Battle of Kanesh 328 BC (Wargods of Olympus) Macedonian-Assyrian Wars

In 327 BC King Philip II of Macedonia marched a large Macedonian army along with a large Greek Alliance down through Thrace and crossed the river Granicus into the Assyrian Empire near Abydos or the Phrygian Kingdom controlled by Assyria. He marched his forces along the coast of the Propontis heading north and traveled along the Black Sea coast taking the Assyrian controlled  cities Astacus, Tieum and Sinope before heading south along the Halis River and crossing near the Ancyra valley into the Assyrian controlled Cimmerian Kingdom. His objective was to cross the Halis River again in to the Kanish valley and lay siege to the City of Kanish and then march south to the Mediterranean coast and lay siege to Cyprus. But in 328 BC before he could cross the Halis River he was met by the Assyrian King Ashur-Nirari II and the two armies squared off on each side of the river 40 miles northeast of Kanish. Philips army marched up the river looking for a crossing and was shadowed by the Assyrian army. Eventually Philip split his army into two forces and during the cover of night moved majority of his forces up river 15 miles and found a crossing. He left a large force at camp to fool the Assyrian King which worked. After crossing the river, Philip marched his forces down the Halis River and in hopes that the Assyrian King would move all of his forces against him and leave the Macedonian camp unchecked. The Assyrian moved majority of his forces against Philip but left a small force to guard any river crossing from the Macedonian camp. The Assyrians placed all of their chariots on their left flank facing the Macedonian right flank and brought most of their cavalry against the Macedonian right flank. Philip sent another unit of Companion cavalry south east behind the cover of mountains in hopes of attacking the Assyrian flank and rear.  He placed majority of his heavy cavalry units against the Assyrian left flank in hopes of the Assyrian king moving majority of his cavalry to the left flank, leaving an opening. The Assyrian army also has elephants that are going to be thrown at the Macedonian phalanx units. The two armies are now drawing towards each other for battle.

This is a non-historical battle and is considered a fantasy battle.

Assyrian elephants preparing to charge the Macedonian Phalanx.

Macedonian Phalanx with Greek Alliance forces on the left flank.

Macedonian Companion Cavalry riding towards the Assyrian left flank.

Assyrian army marching towards the Macedonian line. The Assyrian army consists of Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians and Assyrians. I plan on eventually adding some Elamites and a few other tribes.

Most of the minis are Vendel (now Sgt Major Miniatures) and Black Tree Design. with some Wargames Foundry Greek and Thessalian cavalry mixed in with some Vendel Companion Cavalry.  The Elephants are from Mithril Minis using some Vendel miniatures with North Star wire spears. All of the Macedonians have North Star metal spears 100mm long, very sharp. All the terrain on the table is made by Battlefield Architect terrain, except for the palm trees, they are from cake decorations. I think there is close to 1500 models on the table. Battle Report to follow.aption

http://www.blacktreedesign.com/home.html
http://wargamesfoundry.com/
http://www.northstarfigures.com/
http://www.sgmm.biz/
http://www.mithril.ie/
http://www.battlefieldarchitect.com/

Battle Report: Turns 1-15
The Macedonian army has turned the Assyrian left flank and also has hit them on the right flank at the same time. However the Macedonian Phalanx has been stopped by Elephant attack, but still holding, killing most of the Assyrian Elephants. The Macedonian cavalry has almost defeated all of the Assyrian light cavalry but still has to deal with the Assyrian Chariots and the heavy infantry are giving them a little trouble. Once the Macedonian Phalanx starts to move forward the battle will probably favor them. But the Assyrian army is well armored and well equipped, but they have not met the phalanx in battle as of yet.

Macedonian cavalry attacking the Assyrian left flank

Assyrian Elephants attacking the Macedonian lines

Assyrian Elephants attacking the Macedonian Phalanx.

Assyrian Elephants stampeding back toward the Assyrian lines after being turned by the Macedonian Phalanx.

Macedonians Cavalry attacking the Assyrian weak right flank

A Macedonian Companion cavalry unit attacking the Assyrian right flank, but a little too early.

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An Assyrian Elephant stampeding towards the Assyrian lines

Day 2 Turns 16-27
As the battle raged on, the night began to fall. Both forces pulled back and reformed and the battle continued the next morning. The Macedonians quickly took out all of the Assyrian cavalry and pinned the Assyrian Infantry with the Phalanx while the cavalry worked the flanks of the Assyrian army. However the Assyrian army inflicted heavy casualties to the Macedonian Companion cavalry, but the phalanx armies were unscathed, except for some disorder from Elephant stampedes. In the end the Assyrians lost the battle and surrendered but not before making one last desperate move which failed utterly. The Assyrian King rode off and left his army in disarray.   

On Day 2 I changed up my mechanics to my game to make the game go faster and smoother. I know that a lot of gamers like to remove casualties. However when you are playing solo, and you have a game room like mine, where space is hardly available, I decided to play combat out until one unit one or lost, and then remove the entire unit at a time. I sorta liked this, but I decided that I want to use casualties Markers or caps instead to make the combat last a little longer. I was much happier with the results. I was able to play the entire game in about 4 hours this time, instead of 2 days. So I decided to create a Day 2 and replay the game. I use a mix of ideas from other rules, but I am currently developing my own house rules. Of course as the game changes, I change my rules depending on the armies I am playing. I know that Warhammer Ancients (the rules for 15mm) are for playing 15mm. But I tell you they work very well for solo gaming, very easy to convert to solo gaming. I have no choice to solo game, so I adapt. Just like Recon Marines...over come and adapt, close with and destroy...that is my motto. 

Beware...my next game is involving Carthage...but its a alternate history game (that is what I am all about). Paint an image that Rome has conquered Carthage about 180 years early around  325 or so. Macedonia next campaign after conquering the Assyrian Empire was to take the trade cities of Tyre and Carthage. After hearing that Rome had conquered Carthage, this lead to the beginning of Macedonian war with Rome under Phillip II and his son Alexander.