Maharajah 2012 decided at last !

Jim's Pontic army v. Steve's Imperial Romans

After 2 drwas, the candidates agreed to allow a change in  armies for the second re-fight of the grand final for the Maharajah trophy 2012.  Steve changed to an all infantry Imperial Roman army of 3 divisions - an elite legion, a standard legion and a large auxilla division.  Jim stuck with Mithradates, but changed his heavy infantry from imitation Romans to phalangites - still supported by light infantry archers, and kept teh 2 big cavalry divisions with a mix of heavy cavalry, light horse & horse archers..  The Romans deployed with their elite legion on their right and their auxilia on their left.  Mithradates deployed infantry in the centre & cavalry on the wings.

The pics are generally taken from behind the Pontic right.  The Romans advanced their legions in testudo in advance of the auxilia.  Mithdates sent his bowmen forward & waited.

The Pontic bow fire did little to the Romans, safe in their testudos.  The Pontic cavalry waited until the Romans got close, then pulled the skirmish line back and charged.  But they failed to break through.

The phalanx joined in the counterattack all along the line.  On the near flank the legion has got ahead of the auxillia and the Pontic cavalry has moved left to close up on the phalanx to join in the attack on the centre legion.

The general melee all along the line gave some wins & losses to both sides, but Mithradates had his whole army involved while a whole Roman division, their auxilia, was not in the fight at all.

The Ponts lost 2 heavy cavalry units, 1 on each flank in attacking the legions, while the Romans lost 2 cohorts, but tough as the legionaries are, the numbers told in the end as every single cohort became shaken.  A series of fall back results caused the opposing lines to break off all along the line, but both legions broke under the" all remaining units shaken" rule and the battle was over, the Romans having lost 2 of 3 divisions.

Mike, the umpire (on the right) presented the sought after trophy.

This was the 18th Maharajah Trophy competion.  The winners have been:
Mark Oakford: 1995, 1996
Peter Moy: 1997,1999, 2001
Barrie Macdonald: 1998
Leigh Watson: 2000, 2009
Jim Gandy: 2002, 2005, 2010, 2012
Steve Jendrich: 2003, 2004, 2007
Chris Raine: 2006
James Oakes: 2008
John Mumford: 2011