I’ve been adding the odd units to my armies for Saga and Clash of Spears.
The first pic are a unit of Roman Triarii. The veteran Legionnaires form the third fighting line of the Legion, lending their experience and skill when needed. They are armed with spears instead of pila. They would typically hold the line in a relaxed kneeling position, spears held to defend. I built the kneeling members from the Agema kit, while the standing members were built from Victrix (with Agema heads). The center member leaning on his shield is a metal sculpt from Footsore. Since he was so individual from the rest of the unit, I gave him a boar device on his shield- the same as the 2nd Spear Centurion, and the same as the Legion’s standard carried by the Signifier. His attitude befits a soldier who has seen it all.
They represent either a 6-man unit for Clash of Spears, or 1 1/2 points of Saga. The current Saga rules allow a player to exchange a single half point of troops for half of another (so 2 Hearthguard becomes 4 Warriors or 6 Levy). The six members are the extent of the unit size I’d like to use for games.
The second pic are Greek Archers. These 8 members are enough for a unit for Clash, but I will add 4 more to make a 12-man Levy unit for Saga with the Greek Cities (or use them for the Cretan Archers mercenary unit). Like the rest of the Greek force, they are Victrix. I tried out some brighter colors, using GW’s Contrast Flesh Tearer Red and Instant Ogre Brown for the yellow. The rest got pretty standard chiton colors.
The last pic are the test models for an eventual Moorish force for the Crusades-era Saga. They are from Gripping Beast’s plastic kit. I used pretty simple colors, with bright shields to contrast darker clothes. I got to try out my Arabic calligraphy- more practice needed but it looks ok.
I’ve added a few random models to convert my historical Greek army to Age of Magic for Saga. They are used for Clash of Spears and Saga: Age of Hannibal, but only a few changes lets them enter the realms of myth.
The Priestess stands ready to aid the phalanx, a peacock feather in lieu of a wand, and her familiar owl acting as the eyes of the gods. The model came from the Mortal Gods line, and the branch and owl from GW’s Wood Elves plastics. The model on its own was pretty simple, so the owl adds some extra detail. I did my best to do a somewhat diaphanous gown, though avoided going too risque. Her eyes are pure white to add to her ethereal quality.
In games, she acts as the Sorceress for Age of Magic, or the Soothsayer for Clash.
The Griffon is the Scourge for the army. I painted it to resemble a Eastern Imperial Eagle, with a typical lion hind quarters. The model is from D&D Miniatures. with a pretty dynamic pose. The model can also be used for my Polish army for Age of Magic, the eagle being an important symbol for the historical army.
I’ve played a series of games with my Greeks for AoM. I swapped the faction for each game, changing up the roster to try them out. The system really allows for diversity of play.
Battle 1: Greeks (Great Kingdoms) vs. Lizardmen (Great Kingdoms). We wanted to see how a blue on blue fight went. The Greeks were mounted Warlord, Sorcerer (using a foot officer for the battle), 8 HG, 3×8 Warriors, and 2×12 sling Levy. The Lizards were mounted Warlord, 4 mounted HG, mounted Sorcerer, 2 quadruped Salamanders, 2×8 Warriors, 2×12 skink bow Levy, and a Coatl Scourge.
Both armies being Great Kingdoms meant the game was a slow shooting exchange, with a few units pushing forward only after enemy were softened by all the bow and sling fire. The high point was the poor Coatl flying in and getting trapped between the armies with the Blinding spell. It kept taking hits and blocked its own troops before it was finally put down. The lines converged until the Greeks were able to crush the Lizards.
Battle 2: Greeks (Wild) vs. Dwarf Bear Clan (Great Kingdoms). The Greeks were mounted Warlord, Sorceress (with new model), 6 HG, 10 Warriors, 8 Warriors, 10 sling Warriors, 12 javelin Levy, and a Griffon Scourge. The Dwarfs were great weapon Warlord, Sorcerer, 8 HG, 8 mounted Warriors, 2 quadruped Bears Riders, 12 firearms Levy, 12 crossbow Levy, and a Mammoth Titan.
This battle could have been more shooting, but the Greeks kept retreating and using terrain to cut down on most of the Dwarf efforts, drawing them in. The Dwarfs grabbed the ruins terrain in the middle to avoid my Ambush, which also put them in range of my infantry charges. Once the Dwarfs had advanced to shooting range the Greeks countered. This was a close battle.
Battle 3: My Greeks (Horde) vs. Lizardmen (Wild). While the other battles had been randomized Clash of Heroes scenarios, this one was the Battle for the Fords scenario. The Greeks were mounted Warlord, Sorceress, 6 HG, 2×12 Warriors, 12 sling Levy, and 3 quadruped Giant Boars. The Lizards were mounted Warlord, 8 mounted HG, 2×8 Warriors, 8 bow skink Warriors, and 2 (!) Dragon Scourges.
The battle was expectedly bloody, with the two bridges choked with dead. The Horde took advantage of their mass activation with extra distance to charge across and establish footholds on both sides in the same turn with Warriors and Giant Boars. The counter charges and shooting whittled the Greek hoplites down, but enough held to win the scenario. The two Dragons proved remarkably tough, with one saving 8 hits in one combat (and surviving the game in good health), while the other crossed over the river, requiring both the Warlord and Hearthguard to kill, costing my army time.
Catching up on the third turn of the Punic War in Sicily Campaign for Clash of Spears with another batrep.
Aristarchus and his men had been moving through the Sicilian farmlands, looting when possible and living rough off the land. The horsemen of the Carthaginian army had been shadowing them, launching random harrowing attacks and waylaying his force’s scouts. All attempts to pin the enemy had failed, as the lighter armed force could evade them.
After a few more days of attacks, Elarchus reported a small plantation that had not been spoiled yet. Aristarchus knew the Carthaginians wouldn’t pass up a chance at the easy loot, and he was more than happy to acquire it himself. His heavier troops could prevail against the enemy in a straight up fight.
We played the This is Our Land scenario. My Greeks won the roll for the choice of scenario, and as above, my army was better suited to grinding combat versus my opponent’s army full of light cavalry and skirmishers. Since this was Turn 3, the armies are now 900 points. I had Aristarchus (lvl 4 mounted commander), 2 Lvl 2 foot leaders (Jason and Elarchus w/ Musician), 8 armored Hoplites, 8 armored Hoplites, 8 unarmored Hoplites, 8 Slingers, 6 Slingers, and 8 Peltasti. IIRC the Carthaginians had a Lvl 4 Commander w/ Musician, a Lvl 3 Commander, 7 Punic Citizens, 8 Carthaginian Veterans in Roman gear, 2×8 Libyan javelinmen, and 2×6 Numidian Horsemen. The scenario had 2 objectives in the center line to take. The terrain was an open area with palm tree forests and farm houses, with an enclosed field on on flank.
Highlights:
-The scouting phase had really gone the Carthaginians’ way, with their greater amount of scouts moving first to restrict the Greeks’ movement. With the Numidian extra move after deployment, they were threatening the objectives first turn. The Greeks had to move fast, marching with most of their force in a broad line. The Greeks divided their line into 3 groups, with a leader for each. Both objectives got an armored Hoplites unit to take, with the Slingers and unarmored Hoplites acting to plug the gaps. The Peltasti hung out on the extreme right flank to threaten that objective. They spent the whole game waiting for their Libyan counterparts to advance into range.
-Hostilities began with a round of javelins from the front Numidians bouncing off the right Hoplites’ shield wall, though repeated throws brought down a Greek. Return fire from the center Slingers sent a few horsemen from their saddles. Other Greek shooting was less successful, though a long range sling shot ko’ed a Carthaginian vet.
-The Greek Hoplites and Punic infantry faced off. The imitation Legionnaires hefted their pilums, punching through one shield, but the line held. The Greeks responded with their own charge into the Punic Citizens, but the lines mostly bounced off. Both sides being in close order meant little could be done initially. A series of counter charges pushed the Greeks back, but armor and fighting defensively meant only a few casualties. Javelins bounced off their shields as well. My opponent’s shooting dice were amazing, but my saves were equally good. Greek morale held strong.
-It was then that the Greeks saw their opening. With the Punic Citizens’ successful charges pushing the armored Hoplites back, the unarmored saw their exposed flank. A couple brutal charges ground them down and the unit was destroyed. Before the other Carthaginians could recover, the Hoplites reformed their line to face them.
-In the center, the front Numidian unit had retreated from my Slingers, circling around to aid the now isolated Legionnaires on the left objective. The center Libyans ran up and pelted the Slingers with repeated deadly accuracy, killing the unit down to a few members before they retreated from the field. The second Numidian unit moved up to eyeball the Hoplites near the right objective.
-On the flank the newly arrived Numidians pelted the other Slingers and the Hoplites, causing some casualties. Return fire went wide.
-The center Libyan javelins had come out of the forest to chase off the Slingers, but that put them in range of the Hoplites. The Greeks easily crushed the unit, piling fatigues and killing half the unit. Aristarchus called on his men to reform their line, as the Numidians were close by. Instead, he decided to finish them himself, running down the Libyans, then riding to safety.
-The Hoplite fight by the left objective ground down both sides, but the Greeks were coming out on top. Two units to one were too much for the armored Veterans. Once gain, Aristarchus elected to take the glory for himself, charging in and running down the weakened imitation Legionnaires. The Greeks then turned on the Numidians, but the fight was indecisive.
-The other Libyans finally broke cover from the field, both they and the Numidians pelting the right Hoplites with javelins, bringing a few down. The Greek Peltasti were content to watch them from cover (out of range for commands). Those loafers did nothing all game.
-As night fell, neither force could claim the objectives, but the Carthaginians had more Break Points from casualties (3 to 2) so Minor Victory to the Greeks.
This was a fun game. During the first 3 turns it was even, with some damage on both sides. However, the Greeks managed some brutal charges and turned the Punic units’ flanks, eventually crushing their line units. Late game saw both sides fail to activate units due to fatigue. The men were exhausted. My commanders had to expend command points to get units to rest to help bring them back under control. Aristarchus was truly bloodthirsty, killing off 2 enemy units (mind you they were weakened but who’s counting). Carthaginian shooting was amazingly accurate- we figured he should always declare he needs to hit on 6’s, since his dice were more than happy to do so.
The photos were provided by my opponent Henry, and you can check out his version of the battle (and the rest of the campaign) on his awesome site Plastic Pirates.
The holidays threw off the campaign for a bit, but we’re getting back to battle.
Battle 1: A Disagreement Over Spoils (or, Aristarchus Gets a Taste of Gold)
Aristarchus and his mercenaries moved with impunity through the hinterlands, with the Roman alliance happily looting the villas of the Sicilian farms. He of course was happy to aid in the endeavors. On a quiet morning his force happened upon yet another plantation, moving to secure the best riches. However, this time his scouts sighted a Roman force moving in from the west. His love for the Romans extended as far as their coin, so the prospect of them taking his loot would not stand. He called up his subordinates, Jason and Elarchus, and prepared for a fight.
For Turn 2, we shift to 800 point armies. The Greeks had mounted Lvl 3 commander (Aristarchus), 2 Lvl 2 foot leaders (Jason and Elarchus w/ Musician), 8 armored Hoplites, 7 armored Hoplites, 7 unarmored Hoplites, 8 Slingers, and 8 Petasti. The Romans were mounted Lvl 4 commander (Appius), a Lvl 3 foot commander, 6 Principes, 6 Hastati, 6 Samnites, 6 Equites, and 5 Velites. The Greeks outnumbered the Romans, but they had the advantage of quality. Lots of full armor and high morale.
We played the Retrieval scenario, with 3 blind objectives, with only 1 ‘real’ one, which you reveal in-game. Made it tense as we have to cover all three until the reveal. The Greeks spread out with a Hoplite unit going for each objective, with the skirmishers supporting. The Romans did the same, but were more content to let the Greeks reveal the objectives before getting stuck in.
Highlights:
-Both armies advanced slowly. On the right flank the unarmored Hoplites and Peltastsi faced off with the Samnites hiding in the trees and Velites taking position on the hill. Neither side wanted to be the one to reveal the objective and put themselves into a bad position. They mostly did nothing for the game, which was a bad position for the Greeks.
-In the center the armored Hoplites advanced forward. The Hastati were happy to grab for the objective. They revealed a dummy, so the center suddenly became less important. The Hastati loosed a volley of pilum, striking down a Hoplite despite their close formation. First blood of the game! The Velites did the same, killing a Hoplite on the left flank. The Roman ranged attacks were pinpoint accurate the whole game…
-On the left flank the big Hoplite unit threatened the objective but had to be careful to not get flanked by the Equites and Principes. A couple volleys of sling stones dropped a single Principes but they held firm, even advancing to force the Slingers to retreat into the forest. Aristarchus hovered nearby, eying the objective greedily.
-The Equites performed a javelin maneuver, killing a Hoplite and then retreating. Revealing the true objective, the Greeks needed to do some damage, so they broke formation to attack the Principes over the the low wall. The managed to push them back, breaking their formation, but only did a little damage. I tried to activate the Slingers to take advantage of the loose formation, but the dice were not with me. Their hesitancy allows the Principes to reform into close order. This was a harbinger of later luck.
-In the center, the Hoplites charged the Hastati, brutally cutting them down. Their All Out attack netted 8 hits against the Roman defenders (5 after the defense rolls), killing most. The fatigue broke them. Plutus at least was with these Hoplites.
-The Equites charged the Hoplites, crushing them. The first pass laid on fatigues and casualties. The second charge was interrupted by Aristatchus himself, who beat them back but was not able to stop their inevitable overrun of the weakened unit, wiping them out. My dice were abysmal, with not a single save or morale success in 2 rounds of combat.
-The Roman commander Appius came forward and grabbed the objective himself. With the reveal of the true objective, the whole rest of the table was worthless and the Greeks were woefully out of position.
-The triumphant Equites turned to the exposed Greek commander. They rushed Aristarchus, who parried and dodged them expertly. In return he struck down a few. After several urgent calls from his subordinate Jason, the Slingers joined in and pelted the horsemen until the remaining men broke (the Slingers just kept failing their activation checks).
– The Velites moved across the hill to help the Roman line. As they ran they rained javelins on the Hoplites. Despite their close formation the javelins struck home, killing several. In return the unit gave case, trapping the skirmishers against the pond. In a back and forth melee, the Velites were forced back into the pond, piling up fatigue.
-After resting, the angered Aristarchus sighted the prize, held by Appius. His supposed ally would yield or die. Aristarchus charged, wounding him twice, but Appius would not give up the loot. Exhausted, and with the Principes so close, Aristarchus was forced to flee and watch the Roman commander retreat with the loot. With that, the Greek force broke. The Greeks had 2 break points, plus 2 more from the objective held by the Romans, versus 3 (almost 4) for the Romans from casualties. Based on most of the dice rolling during the game, the army’s heart hadn’t been into the battle much anyway. The Slingers might have been sacked after the battle, having left far too many opportunities to attack wasted.
-With a combination of units extended out too far on the wrong flank and poor activation rolls, my army never had enough command points to push the objectives effectively. The Romans on the other hand performed well, able to fix their line quickly.
I’ve been wrapping up skirmishing units for my Greeks for use in Clash of Spears and Saga: Age of Hannibal. The latest unit is a group of Slingers. I’ve used parts of the unit for games so far, but I needed to expand the members to 12 to use as Levy in Saga. I kept the details simple, with basic leather bags and belts, with a mix of colors for their chitons. I added a sort of command group with a ‘captain’ with a raised dagger and a musician with a salpinx. The models come from the Victrix Balaeric Slingers kit, but I used them as generic Greeks.
The other new unit is a complete departure… These Ashigaru are yari (spear) for the Uesugi Clan. This is the first 5-man group, out of a final unit of 8. The army will be used for Clash of Katanas, the new expansion for the Clash rules. 3 men brace their yari for a fight, while a fourth stands ready, and an officer directs with his katana. These are the plastic set from Warlord Miniatures.
Based on my searching, the Uesugi Ashigaru were pretty uniform, with blue kote (armored sleeves) and black lacquered dō (cuirass) and jingasa (conical helmet). I allowed for some different colors for the trousers to keep it from being too identical. They all wear sashimono with the symbol used by Uesugi Kenshin, the daimyō of his clan during parts of the Sengoku era of Japan. The mon, the kanji 毘, the first kanji of the name of the War God, Bishamonten (毘沙門天) was worn by Kenshin’s troops.
When it came time to pick a clan army list for Clash of Katanas, I decided to go with the Uesugi, since I have recently finished a 15mm army of Kenshin’s forces for the Battles of Kawanakajima.
There are a few more Greek units to wrap up, and I’ll be getting to work on my Uesugi soldiers ongoing.
The first battle of the turn over with, Aristarchus led his forces against the Carthaginians.
Battle 2: My Money!
The estate had been rich once, before the opposing forces had plundered its outer reaches. Scouts had reported that the main building and immediate area still held riches. Aristarchus was a man with a golden tooth, so the treasure would be his. As his army advanced, they spotted the vanguard of the enemy Carthaginians. They would not take what was his by right of the gods.Elarchus rushed ahead with the skirmishers to secure the main building.
This time the Greeks met the actual enemy, a force of Carthaginians. The Greeks used the same models as the first game. Elarchus took over as the Lvl 2 leader for the force, as Jason lay wounded in camp. He must have added his voice to Aristarchus’s speech, as his men cheered in a grand roar of support, earning me a second reroll for the battle. Carthage fielded a Lvl 3 leader, another Lvl 3 leader, 2 units of 8 African Spear, 8 unarmored Citizen spear, and 8 Libyan javelinmen. The scenario was Retrieval. 3 objectives lie on the center line of the table, and both forces try to suss which objective is actually the real one. Once found, they must try to escape with the treasure off the table edge.
Pre-battle scouting.DeploymentCarthaginian line.LibyansThe Greek Slingers, finished for the battle.Greek HoplitesPunic Citizen SpearElarchus leads Hoplites and Peltasti.
Highlights:
-The battle began with the Slingers scrambling through the field to the first objective. If they could find the treasure the game would be over fast. As such, luck was not with me, so the game continued.
-Both forces slowly advanced, initially careful to stay out of range of each other’s ranged units. The Carthaginian Hoplites advanced in a solid line, while the Greeks were forced to break around the estate house. Skirmishers took both flanks.
-A volley of javelins from the Libyans on the central Greek unit caused casualties, requiring the use of both rerolls(!) to redo bad saves and morale tests. The Greeks held but now I was without any recourse.
-Things get spicy when the middle African spear found the treasure, buried under a family sepulcher. Instead of retreating, the Punic spear charged the disrupted Greeks. However, their defense proved impenetrable, and the Hoplites merely gave ground behind their shieldwall. They formed up and counter-charged for no real effect other than the loud crashing of bronze shields.
-The Slingers broke cover to rain stones on the Carthage line but did little damage.
-On the left flank the other Hoplites rushed around the building, while the Peltasti maneuvered to get around the isolated Citizen spear. They were able to disrupt the unit with repeated javelin attacks.
-Greed overcame Aristarchus ‘s men as the treasure was tantalizingly close. The left Hoplites charged around the building, forcing the second unit of African Spear back, exposing their brothers’ flank. The Hoplites turned the flank before they could react, crushing the formation. The Spear held on, barely, only for the the original Hoplites to overrun them. The unit was slain to a man, dropping the treasure.
-To Aristarchus ‘s rage, the Carthaginian leader plucked up the objective and raced away, leaving his men to their fates. Blood boiling, he screamed, “That belongs to me! Kill them all!” With that in mind, my strategy changed from anything complex to doing as many casualties as possible.
-The bloodthirsty Hoplites charged through javelin fire to crush the Libyans, while the other unit turned on the second African Spear. Meanwhile, the Carthaginian leader managed to escape further and further away.
-The Greeks’ violent assault was too much for the Carthaginians, who broke and fled the field. The Greeks managed to stack 4 Break points (casualties) against the Carthage force, compared with 3 (casualties and the treasure objective almost off the table). The treasure was mine! Major Victory for the Greeks.
Shields and spears clash!My treasure!Flank charge!African Spear are finally crushed.Libyans are ground under by the exhausted but angry GreeksThe Carthage leader flees, but his men are slaughtered behind him.
The fields were littered with the dead, the light troops chasing the Carthaginian remnants from the estate. Aristarchus sagged in his saddle, grinding his teeth at how close the treasure had been, then taken from his grasp. “Master! Plutus and Ares both smile on us,” yelled Elarchus, running up with his Hoplites, a small chest carried on their shields. Aristarchus raised his head, gazing in wonder. He leapt from his horse to open the chest. His men cheered as coins and jewels poured forth. The battle had been worth the effort after all.
My local group is running a nice involved campaign, based around the Punic Wars as they roiled through Sicily. My mercenary Greeks from Syracuse have joined forces with the Romans, with the hope of fortune for my leader, Aristachus. He doesn’t really cares who wins in this scuffle, but money is money. To Plutus, god of coin!
The first turn uses 600 point forces. For the turn, the Greek army is Aristarchus (mounted Lvl 3 leader), Jason (foot Lvl 2 leader), 2 units of 8 armored Hoplites, 7 Slingers, and 7 Peltasti. My force played two battles this turn.
Battle 1: Allies? Never Met ‘Em
Aristarchus stood outside his tent. His men were mustering near an estate, waiting for orders from the Romans. He could see across the fields to the camps of his fellow commanders. His curiosity (and greed) grew as he surveyed the rich tents and banners of the Epirites to his north. While supposedly allies, he felt no kinship to those distant Greek foreigners. Perhaps a little scouting would serve his purposes. He called his nephew Jason and his second, Elarchus to plan out an excursion.
The campaign allows for battles between armies on the same side in the campaign, so the Greeks from Sicily met the forces from Epirus on the table. We played the Pre-Battle Scouting scenario. Both armies want to get units near the enemy table edge and return with their reconnaissance. The forces of Phyrrus were Bradicles (foor Lvl 3 leader) with a Musician, another Lvl 3 leader, 2 units of 6 Pezhetairoi, 9 Slingers, and 9 Hoplites. They also had a Soothsayer to look at the omens, giving them a extra reroll. Aristarchus gave a rousing speech, but his men gave him only the usual level of zeal, so no extra rerolls.
The opening deployment after scouting.Aristarchus and one unit of Hoplites.Jason and more Hoplites.The Epirus Hoplites and Slingers, with their commander Bradicles.PezhetairoiPeltastiGreek Slingers, in progress.Bradicles in his glory, with more Pezhetairoi.
Highlights:
-The skirmishers on both sides moved up the flanks. The Epitite Pezhetairoi took each flank, facing off the Greek Slingers and Peltasti. The Hoplites on both sides faced off, but kept a respectable distance.
-The Epirite Singers rained stones on the closest Hoplites, felling one, but they held steady and hid behind their shields. A few more volleys did no more damage, and threatened by the Hoplites the Slingers fell back.
-On the right flank the Peltasti and Pezhetairoi exchanged javelins. Unfortunately for the Epirites, the javelinmen were more accurate. Despite beseeching the gods (using a reroll) the Epirites lost half their unit. A few more volleys of javelins finished the unit off.
-On the left flank, the Greek Slingers were less successful. They killed a single Pezhetairoi, but the light spearmen powered through and rushed them, killing some of the skirmishers and forcing them back.
-Aristarchus’ nephew Jason moved to shore up his flank, charging the fatigued Pezhetairoi. Unfortunately his eyes were larger than his stomach, so to speak, and he whiffed several attacks. The spearmen managed to bring him down.
-The Slingers recovered their fatigue and rained stone and bullet on the remnants of the Pezhetairoi, finishing the unit off. This left the flank open for them scout ahead.
-On the other flank the Peltasti advanced around the estate building, but the Slingers had retreated to cut them off, dropping a few and sending them back to their lines.
In the end, we ran out of time. Neither forces had accumulated enough Break points to retreat, and neither side had gotten to spy on the enemy camp. Chock it up to a little argument between rivals (a messy Draw oh well). Jason was carried back to camp, but he was revived. His folly cost him, leaving him injured for the rest of the turn. Elarches would have to take over his duties.
Pezhetairoi meet the Slingers. Sling stones disrupt the Greek Hoplites.The first save rolls for the Pezhetairoi, followed by……the second roll. They needed 5’s, so failed anyway.Their targets chased off, the Peltasti try to get to the enemy camp.Epirite Slingers cover the lines of approach.Jason attempts to finish off the weakened Pezhetairoi, but he fails spectacularly.Jason falls in battle, but the Slingers avenge him.
Aristarchus mused over the stalemate. The sun had set before his scouts could spy on the enemy camp. The skirmishers had exchanged javelin and stone but neither side could push through. While the flanks had cost several lives, the shield walls of both sides had simply faced off across the field. His right hand, Jason, had fallen, carried back to camp. He had foolishly confronted superior numbers and proved wanting. What a disappointment his nephew had been in his first real battle. He would spend the rest of the season bedridden.
He looked across the map to his subordinate, Elarchus. “The next time we arm ourselves, let’s make it worth our while.” He tapped the southern cities. “Here. Plunder that the Carthaginians won’t ignore. That’s where the fights will be.”
This week we ran a game of Clash of Spears. My Gauls tangled with my friend’s Greeks in a Force Projection scenario. To wit, both forces are trying to take the center of the table, and also try to push into their opponent’s deployment zone to effectively jockey for territory, either as prelude to a further battle or just to expand their army’s footprint.
The Gauls swept to the center with their foot, while the javelin skirmishers captured the vineyard on the left flank and the mounted Nobles skirted around the right flank, testing for weakness.
The Greeks faced off across the meadow. Citizen Hoplites formed a solid core to contest the center, the Thureophoroi raced through the woods, while the Peltasts and Slingers favored their right flank overlooking the vineyard. The Veteran Hoplites hung back protecting their deployment zone on their left flank, since he knew I had cavalry.
As per usual, we took plenty of pictures early on but as the game kept going we forgot.
Highlights of the battle:
-The battle began with the Gallic skirmishers taking the vineyard, hoping to use it as cover to work around the left flank. Instead, a unit of Peltasti got aggressive and attacked, killing half the unit and pushing them back.
-In response, a unit of Gallic Warriors, which had also hoped to use the vineyard for cover, poured through the rows and pounced the Peltasti, wiping them out.
-The Greek Slingers rained death down on the foot Nobles. Despite range they got several hits, who also despite the odds failed their saves. After a few rounds of sling fire half the unit was killed. Those Nobles needed to speak with their armorers…
-Thureoporoi snuck through the trees in the center, breaking cover to try to work around the shieldwall of a unit of close order Warriors. Unfortunately they got too close and the Warriors broke formation to charge them. In the subsequent melee the Greeks were wiped out. This did leave the Warriors vulnerable to counterattack…
-The Citizen Hoplites advanced on the center, holding the objective most of the game. They crushed the unit of Warriors and finished off the decimated Nobles.
-The Greek commander survived a volley of javelins, then rushed to hit the weakened Warriors unit in the center, finishing them off and almost panicking the mounted Nobles off the table.
-Mounted Nobles were kept from the Greek rear lines by the reserve Veteran Hoplites. They tried to launch some attacks in response to Greek movements but the reaction tests were not happening. In the end they Nobles got pinned by the Veterans, the fight killing half of both units. The Nobles hung on however, while the Veterans were broken. They also survived an important Break test from the nearby Warriors getting wiped out.
-Weathering a round of shooting from the Slingers, the Warriors broke cover from the vineyard to charge the Greek skirmishers. After seeing them off, the Gauls took the next turn to race over the hill to claim the Greek rear deployment objective.
-The game ended with a roll-off of Break tests. The Gauls had to roll first, passing the first test, then the second. The Greeks then rolled in another round, failing, which made them quit the field. Both sides had been properly slaughtered (5 Break points for the Greeks, 4 for the Gauls). Hope the field was worth it!
I posted the complete Syracusan army of the Graeculi for Saga: Age of Hannibal and Clash of Spears a while back. At that point, the army was finished. But of course, while armies may be done, they are never done done.
The first addition was a mounted Warlord for my Greeks, to give me the option for some speed and allow the Tyrant’s influence to cover more of the table in games. The foot version was posted here.
The Warlord was made from the Victrix Cavalry set, but I heavily converted him to make him a proper Greek officer. I swapped an armored upper body from the Hoplite kit that the rest if the army was built from and plonked it onto the legs of one of the Cavalrymen, with the addition of a cape from the Gallic set. His sleeved arms came from the Gallic set as well, with the change of a hand waving a Greek khopis. His head and shield came from the Cavalry kit. The last bits were extensions of his pteruges that cover his upper legs (and also hide the join), which were cut from paper hardened with glue.
He is richly dressed, befitting a Greek noble leader, with a gold and violet cape, shiny white linen and scale armor, and a warhorse with a lion skin draped across it. His shield bears a hydra symbol, as well as a lambda, perhaps pointing to ancestry from Laconia itself, or at least kin to the Spartans that aided Syracuse during their wars against Athens.
Like most of my Warlords, he has enough room on his base for some battlefield litter, usually a shield from a vanquished enemy. In this case it’s a Carthaginian shield, discarded during one of the Sicilian Wars.
The other pic is the first part of a unit of Light Cavalry, useful for harassing, scouting, and hitting vulnerable targets with rains of javelins. They lack armor, preferring to skirmish rather than fight it out. I plan on painting up 4 more to complete a point of Warriors for Saga. For now these four will be an option to give my otherwise plodding Hoplite phalanxes some speed. These were from the Victrix Greek Cavalry like the Warlord, though without any conversions.
These could be mercenaries from Greece or Italy, brought in to aid the Syracusans. I also plan on using them for Cavalry Warriors in a potential Republic Roman force, representing some Roman subject Greek states in Italy.
My Greek army of the city of Syracuse is complete. This force will serve in both Saga: Age of Hannibal and Clash of Spears. I plan on adding more units later, but for now it is done.
Here is the complete army. In Saga terms it has 3 points of Warriors (24 in total), 2 points of Hearthguard (8 men), and 1 point of Levy (12 javelin men). On the table the Warriors will form 2 12-man units, flanking the 8-man Hearthguard unit. Depending on the scenario or opponent, the Levy will either form up into a 12-man swarm or 2 6-man units to skirmish.
The second pic is the force formed up into a more historical phalanx formation.
The Warlord, the Tyrant of Syracuse, was posed pretty aggressively, advancing with his standard bearer to battle. The model was taken from Mortal Gods, and the banner man is from Victrix like the rest of the army. I wanted the Warlord to bear a unique shield, so a red-eyed cyclops glowers at his foes. The standard bears the golden laurels of victory.
The next pic is the other half of the Levy unit (I posted the Peltasti previously). These men are Thureophoroi, an evolved Greek soldier, a derivation of the hoplite. They were mostly unarmored, with lighter thureos shields based on Celtic designs. They filled a role between phalanx and skirmish, capable of fighting with spear and javelin. I built them out of unarmored Hoplite Victrix models, with a mix of javelins and spear. They got capes from the Gallic plastic set, with topknots from the same set. They stand out from the Peltasti so I can field them as a separate unit.
I plan on adding a unit of Greek cavalry, a mounted Warlord, and some Archers at some point, but it’s nice to reach an endpoint.
Bughaus Miniatures 