Battle of the Granicus

 Having painted loads of Persians, it was time to put them to use, and I haven't played any solo games for a while as I've been too busy painting stuff. As the Alexander Netflix series was the inspiration to (finally) get some 20mm Persians, I thought I may as well do some of Alexanders iconic battles.

First up the Granicus, the first of Alexander's major battles in Asia Minor. 

Battlefield from the southwest. This is fairly obviously set up for Command and Colours. The game  doesn't really work remotely, but gives a decent solo game and I'd sized my armies to be able to do a range of CnC scenarios.

The Macedonian right, Alexander with the Companions and Ptolomy leading some Peltasts. There is a mysterious 'Medium Infantry' unit to their right, so I did them using my Hypaspists. Otherwise there are various light units and more Peltasts around. Alex and the Companions get all kind of combat bonuses, virtually a mini panzer division on its own.

And the Macedonian left. Parmenion leads the pike phalanx supported by light troops and more cavalry. The Macedonian units look a bit anaemic as Alexanders army was small, and the Persian Army was big. The entire force is virtually just the DBA army list, with double ranked Sp and Pk. The Pike elements in this scenario are just rated as Heavy Infantry, not Phalanx, so are pretty tough without the Phalanx disadvantages.

Massed Persian Cavalry on their right. I doubled or tripled all the Persian units a) because I'd painted them and b) to give an impression of hordes. The Persian cavalry is the centre shot is rated as Heavy, so I used my Clibinari elements.

And the Persian left. More cavalry, plus some 'medium infantry'. These guys are actually the mercenary hoplites who were largely wiped out, but as I'd painted enough elements of Persians, I did these as a mix of Sapabara, Immortals and and extra rank of (ir)regular Persians. I also couldn't be bothered to get he box of hoplites out.

The Perians rear rank is also a great mass of Persian infantry, Various light troops, bows, Auxilia and some more Immortal/Sapabara types.

All the Persian leaders are up front, and in the real battle the Persian cavalry had largely outrun their supporting infantry, who broke and ran when all the Persian leaders were killed or wounded.

This is a 6 banner battle Alex goes first (of course!) and has six command cards to the Persian four. Dear me. There is of course a big river in the way.

The Persian Army is very much in two parts, with half of them lined up along the baseline. The main thing for the Persians is to avoid their front line being destroyed piecemeal before some of these guys can move up.

The river is a barrier for both sides, attacks in or out are restricted to two dice maximum, which greatly limits the use of both sides heavy infantry. Both  sides do a fair  bit of shuffling to bring units up. It is starting to look suspiciously like the Macedonians might have a 'Line Command' card in their hand...

I find the Command Cards in CnC work very well for solo play, as I usually try and plan out card plays a few turns in advance, it means you focus on each side in turn and I often forget what cards the 'other' side has. You do have to remember if you have a 'counterattack' card though.

The Persian reserves are now closing up on the river rapidly. This could be a real problem for the Macedonians as they will shortly be in position to provide support (as in, ignore retreat results) for the currently isolated units along the river.

So far combat has been restricted to exchanges of missile fire, which, as usual, has been fairly ineffective, but chips the odd hit away here and there. Neither side seems very keen to enter the river, and the Persians have a lot more missile troops than the Macedonians, so the onus is on Alexander to attack.

And they duly do, using an 'Inspired Leadership Centre' card to push the Phalanx and Auxilia into the river, followed the 'Clash of Shields' card which gives all units adjacent to the enemy an extra 2 combat dice. This is enough to offset the river penalty, and the Persian units holding the bank just....vanish. Bloody hell! I might have been planning that for a few turns in advance... 

I very cleverly managed not to photograph the intervening Persian turn, but I can see that at least one Persian unit has been fighting the Peltasts anyway. Parmenion has got two Pike units over the river now.

Persian Cavalry and Infantry counterattack and rout one of the Pike units, but the Peltasts are still hanging on.

The Macedonians keep hammering away and push the Persian cavalry back. Over the river the Pike units roll 5 combat dice, which makes them very dangerous, especially coupled with a Leader.

The Persians form up a second line with their remaining Medium Infantry.  The Macedonian centre is looking a bit ragged and vulnerable to a concentrated attack. At this point its is fairly honours even, two Macedonian banners vs one Persian. 

But now Alexander piles across the river in support of the bridgehead.

The Persians are now forming quite a strong looking line as the Macedonians are delayed by the river. Many of the units are carrying hits though.

Alexander plays 'Mounted Charge'. That gives cavalry a +1 dice combat bonus. Alexander also gives a +1 dice combat bonus, coupled with his Leader bonus, so suddenly the Companions turn into the Ancient equivalent of a brigade of Tiger Tanks. The Macedonian Cavalry charge the centre of the new Persian Line.

And in a stunning series attacks and follow up momentum attacks, tear the heart out of the Persian Army. They destroy three units and kill a Persian Leader, which gives  them four extra banners (!). Coupled with the previous two, that gives the Macedonians the game.

The Macedonians have just torn right through the Persian Army, pretty much like real life.

It is a while since I've played CnC Ancients, and I was slightly re learning the game. I'm generally a fairly cautious player, and I like to set up sequences of card plays to maximise the advantages of the various special cards. When it comes off, it is glorious to behold, but events often intervene which force a response. I've no idea if this is an effective way to play, many players seem to get by just identifying the next unit to kill and hoping to roll good dice in combat, but I enjoy the Clausewitzian "war is a card game" aspect. 

The defining factor in this scenario is the river, which seriously limits either sides ability to attack the other. On reflection it actually benefits the Persians, as their (generally weaker) units suffer fewer penalties in the water than the Macedonians, so I should have been more aggressive with the Persians. In the end the Macedonians managed to play a couple of cards which mitigated the river penalties, and once the Phalanx was over the river, it was game over. 

It was a very enjoyable game though, and great to get the freshly painted toys out.