Battle Of Ulai - Setting Up

HOW the battlefield looked is largely conjecture, but I have included all the significant elements, although whether each is in its correct place is impossible to determine.

Looking from the south, with the River Ulai curving around high ground in the centre of the battlefield

In the foreground is a large deciduous wood, with a smaller wood in the centre-east and a marsh and a copse in the north.

There is some uneven ground east of the hill, but this will only have the effect of slowing chariots and cavalry, reducing their movement allowance by 50%. Infantry will not be affected, and the ground will have no effect on shooting or melees.

Looking from the northwest gives a better view of the swampy ground and adjacent copse

The Assyrians were marching from the west, with an army much more suited to hand-to-hand fighting than were the Elamites, so King Teumman used the Ulai as a barrier to protect his forces, made up mostly of open-order troops, skilled in archery, but without shields or armour.

How the Elamite army may have looked as it awaited the Assyrians coming from the west, assuming the army had chariots, and the Royal Guard of close-order archers, with the rest of the force made up of open-order bowmen

As I explained earlier, King Ashurbanipal and the Assyrians bypassed the main Elamite position, and came at them from the other side of the battlefield, forcing the Elamites to turn and fight with their backs to the river.

That is hardly a position any army would want to be in, as the Ulai here is unfordable - one of the reasons Teumman thought it would make a good barrier to protect his men. So any troops forced into it will count as drowned, and their bases removed from the table.

Battle Of Ulai

THE Battle of Ulai, in about 653 BC (the exact date is not certain, and even the name is not agreed on   - some prefer Til-Tuba) pitted Assyrians under Ashurbanipal against Elamites under Teumman.

What we know of the battle comes almost exclusively from carvings in Nineveh commissioned by King Ashurbanipal to celebrate his crushing victory.

According to these, Teumman had usurped the Elamite throne from the previous king's sons, who fled to Assyria for protection.

However, it was common at the time for Mesopotamian rulers to claim they were acting on behalf of the gods, who were outraged at another ruler's conduct.

Accusing Teumman of being a usurper was standard practice, along with allegations of raiding and oath breaking.

Whatever the truth, Ashurbanipal set aside a whole campaigning season, probably in 653 BC, to subdue Elam.

We have no idea of the numbers involved in the battle, which is typical of conflicts in this period - a good reason for using Neil Thomas's biblical rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming, where every army consists of eight units.

What we do know is the Assyrians were well-equipped, and I will be using my amended A&MW list for our refight.

My reasons for changing Thomas's list are explained here, the result being:

CHARIOTS Heavy chariots, elite 1-2 units
CAVALRY Close-order, light protection, average 1-2 units
PROFESSIONAL INFANTRY Professional close-order, heavy protection, average 2-4 units
SPEARMEN Biblical infantry, medium protection, average 2-4 units
ARCHERS Open-order infantry, light protection, levy 0-2 units

The general - in this case, King Ashurbanipal - will be with one of the chariot units (I'm assuming the player commanding the Assyrians will choose to take both possible chariot units, and in any case will have to take one).

The Elamite army was of a very different order, still emphasising open-order archery and fundamentally not much changed from the Battle of Siddim more than a thousand years earlier.

My list for Elam - Thomas did not include one in A&MW - is as follows:

CHARIOTS bow-armed MEDIUM chariots, elite 0-1 unit
ROYAL GUARD close-order archers, light protection, elite 0-1 unit
ARCHERS open-order, light protection, average 5-8 units
JAVELINMEN open-order infantry, light protection, levy 0-2 units

Note that I have had a slight rethink on my previous classification of Elamite chariots as light. While it is true they were used as a shooting platform, in line with Elam's cultural reliance on archery, the actual chariots were not light, in that they had neither great speed nor manoeuvrability. Accordingly I am giving them a new classification of medium, which means they move at the speed of heavy chariots, and suffer a 50% movement loss if veering more than 30° from straight-ahead. They have the shooting characteristics of light chariotry, meaning they can move and fire in the same turn. In melees they count as light, but they have the saving-throw of heavy chariots.

For this battle, whoever commands the Elamite army must select the unit of chariots - King Teumman is depicted in the Assyrian reliefs as going into battle in a chariot.

Despite his own mobility, he must have had few illusions that his army could stand up to the Assyrians in the open.

Accordingly, Teumman determined to obstruct their progress by forming up on the east bank of the River Ulai.

This is probably to be identified with the modern Karkheh, a broad river flowing in southwest Iran, although there are other candidates, and anyway the river will have certainly changed its course over the centuries since the battle.

Ashurbanipal bypassed the Elamites, thanks to specialist troops who established a bridgehead by fording the river with aid of gourds as flotation devices.

It seems the Assyrians built a temporary bridge or bridges, and may have found a shallower part of the river, where mounted troops, at least, could cross without serious fear of drowning.

At any rate, Ashurbanipal succeeded in outflanking the Elamites, who were obliged to turn and fight with their backs to the river.

The exact spot is unknown, but the terrain included swampy ground and wooded areas, and the Elamites were apparently able to situate the centre of their line on raised ground.

I will be staging the refight with my regular wargaming opponent ('Reg') who, as the guest, will get to choose which army to command.

It might be thought the battle should be something of a walkover for the Assyrians who, with their superior protection, will be heavily favoured in hand-to-hand fighting.

However, the Assyrian commander will have to decide whether his army advances at infantry pace, exposing it to a greater volume of Elamite archery, or whether the mounted units should rush ahead, which could make their flanks vulnerable once engaged in melees.

Spanish Practices

IN contrast to The Naturalist On The River Amazons, I shot through Captain Cuellar's Adventures In Connaught And Ulster, A.D. 1588 in less than a day.

Francisco de Cuéllar was a captain in the Spanish Armada, shipwrecked off the northwest Irish coast as the vessel he was on limped home the long way to Spain following the Armada's defeat.

He was doubly fortunate to be alive as he had earlier been ordered off his own ship, and sentenced to death, by a furious admiral for supposed disobedience during the Armada's aborted invasion of England.

Cuéllar tells how, after being shipwrecked, he had to dodge English garrison troops, and local "savages," both of whom, according to his account, thought nothing of stripping, beating, robbing and, often, killing Spanish sailors as they were washed ashore.

Gripping read

Cuéllar eventually, after many misadventures, found refuge with anti-English chieftains, escaped to Scotland, and finally made his way home, where he wrote an account of his deliverance.

His story does not take up a great many pages of what is anyway a slim volume, published in 1897, but there is a long introduction - best read after Cuéllar's tale, although it appears before it in the book - and some well-chosen illustrations.

A lot is packed into little, including burnt-out monasteries, hanged bodies and desperate attempts to survive in the face of hostility from men and nature.

My edition is a reprint by Clachan Publishing of Ballycastle, County Antrim, bought through Amazon, although I can no longer recall what prompted me to search for it - probably a passing reference in another book, or perhaps a mention in Wikipedia.

Either way, it proved a great read.

Living History

MENTION Zeppelins to most Brits, and they will either think of bombing raids in World War One, or the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.
More than 500 people, overwhelmingly civilians, were killed by the former, and 36 died when the Hindenburg caught fire as it landed in New Jersey.
But what few people realise is that Zeppelins are still flying, from their original home in Friedrichshafen, on the shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee in German) in the southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Last month, while visiting nearby Bregenz, also on the shore of Lake Constance, but this time in Austria, I took the chance to fly in a Zeppelin.

Monument to Ferdinand von Zeppelin

Zeppelin coming in to land

Touchdown

The flight before mine, taking off

Co-pilot addresses the passengers on my flight

We were traveling at 35 knots (about 40mph or 65kph) at a height of 1,000ft (305 metres).
It was a sunny day, with little or no breeze, which made for ideal viewing of the ground - and water - below.
Soon after take-off, passengers were allowed to leave their seats and spend the rest of the 45-minute flight moving around and taking photos, the co-pilot having opened two windows in the side of the airship's gondola for this purpose.

Farmland

The cockpit

Lindau Island

Marina

Lake Constance

Insight into how a river delta is formed

The airship's shadow stands out starkly

History, Naturally

HENRY Walter Bates is a person who could easily be confused Alfred Russel Wallace, if only because their names have a similar cadence, their lives largely overlapped (they were born within two years of each other), and they both became famous as explorers and naturalists, being keen exponents of Charles Darwin's ideas on evolution.

They spent years together in the Amazon jungle rainforest, collecting specimens that in turn funded more exploring and collecting.

Much of Wallace's collection disappeared when the ship carrying it to Britain sank, but Bates, using three separate vessels, transported home more than 14,000 species.

Today Wallace is undoubtedly the better known, but that was not always the case, and reading Bates' account of his collecting, often in dreadful conditions, is eye-opening.

A modern reprint of the 1864 edition of Bates' book

Bates spent 1848-59 traveling the main Amazon, or, as he calls it, Amazons, and the river's tributaries.

You would have to be a keen naturalist to call the book gripping. I am not, and I found some of his detailed descriptions of insects, birds and plants a little wearying.

But there is no denying Bates' enthusiasm, and there was plenty of travel and history to keep me reading.

Bates comes across as, for his time, enlightened, but he is not an apologist for the people he meets, whether they be indigenous, colonials or slaves.

I doubt if I will ever be tempted to re-read the book, but I am glad I have read it for a first time.

Summing Up Across The Danube

DESPITE my uncertainties and misgivings in the heat of battle, it was a fairly comfortable victory in the end, with only two Roman units lost.

It was definitely a fun experience, and I certainly plan to fight the remaining nine scenarios.

Across The Danube has a smaller-scale, more-intimate feel to it than the scenarios in Mike Lambo's Battles Of Napoleonic Europe,

The latter are based on actual battles from the Peninsular War, while Across The Danube - and presumably the rest of the scenarios in Commander - is more generic.

But this one, at least, was just as much fun, and, I would say, ranks Commander as a simulation, not just a game.

My only quibble from the simulation viewpoint is that cavalry may be too powerful for the type of terrain encountered in Rome's Dacian wars, but I will hold judgment on that until I have played more scenarios.

Great fun

Across The Danube - Turn XI: Attack Phase

Some archery, and two melees to be decided

The Dacian archers in the trees are first to shoot. They need 8+ against both spearmen and legionaries, but since the legions can support each other, which means a +1 modifier, they shoot at my spearmen, the dice landing 11, causing my men to rout.

My extreme-left cavalry attack the falxmen on the hill, needing 7+, but with a +1 modifier for being on lower ground. I roll 6.

My other left-flank cavalry attack the falxmen they are adjacent too, also requiring 7+, but with no modifier. I roll 5.

Suddenly the battle is getting tense again. If the further-forward falxmen can defeat my cavalry, and occupy the hex the cavalrymen flee from, the Dacians would be in position to cross the red line on the 12th turn. Falxmen against cavalry need 7+, but there is a +1 modifier for attacking from rocky ground. I need not have worried - both dice land as a 1.

Finally the falxmen on the hill attack my extreme-left cavalry, with a -1 modifier for being on higher ground. The dice land as 8, sending my men retreating to the relative safety of the large hill by the Danube, and the falxmen advance a hex from the hill they have been defending.

There is only one turn left, and since no Dacian unit can cross the red line in that turn (as long as I take the precaution of withdrawing my forward legionaries, so they are not defeated in combat), I declare the battle over and award myself a triumph

Across The Danube: Turn XI

Situation after 10 turns

The start-of-turn-event die is a 5, which allows me to swop any two adjacent Roman units that are not in combat, but are within command range, ie three hexes, of the commander.

I see no use for this, and so go to the movement phase, moving my archers one hex along the little hill to put them opposite the left-flank Dacian archers, albeit at a distance of four hexes.

The Dacians choose to remain where they are, while the other Dacian archers, in the main wood, also stand still, as they have a target to shoot at.

I advance my commander a hex so he is in command range of my central cavalry, as well as of the right-flank ones. Since neither of the Dacian bow units can cross the red line before the end of the game, I move the right-flank cavalry into the trees beside the commander, just in case the horsemen should be needed to intercept rushing falxmen.

I advance the central cavalry diagonally left a hex, at which point they are out of command range, so I roll three dice, which land 3, 2, 1, and consult the on-map compass, but I do not want them to move in any of the available directions, and so I leave them as they are.

My left-flank cavalry are engaged in combat, and so do not move.

The Dacian swordsmen advance a hex.

I move both my remaining legions back diagonally right, to give the commander greater protection.

The two units of unengaged falxmen advance a hex, which puts one of them in contact with my cavalry that advanced this turn.

Finally, my spearmen advance off the hill, just in case they are needed to block the Dacian unit of falxmen that could conceivably get lucky in the attack phase.

I am satisfied I have the battle under control 

Across The Danube - Turn X: Attack Phase

My men will have the initiative in the big central melee

But first the Dacian archers in the wood shoot at my forward legionaries, needing 8+. There is a +1 modifier for the legion being accompanied by fellow legionaries, but two -1 modifiers for the enemy being in contact with two other Dacian units.. However, the dice total only 4.

I start with my left-flank cavalry, who attack the falxmen on the hill. The 7+ needed is increased for being on lower ground, but anyway I roll only 3.

My central horsemen attack the falxmen in the trees. The 7+ is increased because of the trees, but decreased thanks to the presence of friendly legionaries. I roll 8, forcing the enemy to retreat two hexes, their route taking them, by tiebreak, into cover of trees.

My forward legionaries attack the falxmen in the open, needing 7+, reduced thanks to the presence of fellow legionaries. However, I roll 5, which is one short of the score needed for a hit.

My rearward legionaries attack the same target, and this time I roll 8, forcing the falxmen to retreat three hexes. The first retreat is straight back, but the second has to be determined randomly, and the third takes them onto the hill beside the swordsmen.

The right-flank falxmen attack my left-flank cavalry, needing 7+, but there is a-1 modifier for being on higher ground. However, the dice total just 3.

The Dacians are outnumbered and retreating

Across The Danube - Turn X

With just three turns left, I am starting to get pessimistic about my chances

The start-of-turn-event mandates surprise Dacian archer fire, allowing the AI's bowmen to shoot at an enemy unit at exactly three-hex range. The central archers have three such units in their sights, but two are in cover, so they shoot at the legion already engaged with Dacian swordsmen. The 8+ required is reduced thanks to the presence of the swordsmen, but increased due to the legionaries having support from another legion. The dice total 6, so no hit.

My archers remain where they are, while the Dacian left-flank archers advance diagonally right to the bottom edge of the hill.

The cavalry directly ahead of my commander advance to charge-attack the swordsmen already engaged with my leading legion. The 7+ is reduced thanks to the legionaries, and I roll 8, which proves fatal for the enemy as the unit has nowhere to retreat. I do not let my cavalry occupy the vacated hex.

My extreme-left cavalry advance on the falxmen on the hill, and launch a charge-attack. The 7+ is increased for the enemy being on higher ground, so my roll of 7 fails.

My commander then moves to behind the rearward legion, so he can control the right-flank cavalry as it sweeps sideways to engage the warriors, and launch a charge-attack. The 6+ proves no problem as I roll 10, eliminating the Dacian unit.

Remember, despite all the attacking, we are still in the movement phase, and now the Dacian swordsmen on the hill advance diagonally left to leave it.

I take a risk and advance both my legions into contact with Dacian falxmen.

All falxmen are now engaged, so I end the movement phase by advancing my spearmen onto the large hill by the river.

I am embarrassed at my earlier pessimism - the Roman cavalry are starting to dominate the battlefield