Battle Of Palm Hill - Turn Five

Situation after turn four

Pharoah won the dice-off (2-1) to see who goes first, which is likely to be of special importance this turn.

He begins by ordering the Sherden to charge my Benjaminite slingers in the eastern rocky ground. Since Sherden are auxiliary infantry, they have no problems entering rocky ground. The difficult-terrain combat table, rather than the normal melee table, is used for such hand-to-hand fighting. Auxiliary infantry in a melee with other troops, ie troops who are not auxiliary infantry, receive two dice per base, while all other troops in difficult terrain always get one dice per base (note there is no bonus for charging). The Sherden score an exceptional five hits, while my slingers inflict none, so it is shaping up to be a massacre. I manage successful saving throws for two of the hits, but the other three have to be resolved. Thankfully only one results in the removal of a base, the other two causing my unit to fall back a total of 6cm. This they are able to do by falling back to the right of the Simeonites, who are behind them, the direction being decided by a 50:50 die roll (if there had been other friendly units blocking such a retreat, further bases would have been lost). Having lost a base in hand-to-hand combat, the Benjaminites have to take a morale test, and I roll a 3, meaning they narrowly fail it, so losing a further base. Pharoah declines to use the follow-up rule, by which the Sherden could have forced a further round of meleeing, presumably fearing the Sherden would be too exposed to flank attacks.

Next the right-flank chariots advance slightly and shoot at the Gadites near the palm grove, scoring a stupendous three hits with their four dice. My saving throws are inadequate, and so the last base of Gadites is removed, meaning my Hebrew army is the first to lose a unit.

The left-flank chariots shoot at the Issacharites descending the hill, scoring two hits, neither of which is saved. One hit is resolved as a lost base, the other causes the javelinmen to fall back 3cm, Fortunately, for me at any rate, their morale remains good.

The left-flank archers shoot at my slingers on the hill, but miss.

The left-flank spears advance 8cm, slightly diagonally right, to support the Sherden.

The right-flank spears advance similarly, but lose half their movement allowance for deviating more than 30 degrees from a straight line.

The single-base royal squadron advances 8cm, staying well away from any potential trouble.

Judging from the quality of this view, a heat haze seems to have descended over the battlefield

Close-up of the Sherden on the edge of the eastern rocky ground, supported by units of Egyptian spearmen

I start by ordering my slingers on the hill to shoot at the left-flank Egyptian spearmen, scoring one hit. This is the Egyptian marine unit that has been upgraded to medium armour, but Pharoah's saving roll of 4 is one short of the required score. A further die roll shows the hit is resolved as the loss of a base, which is compounded by another base being lost to poor morale.

I pull the Issacharites on the Hebrew right flank back on top of the hill.

My slingers who have been driven out of the eastern rocky ground shoot at the marine archers, scoring a hit, which is not saved, but is resolved as causing the unit to fall back 3cm.

The Simeonites in the same rocky ground charge the Sherden, which means a melee between two elite units of auxiliary infantry. Both sides get one die per base, and both sides score a hit. I save mine, but the Sherden just fail (Pharoah again rolls a 4, when 5+ is needed), and the hit is resolved as forcing the Sherden back 3cm. I use the melee follow-up rule to advance my Simeonites and force another round of hand-to-hand fighting, which takes place right on the edge of the rocky ground. A question arises - should we use the difficult-terrain melee table, or the normal one? Actually, it does not matter since either way both units receive one die per base, and so we leave the question unanswered (at least for now). Unfortunately the Simeonites' eagerness backfires on them, when they score no hits but suffer two. Neither hit is saved, but thanks to their elite status the Simeonites do not lose a base, instead falling back 6cm.

I order the non-elite auxiliaries on the hill to advance 8cm, but they prove reluctant, edging forward only 6cm thanks to the Move Variation rule.

The Hebrews have lost a unit, but the army presents a compact formation on Palm Hill