combined Roman force of infantry and cavalry encountering a typical Parthian cavalry force of horse archers and Cataphracts (Extra Heavy Cavalry).

I played the Parthians and my tactics are to draw out the Roman cavalry by harassing them with my light cavalry firing the bow then destroying the isolated cavalry with my heavier Cataphracts. The final stage is to turn on the isolated Roman Legionaries, wear them down with archery, and overrun the weakened force with my Cataphracts. The battle of Carrhae comes to mind as a large example of how successful these historical tactics can be. The example here used with the same number of points on each side.

(Click for a larger view.) Note that much of the Parthian LC is deployed in the Cantabrian circle, giving them potentially twice the firepower they would ordinarily have. The downside is slower movement and less effectiveness in melee.

On Turn 3, the Roman cavalry have had enough and charge:

The Roman cavalry are quickly disposed of. By Turn 5 they are all routed or eliminated and the Parthians can now turn on the Roman infantry.

By Turn 6 the Legionaries have been worn down to the point that they are ready to be dispatched by a final charge of the Cataphracts:

And here is the final tally. A crushing advantage to the Parthians:

In the next article we will look at some useful tactics to be employed with a Greek City army!

Ancient Warfare Quiz….

2010-12-19T09:50:00.001-05:00

OK, class, here are 9 questions on AW rules! Most of them are illustrated. The goal is to have a little fun and broaden awareness of the games' subtleties. A link will be given at the end to take you to the answers …. Ready?

Question 1

On which German unit is the Roman (purple) likely to cause the greatest number of casualties?

Question 2

Which attacking German unit is likelier to inflict more casualties on the Roman legionary unit?

Question 3

No picture for this one!

In the coming turn, Unit A will take 5 losses from archery. An adjoining, identical unit, Unit B, will take 3 losses from slingers. Another identical Unit C will take 2 losses from a bolt-shooter. Which unit is more likely to fail a reaction test?

Question 4

Which of these legionary units is likely to cause more casualties in the first round of combat?

In the second?

Question 5

Assume the Legendary Leader of each of these units has just been killed and his counter removed entirely from play. Which unit below will rout automatically as a result?

Question 6

Assume these javelin men all throw their weapons at an identical target at identical ranges. Which unit is likely to score the most casualties?

Question 7

Another picture-less question, this one about Victory Points….

Which alternative will give you the most victory points?

Occupying a 10-point victory hex for turns 1-14 of a 15 turn game.
Occupying a 100 point victory hex for turn 15 of a 15 turn game.
Occupying a 50 point victory hex for turns 12-15 of a 15-turn game

Question 8

Which of these German infantry units has the greatest melee strength?

Question 9

Which of these three units is not eligible to attack a defending Light Heavy Infantry unit?

OK, class, pencils down! Let's see how you did. The answer sheet can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VQ4UUIkaNfVnWtZUvf0mHqm6uJc1sYda_CdC5S9FzF4/edit?hl=en&authkey=CPmlhuYB

Feedback is welcome, either through the Comments function or the email address given at the head of the blog. Thanks!

Germanic Tribal Warfare

2010-12-13T15:55:00.001-05:00

….. by Lucius

Here is a demonstration of what you can achieve with a Germanic war band even against the renowned Roman Legionaries. (This is from a new scenario for Gallic Wars called German Onrush, and you can get it here.)

I set up a Roman and a German army each of 3,000 points in an open plain. Armies of this size are big enough to offer a good tactical demonstration.

For the Romans, played by the computer AI, this appears a straightforward battle where Roman quality and organization are sure to triumph. But what the Romans have not appreciated is that I have set the Germans in 3 independent groups and will employ the classic envelopment tactic usually practised by cavalry on the wings. The gamble is to get the wings in to play quickly.

The Romans are in 3 lines with the Velites, a combination of javelin men and slingers, in the front. The Germans outnumber the Romans and I will demonstrate how to make those numbers count.

On Turn 1 I sent the 2 wings of German infantry further out in a flanking manoeuvre (click for a larger view).

I then charged the centre German body towards the Romans, covering the gap as quickly as possible to reduce losses from the Velites. On Turn 2 the Roman light infantry took cover behind the Legionaries and the main bodies faced off for the charge.

By Turn 3 my wings were making good progress but my centre was taking a beating from the Romans -

Finally, on Turn 5, the envelopment properly begins as the wings turn inward:

Losses in the German centre were high and we can see some German units routing from the field. It was now or never for my wings to attack before my centre collapsed.

On Turn 6 the wings hit the Roman rear and scattered the Velites. Some German units can already be seen to be striking the rear of the Legionaries engaged to their front by my centre body of warriors –

By Turn 7 out of 10 the Roman losses were too high to bear and victory was mine.

How to Defeat the A/I, Part II

2010-12-04T14:26:00.002-05:00

….by Lucius

If you missed the first instalment of this little tutorial you may want to scroll down to my November 30 post and take a look. In this round I'm going to change sides and try to win as the Carthaginians (the yellowish counters).

Same set-up situation as before, of course, and each army still has 3000 points. The Carthaginian cavalry are veterans and the spearmen are in units of 200 initially. Skirmishers cover the front of both sides.

This time the A/I proved more difficult to defeat and I had to use a bit of guile.

On my right flank I split the cavalry in to units of 30 – you get the most "bang for your cavalry buck" from smaller groups like this - and charged forward one wave of them to meet the on-rushing Roman cavalry. I reserved a second wave to reinforce the charge and to steady the flank if the Roman cavalry broke through. My centre block of infantry is a strong force of spearmen and I moved them forward from Turn 1. I needed to get them in to the battle quickly to win the game.

On the right is the situation on Turn 3 (click for a larger image). On my right flank the first wave of cavalry had been swept away by the Romans, leaving my reserved second line to hold the flank. My main body of infantry was in contact with the Legionaries and heavy fighting had broken out – significant losses on both sides. My left flank cavalry had chased the Roman skirmishers back to their Triarii and then I withdrew them to reform. No point in throwing these expensive cavalry units against formed and reliable spearmen.

By turn 5 my right wing was looking in bad shape so I detached a number of Heavy cavalry units from my left flank to relieve the situation. (The red arrows show a "C" for "Charge".) My infantry had now been split into units of 100 for optimal fighting strength. As the front line suffered losses and their fatigue rose rapidly I moved in fresh 100-man units to bolster it.

Just before the main infantry lines clashed I pulled my skirmishers back through the spearmen to secure the rear and given them a chance to use their missiles when the opportunity arose.

On Turn 6 the heavy cavalry had arrived on the right flank to save the day and my infantry centre had expanded its frontage to increase the pressure on the Roman Legionaries:

Notice that on my left flank one of the Carthaginian cavalry units charged out of control and went chasing after a group of skirmishers. This was frustrating as the cavalry unit continued to suffer losses to missile fire. Cavalrymen are impetuous by nature and can't always be controlled!

By Turn 8 the right flank had been stabilized and the Roman centre can be seen to be falling apart. On my left one unit of Roman Triarii has been isolated and my heavy cavalry are attacking from 2 sides. Cavalry are very effective when they can hit the rear of an infantry unit. (Note that the units outlined in white are routing.)

By Turn 9 the battle was coming to a close; both sides had suffered heavy losses but I was already in a ‘Minor Victory’ position. I just needed to hold out until the end of the game (Turn 10).

On Turn 10 the Roman forces on the wings had been destroyed and their remaining infantry are seen retiring from the battlefield:

End of Game and I actually got a major victory! Not bad!

To review a key point: breaking your units down into packets that give you the best performance possible is crucial to winning a slugfest like this. Large units often waste their strength. See an earlier post on this blog about optimal unit sizing for more information.

Updates Available….

2010-12-02T07:27:00.001-05:00

HPS has published updates for Punic Wars and Gallic Wars. These are very significant upgrades and you won't want to miss them. Get them here:

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/updates/up_Ancient/up_Ancient.html

How to Defeat the A/I…

2010-11-30T07:22:00.001-05:00

Here's a nice AAR by Lucius based on a new scenario he created for Punic Wars. Lucius is the designer of the Ancient Warfare series, Paul Bruffel. You can get the scenario here…

Lucius writes:

The picture below shows the initial set up. (Click for a full-size view.) I'm playing the Romans (purple). Facing me is a typical Carthaginian army strong in cavalry and heavy infantry. Each army has 3000 points.

The Carthaginian cavalry are of veteran quality and the spearmen are in units of 200 men. Covering the main body on both sides are skirmishers. We both have the same number of skirmishers but in my case I split the light infantry (LI) into small packets of 20 men. This gives me a cover screen to protect my Legionaries from missile fire but it also entices the Carthaginian Heavy Cavalry (HC) to attack.

Why do I want to entice his left-wing HC to strike my apparently weak and defenceless LI?? What he cannot see is my Veteran Triarii to the rear waiting to pounce once his HC are entangled in a fight with my LI. (Yes, when you play with Fog of War the AI really is just as blind as a human opponent would be.) Setting your army up in the right way like this can win the battle before it begins.

On my left wing I have assembled all my HC and again grouped them in small units of only 30 men each. Each line or wave is only 4 units totalling 120 men, each with a commander for full control during the game. (Finding your mobile cavalry fixed due to lack of orders half way through the game can be a serious handicap.) The objective on the left is to destroy the enemy cavalry quickly and swing in to the flank and rear of his infantry centre body.

OK, here we go – turn 1 below shows my left wing HC charging in to contact. (Click for a full-size view.)

You will notice the Computer AI is also aggressive and responds in kind, charging his cavalry units in. The Carthaginian cavalry are 60 men strong per unit so they would normally roll over my units but my units are Heavy Cavalry whereas his are Medium. And I will be reinforcing my front line with the next wave at the critical moment.

As you can see, the Computer also flung forward his left wing cavalry. My LI were in skirmish mode and thus able to dash for cover behind the Triarii. The Roman soldiers stood fast and the Carthaginian cavalry crashed into a wall of spears. Losses of their HC will be high as cavalry cannot win against a steady line of spears.

Interestingly, one of my HC units charged straight past the enemy cavalry and appears at the rear of the Carthaginian infantry. I'll advantage of this opportunity in the following turns.

By turn 3 (below) the Carthaginian cavalry on both wings are in disarray and suffering heavy losses. Some of their units are already routing off the battlefield.

At this point, my objective is to win on the wings and keep their infantry centre pinned down with my Legionaries. You will notice that the usually aggressive computer AI is hesitant to commit its centre. Meanwhile my skirmishers are in a missile battle with their opposing LI.

Turn 4 – The Carthaginian cavalry have collapsed on both wings leaving their centre looking seriously exposed. Now is the time to drive on the wings and clear the way for envelopment. The Legionaries must move up in the centre and keep the enemy infantry pinned.

This AAR is about beating the AI. You have a better chance to beat it once you understand something about its proclivities. In that sense, the AI is like any other general; a little experience in fighting him tells you a lot about how to beat him. The AI likes to get after you and as in the case of many a Roman general its aggressiveness can lead on to folly, as here.

Look at Turn 6:

The Roman cavalry is still in very good order and able to undertake a fatal double envelopment. The main issue now is not to become impatient. If I take my time I've got this one in the bag, big & easy. The AI was just a little too exuberant in attacking with its cavalry and failing to guard its wings.

By turn 7 my Legionaries are attacking in the centre and the Triarii are coming in from the right wing. The cavalry on my left will hit the enemy in the rear. The Carthaginians are shaken and may well rout at any moment. Effectively by the end of turn 7 the battle is won and all that is left is the coup de grâce.

The sceptic asks: did the Carthaginians really have a chance here? In the next AAR I will describe how to win using the same Carthaginian force that has been so thoroughly defeated here. Stay tuned!

---Lucius

Editing a scenario…

2010-11-25T08:46:00.001-05:00

We can demonstrate the Scenario Editor by using it to modify a few things in the new scenario for Gallic Wars that I posted recently. (If you haven’t got the scenario yet, you can get it here.) Using the Editor is important to getting the most from Ancient Warfare, and it’s easier to start by editing an existing scenario than creating one from scratch.

Here are the tweaks I have in mind for RomanBritainV1:

I think the Roman Light Infantry need an additional leader. With only one mediocre leader to control them all, a lot of them will soon be Fixed in place.
I want to change the release time of the Roman units on the hill at the top right of the map.
Some of the “Britons” are identified as “Gallic”. I’ll change their designation.
I may change the strength of one or two units too.

After opening the scenario file in the GW editor, I’ll take care of the leader problem first.

As you can see in the snip to the right, the lone highlighted leader can’t possibly handle all the units in his command (also highlighted). He’s “mediocre” and has a very limited command radius. He needs help.

So, after making sure “Republican Roman” is selected under the Army menu, I go to Unit Type and pick Leader: Mounted Commander. I’ll put him down toward the bottom at hex 32, 19.

Now I have to make sure he actually helps “take command” of the skirmisher units. But first I want to go back to the Unit Type menu and select No Unit. If I don’t I’ll put down a new leader unit every time I click on the map.

That done, I click the Form Group button above and then click on each of the units highlighted above, and also the new leader. When I’m done, I toggle the Form Group button off. To make sure the new leader has been properly assigned, I can go to Display: Highlight: Show Organization.

Next up is to change the release time of those Roman units on the rear hill. Releases are handled under the Settings menu. The current settings have them releasing on Turn 10, too late in my opinion.

To change a release you have to delete the old one first, then create a new one. Each fixed unit must be selected individually and its release status individually deleted under the Settings menu. To give a unit a new release time, select it, fix it by pressing the “F” button on the toolbar, and then choose Add Release. You’ll get a dialog box like this:

I’ll set them all the release on Turn 5. That’ll give them some chance to get to their buddies on the next hill before they’re overrun.

That’s all for the Roman side, Now to work on the Britons.

But first, I want to save my work. I do not want to overwrite the original scenario, so I’ll save it under a different name.

Now it’s time to go back to the Army menu and tick “Gauls”. I want to work on them next. (Note that there are no Britons per se available; the game uses the Gaul counter mix for them.)

The designer left some of the Britons designated as “Gallic”. Even though it’s purely a cosmetic issue, I’d like to fix that.

It’s (fairly) simply done. I go to Settings: Change Designation after highlighting the unit. A dialog box comes up that allows me to put in whatever I wish. I’ll just remove “Gallic” from the name box at top. But there is a hook here that you have to beware of. If you change the name and just click OK, you'll change the group the unit belongs to. It will reset to Group 0. In this example, the unit currently belongs to Group 1; I want to keep it there. So I have to type 1 into the lower box to ensure that it remains there. (Thanks to Al Amos for reminding me of this in the Comment section!)

The Britons marshalled against the Roman cohort on the little hill at the upper left of the map are pretty substantial. I’m tempted to reduce their numbers a bit. But on second thought, I’ll leave them be. The fight here is really a very interesting part of the scenario. A skilful Roman player can hold pretty well, and with reinforcements arriving potentially sooner than in the original scenario he has more than a fighting chance now.

So that’s it! I’ll save and close. The whole process took only a few minutes.

I hope showing how easy it is will encourage you to give the Scenario Editor a try. Once you become familiar with it you’ll use it all the time!

Frustrations

2010-11-17T16:13:00.001-05:00

There’s no doubt some players have found Ancient Wars frustrating. Some are thrown by the interface, others find the gameplay confusing or hard to grapple. I want to address some of these irritations.

Let’s start with a big cause of frustration, especially among new players: very often units don’t seem to follow orders. They don’t do what they’re told. Units suddenly go into an uncontrolled advance, or fail to charge, or just stop. And no explanation is apparent – at least, the game interface doesn’t provide one. Things just seem to happen for no particular reason. Soon enough players start to suspect that something’s bad or buggy with the game.

If there’s one fault I can lay to Ancient Warfare, it’s the games’ failure to make plain the importance of Reaction Testing. Because Reaction Testing is chief reason why things go awry and units fail to obey. Reaction testing happens many times during the course of a single move, and it is entirely invisible. You see only its results. A little explanatory feedback from the program might be helpful, you’d think, but with so much other stuff going on under the hood it’s really not feasible.

A new edition of the rules is coming soon and it makes an effort to bring Reaction Testing more to the players’ notice. But for now consider what the manual says about the many causes for reaction testing:

If a unit is in contact (melee) with an enemy unit. The reaction test is conducted before the combat result is determined.
If a unit is irregular or militia cavalry and charging.
If a unit is hit by missiles
If a unit is below 1/2 original strength and an enemy unit is within 5 hexes of the unit.
If a unit is within 5 hexes of a routing friendly or unfriendly unit.

There are other causes too but you can see from this list that reaction testing is a huge force in this game. And the results of a failed test are just what players find so frustrating – units not doing what is expected of them. So, hey, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature!

And it’s a great feature. I think this kind of testing is a core part of the game’s realism. It’s how the game patterns the complex human variables of ancient combat. It does very well in that respect, so well that it’s a shame it’s all so hidden.

Interface issues next on the list!

Comment here or directly to tjd.jeuxdeguerre@gmail.com

Elephant Hunting

2010-11-15T19:17:00.001-05:00

Herewith a few tips on dealing with those hostile Jumbos….

Like the Romans themselves I was unnerved the first time I faced elephants in Ancient Warfare. I had no idea how to deal with them. Although it was pretty quickly apparent that they weren’t the overwhelming threat they seemed, I wasn’t sure of the best tactics for neutralizing them. It took a little experience and a closer reading of the manual to figure that out.

Elephants can kill a lot of infantry, don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen plenty of hastati go underfoot. But elephants do less well when fighting light infantry. I clued to that fact fully when, in one instance, I had a unit of just 17 disordered velites attack a pack of elephants from the rear. The results were astonishing. They killed 4 elephants in just one turn, and routed the rest. They got a result that even a full maniple of well-ordered hastati couldn’t get! How?

RTFM! In the section on melee modifiers, I found a couple of crucial items. There is a +2 modifier when fighting against the flanks or rear of elephants. That’s a big modifier.

More: jf Light Infantry attack with javelins, an additional random factor of 1-6 is added in. I must have gotten a “6” on that last attack.

So, light infantry attacking with javelins from behind really is the key. Elephants have a sensitive posterior and apparently there just isn’t enough Anusol in the whole of Carthage to take the sting of those javelins away.

Here’s what you want to see >>>>>>>

Once elephants take a hit as a result of rough treatment like this, they tend to fall to pieces. In game terms, that means they are prone to failing Reaction Tests, and when that happens they are more likely to stay disrupted or even rout. In fact, once an elephant unit has suffered casualties, the engine puts a –3 modifier on Reaction Tests. That can almost guarantee failure.

Routing for elephants means rampaging and there’s a special section in the rules on that. The best thing about rampaging is that often leads to this screen:

Their own drivers kill them to keep friendlies from getting run over.

I like that! It’s always best when the Carthaginians cooperate like this in getting rid of these ponderous pests.

Comments welcome.

Scenario Link…

2010-11-06T18:54:00.001-04:00

By the way, if any of you are interested in playing the scenario that was the basis for Lucius’ “Greeks Fighting” post the other day, you can get it here:

https://cid-87804ca4ffae29b1.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?resid=87804CA4FFAE29B1!318&authkey=aPmi7TEZlzs%24

Just unzip into the Scenarios folder and you’re good to go.

You may want to open it in the Scenario Editor too. Take a look at it! It’s a perfect example of how easy it is to create realistic little scenarios that are a lot of fun to play.

And watch for other new scenarios for Ancient Warfare titles. I’ve got a number of them that our esteemed designer hasn’t yet released to the public…..

Using the Scenario Editor….

2010-11-05T09:36:00.001-04:00

Most players don't use the Scenario Editor. They should. It's easy to use and really expands the scope of the game. I think some players assume its use is limited to creating big, well-researched historical scenarios. Not so! Small scenarios of just a thousand or two points can be intensely fun and can be put together in just a few minutes even by a novice. I use the Editor a lot to create small test scenarios that give me a better understanding of how various rules and units work, e.g., Elephants Charging Through. (I'd never really seen that happen before so I set up a situation and it works brilliantly.)

And if you are drawn to creating something larger, don’t be put off by fears that you don't know enough or haven't got the time to do adequate research. Remember that only a fraction of the battles of antiquity were ever recorded, and much detail about even the most famous of them is lost or speculative. So there is plenty of scope for your imagination here.

There will be a new edition of the Scenario Editor manual available soon and I hope it will encourage players to give this feature another look. Along with that, I'll be posting here some tips and illustrations of how to get off to a quick start and have some fun.

Greeks Fighting!

2010-11-03T09:45:00.001-04:00

…by Lucius

In Greece in the 5^th Century BC conflicts between city states were common and hoplite warfare was the name of the game. The dominant formation was the phalanx with multiple rows of soldiers each carrying the famous hoplon shield and an 8’ spear.

The game system of Ancient Warfare demonstrates well the drift of a phalanx to its right as it advances to meet the enemy. The drift was a natural reaction as each man in the phalanx tried to obtain maximum protection from his neighbour’s shield.

This battle will show one reason why the Spartans were such feared fighters. The Wedge was a difficult formation to hold but the disciplined Spartans held it well. The Wedge is a killing formation, magnifying the attack:

Above, the Spartan wedges push the peltasts back in 1 turn of combat – the peltasts have recoiled - and can now turn the flank of the Thracian phalanx. (The Spartans are in orange, the Athenians in white and the Thebans in pale green.) The problem is the Athenians on the other side of the battlefield are about to turn the left flank of the Spartan-allied phalanx who are paying the penalty for ineffective flank protection. (Their Light Cavalry can be seen fleeing from the field in the lower left.)

Below, you can see that the flanks are turned by both sides, leaving the battle in the balance with the main phalanx in the centre still pushing hard and casualties mounting.

Now the skill of the Spartans starts to take effect on the Theban phalanx left flank and the Athenians begin their attack on the rear of the Greek phalanx with devastating effect.

On turn 6 the phalanx in the centre collapses under the flank attack and by turn 7 the Spartans square off against the Athenians but exhaustion is setting in on the Athenian side and their army is liable to rout from the field.

The Spartan Greek allies and the opposing Thebans both flee the field leaving the Spartans to battle it out with the Athenians. Above, the Athenian cavalry are chasing down the routing Greek hoplites (blue).

Spartans vs. Athenians:

Ah! As feared, a draw:

Spartan losses were 152 hoplites and the Athenians 202 hoplites but the Greek allies and Thebans suffered badly each with over 1500 dead. Most were lost when their phalanx broke and ran.

New Fire Values

2010-10-29T19:19:00.000-04:00

There have been changes in the effectiveness of archers. The table below shows them. Personally I think the new values are a bit high. What do you think?

Fire Losses Factor >>	Old Values	New Values
Defending Unit type	Mounted archers / bows	Mounted archers / Composite bows
SHC	0	0
EHC	0	0
HC	2	4
MC/CM	3	4
LC	3	3
HI/LHI	0	4
MI/LMI	2	4
LI/Art	2	3
El.	1	1
LCh	1	1
HCh	1	1

Combat in Ancient Warfare

2010-10-25T17:56:00.003-04:00

I suspect many of you make the same mistakes I do when playing an Ancient Warfare battle. I see it time and time again when I play opponents. We are men of the 21st Century. When playing battles in our childhood we probably focused on WW2 or even more recent warfare. So it is difficult to make the mind change required to successfully conduct warfare associated with combat over 2,000 years ago.

Here are 10 tips to remember –

1 – For Medium and Heavy Infantry formations – Keep the Line, keep a solid continuous line of units in a straight line. This gives bonuses in morale tests, provides maximum frontage on combat and prevents enemy units getting in amongst your formation and attacking individual units in the flank. Keeping a solid Line is crucial for pike formations.

2 – To achieve point 1 above, I usually have a second line of units directly behind who can move in to fill the gaps as they occur during a melee.

3 – To provide protection from outflanking enemy movement or surprise attacks from the rear, I usually place a group of units to the rear of the main line. This group also provides morale test bonuses to a group to its front if within 5 hexes of that group. I tend to use a mobile cavalry group for this purpose to ensure it can respond quickly to any threat.

4 – When moving an army forward you need to ensure the gaps between your groups are not more than 4 hexes. Anything larger than this and the enemy could penetrate through to your rear without a fight.

5 – Place our best troops where you intend to attack or where you believe the enemy is going to attack if your role is more defensive. Ancient armies often routed when more than half the army still remained on the field but losses or fatigue had reached a high enough level to demoralise the rest of the army. Use your Veterans for the killer blow as they are more resilient and will fight on longer.

6 – Try to avoid your units becoming isolated and susceptible to attack from the rear. Ancient warfare units do not fight all round like a Company of WW2 infantry. The units of ancient warfare form up pointing in one direction only. If attacked in the rear your losses will be very high.

7 – Missile units are not like WW2 artillery. Only archers with the composite bow can fire overhead (indirect) and the range is short. Skirmishing is a crucial command required most of the time for Light Infantry with javelins or slings. If your Light Infantry are caught in the open against cavalry or heavy infantry your losses will be high. Protect your missile men with a unit of Medium or Heavy Infantry close to their rear. Ensure the combined stack strength does not exceed 100% then your rear infantry can charge through when the enemy is in range or the skirmishers can retire through your heavy infantry to safety.

8 – Combined arms – This is the way you are more likely to win on the battlefield. Alexander the Great was the greatest exponent of the Combined Arms approach but it requires skill to manage a mixed army. Generally cavalry are placed on the wings for rapid movement, looking for the opportunity to outflank the main body of the opposing army and hit them in the rear. Light infantry / skirmishers are at the front of the army to run interference and weaken the enemy before the main bodies make contact.

9 – Fatigue. Men in ancient warfare tire easily (fighting with sword and shield is exhausting work) and a formation can rout easily if not monitored. Keep an eye on the fatigue level. Once it goes over 40 you should look to take that unit out of combat and rest it. Once the fatigue is below 20 it is good to go in again. If you allow a unit to fight until it routs, the unit can loose many men from enemy action and simply by desertion. Getting a routed unit to recover and return to combat is very difficult to achieve. To release a unit in combat move in a stronger unit to the same hex and then pull out the exhausted unit.

10 – Commanders are crucial to your army’s mobility and ability to respond to changing conditions. So, protect them. Do not leave them exposed out in front or near an enemy group without a support unit in the same hex. Keep checking your commander’s range of influence / orders to ensure no friendly unit becomes Fixed (without instructions).

More on siegecraft….

2010-10-14T13:04:00.005-04:00

Siege weapons in AW

Mantlets
Mantlets are 100% effective in stopping archery and presumably slings as well. They are in effect a moveable wall. They have 40 AP, allowing them to move 2 hexes in clear terrain. If you move them that far the infantry they are protecting will be briefly exposed to fire due to the way the phase sequencing of a move is set up. To avoid this, best to move them only one hex at at time. They are at 50% of stacking, so can shelter another 150 or HI. Any infantry with them will disrupt.

Mantlets do not provide cover from melee combat and units that go uncontrolled will abandon them. Mantlets can be very effective as protection for archers and slingers, not just from them.

Battering Rams
Are a charming weapon. The ram scores between 20 and 30 damage points per turn and as it attacks only once per turn, not once per phase; it will take a good 10 turns to punch through a maximum-strength 200 point wall. Note that it's important to protect the ram. If it disrupts it is not effective. Best to make sure they are well protected and that you have enough fire to sweep the fortification walls of any defenders near the ram.

Assault Towers
These require careful use. Currently there is a small bug preventing the D for Disrupted from appearing on any infantry units on board. They are still disrupted though.

When a unit is on board the tower symbol appears on its unit information box. From that point, the infantry unit has no ability to move autonomously. You move the tower, and the infantry moves with it. You want to get your infantry on board the tower well before the tower closes to the fortification wall. If you don't, the infantry may fail to climb the tower when it gets there and will instead try to engage any enemy along the wall.

Units can receive fire and take casualties when they are in an assault tower. They are not immune. That means they are at risk of failing a reaction test. If they fail one they may fail to move with the tower, in effect abandoning it. That can be quite confusing and frustrating. Suddenly you find yourself with a vacant assault tower just as you're about to contact the fortress wall! To avoid this problem remember to support the tower. Ensure that there are lots of friendly units around it and to its rear. Friendlies in these positions greatly improve chances of passing a reaction test and therefore limit the chance that on-board infantry decides it would rather not go forward.

Bolt-shooters
….make a very cool sound if you play with Battle Sounds enabled But don’t expect them to be particularly effective in causing casualties unless present in large numbers. Their chief value is in the penalty they cause the enemy on Reaction Tests. In increasing the chances that the enemy will fail a reaction test, they increase the chances that he will disrupt or fail to follow orders.

Stone-throwers
These weapons are seen rarely, so rarely in fact that no one has apparently noticed yet that they don’t work at all! A simple program oversight, soon to be corrected….

Siegecraft in AW

2010-10-11T21:12:00.001-04:00

Few scenarios bring you into contact with fortifications and require use of siege weapons such as battering rams, assault towers, stone throwers, and mantlets. Using those weapons requires added experience and many players probably feel they’d rather stay off the learning curve and stick with more familiar scenarii. The purpose of the next few posts is to make players more comfortable with this aspect of the games by filling in some of the gaps from the rules manuals and giving an inside perspective on them. Siegecraft is fun! Cool new weapons and possibilities. Learning these things can really enhance your scenario design, too.

Fixed Punic Wars scenarii

2010-10-04T10:27:00.001-04:00

I found a lot of the Punic Wars scenarios to be in need of help - the intros were often full of spelling errors and poorly written, and in many cases units were outside of command and control and liable to be fixed in place, frustrating new players (and veterans too). So I went through them all and did some fixing. It proved to be quite a bit more work than I planned. I haven't done major redesign, I just fixed obvious problems that were probably the result of haste and oversight, e.g., misnaming Mago Barca "Mango" and the like.

You can download them and the change log at this link:
https://cid-87804ca4ffae29b1.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?resid=87804CA4FFAE29B1!318&authkey=aPmi7TEZlzs%24

I'd suggest that you copy these to a separate folder rather than overwrite the original scenario files so that you retain compatibility with players who don't "upgrade".

I had hoped to rationalize the numbering sequence of the scenarios as well but I think we're stuck with that as it is.
These changes have been OK'd by the game designer and HPS.

Unit Sizing in Ancient Wars….

2010-10-01T09:52:00.001-04:00

In AW there is an optimal unit size for combat effectiveness. It’s about 100 for MI and HI, and for LI it’s 40 unless they’re slingers or archers, in which case you want to break them down into packets of 20 or so to maximize your firepower.

MC and HC are best at 50 or so strong. Larger units tend not to give full bang for the buck, as they will usually rout long before they fall to half strength.

BUT: the smaller the unit, the more quickly it fatigues. In fact, if the unit falls to < 20, the fatigue factor is multiplied by 5! So it’s good to give your skirmishers a bit of a numerical buffer so they don’t wear out too quickly.

Another caveat: when you break units down into smaller packets, you increase the number of overall unit counters belonging to that command organization. That can create problems with command and control. The more counters in play, the greater the likelihood that they’ll spread out, and when that happens it’s very easy for them to slip beyond the range of their commander and become fixed. And a fixed unit is something every player hates to see!

AARs for Matrix’ “Hannibal: Rome and Carthage”

2010-09-30T17:35:00.002-04:00

I've written a couple of AARs on the new game just published by Matrix. They've drawn quite good comment so far.

Part 1

http://www.wargamer.com/article/2936/hannibal-rome-and-carthage-aar

Part 2:

http://www.wargamer.com/article/2938/hannibal-and-carthage-aar-finale

Another AAR, demonstrating how good the AI can be. Part 1:

http://wargamer.com/article/2941/hannibal-rome-and-carthage-another-aar-part-1

seed post

2010-09-30T16:40:00.001-04:00

Initial posting to Gladius.