112 Hellespont (323 BC)

Details: Written by: GMT Games; Category: Wars of the Successors (323-281 BC); Published: 11 May 2008; Last Updated: 08 November 2018; Hits: 13233

Victory Results:

42 %

58 %

Total plays 100 - Last reported by Jerjinski on 2024-01-15 13:53:57

Historical Background
Alexander's death in 323 BC threw his empire into a state of political and military turmoil, with his generals and governors claming independent kingdoms as his “Successors” (the Diadochia). Perdiccas inherited the main Macedonian army and the title ‘regent of the Asiatic Empire.’ A coalition of other successors formed against him. An army under Craterus was sent to Asia to confront Perdiccas and his allies. Perdiccas sent Eumenes and Neoptolemus with an army to the Hellespont to prevent Craterus from crossing into Asia. Neoptolemus, jealous of Eumenes, deserted with a few hundred horse and joined forces with Craterus. After crossing, when Craterus and Eumenes met, each had around 20,000 infantry but Craterus’ phalanx of veteran Macedonians was superior. Eumenes relied on his more numerous cavalry. Both sides stationed their phalanx in the center and cavalry on the wings. Craterus, commanding the right wing, charged at the onset. He was slain, and his cavalry scattered. On the other wing, Neoptolemus confronted Eumenes, and in single combat, Neoptolemus was killed. Craterus’ infantry, by now surrounded and leaderless, surrendered. Eumenes invited the defeated Macedonians to join him. They agreed, but took off by night to rejoin Antipater, the regent of Greece and Macedonia. The Battle of the Hellespont removed two contenders, but the War of the Successors would go on for another 40 years.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. The rest is history.


1	1	4	3	3		2	2

	2	4	2	2	1	4	2

War Council

Craterus’ Successor Army (Use Carthaginian blocks)
• Leader: Craterus
• 5 Command Cards
• Move First

Eumenes’ Successor Army (Use Greek blocks)
• Leader: Eumenes
• 6 Command Cards

Victory
6 Banners

Special Rules
If one of your leaders is eliminated your command is reduced by one Command card. If the leader is lost during your turn, do not draw a new Command card at the end of your turn. If the leader is lost during your opponent's turn, opponent selects one Command card at random from you and it is discarded. If you eliminate both opponent leaders you win at once.

Posts in discussion: 112 Hellespont (323 BC)

clavain replied the topic:

#4046

2 years 7 months ago

So my regular opponent and I have finally reached the Successors in our weekly C&C Ancients Vassal game. Today was Eumenes vs Craterus at the Hellespont, 321BC. It was a near-run thing with my Craterans (Craterusans? Craterusids?) coming out ahead of the Eumenids (?) 6-5. I advanced my line of heavy and medium infantry forward, hoping to take advantage of my numbers in foot, while Eumenes countered with his cavalry, where he had the advantage.
The catch was that if any leader died, that side's command cards were permanently reduced by 1, and if both leaders on a side died that side automatically lost. So one might think that we would be naturally more cautious with our leaders, right? Naw.
Eumenes and his medium cav came flying out of the blocks to try to wipe out Craterus and his smaller cavalry force. He did some damage, but Craterus escaped to take over the command of the heavy and medium infantry. When the two lines of battle met, Craterus' forces were pushed back and severaly weakened (I think it was around 4-3 Eumenes at that point).
Eumenes decided to slam into Craterus right and center with all of his cavalry, twice, once in a Mounted Charge, which worked fairly well, and left him 5-4 up, but he missed out on winning as Craterus managed to retreat out of harm's way. The losses he took in battle backs on the last charge would prove critical, as it left Eumenes exposed at the head of his medium cav, and Craterus moved in with a 2-point heavy foot and a 3 point medium foot to cut off his retreat/evade path, while Eumenes own foot blocked the retreat of a second cav unit.
Both those cavalry died gloriously trapped between the enemy and their own lines, while the craven Eumenes managed to retreat to the remnants of his foot, giving Craterus the win and overturning history once again. The traitor Neoptolemus, who had deserted Eumenes to join Craterus, spent the game sipping wine. Both armies were largely destroyed, so I guess we could call it a Crateric victory, as you-know-who hasn't appeared on the scene in Syracuse yet.

DanieleC replied the topic:

#3702

3 years 4 months ago

Played solo.

Craterus starts is amazing. Thanks to a mounted charge his two medium cavalry are able to slain the four of Eumenes who also perish in the battle. 5-1 and the signals of an easy Craterus win are all there. But the battle calms down on the flanks and the hype starts to mount in the center where the heavy and medium are marching towards each others for the final confrontation. And here is where Alcetus shows all his bravery and proof how much leaders are important to guide their troops to victory. Helped by the fact that Craterus left the heavy on the left flank behind Alcetus arrives at the clash with the enemy on par and slain them. Craterus center is lost and now we are 5-5. Some shoot here and there give Eumenes the final banner to claim victory.
History is respected, although Eumens is dead.

Now let's move to Paraitacene as the plan for this year's end is to play the four Successor's battles.

Thanks to Michal Kowalczuk to have inspired this ( theboardgameschronicle.com/2020/06/17/cc...uccessors-in-action/ )

TomKnight3 replied the topic:

#2962

5 years 1 month ago

Close battle with Judd as we start a series to see if Eumenes can win all three battles. It was a very close game with the center being a slugfest. At the very end an order meduim allowed Eumenes and his medium mounted to win a close victory 6-5. Now it is on to Paraitacene!

War Council

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