Battle Report: Men of Bronze- Re-taking the Propontis

[Easy E]

This is the continuing recreation of the Ionian Revolt.  The Ionian Revolt was a revolt against the Persian Empire by the Ionian Greeks and their allies prior to the Greco-Persian War.  It took place from 499 to 493 BCE.  It was a land and sea affair, so I am using a combination of Poseidon's Warriors and Men of Bronze to re-create the campaign.  Both are from the Osprey Wargaming Series.  In addition, Men of Bronze has a specific supplement for the conflict called The Ionian Revolt.



The details of the campaigns in this region are sparse. According to Herodotus, the Persians divided the campaign up between three generals.  The first went to Cyprus, the other dealt with Caria, and the third moved into the Hellespont on Propontis to regain control of the region.  We must assume that their were a series of sieges and negotiated surrenders after symbolic resistance.  The re-taking of the area was relatively swift and appears to have taken place prior to the attacks on Caria.  Once the General Daurises turned his attention to the Carians, a new Persian general came to the region to finish the job.

 Due to the speed of the campaign, we can only assume that the majority of the sieges were symbolic in nature, or we resolved as soon as the Persian army showed up.  For today's battle, we will assume that the Persians have managed to "trick" the Ionians out from behind their walls to defend their fields from being ravaged.  If the Persians manage to ravage the fields, the Ionians would quickly fold.  However, if their logistics could be saved then perhaps the city could hold out a bit longer! 

Forces:
The rebellious Greeks will use a relatively standard Hoplite force to defend the city:

Ionian Greeks
1 Drilled Hoplite - 1 General
2 Militia Hoplites
3 Peltast Hoplites

The Persians are using a fast moving siege force.  Therefore, the cavalry has been left back at camp:

Persians
2 Archers
1 Drilled Infantry - 1 General
2 Warband Infantry
1 Psiloi

Set-up:
Today's game is set-up on a 72MU by 48MU board.  The Greek side of the board is the long wall of their city, with the city gates on the left side of their deployment zone.  They have a small area to deploy, and have three Peltast units and a Militia Hoplite unit ready to move out.  The rest are still in reserve.  The field is under the protection of their wall on the opposite short board edge, about 48 MU away.  A road leads from the gates of the city, to the Persian deployment zone. 



On the opposite side, the Persians deploy across the board.  They have the Drilled Infantry spread out near the road, screening the two archer units.  Next to them are the two Warband infantry and the Psiloi. 



Mission:
This battle uses the Reserves special rules and follows the format of the Ravage the Fields scenario from the Men of Bronze rulebook.



You can follow the action and find out the result on the Blood and Spectacles Blog here:
http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/06/battle-report-men-of-bronze-re-taking.html