Macedon was the last army that we had not previously played with, with the Hail Caesar rules, we pitched them against an army of Athens, and Athens had lost our last battle from Sparta.
I must honestly confess that I (Erik) am a great lover of Macedon and especially of Alexander the Great, of course I picked the paper from the helmet that forced me to be the General of Athens and I had to battle against my idol...
Macedon fought under the leadership of Alex (Alexios) with Sander (Sanderios) and Abe (Abedias)
Athens under the leadership of Erik (Eiktopolos) with Joost (Joostimachus) and Justin (Justinantinos)
Macedon
Athens
With Alexander far away during his conquests in Persia, the Macedonian troops provoked the Greek city States, after a third price rise in wine Eriktopolos could no longer accept the Macedonian yoke that the Greeks had to abide by, because of the rage that the wine prices had evoked, many Greeks joined Eriktopolos, a Greek army formed and the local Macedonian garrison under the dreaded Alexios moved to battle.
Athens realized that attacking a Macedonian Phalanx to the front was suicide, also the Macedonian cavalry was by far superior to the cavalry that the Greeks fielded, the Greeks had, however, brought more forces to battle, and the Greeks would have to rely on their numerical superiority. It was decided to split the army into two parts, two-thirds of the army under the leadership of Eriktopolos formed on the right flank, reinforced with Joostimachus, Justinantinos got the left flank. It was intended that this would stretch the Macedonian line and Justinantinos might even be able to threaten the flank. He had two divisions (reinforced with Cavalry of Eriktopolos) with who he had to keep as many Macedonian divisions as possible occupied, so that the troops in the centre would get an absolute numerical majority that they could use to smash the centre or right flank.
The Greeks moved forward, slowly but steadily they moved towards the enemy, the first arrows flew through the air and two Macedonian Cavalrymen fell to the Earth.
Justinantos moves forward
Macedonia also moved forward, the line was retained and the flank was tightly shut. The Cavalry of Abedias and Joostimachus started a "chess game" between Cavalry units that marched up and down the next few turns to threaten the other sides flank without actually getting locked in combat.
After two turns of movement the Cavalry of Eriktopolos saw that the flank of the Cavalry of Alexios was visible, the Greek cavalry charged towards the Macedonian cavalry of Alexios, who turned but thereby their Xystons and wedge formation could not be applied, although this wasn’t the optimal fighting position, the Macedonians did not suffer any hindrance by it. Alexios cut like a mad man into the Greek Cavalry, the Greek Cavalry was driven back and Alexios, in a blood lust, decided to follow the Greeks.
Alexios fighting with the Greek cavalry
Alexios stormed past several Greek phalanxes and once again contacted the overwhelmed Greek Cavalry that fought back bravely but had no real chance of winning, after the last Greek was crushed under the hooves of his cavalry, Alexios redirected his charge and made a sweeping advance in the direction of a second Greek Cavalry unit, this unit suffered the same fate as they were chopped to pieces. Alexios turned after this second massacre, he now stood face to face with the Greek hoplites of Justinantinos.
A second unit of Macedonian Cavalrymen decided to charge the Cavalry of Justinantinos, two units of archers opened fire on the Macedonians, an arrow managed to hit a single Macedonian Companion cavalryman and overall panic broke out among these Cavalrymen that left the battlefield as they ran for their lives.
Alexios follows the Greek cavalry
In the Centre the phalanxes face one another
This was a boost for Athens, whose turn it was now. Justinantinos sent two Phalanx units towards Alexios, Alexios brought his Xystons down and counter charged the Phalanx, a tough fight followed, the Greek wall held while Macedonian Xystons tried to find holes in the line, Alexios had had enough, he jumped from his horse and drew his sword, he pounded on the closed Greek formation and beheading two Hoplites with a single sweep of his sword, he created a hole in the formation that the Macedonians quickly exploited, the Phalanx was slowly broken up and heavily bloodied and humiliated the Phalanx moved back so they could reform themselves, they did not have much time to do so however, like a complete madman Alexios followed them and the battle continued.
Alexios fighting two Greek phalanxes
This was not the only attack of Justinantinos, two other units charged two Macedonian Phalanxes frontally, the Greek Cavalry, which now was safe after the destruction of the Macedonian cavalry because of a lucky a single arrow, saw the opportunity to charge a Macedonian phalanx in the flank. The Macedonians now had to fight to two sides, the phalanx formation was broken because of the flank charge, the Macedonians fought bravely but they had no chance, the unit was destroyed. The Greek Cavalry trampled the survivors as they set in a "sweeping advance" and charged towards the flank of a second Macedonian unit, that was also attacked frontally by Greek infantry, this unit was also completely lost, to the front there is little that can stop a Macedonian phalanx but charged in the "soft flank" they had no chance and they too suffered an inglorious downfall. The last phalanx in this Division had seen enough and pulled back slowly. Macedonia had received a heavy blow but they were far from broken.
Sanderios, whom was moving his troops in the direction the flank of Eriktopolos, adjusted his plans, and like a well-oiled machine he pulled his troops back and he closed the Macedonian right flank, Justinantinos got no chance to further exploit his victory, the Macedonian line was once again impenetrable.
Alexios and his unit continued their fight against two phalanxes, these were reformed again and despite the bloody and aggressive attacks by Alexios, the Greeks kept the wall of shields intact. The Macedonian Cavalrymen were drawn from their horses and impaled on the Greek Spears, Alexios was pierced through both legs but he refused to give up, while spear after spear pierced his flesh, without losing hope or determination, Alexios kept attacking the Hoplites, several of which he managed to slay, however, the supremacy of the Greeks was far too great, after a bitter and bloody fight Alexios was impaled by two Spears and helpless he remained behind, it was Justinantinos himself who finally ended his suffering by removing his head from his body.
Alexios had fallen the remaining generals decided that his sacrifice should not go unpunished and the Macedonians continued the bloody struggle.
In the Centre a "skirmish" battle started as both sides threw their skirmishers forward and the skirmishers attacked each other and the nearby opposing phalanxes with Spears, arrows and by throwing rocks. The phalanxes now only stood a dozen meters apart but neither side dared to take the initiative and commence the attack.
Abedias decided to end the "chess game" on the left flank with Joostimachus and he moved his cavalry quickly to the right flank to close this flank permanently against the advancing troops of Justinantinos. With this action the original Greek plan was realized, only two Macedonian infantry divisions defended the Centre and the left flank, Athens had a Cavalry Division and three infantry divisions to pitch against the Macedonians, Zeus was clearly on the side of Athens.
Justinantinos charged Abedias’s cavalry with cavalry and infantry and also these Macedonian Cavalry divisions were broken by a jubilant Athens, the Greeks however did also lose a cavalry unit.
Joostimachus moved around the flank and marched towards the Macedonian line, the Macedonians countered this action by slowly marching backwards, like a slamming door, followed by Athens. Driven back the Macedonians formed a tight “box” and the phalanxes once again remained opposite each other, waiting for the enemy to make a mistake that could be exploited, both sides however made sure that such mistakes were not made.
The skirmish fight went unabated, both sides lost units of skirmisher, it was Macedonia however that eventually won the “skirmish battle” with only a single unit of skirmishers remaining, Athens, however, was not finished, three units of Greek Peltasts formed skirmish formation and defeated the skirmishers of Macedonia, as a result, only the peltasts of Athens were left and they could now bombard the Macedonian phalanxes from a distance with their javelins. The Macedonians watched helplessly while comrade after comrade was killed from a distance.
Meanwhile, Sanderios had taken over command of the army and he realized that it could not continue like this, if he would undertake no action, then his army would be killed from a distance, he gave the only order that he still could give, "to all officers ... Attack!”
Like a cornered cat the Macedonians charged with everything they had, Athens formed a solid line and absorbed the charging phalanxes, heavy fighting broke out all across the line. A phalanx of Abedias came into battle with a cavalry unit of Joostimachus, the Greek cavalry was of a dubious quality, and the Greeks however could taste victory and held, the Macedonian phalanx was miraculously defeated. Justinantinus also moved his troops forward to put further pressure on the Macedonian lines.
Eriktopolos now also gave the order to attack and his phalanxes came into contact with the phalanxes of Sanderios, a Macedonian phalanx was driven back, a second drove the Athenian Hoplites back, the Greek hoplites were trying to find a gap through the Macedonian forest of sarissa’s but they had no chance, the Greek front row was pierced and the Macedonians marched forward like a steamroller, the Greek phalanx was broken and the few survivors that were left fled from the field. The units from Sanderios remained intact and reformed themselves, they looked to the left to see if the units of Abedias had fared as well, to their horror, they saw how the last troops of Abedias were put to the Spears by the troop of Joostimachus.
In the Centre only Sanderios remained and his frightened troops looked towards four Greek divisions, led by Eriktopolos, they circled the Macedonians, Sanderios looked anxiously around, and he decided he could do only one thing ...as befits a Macedonian General he would go down fighting. In a fit of despair the Macedonians stormed towards the Greeks whom now attacked the Macedonians form all sides. Sanderios was hit so many times and the damage to his body was so severe, that after the battle his remains could not be identified.
Macedonia was soundly defeated, only a few survivors could retell the horror stories they had had to endure. Athens had unexpectedly won a great victory against the "invincible Macedonian phalanx". All over Greece the wine prices dropped overnight turning Eriktopolos and his men into national heroes.
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April 28, 2024, 08:56:48 PM
