Biblical Dry Run - Turn Five

Situation at the start of turn five

Hebrews

The one-base Benjaminite slingers withdraw through the rocky ground their full move distance of 12cm (light infantry are not penalised for turning).

The rearmost band of auxiliaries enters the same rocky outcrop, but beyond mounted-bow range of the Egyptian chariots.

The Benjaminite slingers in the other rocky ground also drop back, and then shoot at the spearmen ahead of them. The four dice land 6, 5, 4 and 2 - three hits. But these are halved as the Benjaminites' aim is obstructed by cover. A die throw shows the half-hit is rounded up, so two hits. My saving throws are to no avail, so my unit has suffered four hits in all, meaning it loses a base. Being biblical infantry, the unit has to take a morale test, and being of average quality a 4+ is needed to avoid losing a second base, but I roll a 2.

It was at this point that Reg muttes what sounds like a swear word under his breath as he realises he has failed to declare a charge with his auxiliaries nearest to my same unit, and since charges have to be declared at the start of a turn, he has lost his chance. This is an example of why Neil Thomas has no command-and-control restrictions in his rules. He reckons players make enough mistakes of their own to duplicate the blunders of real warfare. Reg instead contents himself with wheeling the auxiliaries to face my spearmen, perhaps hoping to charge them next turn.

The Gadite javelinmen on the hill are open-order infantry, so they are allowed to shoot and then move, which is what they do, inflicting two hits on my ordinary archers, neither of which is negated by my saving throws, and then moving to the right flank of the archers, meaning they cannot be shot at in my half-turn (more on this later).

There are two continuing melees,

In one my Sherden inflict a hit on the Ephraimites, who reply with two hits on my men, despite being down to two bases. Reg is unable to negate the hit his men suffered, but one of my saving throws lands a 5, which is enough as Sherden have medium armour, so the end result is one hit apiece. Unfortunately for the Egyptian cause, that brings total hits suffered by the Sherden to four, so they lose a base and have to take a morale test. Since they are elite, I only need to roll 3+, and they do pass the morale test (just - I roll a 3).

In the other melee my marine spearmen inflict two hits, but suffer three from the Simeonites. The latter cannot save either of the hits they suffer, which brings their total to four, and so they lose a base, but easily pass the subsequent morale test (Reg rolls a 6). Sherden have medium armour, which helps me negate two of the three hits they suffer (I roll 6 and 5),

The fleet-footed Gadites have got behind my army

Egyptians

Before I start my half-turn, we have a discussion about the situation between Reg's Gadite javelinmen and my close-order archers on the hill. Under the rules the latter cannot move and fire, which means the open-order Gadites can literally run rings around them with impunity. This is unrealistic, so we agree a house rule that lets a unit form a circle (much as Napoleonic infantry formed square when threatened by cavalry, or, to cite a nearer moment in history, much as the Spartans did at Thermopylae when awaiting the Persians' final attack).

Accordingly I start my half-turn by getting the archers to form circle, from which they will be able to shoot next turn. When firing at a target, they will be able to use two bases.

I order my two-base spearmen to withdraw (this means a 4cm move, ie half their usual allowance as biblical infantry).

I send my three-base chariot squadron to help the archers on the hill. Being light chariots, they suffer no penalty for turning, and so career 24cm along the back of my lines.

My other chariot squadrons advance to within bow range of the auxiliaries in the rocky ground, and shoot, but score just one hit. This is halved for the target being in cover, and the half is rounded down on a 50:50 chance, so no hits despite eight bases shooting.

My marine archers shoot at the Benjaminite slingers in the other rocky ground, scoring two hits. This is halved for the target being in cover, and even that is almost negated when Reg rolls a 5 - one short of the saving throw needed for troops with light armour.

In the longer-running melee, my Sherden roll three hits, while the Ephraimites score only one. None of the hits is negated, which means under tallying up the Ephraimites lose a third base, although their morale holds steady,

In the other melee my marine spearmen inflict two hits, and the Simeonites retaliate with one. I negate the marines' hit, but the Simeonites have no such luck.

Cavalry, or more-precisely chariots, are riding to the rescue of my under-fire archers