014 Lazic War (548 AD) Petra Mountain Passes - Medieval

Details: Written by: Alessandro Crespi; Category: Lazic War; Published: 07 June 2019; Last Updated: 02 October 2019; Hits: 2094

Victory Results:

89 %

11 %

Total plays 18 - Last reported by kostas63 on 2021-11-13 18:13:40

Historical Background

The Lazic War was fought between the Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Persia for control of Lazica, a province on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. As part of the Eternal Peace of 532 AD, Sassanid Persia granted control of the region to the Byzantines.
However, an uprising against the Byzantines in 541 AD allowed the Sassanids to retake the area. In 548 AD King Goubazes revolted against the Sassanids and requested help from the Byzantines. The Byzantine general Dagisthaeus marched to assist Goubazes in the siege of the fortified city of Petra. A Sassanid relief force, under the command of Mihr-Mihroe (yes, the same Sassanid general who was defeated years before at Satala), was sent to relieve Petra. On his way, Mihr-Mihroe encountered a small Byzantine force that was guarding the mountain passes.
The Byzantines were defeated, and Mihr-Mihroe advanced to successfully raise the siege of Petra.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?

War Council

Sassanid Army (Use Tan blocks)

• Leader: Mihr-Mihroe
• 5 Command Cards
• 3 Inspired Action tokens
• Move First

Byzantine Army (Use Purple blocks)

• Leader: Not Known
• 5 Command Cards
• 2 Inspired Action tokens

Victory

5 Banners

Special Rules

The Sassanid player gains 1 Victory banner for each unit that exits the battlefield from the Byzantine baseline hex. To exit, the unit must start its turn on an opponent’s baseline hex and must be ordered to exit off the battlefield.
The Sassanid Medium, Heavy and Super Heavy Cavalry units are armed with bows.
The Byzantine Medium Cavalry units are armed with bows.
All the hills are considered rugged. When a unit or leader moves onto a rugged hill, the unit must stop and it may move no further on that turn.

Discuss this article in the forums (6 replies).

Posts in discussion: 014 Lazic War (548 AD) Petra Mountain Passes

kostas63 replied the topic:

#638

2 years 9 months ago

Vittoria Sassanide 5-1. I bizantini si rendono conto da subito che il nemico tenterà di uscire dal campo di battaglia con la cavalleria quindi avvicina le sue cavallerie medie per chiudere le vie di fuga. I sassanidi avanzano su tutta la linea e sulla loro destra cercano un passaggio per uscire dal campo. Gli arcieri a cavallo e la cavalleria media riescono quasi nell'intento mentre la cavalleria pesante con il suo leader viene fermato dai tiri degli arcieri bizantini. Passano vari turni in cui il leader bizantino con la sua cavalleria corre dove possibile per fermare i cavalieri nemici, ma alla fine rimasto senza truppe si ritira e la cavalleria sassanide riesce ad uscire con due sue unità.

Magmik replied the topic:

#614

3 years 5 months ago

Byzantines win 5-4

mk20336 replied the topic:

#239

4 years 8 months ago

Mark McG wrote: MT01 results
Sassanids won all 7 matches, 5-3 was best Byzantine result, with three 5-2 and three 5-1 results.

My view is that to be remotely competitive, a Time Pressure objective rule needs to be in play such as;
"The Byzantine player when playing a Scout Command card, instead of drawing 2 Command cards at the end of his turn, may instead draw 1 Command card and take a Victory banner. Taking a Victory banner is not possible if doing so would give the player the final Victory banner to win the battle."

I'd consider removing the 2nd sentence as well.

That particular scenario is very prone to luck factor thus results can be unbalanced. While ok as a standalone play, as a part of tournament could actually skew the results.

g1ul10 replied the topic:

#202

4 years 8 months ago

As far as I understand, CC scenarios are not supposed to be fair. This one is surely not. But I think it might be still interesting for the Byzantine player. The challenge is to try to do the maximum damage before the Sassanid player wins. So if played back-and-forth it might still be competitive. It is true however that the difference of total medals is likely to be of the order of 1 or 2, which means that the final result is particularly sensitive to the luck factor.

Mark-McG replied the topic:

#201

4 years 8 months ago

MT01 results
Sassanids won all 7 matches, 5-3 was best Byzantine result, with three 5-2 and three 5-1 results.

My view is that to be remotely competitive, a Time Pressure objective rule needs to be in play such as;
"The Byzantine player when playing a Scout Command card, instead of drawing 2 Command cards at the end of his turn, may instead draw 1 Command card and take a Victory banner. Taking a Victory banner is not possible if doing so would give the player the final Victory banner to win the battle."

I'd consider removing the 2nd sentence as well.

g1ul10 replied the topic:

#127

4 years 10 months ago

Two victories for the Sassanids 5-2. In the second game, the Sassanid won the last medal by exiting one light cavalry unit. It seems however that unit exit is not essential for the victory, as the Sassanid can efficiently collect medals through an orderly advance, exploiting the advantage in the number of troops.