Mike, Michael and Phil refought our what if version of the famous Battle. It is 363 AD and Julian and the Romans have crossed the Tigris and are attacking the forces arrayed before Ctesiphon. However in our version the Persians have support from the advance cavalry guard of the Royal Army.
The Romans arrayed for battle.
The Persians.
The Field of Battle. Tigris at far side, woods and villages near side.
Persians deploy behind the high ground.
Romans too with infantry in centre.
The Roman veterans.
The slingers advance into the rough ground as the Light Horse close.
The Left Flank cavalry see a threat forming in the centre, turn to face and then spend the rest of the game failing to move at all towards it.
Did someone say advance?
As the lines close.
The Elephants in the centre smash into the Roman lines .
Still a battle going on?
Treachery. We played until near the end of the Persian deck and found the last few cards that had not been used contained all the Aces! Who shuffled, Michael!?
The Roman infantry near the woods prove hard to defeat but even harder to rally!
Things are opening up in the centre and on the Roman right. Julian himself is moving through to the Persian centre.
The Roman cataphracts on the far right have failed. They failed to defeat the Peasant Levy twice! They got roughed up by Elephants and smashed by the Persian Cataphract Guard Unit. Disastrous.
The Elephants clear a way forward.
Maybe we should turn those reseve cavalry back round now!?
Cataphracts charge Auxilia and will be pushed back!
Nothing can stop these Elephants!
Roman cavalry Guard led by Julian put up a good fight!
The Persian cataphracts clear away the opposition but then become disordered in the confusion (Ace drawn).
The Romans have cleared away the foolhardy Sassanid cavalry who had smashed through the centre to face the reserve unit of archers and cavalry.
The weakened Roman Right Flank.
The view from the left flank. One unit of Auxilia has been lured into the woods and proved unable to ever (difficult) move again. Another unit has finally been destroyed by cataphracts who now face the light horse and the reserve cavalry units on the left.
The Roman centre is pushing forwards as are the right infantry units. However the Persian units on their far left with the Elephants are making progress.
Having driven away the cavalry and archers towards the Persian baseline the heroic roman infantry turn to threaten the flanks of the Peasant Levy and the Elephants who have advanced in support of the Cataphracts. Note the Persian Guard catapract unit having fallen into disorder fell prey to the javelins of the Elite Lanciarri. So the general has had to relocate to the now outflanked Persian infantry Levy Unit!
Some light horse threaten the Auxilias flank as they attempt to hold the left flank whilst the centre advances.
The other Auxilia are trapped in the safety of the woods and refuse to budge.
The slingers still hold the rough ground. Too much happening around them!
As night falls the position perhaps is looking a little better for the Romans after rescuing the situation on the right flank. However the elephants remain undaunted and the VP total of 12 vs 8 counts against them. So a narrow victory is awarded to the Persians. They have stalled the Roman advance and will retire now to the City Walls. For Julian with the Persian Royal army rapidly advancing and no siege equipment of his own to match the high walls he will now have to retire away from the City in search of his Armenian re-enforcements.
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An epic struggle! Very nice.