Biblical Dry Run - Turn Four

Situation at the start of turn four

Hebrews

Reg starts by declaring a charge by the Simeonite elite auxiliary infantry on my marine spearmen. Both sides get to roll one die per base. Reg rolls 5, 4, 3 and 2 - two hits. I roll 6, 5, 4 and 3 - three hits. My marine spearmen have medium armour, so a hit is negated on a saving throw of 5+, but I roll 3 and 1, and so two hits are shown by adding green beads behind my unit. The Simeonites have light armour, and so need saving throws of 6. Reg rolls 6, 5 and 1, negating one hit.

The Gadites on the Hebrew left are open-order infantry, which means they can turn as much as they like and still use their full movement allowance of 12cm. Accordingly Reg sends them on to the hill (hills have no effect on movement), outflanking my archers. Since they are armed with javelins, they can fling these. but the four dice land as two 2s and two 1s, so no hits.

The left-flank Benjaminite slingers shoot at my regular spearmen, scoring two hits, neither of which is negated.

The right-flank Benjaminites shoot at the chariot squadron nearest the Sherden. The Benjaminite unit is reduced to three bases, but scores two hits. I manage to negate one by rolling a 6, but since the squadron has now suffered four hits, it loses a base and must test its morale. Egyptian chariots are elite units, and I easily roll the 3+ required to avoid losing a second base.

In round two of the melee between the Ephraimites and my Sherden, both sides suffer hits, but this is more serious for the Ephraimites as under totting up hey lose a base and have to take a morale test, but Reg rolls a 5 to avoid further damage.

The Sherden are getting the upper hand against the Ephraimites

Egyptians

My regular spearmen are not quite within charging distance of the Benjaminites in the rocky ground ahead of them, but advance to reach the edge of the cover.

My regular archers turn to face the Gadite javelinmen, but having moved are not allowed to fire.

The marine archers descend from the hill, the idea being to take the nearby Benjaminites in the flank.

All three chariot squadrons shoot at the other band of Benjaminites, scoring seven hits. The Benjaminites enjoy the cover of rocky ground, so the hits are halved, but become four on a 50:50 chance for the half hit. Reg is unable to negate any of the hits, so the Benjaminites lose a second base, and then, perhaps not surprisingly, fail a morale test, losing a third base.

In round three of the melee between my Sherden and the Ephraimites, I score three hits to one, although one of the hits I inflict is cancelled by a saving throw. Nevertheless the cumulative effect is to remove a second base from the Ephraimites, although their morale holds steady.

In round two of the melee between my marine spearmen and the Simeonites, I fail to inflict a hit, but Reg scores four hits. Saving throws reduce those to two hits, but since my unit has already suffered two hits, a base is removed. However I roll the necessary 4+ (just) to avoid losing a second base due to failing morale.

The Hebrews are perilously close to being the first to lose a unit

Biblical Dry Run - Turn Three

Situation at the start of turn three

Hebrews

Having apparently decided they must eventually lose a purely shooting battle, the Hebrew auxiliaries continue to advance, as do the Gadites on the Hebrew extreme left.

The Benjaminites opposite the chariots again shoot at the squadron next to the Sherden, scoring two hits, both of which stand as my saving throws are a pair of 2s.

The other Benjaminites shoot at the marine archers on the hill, but their aim is poor (they roll two 3s and two 2s).

The Gadites, unfortunately for them, are not quite near enough to hurl their javelins at my archers (we had agreed ranges should be measured from the centre-front of the shooting unit).

After the Hebrew half-turn

Egyptians

I declare a charge, my Sherden attacking the Ephraimites.

Both units are auxiliaries, which means both get one die per base in the melee (there is no bonus for charging), with 4+ needed for a hit.

I roll two 5s, 4 and 1 (three hits), while Reg rolls two 6s, 3 and 2 (two hits).

My Sherden have medium armour, meaning a hit is negated by saving throw of 5+, and I roll 5 and 1, so my men suffer just one hit.

The Ephraimites have light armour, meaning only a 6 will negate a hit. Reg rolls two 5s and 4, so somewhat unluckily suffers all three hits.

Both my units of spearmen advance 8cm, and the remaining Egyptians stay where they are.

My three squadrons of chariots again fire at the Benjaminites ahead of them, scoring six hits.

That total is halved, thanks to the slingers enjoying the cover that comes from being in rocky ground.

Reg's saving throws land 6, 4 and 2, negating one of the three remaining hits, but that means the unit has now suffered four hits, so a base is removed.

Losing a base means the Benjaminites have to take a morale test, requiring 4+ to avoid losing a second base, and Reg rolls a 4.

My extreme-right archers fire at the Gadite javelinmen, rolling 6, two 3s and 1, but the hit is cancelled by Reg's saving throw of 6.

My marine archers also shoot at the Gadites, rolling 4, two 3s and 1, and this time the hit sticks.

End of turn

Biblical Dry Run - Turn Two

AFTER we played the first turn, I remembered I had recently visited Central London's Orcs [sic] Nest, where I bought a pack of spikey beige tufts by Gamers [sic] Grass.*

The tufts will have no effect on gameplay, but add a little something to the limited scenery

Looking from behind Egyptian archers on the hill

Hebrews

Reg orders the elite auxiliary Ephraimites and Simeonites to leave the rocky ground and fill the gap between the two bands of Benjaminite slingers.

Auxiliaries have a normal move of 12cm, but that is reduced by half if, as here, they deviate more than 30 degrees from straight ahead.

The ordinary auxiliaries behind them in the rocky ground advance to occupy the vacated space.

The other auxiliaries, and the Gadites in the rough ground, remain where they are, as do the Benjaminite slingers.

The slingers opposite the chariots shoot, concentrating on the unit nearest the Sherden. Their four dice land 6, 4, 2 and 1, meaning a hit.

Light chariots negate a hit on a saving throw of 5+, but I roll 2, so a green bead is placed behind the unit to show it has suffered a hit (four accumulated hits mean a base is removed).

Egyptians

I only move the archers, advancing them to the edge of the hill, and then order the charioteers to shoot again at the Benjaminites ahead of them.

The Royal Squadron on the extreme left rolls two 5s and two 1s. The two hits are halved, because the Benjaminites are in rocky ground, and this time Reg fails to roll the required saving throw of 6.

The middle squadron rolls 5, 4, 2 and 1 - two hits, decreased to one, and again the saving throw fails.

The remaining squadron rolls 6, 3, 2 and 1. That is one hit, which is halved, and disappears on a 50:50 chance when I can only roll a 3.

So the Benjaminites have suffered two hits, which are again shown by putting green beads behind the formation.

End of turn two

*Apostrophes are apparently unfashionable.

Biblical Dry Run - Turn One

Battlefield with both armies deployed

Close-up of where the action is likely to be

The rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming seem to make no mention of the effect of rough and/or rocky ground, except to state that it provides "cover."

We agreed, however, that rocky ground should be treated as woods, which means it is impassable to chariots, reduces movement by close-order infantry to 4cm (their normal move is 8cm), but does not impede auxiliaries or open-order infantry.

Troops in rocky ground, as with troops in woods, will suffer half the normal number of hits from shooting, and melees are fought very differently from ones on open ground.

We will treat rough ground similarly, except it does not provide cover and so will not reduce hits from shooting 

Hebrews

Reg, having won the dice-off to decide who moves first, advanced the two columns of auxiliaries into the rocky patches, and also advanced, but more cautiously, the connecting unit of auxiliaries.

The Gadite javelinmen on the Hebrew left advanced to near the edge of the rough ground.

None of my men is quite within slingshot range (16cm), so the Hebrew turn ends here.

Before getting to my half-turn, there is the question of bow range to be considered.

Under the rules there are two ranges for archery - 24cm for troops on foot, 16cm for troops on horseback.

But what about charioteers armed with bows?

They are on foot in as much as they are standing on a mobile shooting platform, but the platform is being pulled by horses and so is not as stable as terra firma.

The rules do not clarify the matter, but it is clear from reading the preamble to the biblical section that it is the lessened stability of cavalry that lowers their bow range, and so I think it fair that the maximum range of chariot bows should be 16cm.

Egyptians 

Accordingly I advance all three of my chariot units so they are in range of the Benjaminite slingers in the rocky ground on the Hebrew right.

The infantry in the plain remain where they are.

On the hill I order my righthand archers to turn and advance to get alongside the unit of marine archers.

Close-order archers have a move of 8cm, but half of this is lost if deviating more than 30 degrees.

The rules do not explain the mechanics of this, but since pivoting would be a very slow process, it seems fairest to let the archers turn, and then advance 4cm, which indeed put them alongside their archer comrades.

After movement, but before shooting is calculated

My Royal Squadron, on the extreme left, shoots first. One die per base is rolled, 4+ being needed for a hit.

I threw 6, 5, 3 and 1 - two hits. However this is halved because the Benjaminites are in rocky ground.

In addition, all Early Hebrews have light armour, which means a saving throw of 6 negates a hit, and Reg does roll a 6.

My middle chariot squadron now shoots, rolling two 6s and two 1s. Again the two hits are reduced to one, thanks to the Benjaminites' rocky ground, and again the saving throw lands as a 6.

With my frustration mounting, my third chariot squadron shoots, rolling 6, 4, 3 and 2 - one hit. The rocky ground halves that, so I roll a die with a 50:50 chance of the hit standing, and a 5 means it does.

But believe it or not, Reg again comes up trumps with a saving-die roll of 6.

For anyone whose maths is not their strong point, the odds of negating all three hits was 215-1 against - no wonder I was quietly fuming!

The plucky (lucky?) Benjaminites' view of the massed Egyptian chariots, with Sherden to the charioteers' right