The Ballad of Bradicles
Wrath of the Gods Pt 1
Eeyoricles shifted his shoulders, trying to get comfortable in his cuirass but having little success. He glanced over at the Hetairoi. Normally resplendent in their panoply, he saw their cloaks were dirty and torn. Their leader was on his knees looking up to the heavens, arms wide as if praying. Fairly normal before a battle, but not like this. Not with tears running down his face.
The horses themselves were in no better condition. They seemed skittish, and their riders had difficulty controlling them. Perhaps the smell of the elephants their Carthaginian allies had brought was setting them off.
“Damn you! I’ll personally send you to Charon! And without the coins!,” bellowed Bradicles as he kicked TimToo as he was fleeing the altar. Eeyoricles had never seen his brother so angry before.
Bradicles paused in his tirade long enough to turn to his brother. “That damn priest told the men the sacrifice was full of worms. Now everyone thinks they’re going to die.”
Eeyoricles watched the priest flee to the baggage train and felt a sense of relief. He reflected how odd to feel so relaxed about his impending death.
Starting position showing where the Phyrric force and the Carthaginian force meet. In front of the cavalry are a unit of pikemen. There’s a gap for the cavalry to shoot through directly to the opposing Carthaginian Hoplites. The elephant is part of Alvaro’s army who is my ally for this battle. This game is a 2 vs 2 with Alvaro Erize, one of the authors of the Clash of Spears rules, facing off against his own son, Marco. Simeon Turner and I round out this clash. I face off against Marco and his Greeks with my Phyrric force while Alvaro brings a Carthaginian force, with an elephant!, to face off against Simeon and his Romans
We used simplified deployment with each player putting down one unit at a time at an agreed distance from the centerline. Each side will take a turn and only activate one unit for each army but restricted attacks so enemy units could only be attacked once. Players on the same side of course conferred but basically we fought the opponent in front of us.
This was my first time seeing an elegy in action so I was really excited to see how they worked. Also, the Erize brothers had laid out a really beautiful table so things were looking up!
Or at least they were at the beginning.
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