Romans vs. Persians

Inspired by a post* on the Portable Wargame Facebook group, I looked into playing a Byzantine battle with Dominion of the Spear. I settled on Late Romans vs. Sassanid Persians.

* Bob Cordery provides a nice overview of the post on his blog.

Set Up

• Persians (blue) - Elephants (elite armored), 2 armored horse archers in battle line. Spears in reserve
• Romans (red) - cavalry, archers, and legionaries (elite armored) in battle line. Cavalry and spears in reserve.

The Battle

The Persians launch their elephants on the left. The Roman cavalry panics and bolts. The Roman legionaries try unsuccessfully to engage the horse archers.

But the legionaries finally draw the horse archers into melee. The horse archers don't last.

The legionaries continue their attacks, this time routing the reserve spears. On the left, the Roman spears and Persian elephants engage in a bloody stalemate. leaving both units blown.

On the Persian side, only a unit of horse archers remain. Seeing both flanks exposed, they wisely decide to withdraw from the battlefield.

A Roman victory!

Next

Dominion is great! It is so easy to set up and play.

As a result, I've been playing a lot of games and have lots of reports to share. Over the next couple of weeks (and hopefully longer) you'll get 3 reports a week (on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday). I even completed a couple of 3-game campaigns!

The British Retreat

Lexington Concord Campaign Using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet

Part 3

This is the finale of my Lexington Concord campaign using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet.

So Far

The colonial militia has driven Col. Smith and his command from Concord. Colonial ambushers hit the retreating British, inflicting more casualties.

The Final Battle

Col. Percy links up with Smith. Percy has 4 companies of line infantry and one battery of artillery. Smith only has his lights left.

Note: For this larger battle, each company = 1 stand.

Outside Lexington, Col. Green's militia strikes.

Smith's light infantry draws first blood.

But then the colonials counterattack and drive Smith off.

The British line defeats a company on the left.

But then they get routed.

Disaster for the British! The colonial militia wipe out the flanks.

Then a flank attack routs the center.

The colonials are victorious. Percy leads his battered command back to Boston.

GAME NOTES

• That was fun, aided by an American victory!
• I changed the campaign a bit. I did not roll for American reinforcements. Instead, I had each command individually challenge the British.
• Interesting, the British won my first attempt at Concord. Then I realized that I shortchanged the colonials - I only gave them 1 stand per company while the British got 2. I replayed the battle and this changed the result.
• I made the colonial militia = ambushers because I wanted them to fire first. It seemed fitting for Lexington Concord, where the colonials generally used hit and run tactics.
• Stay tuned for more Revolutionary War battles!

Battle of Concord

Lexington Concord Campaign Using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet

Part 2

I'm continuing my Lexington Concord campaign using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet.

So Far

Col. Smith leads a company each of light infantry and grenadiers to Concord. His mission is to seize military stores from the colonial militia.

He brushes off a colonial company at Lexington. At Merriam's Corner, he drives off more militia. Part of his grenadiers get dispersed but he rallies them. The British continue their march.

Concord

Smith arrives in Concord. His troops begin searching the town, but then colonial reinforcements arrive from the North Bridge. Col. Barrett leads 3 companies of militia.

Notes:

• Two stands represent a company.
• The British light infantry are skirmishers, the grenadiers are bayonets, and the colonial militia are ambushers.

The British lights drive off the militia on the left. The grenadiers charge in the center but get driven off.

More grenadiers come up from the reserve, but they also get driven off. The British lights on the left continue having success.

But then they get flanked and routed.

The colonials control the battlefield. Smith must retreat from Concord with his mission unaccomplished.

The Retreat

Smith retreats, looking to link up with reinforcements under Brigadier Percy. He manages to rally his grenadiers.

Near Merriam's Corner, he gets ambushed by more militia, this time under Col. Pierce.

Musketry from the militia drives off some of the grenadiers.

Then the militia flanks the remaining grenadiers, driving them off too.

Smith hastens his retreat to Boston.

Happy Easter!

"But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." Acts 2:24

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3

The Shot Heard Round the World

Lexington Concord Campaign Using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet

Part 1

For details on the campaign, refer to my prior post.

Background

April 19, 1775.

Thomas Gage has sent a force towards Concord to seize military stores stockpiled by the rebellious colonists.

The vanguard is led by Col. Smith with 1 company of light Infantry and 1 company of grenadiers;

Lexington

Smith arrives in Lexington. He is confronted with a company of Massachusetts colonial militia,

Note: For this battle, I'm giving each company 2 stands.

A shot is fired. Who knows from where. The colonial militia opens fire in the center. Their volley is ineffective. Major Pitcairn, commanding the lights, orders a reply. A devastating volley on the left sweeps away half a company.

This is all the militia can stand. They break and flee.

In Dominion, a battle ends when a side is down to 1 unit. Because the colonists only started with 2, I gave them a chance to stand and fight. But they failed their morale roll.

Merriam's Corner

Smith continues his advance. At Merriam's Corner, he confronts the Lexington militia who fled and another company under Col. Gardner.

Smith deploys his lights on the wings and grenadiers in the center.

Again, I'm using 2 stands per company. Only half a company managed to escape from Lexington.

The grenadiers launch the attack. But colonial musketry is hot, driving off the British. On the right, there is a firefight. It goes poorly for the colonists.

The British lights on the right flank the militia. There is a series of volleys but no casualties.

Then the militia on the left breaks. The remaining militia must retreat.

The road is open to Concord, but the British suffered their first casualties of the day.

Lexington Concord Campaign Using Dominion

With the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution about to begin, I decided to play some Revolutionary War games. I'm using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet. Designed for 19th Century colonial battles, it seems to work fine for the Revolution.

The Campaign

I decided to do a series of linked battles representing the battles of Lexington and Concord. I did a little online research and found a good scenario at Grymauch's Solo Wargaming Blog.

Basically, I'm treating each unit in his order of battle as a stand, which I'm calling a company.

Rather than one big board, like Grymauch, I'm running separate battles at each strategic locale. Here is my map.

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The first battle will occur at Lexington. If the British win, they advance to Merriam's Corner, then to Concord. Their goal is to seize Concord.

Lost companies may return after a battle. I roll randomly to check. This represents temporary disorder that gets addressed before moving on.

Americans may get reinforcements after every battle. British reinforcements leave Boston after the 3rd battle.

Orders of Battle

British

• Col. Smith - 1 co. Light Infantry (skirmishers), 1 co. Grenadiers (bayonets)
• Brig. Percy (reinforcements) - 4 cos. Line Infantry, 1 battery Artillery

Americans

• Col. Gardner - 2 cos. Militia (ambushers) - 1 in Lexington and 1 in Merriam's Corner
• Col. Barrett - 3 cos. Militia
• Col. Pierce - 2 cos. Militia
• Col. Green - 3 cos. Militia

Schedule

Stay tuned for the first battle report on Sunday the 20th Saturday the 19th.

Dominion of Freedom

When I first posted about Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet, I suggested that one could use it for a different kind of colonial war - the American Revolution. The author Steve concurs. Anyway, I decided to try a battle.

Set Up

I rolled to help determine the army makeups. I came up with:

• Continentals - 4 skirmishers, 1 cavalry, 1 artillery
• British - 1 line infantry, 2 grenadiers (elite bayonets), 1 artillery

I decided that the Continental infantry would be skirmishers, although ambushers may have been better.

The Battle

A British column (red) marches through the American countryside. The Continentals plan to ambush the redcoats. But the British get wind of it, and attack first.

The grenadiers (center) charge the "hidden" Continental guns. A whiff of grapeshot stalls the attack. Then Continental skirmishers hit the head of the column. Firing accurately from cover, the skirmishers wipe out the British line infantry.

The British bring up their guns. Their cannonade has no effect. But now Continental skirmishers hit the rear of the British column, dispersing the British cavalry.

Those same skirmishers then wipe out the grenadiers coming up from reserve.

And then the Continental guns finish off the last grenadiers.

The British column is in shambles. A Continental victory!

Notes

• That was fun, especially since I was rooting for the Continentals.
• It always helps to roll well. The Continentals kept rolling 5s and 6s vs. the British 1s and 2s.
• I wanted to model the stereotypical Revolutionary War battle - the British regulars in the open in rigid lines while the American shoot at them. That's why I made the Continental infantry skirmishers rather than line infantry. I could have made them ambushers also.
• I made the grenadiers melee infantry because I envisioned them going in with the bayonet.
• I probably should have added some terrain, just for looks. In my mind, I envisioned the Continentals attacking out of woods.
• I also want to change my battle board. The brown was for battles in dryer regions, such as the Eastern Roman Empire. I need a greener board for more temperate climates.
• With the success of today's experiment, I now plan to use Dominion for a mini-campaign - the Battles of Lexington-Concord. I have the campaign structure sketched out; just need to get it on the board.