Lost Battles

As previously mentioned, I have recieved a copy of "Lost Battles" the boardgame. (Can easily be played with miniatures, see later in next post).
I will leave a rules review for another time and concentrate on the five battles or refights that I have played. The first four I played with the boardgame components and due to poor photography skills the pics are "shiney" and blurred beyound use. I need more practice!
Three times I refought the battle of Marathon 490 BC.
10,000 greeks, mostly Athenians, in a stand up fight against 18,000 persians (approx).
The Athenians had thinned their center to bolster the flanks of their battleline. Initially the persians greater numbers and a cavalry contingent extends their line beyond the greeks.

Marathon #1  I played the Greeks and the Persian forces where led by Glynn my eldest.
This was to be a "Learning" game and a lesson was duly handed out!
Totally confident in the Hoptlites ability to smash the Persian infantry (most of whom are archers) before the cavalry could flank me, I advanced the entire line.
Glynn sent forward his cavalry on the long ride around the flanks then sent his infantry forward to meet the hoptlites!
A mighty clash ensued along the center of the field. My initial confidence evapourated as I missed combat roll after combat roll, then the persians counterattacked and Glynn left me on the recieving end of many very lucky dice rolls. In the end, the greeks could not hold on long enough for the persian cavalry to get behind them! Poor morale helped the rest of my men run before they got murdered.
History is overturned, Persia is triumphant and the Olympic "Marathon" is to remember the flight of a greek general running home to his mummy!
There is a Victory point system in the game but in this particular case there was no need to worry about it. Persian victory was total.
Oh well, onto game 2.

Marathon #2    This was the battle played during Daves visit, he commanded the greeks and I persians.
Glynn kept us on the right track with the rules and modifiers and also "advised" for the greeks.
Dave wisely dropped off a couple of hoptlite units to guard his flanks against the persian cavalry then advanced his battleline.
The persians sent their cavalry to the attack and advanced the archers to occupy their center zones. I hoped for some chance to break the Athenians thinned out center.
Alas it was not to be. The hoptlites smashed the persian infantry in every zone. Although I did score a few hits they where not concentrated in one area. The cavalry proved ineffective and never looked like getting past the flanks.
When the points had been totaled a Major Victory was awarded to the greeks. I felt that I'd put up a better showing in this game. Luck was not so much of a factor but the persians still suffered from poor morale.

Marathon #3  This was a solo game.
The Athenians detached hoptlites to cover the flanks and then advanced into the three center zones.
The Persians sent forward the cavalry but only advanced  against the greek center zone. This turned out to be a much better option for the persians. The extra turns before the greeks could fully engage allowed the persians to get a lot closer to breaking the center. Again the cavalry failed to break through. Eventually the hoptlite superiority in combat forced the persians to flee.
The Victory points showed a "Narrow" game win for the greeks. Luck had been fairly equal to both sides and this was a close and exciting game.

                                                       "Some of this was going on!"

Game#4 I hope to start an "Empire" campaign at "Loaded dice" games club. To help things along, I intend to split the players into two main groups, Macedon and Rome. This should provide enough generals and plenty of battles to keep everyone interested.
Using "Prufrocks" Scenario generator (lost Battles Yahoo group/ files section) to fight a few extra battles here and there. To check this out I fought a "supposed" battle as the Persian Empire attempts add Aegyptus to its conquests.
Unfortunately for me the Persian army contained much more cavalry than I was used to. Using a free deployment I piled all the cavalry onto the flanks. I forgot that there is an attack limit from each zone and that on average cavalry take up more of this allowance. This left most of the cavalry useless and by the time I figured it out the thin line of persian infantry had been destroyed.
A Major game victory for Aegyptus and Persian hopes of expansion start to fade.
Still an enjoyable learning experience and just the addition of a few new unit types made this interesting.