15mm Ancients - My Seleucid Army takes to the field

This weekend saw my first game of Impetus using my newly completed Seleucid army. As Impetus plays relatively quickly and the armies were small we actually got two games in. In the first my opponent used his Roman army and in the second he used his Parthians.

For both games my forces remained the same. At the club I go to games are normally four hundred points per side but I had only managed to paint enough figures to field a three hundred point army. This is the smallest size recommended by the author of the rules. The core of my force was five bases of Phalangites which were formed into two large units. One of two bases and one of three. In addition I had two units of Light Infantry. My cavalry consisted of Cataphracts, Horse Archers and some City Militia Light Cavalry. The Army was rounded off by three units of Skirmishers (two Slingers and one of Archers) and a single unit of Scythed Chariots.

In the first game the Seleucids deployed with the Phalanx behind a screen of Skirmishers and the Chariots. It's flanks were guarded by more mobile light infantry. My cavalry deployed on my right. The initial action consisted of my Scythed Chariots racing at the massed lines of Legionaries. Alas, the Chariots were destroyed in a hail of arrows and javelins before they got anywhere near. Then disaster struck. The Light Infantry and Skirmishers securing the left flank of my Phalanx disintegrated under only light pressure from the Roman Legionaries. This flank was now effectively turned.  On the right my cavalry became bogged down in an inconclusive battle with their Roman counterparts. I had to split my infantry line to face the threat on my left flank and my centre gave way. The losses quickly mounted and my army was routed. Thus the game ended in a crushing Roman victory as my forces were swept aside. I hadn't expected much from my first game with them but this was a particularly heavy defeat.

My initial deployment (from a Roman perspective!).

The Romans come down off the hills with their cavalry heading for my right. They are reinforced by a giant hand and mug!

My flank is turned! Two units of Legionaries are around my left.

Phalanx and Legion locked in combat!

The second game proved more successful and I even managed to snatch a narrow win. I put this down to two main factors, firstly the Parthians are a much harder army to use than the Romans and secondly my opponent had some pretty bad luck with the dice.

The Partian force was all cavalry - a mix of Horse Archers and Cataphracts (including some on Camels!).  Knowing that I would be outmanoeuvred I decided to deploy in a solid defensive position and let the enemy come to me. I had learned my lesson from the first game and securely anchored my left flank against a steep hill that would prove difficult for the Parthian horsemen to traverse. I placed some Light Infantry and Skirmishers on the hill to harass the enemy should he try to move against that side. I used my Cavalry to protect the right flank of my Phalanx.

The bulk of the enemy force came at my right in an attempt to attack my Infantry from that side. My Cavalry held their own however and were able to inflict heavy losses on the Parthians. This attrition proved too much and one of their generals fled the field forcing the other to retreat.

My forces deployed towards the bottom of the table as the Parthian horsemen bear down on them.

The Seleucid Scythed Chariot slams into a unit of Parthian Horse Archers.

The men of the Phalanx watch on screened by a unit of slingers.

Despite my heavy defeat in the first game fun was had by all and that is by far the most important thing.

So what lessons have I learned from these two games? Firstly I realised that pike blocks are not very manoeuvrable. Their initial deployment must be given some serious thought. Secondly their flanks have to be secured properly - a token unit of light infantry won't do the job.

I also found that heavy Cavalry can be used in this role. They are mobile enough to respond to threats quickly but also have the punch to take on targets effectively.  The downside is that they represent a considerable points investment. Used in this role a large amount of resources could be left idle waiting to deal with a threat that never materialises  I think I will do more experimenting with this idea in my next game.