OT 2018 Round 4

Round 4 Megalopolis

Game 2
Tomek (Sparta) 7
BrentS (Macedonia) 3
What glory and sorrow brought that day. At the end Sparta won the battle but the noble Agis was dead and the victory didn't change much. It was short and vicious affair. The sacrifices bought Sparta the favor of the Gods and they were given powerful cards (Mounted charge, two line commands, Command medium and command mounted). With such gifts and a formed battle line there was not much to plan - straight ahead. Spears , stones and arrows were flying both ways but it was a battle to be decided by the clash of the shields. The spartan king died, but then a miracle happened and the old Antipater also followed, as well as his two taxis. it was over.

Round 4 - Megalopolis

Game 1
Cavie - (Spartan) 7 Banners
Michal - (Macedonian) 2 Banners

Game 2
Cavie - (Macedonian) 7 Banners
Michal - (Spartan) 4 Banners

In both games the Spartan right flank/Macedonian left flank saw most of the action. The hills on that side of the field were fought over and most of each battle was decided there. Michal suffered very bad dice on both games and on that side of the battlefield also ended up losing leaders in both games due to my good dice. Hoplites got a chance in each game with the a Mounted Charge order which was fun to see. The 5th block on the special hoplites was a factor as well.

Round 4 Megalopolis

Game 1
Armada01 (Sparta) 7
Gottoman (Macedonia) 5

Macedonia advance on their Right flank and Center while Sparta Reacted. Sparta played 2 mounted charges and 2 I am Spartacus and was able to eak out a win.

Round 4 scipio1zama vs stormwalker

Match 1
This was perhaps the most intense and the longest CCA battle that any of us have ever played! The battle took us 3 hours to finish.

Both armies began with the same idea in mind: harass the enemy with ranged fire attacks with a hope of scoring an easy banner or two. Well, after about an hour Mike pointed out that we were "getting nowhere fast..." with this tactic. At this point, the Spartans lost their patience and decided to attack by playing the Double Time card. Not a bad idea. The only problem was that it failed miserably. The Macedonians withstood the attack, counter attacked and decimated 4 Hoplite units together with their leader. Following those heavy clashes the score was 5-0.

At which point, the Macedonians did something unexpected: they pulled back their slightly weakened heavy forces and decided to secure the last two banners by returning to the initial tactic of harassment. Again not a bad idea and something that those more experienced players tend to do quite often. At first, all was going well for the Macedonians: a cavalry clash on their left wing gave them yet another banner and pushed the remaining Spartan light forces towards the edge of the board. And then the tide started to turn. Thanks to a string of Order Light Troops and Order Center cards the Spartans managed to regroup and started gaining the long-awaited banners. This change was partially due to the just-the-right cards and partially due to some very unlucky rolls as the dice seemed to conspire against the Macedonian army. The Macedonians tried to dispatch one more Spartan unit, most of which were reduced to a single block, but to no avail. The score was 6-5. With a final combination of the Double Time-First Strike-Double Time cards and naturally a bit of luck the Spartans secured the last two banners.

Mike, thank you for playing. This was the most demanding game I have ever played!

Game 1
Mark McG (Macedonians): 7
EZ Pickens (Spartans): 1

Fortunate to have ample time to bring the Macedonian might together, and after some cavalry sparing on the Right eventually yielded 1 banner for the Spartan MC, and a bit of desultory missile fire on the Left, the Macedonian machine kicked into gear with a huge Line Command and powered through the Spartan defenders. Heavy Infantry with leaders are NASTY!

Game 2
Mark McG (Spartans): 7
EZ Pickens (Macedonians): 4

Having observed in the first game the importance of the Spartans keeping the initiative, and blessed with a Double Time card in the initial draw, I sent the Hoplites in to do their best and bring me home 2 banners. In the event they sold their lives for more than that, 3 banners and gaping hole in the Macedonian line. A momentary disaster with Spartacus ordering NO units, but John didn't have great cards. From there I had a series of Order Light and Move-Fire-Move cards that rolled well, routing the Macedonian LC with a flag, and trapping Light units on the Left.

I was pretty fortunate with my combat rolls in both matches, which is always a joy! All up both matches finished in 2 hours.

Game 1
Carthage (Macedonians): 7
Giulio (Spartans): 5



Looking for a cheap tactical advantage on hills, I made the big strategic mistake of splitting the Spartan line into two pieces. Caspar exploited my weakness with an effective assault with heavy and medium infantry in his center-left. My Spartans fought bravely, but at the end paid their numerical inferiority.

Game 2
Giulio (Macedonians): 7
Carthage (Spartans): 3



Antipater was killed by 1d Spartan range attack in the very first round. After the initial shock, the Macedonians recovered organizing a compact formation around the remaining nameless leader and advancing in the center. Caspar moved the hoplites forward but their attack was quite ineffective, giving me the opportunity of a devastating Clash of Shield. The lack of cards in the center impaired Spartan reactions while Macedonians chewed the enemy lines one piece at a time. The death of Aegis III ended the game. "He had fought gloriously and fell with many frontal wounds." (Diodorus)

Guys watching a couple of games online I've noticed that there is a bit of confusion about this point so maybe it is better to remind it here: the Macedonian medium infantry units are NOT hoplites in this scenario. You can recognize them from the image. See here

www.commandsandcolors.net/ancients/the-g...pes-expansion-6.html

Round 4 scipio1zama vs stormwalker

Match 2
This battle took us only one hour to finish. The main part of hostilities began with the Spartans advancing "on the double" at the Macedonian line with a great deal of initial success. However, the Macedonian counter attack cost the Spartans three banners. With a subsequent well played Mounted Charge the Spartans easily managed to tie the score. But then the Spartans quite unfortunately lost another medium unit together with its leader due to a failed attack on a Macedonian AUX unit. This mishap lead to a swift Macedonian victory.

Many thanks to Mike for playing!

Deadline draws near, please get the outstanding matches played, or contact me if there is a difficulty!

also, the Hoplites are marked "MH" in VASSAL, and the Medium Infantry just "M"
should be easy to distinguish

g1ul10 wrote: Guys watching a couple of games online I've noticed that there is a bit of confusion about this point so maybe it is better to remind it here: the Macedonian medium infantry units are NOT hoplites in this scenario. You can recognize them from the image. See here

www.commandsandcolors.net/ancients/the-g...pes-expansion-6.html