But What Of Amun, Ptah And The Rest?

WHILE the Hittite chariots attack the Re corps, what are the rest of the Egyptians doing?

Remember, Re is just one corps - there were also the equally strong corps of Amun, Ptah and Sutekh, plus Ramesses II and his Sherden bodyguard, and the mysterious Ne'arin, somewhere near the Mediterranean coast.

Charles Grant's answer to this question, in Ancient Battles For Wargamers, was that a messenger from Re would reach Amun in six turns.

Allowing a further turn for the information to be digested, Pharoah could set out with his Amun chariots on turn eight, arriving on the battlefield on turn 13.

Grant had decided that the battle, starting in the afternoon, would last for 15 turns under Wargames Research Group rules, so in effect help from Amun would arrive too late.

Under my modified version of Neil Thomas's biblical rules in Ancient & Medieval Wargaming, a battle can last 15 turns before nightfall (at least in summer).

This battle is being fought in May, and, as it starts in the afternoon, I guess it can last a maximum of eight turns.

So in my refight, a messenger from Re to Amun might take three turns to arrive, rather than six, but again reinforcements are unlikely to arrive in time to have any effect, so can be ignored.

Looking from above the first row of Hittite chariots as they close in on the Egyptian column