Hail Caesar: Successors again

Another practice battle for the upcoming campaign.  This time 400 pt armies, the size most will be in the campaign.

Seleucids: Mark & Steve: 3 divisions, 6 phalanx + 3 skirms, 2 elephants + 2 small light inf, 2 Agena + 2 small light cav. Army break test: Fail if phalanx div fails.

Greeks: Mike & James: 3 divisions: 4 hoplites (phalanx) + 2 skirms, 4 hoplites + 2 skirms, 2 medium cav + 2 small light cav. Army break test: Fail if both infantry divs fail.

The Greeks are on the left. Cavalry on their left, Phalnx hoplites in the centre.
The Seleucids have their elephants on their right & cavalry on their left.

The battles starts with the Greek cavalry hastling the enemy skirmishers.

The centres move together.  The Seleucid cavalry go wide to outflank the Greek right.  The Greek cavalry fall back before the phalanx.

 Half the Greek phalanx charges to initiate the first serious combat.
 

The infantry fight in the centre become general, but so far indecisive with the phalanx rule applying to both sides.  Steve's cavalry in the foreground has been refusing to advance, but has still tied up the enemy right.  On the far flank, the elephants are slowly working around the Greek left.
 

On the far flank the elephants have broken a Greek cavalry unit & are pushing around the flank.  On the near flank, Steve's horse is still have command problems, but keeping the enemy left occupied.  In the centre the Seleucid numbers are beginning to take effect.

The centre is getting desperate for the Greeks where their outnumbered phalanx is on wood.  The Greek cavalry are still giving ground, but hanging on.  The Seleucid cavalry is still doing little, but achieving a lot by preventing the hoplites helping out in the centre.

The Greek centre has broken,  The Greek cavalry have struck back & now it's the elephant division in trouble.  A counter attack by the hoplites has seen off some Seleucid cavaly, but the swarm of light horse is whittling the hoplites down.

The hoplites circle the wagons as the Seleucid phalanx units are rallied & re-deployed.

Having beaten the elephants, the Greek light cavalry have come across the rear of their army & have driven the Seleucid light horse back.  The Greek archers are keeping the Agema at bay.  The hoplites have counterattacked bravely & are still hanging on.

The Seleucid cavalry has now been broken by the Greek light horse, but the hoplites have lost half & the rest are shaken, so they too are broken.  It is a phyrric victory for Seleucus who has just 4 units left & most of them are shaken.

This game took longer than most Hail Caesars - heavy troops are hard to break and especially a division of 6 of heavy units.  The rule we tried of making the army tests dependant only on the infantry seemed to favour the Seleucids as their flank divisions tied up more enemy points than they had leaving the Greek centre outnumbered.  But the rule does have some logical merit & arguably the Greeks might have avoided having all their right flank div tied up by the Seleucid cavalry.