Biblical Bash - Devon Wargames Group

[carojon]

One of the games to feature at last month's meeting of the DWG was an Egyptian versus Hittite clash using Hail Caesar.



As this was 15mm we had lots of toys on the table and plenty of chariots.



If you would like to see how things turned out then just follow the link to the club blog

https://devonwargames.blogspot.com/2023/04/biblical-bash-new-kingdom-egyptians-v.html

JJ

[Samson]

Lovely looking battle and gaming mat.

[TheGamingArtisan]

Looks fantastic, Hail Caesar is such a great rule set!

[Gibby]

Very nice. Nothing quite like masses of chariots!

I also liked your joke at the start of the post!

[carojon]

Thanks for your comments chaps. Steve has a very nice collection that are a lot of fun to play with and certainly make a feast for the eye.

JJ

[discok3]

Beautiful array of biblicals

[Easy E]

Great looking game. 

What is interesting to me is that we know very little about the warfare of that period, and the sources are not exactly extensive.  We know the most about Kadesh, Megiddo, and some of the early Iron Age fights with the Assyrians.  However, not much is known beyond the fact that a battle happened. 

I have no idea how chariots were actually deployed and maneuvered during a battle.  I know that they either carried spearmen in to be deployed or as an archery platform depending on the specific preferences and capabilities of the warrior.  However, when talking about fielding a few hundred to a few thousand at a single time?  How did they keep them from crashing into each other, how did they work as a group?  I also can not imagine that they were very functional as a firing platform at any type of speed, so does that mean they rushed to a position, stopped and fired; or did they do something else?  No one knows. 

In addition, we (arguably) know the most about Kadesh.  Yet, that battle is not a straight, line them up fight.  Kadesh was an ambush.  Therefore, how many of those other battles like Ulai River or Carchemesh straight up fights?  Sieges seem to be the most common form of combat, in which a chariot does not seem all that useful but maybe they were used to shoot and scoot at the defenders?  We don't really know.

Anyway, great looking game and a fine collection and battle!

[AdamPHayes]

I don’t have too much problem with allowing chariots to have fairly sophisticated small unit tactics and manoeuvring, as these were a full time warrior class, so would be very proficient with their weapon system of choice. As most Late Bronze Age chariots operated with support of a dismounted element or “Runners”, I would imagine that scooting around at full speed would be reserved for a few occasions (intimidating the enemy or bugging out?) Otherwise the Runners would be too knackered to fight just trying to keep up! A steady pace in a chariot whilst shooting a compound bow would be relatively straightforward to a well trained warrior.

[bluewillow]

Fabulous looking game guys!

Cheers
Matt