Battle of Oikos

Background

Following up their first victory, the Persians strike deeper into Byzantine territory. The Emperor instructs General Synchysi to hold the invaders at the town of Oikos.

Dispositions

Synchysi posts two units of heavy infantry in and around the town (left), backed up by heavy cavalry. The remainder of his army defends a nearby hill (lower right) so that the enemy cannot turn his flank.

The Persian commander decides to focus his efforts on seizing the hill. His infantry will  demonstrate before the town.

The Battle

Synchysi's infantry repulses an attack on the town and his cavalry chase the light infantry to a nearby hill. Feeling secure, he sends some infantry to the right flank, where a cavalry melee rages.

Note: I ran out of casualty markers and I was too lazy to go upstairs to get more so I pressed a sunflower seed into service.

The Persian light infantry shoot down their pursuers.

In a display of indecision, Synchysi recalls his infantry in the woods. They are not needed, though, as a Persian assault on Oikos fails miserably.

The Byzantines lose some cavalry (top) and their infantry (left) takes casualties from Persian archery.

Meanwhile, the Persian elephants prepare to assault the infantry holding the hill.

Synchysi rides to the beleaguered hill, but he is too late. The elephants have crushed the infantry and taken the hill.

The elephants stand firm, leaving Synchysi no choice but to concede Oikos. The Emperor will not be happy.

Campaign

With another loss, the Byzantines find themselves in an 0-2 deficit for the campaign.

Game Notes

I took the scenario from One Hour Wargames. It is number 14, Static Defense. The attacking Persians need to control either the town or hill at the end of 15 turns. The elephants seized the hill on turn 14.

For the armies, I used the lists created by Mark Cordone in The Portable Wargame Compendium. He lays out some ancient army lists for his 3 x 3 variant.

Counters

This battle was the first outing for more generic army counters. I used blue for the Persians and red for the Byzantines.

I have to say that I am quite pleased with the result. The counters are easy to handle and easy to identify the troop types. Furthermore, they are much quicker to create than painting miniatures. Expect to see more counters in the future.

I have some enhancements in mind.

First, I would like some better casualty markers. I created a design already, but I have another thought. I may print some more unit counters with some kind of casualty mark (maybe bloodstains) and glue it to the backside of the counters. Then I can just flip the counter when it takes damage. I just don't look forward to all the gluing this would require so I may just make a handful of casualty counters.

I used 2mm terrain for woods and hills, but I was too lazy to dig out any buildings. Instead, I used a piece of card with buildings sketched on it. I actually really liked this approach. I often have difficulty fitting buildings and figures in a square but having flat buildings solves the issue. I may create some building counters, kind of like in the Command & Colors series.