Magnesia: A Game of Two Halves (Part 1)

I think this should cover the way the first half of the game went, at least up to the point at which most troops were engaged:

A long view of pretty much the whole table as the battle begins; taken from the extreme right wing of the Roman army.  In the foreground, the scythed chariots are advancing on the Pergamene cavalry.  The Seleucid cavalry on this flank elects to stay put, hoping that any scythed chariots that rout back will not disrupt their own formation.  Stretching off into the distance you can see the Roman infantry advancing.

A shot from directly behind the scythed chariots.  I printed out details of the various commands and placed them behind the figures before the battle; I wasn't sure how many players we'd get, and whether or not they would all be familiar with the rules.

The Romans are coming!  The photo above is taken from behind the Seleucid left centre.

A shot of the phalanxes from the same position.  The elephants have dropped back somewhat to make it more difficult for the Velites to shoot them up before they get into combat.  In the far distance at the top right of the picture you can just about make out the massed Seleucid cavalry advancing.

The same position, a turn later.

Back on the Seleucid left, the charge of the chariots has broken up.  One of the five has made it through.  The two end units are already in rout due to shooting hits, and two others are stalled in disorder.

A side-on view on the central lines, taken from roughly the whereabouts of the chariots.  The infantry are about to meet.

The same point, from a slightly different perspective.  In the distance, the Seleucid right wing cavalry are going in.

A close-up of the leftmost phalanx in action against the Hastati.  The accompanying Galatians have held off a bit, at least until the pila are discharged.

One chariot remains.  The whole lot has broken by now, except for this one.  Its momentum gone, the Pergamenes charge it with their cavalry anyway, showing the chariots the contempt they deserve.

The Seleucid left wing cavalry begins to advance, now that the chariots are all but destroyed.

The action is now general across the rest of the field.

Magnesia: Deployment Plan

This is the map I initially came up with for the Magnesia scenario.  At the top in blue are the Seleucids.  Their extreme right wing facing the river loop is covered by Dahae skirmishing horse archers and some camelry.  Next to them are the Agema and a load of Cataphracts.  Then it's some Galatian foot and the Argyraspides.  The centre is a huge, deep phalanx interspersed with some elephants, with more Galatian infantry at their extreme left.  The left flank has Hillmen Light Infantry linking the main infantry centre with the cavalry on the wing: more Cataphracts, a load of Galatian horse, and some lights at the extreme end.  In front of this wing are the scythed chariots.  Skirmish infantry screen the centre.

The Romans have their usual four legions, with the left flank resting on the river.  Then it's the Pergamenes: excellent quality Achaeans; elite lancers; heavy cavalry and then some good quality light horse at the extreme flank.  This wing is held back to give the skirmishers up front a chance to deal with the scythed chariots.

Magnesia: Dramatis Personae (Romans)

Eumenes (figure by Essex) behind the cavalry on the right wing of the Roman army.  I used my Roman cavalry to represent standard heavies, as opposed to the Pergamene lancers (which are out of shot to the left).  The unit you can see on the left of the photo are old Minifigs Later Romans that were converted years ago by Gordon.  The central unit is my newly painted 1st Corps Republican Roman cavalry.  Off to the right you can see my old Essex Tarantines, doing duty as Pergamene light horse.  To the front left you can just about make out some Trallian slingers, deployed by Eumenes well in advance so as to take care of the Seleucid scythed chariots.

Legatus of the Dexter Latin legio in the midst of his command.

The Sinister Latin Legio with command base in the central foreground.

To give some variation, I used my circular bases of mounted command figures to represent the higher echelons.  This means that if there are enough players for the game, we could have not only commanders for the individual legions, but a general with oversight of a pair of legions.  This particular base represents Scipio Africanus, present at Magnesia to help out his younger brother.  Strangely enough, Hannibal was also at Magnesia, as a subsidiary adviser to Antiochus!

A Roman legionary commander, this time.  I painted my Romans with a lot of red; the Latins are in white.  This helps to differentiate them on the field.  I know that, technically, the lictor should have a red tunic as well, but I'm pretty sure that is the case for the lictors accompanying the Censor back in Rome.  I've used artistic license for the lictor of a legatus in the field - it's less boring after all those red tunics.



The Roman commanders were, in order from the left of their set up:

Sinister Latin Legio: Billy
Sinister Roman Legio: Michael
Dexter Roman Legio: Mark
Dexter Latin Legio: Dougie, in his first game
Eumenes: Simon