Another ADLG Game AAR.

I recently traveled to Simon Babb's home to play my 4th game of ADLG. The armies we used this time were a few hundred years closer: Saitic Egyptians vs Triumvirate (Marian) Romans.

Simon needed some hoplites, as the Saitic Egyptians used hoplite mercenaries from Greece as their main infantry force. I brought my 25mm Ral Partha hoplites for Simon's use, which I painted about 34 years ago. The rest of Simon's Egyptians were from his New Kingdom Egyptian army, using 2 horse chariots to represent the 4 horse heavies that were common for this army. Simon's army had a main hoplite battle line, 4 heavy chariots, and a good mix of javelinmen, bowmen, medium spearmen, and light troops.

The Romans consisted of all elite legionary units. These are expensive at 13 points a piece in a 200 point army. I could have downgraded them to ordinary, which would have given me an additional 16 points to play with. My army had 2 corps of legionaries supported by 2-4 light troops, one corps also having 2 bolt shooters. The 3rd corp consisted of medium cavalry and a horse archer unit. The total number of units was 22, including the required fortified camp. My army's frontage was definitely smaller than Simon's.

Above is our initial deployment. The Romans (foreground) are deployed between two rough terrain pieces with their shorter frontage.

Above is the Egyptian main battle line with hoplites, and left flank forces. 

Egyptian right flank forces.

Above pictures is after turn 2. The Romans have decided that to win, the legionnaires must get into combat, so the right hand group is advancing towards the Egyptian left. The Egyptian right flank forces are maneuvering.

 The Romans are committing all the legions to a frontal attack. The Roman cavalry is heading left to take on the threat from the Egyptian right.

The right flank Roman Cretan Archers about to be overwhelmed by Egyptian medium infantry in the rough terrain. Numidian cavalry is skirmishing, lower right.

The Legions about to clash in the center. The Romans were hoping their right would hold, but it has disintegrated.

Fighting occurring in the center. On the Roman right, the Egyptians are turning to flank them.

 The Roman cavalry has gone into action on the left, while the Roman artillery is under attack (far left), one battery is destroyed. All the legions are engaged.

The game ends...too many Roman casualties, mostly lights, but the legions are starting to take heavy casualties. 

A close-up of the Hoplite/Legion combat. The Legions were taking the worst of it.

Another view of the heavy infantry clash.

The initial Roman set-up between terrain pieces wasn't helpful. It seems that the Romans need to get their legions into combat to have a chance to win. In this game, the Romans probably would have been better to set up at 3 UD of the center line and advance ASAP, even though their line wasn't as long as the Egyptians, and try to hold off on the flanks. The elite rating of the Legions didn't help much in this game due to my luck (rolled too many 1's & 2's), and attacking the main strength of the Egyptian line wasn't helpful either. The heavy spearmen hoplites with armor are tough. Also, I think that Simon played his army well, putting pressure on the lightly defended Roman flanks and keeping his right flank out of bolt shooter range for most of the game, so the artillery wasn't a factor. I will probably adjust the list when I use the Romans again.