On The Table - Turn Three

Situation at the start of turn three

Close-up of elite Egyptian chariots on the hill above the village, which is being approached by Bedouin camelry and a unit of close-order Assyrian archers

Pharoah won the dice-off (3-1) to see who moves first this turn, and decided he wants to begin by seeing what happens with the continuing melees.

First, his marine spearmen fight my blue-shield heavy infantry. Pharoah rolls a 4 while I roll a 1, the former becoming a hit thanks to the marines' +1 modifier for being heavy infantry. Resolving the hit, I roll a 2, meaning my unit loses a strength point.

Next his archers also fight my blue-shield unit. We both roll a 6, so both suffer a hit. Pharoah rolls a 5 to resolve the hit, and chooses to retreat a hex rather than lose 1SP. I roll a 6 and also choose to fallback a hex.

In the melees between Pharoah's red shields and my red shields, I roll a 6 against Pharoah's 1. Pharoah's resolution die lands as a 6, and he makes the unit fallback a hex. I choose the option of following up such a retreat by advancing my unit and continuing the melee. This time we both roll a 5, meaning a hit apiece. Pharoah again takes the chance to retreat rather than lose a strength point. I roll a 1, and have no such choice, so my unit loses 1SP.

The final ongoing melee is between the Egyptian yellow-shield heavy spearmen and my furthest-forward chariot squadron, but no hit is scored.

On the left-flank the three-base Egyptian archers shoot at the camels straight ahead of them, rolling a 5. To resolve the hit I roll a 3, which, since the camelry is of poor quality, means 1SP is lost, so eliminating the unit.

The chariots on the extreme left shoot at the nearest camelry, but roll a 1.

The other left-flank chariots are in firing-range of the same camel unit, but can they shoot over the village? The rules do not provide an answer, but we decided that this would be possible, but with a -1 modifier. Pharoah rolled a 4, which would normally have been enough thanks to the +1 modifier for not having moved, but in this case failed, thanks to the -1 modifier.

On the Egyptian right the blue-shield heavy spearmen move diagonally left and into melee with my furthest-forward chariot squadron. Pharoah rolls a 1, but I roll a 5, and Pharoah, after rolling a 5 to resolve the hit, orders the unit to fall back a hex rather than lose 1SP. I opt to follow-up this relative success, initiating a second round of combat. However this time I roll a 1 and Pharoah a 5, and my resolving die throw of 2 means my unit has to lose a strength point. Since the unit is elite, it still has 1SP left - its state being shown by moving the rock to the unit's side.

The weakened chariot squadron is clearly marked, while in the background the other elite Assyrian chariot squadron is still at full strength and has been joined by the Assyrian general's chariot

The rearward Egyptian chariot squadron on the Egyptian right advances two hexes and fires at my heavy cavalry, but rolls a 1.

The other right-flank Egyptian chariots also advance and fire at my heavy cavalry, but also roll a 1.

The battlefield suddenly looks rather different, and so do the casualties - the Egyptians have 35 strength points left, but the Assyrians are down to 32SP 

I start on the Assyrian left by continuing the melee between my chariot squadron and the Egyptian blue-shield heavy spearmen. I roll a 5, scoring a hit even without the +1 bonus for chariotry, while the infantry roll a miserable 1. To resolve the hit Pharoah rolls a 5, choosing to fall back a hex rather than lose a strength point. The question arises: should the unit retreat towards the Egyptian baseline, or directly away from its attacker (the rules do not seem to cover this)? Reg and I agree that retreating directly away seems more realistic. Despite my previous failures in such circumstances, I take the option of following up for another round of close combat. We both roll a 5, meaning mutual hits. I roll a 2 to resolve mine, and, despite the unit being elite, it loses its final strength point. Pharoah's resolution die is a 4, and he chooses to retreat another hex rather lose 1SP.

My heavy cavalry attack the further forward of the right-flank Egyptian chariots, but I roll a 2 against the Egyptians' 6. To resolve the hit the cavalry suffered, I roll a 6, choosing to fall back a hex. Pharoah declines to follow up.

My further-back slingers in the town shoot at the victorious chariots, rolling a 6. Pharoah rolls a 6 to resolve the hit, but cannot order the unit to fall back a hex as that would take it off the battlefield, so instead loses 1SP.

My other slingers in the town shoot at the yellow-shield heavy spearmen to their front, but roll a 1.

In the centre of the battlefield my one-base red-shield heavy infantry are pinned by being adjacent to Egyptian archers, and so turn to face and engage them in close combat. I roll a 2, but the archers roll a 6. To resolve it I roll a 6, but my men cannot retreat as they have rough ground behind them, which cannot be entered by heavy infantry, and so they lose their final strength point.

My elite chariots, which have the Assyrian commander with them, charge the yellow-shield Egyptian spearmen. We both roll a 6, meaning a hit each, and to resolve the hits we both roll a 3. Because my unit is elite, I have the choice of losing 1SP or falling back a hex, and choose the latter, but the infantry are of average quality and so have to lose 1SP.

It was only now that I realised there was little point in using my chariots for close combat when I could have used them to shoot, and so not have suffered a hit back. I do not make the same mistake with my next chariot squadron, which shoots at the same unit of Egyptian infantry, but rolls a 1.

My other chariot squadron advances a hex and shoots at the same target, coming agonisingly short with a 4. Ironically, in a melee this would have been enough for a hit as chariots receive a +1 modifier in close combat.

My archers shoot at the marine spearmen to their front, but roll a 3, which is not enough despite a +1 modifier for firing without moving.

My blue-shield heavy infantry advance and attack the same target, rolling a 6 against the Egyptians' 1. Pharoah resolves the hit with a 3, meaning the unit must lose 1SP.

My further-forward camelry drop back a hex diagonally right to get a clear line-of-sight to the Egyptian chariots on the extreme left, rolling a 6. Pharoah's resolution die lands a 1, so the unit must lose 1SP.

My other camelry occupy the hex that has just been vacated and shoot at the same target, rolling a 6. Pharoah rolls a 3 to resolve the hit, and since the unit is elite, that lets him choose for the unit to fall back a hex (we felt that the angles involved allowed the chariots to retreat without leaving the battlefield).

My Assyrians have been reduced to 30 strength points

Looking from behind Pharoah's chariot, which is with the Egyptian Red Shields