Biblical Update - Movement

MY rules are very much based on Neil Thomas's biblical ones in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming, but the movement section has considerable input from Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame.

At the start of each turn, dice to see who has the initiative, higher score moving first. If the army has a great general, add one to the roll; if the army has a poor general, subtract one.

The higher score moves first, ie the winner does not have a choice in the matter, and the winning player picks a unit of his army to start with, and it moves, shoots, tests morale, etc, before a second unit does likewise, and so on.

Open-order cavalry and light chariots can move 24cm; close-order cavalry, heavy chariots and camelry, 20cm; open-order infantry and auxiliary infantry, 12cm; close-order infantry, 8cm.

Turning is free to open-order infantry, light chariots and camelry, but other troops that deviate more than 30° from straight-ahead lose half their allowance.

When a unit tries to use at least three-quarters of its allowance, roll a die: 6, add 25% to the distance covered; 1, subtract 25% from the distance covered.

For example, a unit of close-order cavalry wants to turn to its flank and advance 8cm. Close-order cavalry have a normal movement allowance of 20cm, but since the unit turned more than 30°, its allowance is reduced to 10cm, and since 8cm is more than three-quarters of 10cm, a die is rolled. It lands as a 1, meaning the unit, perhaps because of an unexpected obstacle or confusion about the order, only covers 6cm.

This rule should not be enforced when the result would be ridiculous, eg a unit sent to defend a wall or line a river bank should not be made to move across the wall or into the river as the result of a 6 being rolled.

Assyrian close-order cavalry

Biblical Update - Moving & Firing

UNDER Neil Thomas's biblical rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming it is stated that "close-order* troops may never move and fire."

Nevertheless, a special rule for the Assyrian army allows its close-order infantry and cavalry units to fire with half their bases even after moving.

I have more-or-less kept this special rule in that I am allowing Assyrian professional close-order infantry and close-order cavalry to move and fire.

Moving on to open-order troops, he states that open-order infantry, open-order cavalry and light chariots may move and fire "under certain circumstances."

1. Open-order infantry armed with javelins may throw their javelins either before or after moving.

2. Open-order cavalry and light chariots armed with bows may shoot either before or after moving.

3. Open-order cavalry and light chariots armed with javelins may split-move, ie shoot at any point during their move.

However, no unit may shoot if charging, ie intending to force a melee.

I understand why ordinary close-order infantry armed with bows are not allowed to move and fire, but why are open-order infantry armed with bows the only open-order troops unable to move and fire?

This seems to me a clear anomaly, and I intend treating open-order archers the same as bow-armed open-order cavalry and light chariots, ie by letting them fire before or after moving.

Egyptian open-order bowmen

*He uses the word "heavy," but "close-order" is a better term, as I have explained before.

Biblical Update - Canaanites & Philistines

NEIL Thomas's Canaanite and Philistine list in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming covers "states operating in what is now Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria."

He goes on to add the Mitanni, in what is now Iraq, "and even the Hammurabic Babylonian empire."

CHARIOTS bow-armed light chariots, elite 2-4 units

SPEARMEN biblical infantry, light protection, levy 2-4 units

SKIRMISHERS javelin-armed open-order infantry, light protection, levy 2-4 units

ARCHERS open-order bowmen, light protection, levy 0-1 unit

The Philistines are allowed an extra troop type:

GUARDS biblical infantry, medium protection, average 0-1 unit

The Babylonians also receive a compulsory extra:

ARCHERS close-order bowmen, light protection, levy 1-2 units

I do not have much to say about this list at present, except that an argument can be made for upgrading the Philistine guards to elite.

Open-order archers were an integral part of many biblical armies

Biblical Update - Hittites

THE Hittite list in Neil Thomas's Ancient & Medieval Wargaming covers six centuries, and is basically the equivalent of lists 16 (Hittite Old & Middle Kingdom), 24 (Hittite Empire) and 31 (Neo-Hittite & Later Aramaean) in De Bellis Antiquitatis.

HITTITE CHARIOTS spear-armed heavy chariots, elite 2-4 units

SYRIAN ALLIED CHARIOTS bow-armed light chariots, average 0-2 units

SPEARMEN biblical infantry, light protection, levy 2-4 units

SKIRMISHERS javelin-armed open-order infantry, levy 1-2 units

There are no special rules for a Hittite army in A&MW, but two points from the list stand out.

The first is that Hittite chariots, as opposed to the chariots of their allies or vassals, are treated as melee weapons, rather than shooting platforms, and I agree with Thomas's arguments on this score.

The second point is the levy status of all infantry, which seems a little harsh, but I intend going with it unless I find convincing evidence to prove this wrong.

Hittite biblical infantry may have been impressed, but can also have something of an impressive look

Biblical Update - Elamites

THERE are lists for 11 armies in the biblical section of Neil Thomas's Ancient & Medieval Wargaming, which is a low number when compared with, for example, Phil Barker and Sue Laflin-Barker's De Bellis Antiquitatis.

Some of Thomas's lists are suitable for more than one nation's armies, with a minimum of adapting, but even so there is nothing that would be suitable for the type of Elamite army that won the Battle of Siddim in about 1800 BC, that being the first battle mentioned in the Bible.

Nevertheless it is a fairly easy process to come up with an appropriate list, and here is mine.

CHARIOTS bow-armed light 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

If chariots are chosen, the general - perhaps commander, or king, is a better word - will be with them. If chariots are not chosen, but the royal guard is, the army commander will be with them. If neither elite unit is chosen, the commander will be with one of the open-order archery units, which will be upgraded to elite.

At Siddim, which was probably at the south end of the Dead Sea, King Chedorlaomer of Elam and three client kings fought against the forces of five rebel Canaanite cities.

The army of the cities may have been armed to the Elamite force, but I have not looked into this in any depth yet, so I am keeping an open mind.

Seven units of Elamite archers, including one at three-quarter strength and one in close-order

Biblical Update - Midianites

I AM yet to field a Midianite army on the tabletop, but I have all the necessary figures, including an abundance of camelry.

The relevant list in Neil Thomas's Ancient & Medieval Wargaming is as follows.

CAMELRY bow-armed, open-order, light protection, average 2-4 units

SKIRMISHERS open-order javelinmen, light protection, levy 2-4 units

SLINGERS open-order, light protection, levy 2-4 units

ARCHERS open-order, light protection, levy 0-2 units

What this means is that even if a wargamer takes the full allowance of four units of camelry, all of whom are of average quality, the other four units of the army will be levy.

To my mind, 50% levy is too high, and I will change this to be that half of all non-camel units will be levy, and the other half average.

In addition, under my adaptation of Thomas's biblical rules, one of the units of camelry will have the 'general' - perhaps the title chieftain, sheikh or commander is a better choice - and thus be elite.

The Midianite list, which is meant to represent any Arab tribal army, has a special rule for camels.

This states that they have a movement allowance of 16cm and enjoy a saving roll of 4+, rather than 6, which is the norm for troops with only light protection, "if attacked by horses in hand-to-hand combat."

Two points leap out at me.

Firstly, the wording implies that if camelry attack cavalry or chariots, they do not get an enhanced roll - it only applies if the horsemen attack the camels.

Later, on the same page, Thomas writes: "(Camelry) may be able to repel chariots and cavalry owing to its enhanced armour saving-roll against horses."

I find it hard to believe this is what is really meant, and I will be giving camelry a 4+ saving roll in melees with cavalry and chariots, no matter who attacks whom.

The second point is that camelry's movement allowance of 16cm is not only 8cm less than that of light chariots and open-order cavalry, but is 4cm less than heavy chariots and close-order cavalry.

I accept that horses generally move quicker than camels, but I do not accept that camelry, which, remember, is in open-order, would manoeuvre slower than cavalry in close-order, even if the close-order would, perhaps, not have been as tight as it later became as cavalry developed over the centuries.

Accordingly I am giving camelry a movement allowance of 20cm, ie the same as heavy cavalry and chariots.

Bedouin camelry in action as part of an Assyrian-led army that took on Egyptians, using Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame ancient rules, reported on my blog just over a year ago

Biblical Update - Hebrews

NEIL Thomas's list for a Hebrew army in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming is really three lists, covering the same centuries as the Early Hebrew and Later Hebrew lists in De Bellis Antiquitatis.

(Thomas uses the word Israelite, rather than Hebrew, but this can lead to confusion after the Jewish kingdom splits into a northern part, Israel, and a southern one, Judah).

The main list, which covers Hebrew armies up until the accession of David's son Solomon to the united throne, is as follows.

SIMEONITES & EPHRAIMITES Auxiliary infantry, light protection, elite 1-2 units

GADITES & ISSACHARITES* Open-order javelinmen, light protection, average 1-2 units

BENJAMINITES Open-order slingers, light protection, average 1-2 units

OTHER SEVEN TRIBES Auxiliary infantry, light protection, average 2-4 units

One of the units of Benjaminites can be equipped with bows, rather than slings.

The army enjoys a special Guerrilla Warfare rule, designed to reflect its skill at ambushing enemies after luring them into suitable terrain.

Accordingly the Hebrew commander can add two pieces of rocky terrain anywhere on the battlefield (size of the terrain pieces is not stated, but a diagram of suggested deployment for the army shows two units in each of the pieces of rocky ground).

The Hebrew commander can also deploy two open-order units anywhere on the battlefield after the enemy has finished setting up. Again, the mechanics of this are not explained.

The second list is specifically for Solomon's army, which cannot use the Guerrilla Warfare rule, but gets an additional troop category:

CHARIOTS bow-armed light chariots, elite 1-3 units

With this addition I think it only fair that the Simeonites and Ephraimites lose their elite status, becoming average.

The third list is for armies after Solomon, ie for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and ignores all the above.

Instead Thomas says to to use the list for Canaanite and Philistine armies, and I will look at this later. 

*"Issacher" in A&MW, but clearly Issacharites is meant.

Hebrew army at the Battle of Palm Hill

Left-to-right in the photo are Issacharite javelinmen; Benjaminite slingers and Ephraimite auxiliary infantry in rocky ground; two ordinary bands of auxiliary infantry in the centre rear; more Benjaminite slingers and Simeonite auxiliary infantry in the second patch of rocky ground; Gadite javelinmen.

Biblical Update - Assyrians

THE Assyrian army list in Neil Thomas's Ancient & Medieval Wargaming is titled New Assyrian Imperial, and covers the years 750-610 BC.

The dates are uncontroversial, at least from a new-versus-conventional chronological viewpoint, and Thomas's dates are essentially the same as the Neo-Assyrian Empire (745-681 BC) and Later Sargonid Assyrian (680-609 BC) lists in De Bellis Antiquitatis by Phil Barker and Sue Laflin-Barker.

CHARIOTS Heavy chariots, elite 1-2 units

CAVALRY Close-order cavalry, light protection, elite 1-2 units

LINE INFANTRY Professional close-order infantry, medium protection, elite 2-4 units

AUXILIARY INFANTRY Auxiliary infantry, light protection, average 2-4 units

ARCHERS Open-order infantry, light protection, levy 0-2 units

There are two special rules for the Assyrians - terror and mixed units.

The terror rule has it that enemy troops in hand-to-hand combat with any Assyrians, apart from archers, must test their morale before the first round.

The mixed-units rule means Assyrian cavalry, line infantry and auxiliary infantry are assumed to be equipped with bows, and can shoot with half of their bases each turn even if they have moved.

There is a fair bit in the above with which I am not happy.

For starters, since a Thomas army has eight units, it is possible using his list to field an Assyrian army in which three-quarters of the units are elite, eg by selecting two units of chariots, two of cavalry and two of line infantry, along with two units of auxiliary infantry.

I also do not understand why the average infantry are regarded as auxiliary infantry, rather than biblical infantry.

My version of the above list is therefore:

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 2-4 units

ARCHERS Open-order infantry, light protection, levy 0-2 units

Note that as well as debuffing the quality of cavalry and professional infantry, from elite to average, I have upped the protection of professional infantry from medium to heavy, and of spearmen from light to medium.

This is because professional infantry tended to have both large shields and body armour, while spearmen - at least the ones I have painted - have large shields.

I am keeping the terror rule, but I am only allowing cavalry and professional infantry to use the mixed-units rule.

A 13-unit Assyrian army, plus a general in a chariot, organised for a battle using Bob Cordery's ancient rules in The Portable Wargame

Biblical Update - Egyptians

THE Egyptian army list in the biblical section of Neil Thomas's Ancient & Medieval Wargaming is designed for New Kingdom Egypt and is dated 1200-800 BC.

That is because Thomas is using Egyptologist David Rohl's controversial - putting it mildly - new chronology, which has not found mainstream acceptance, but is popular with conspiracy theorists.

More conventional dates are found in version 3.0 of De Bellis Antiquitatis, where Phil Barker and Sue Laflin-Barker give 1543-1069 BC.

The dates are not important for my current purposes - what counts are the units in the A&MW list, which is as follows (using my terminology, where it differs from Thomas's).

CHARIOTS Bow-armed light chariots, elite 1-3 units

SPEARMEN Biblical infantry, light protection, average 2-4 units

ARCHERS Close-order bows, light protection, average 1-2 units

SHERDEN GUARD Auxiliary infantry, medium protection, elite 0-1 unit

The list has a special rule that allows one unit of spears to be upgraded to medium protection, thanks to the men having body armour as well as shields.

This mostly strikes me as very reasonable, except for one thing - the defensive protection of the spearmen.

Under Thomas's biblical rules, all troops are classified as having light, medium or heavy protection.

He writes: "If a soldier is equipped with a breastplate or a shield, he counts as having light armour; if he has a breastplate and a shield, he has medium armour. These ratings can be augmented if the man has extra armour, horse armour, or an unusually large shield."

To my mind Egyptian spearmen, at least the ones in my collection, have unusually large shields, and so I am going to classify all such units as enjoying medium protection.

That makes the corrected list as follows.

CHARIOTS Bow-armed light chariots, elite 1-3 units

SPEARMEN Biblical infantry, medium protection, average 2-4 units

ARCHERS Close-order bows, light protection, average 1-2 units

SHERDEN GUARD Auxiliary infantry, medium protection, elite 0-1 unit

This incidentally does away with the special rule for upgrading the protection of one unit of spears.

An Egyptian army using the deployment suggested in A&MW

Biblical Update

MY long-term major project of fighting battles from the Bible with 10mm-scale figures is progressing nicely.

There is still a fair bit of painting to do, but I have been reading and researching the period, and, importantly, have settled on a ruleset.

I will be using Neil Thomas's biblical rules from Ancient & Medieval Wargaming, but incorporating ideas from Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame, as well as modifications of my own.

You will need both books to fully understand the concepts, but especially A&MW.

Here I want to discuss how the armies will be organised.

Under Thomas's rules, an army always consists of eight units, and each unit almost always consists of four 40x20mm bases, aligned in two ranks of two bases.

I like this approach, especially for the pre-classical ancient period, when information on army sizes is very limited, and usually very biased.

In addition, knowledge of unit organisation and tactics are usually extremely limited - guesswork is the order of the day.

So normally I will follow Thomas, albeit reserving the right to vary unit numbers when I feel it is necessary.

In my experience the rules work perfectly well with more units on the table, and with rival armies fielding different numbers of units.

Thomas has nine types of unit for his biblical armies.

Five are on foot: heavy infantry, biblical infantry, heavy archers, auxiliary infantry and light infantry.

Four are mounted in one way or another: heavy cavalry, light cavalry, heavy chariots and light chariots.

I have discussed before why I disagree with some of the terms he uses as I think they can be inappropriate and confusing.

For example, Thomas's heavy archers often have neither shields nor armour - the defining criterion for them is that they fight in close order.

Below I list Thomas's nine types of troops, my names for them, how many figures there should be per base, and the basic characteristics of each type.

THOMAS'S NAME     MY NAME                 FIGURES

Heavy infantry            Professional infantry       6

Well-drilled, fulltime, close-order, often with heavy protection, ie shield and body armour.

Biblical infantry          Biblical infantry              6

The great bulk of close-order melee infantry.

Auxiliary infantry       Auxiliary infantry            4 

Disciplined melee infantry, but in looser formation. They move quickly, and are a match for biblical infantry (but not professional infantry) in hand-to-hand fighting in, and are especially effective in difficult terrain.

Heavy archers           Close-order archers           6

Bows in close-order formation. Do not carry shields, but can have full mail armour, but can also have just medium or light protection.*

Light infantry            Open-order infantry          2

Skirmishers equipped with bows, slings or javelins.

Heavy cavalry           Close-order cavalry          3

Usually melee troops. Often, but not always, protected with shield and body armour, and the horse may have protection too.

Light cavalry             Open-order cavalry          1

Mounted version of open-order infantry.

Heavy chariots           Heavy chariots                 1 (plus crew)

Chariots designed for close combat.

Light chariots             Light chariots                   1 (plus crew)

Chariots designed for shooting, usually with bows.

*Troops have heavy, medium or light protection, needing a saving throw to negate a hit of 4+, 5+ or 6 respectively.

Six units of javelin-armed open-order cavalry - figures from Newline Designs