Last night's game was a hard-fought victory for the Hatti. Pharoah Seti decided on a left hook with a mixed force of chariots, disciplined foot and the Libyan Warband whilst inclining the overall battleline (at an angle) to the right, holding back the rather outnumbered chariot wing in the right Flank Sector of the table in the face of the much superior (in numbers) Hittite chariot forces deployed in in multiple lines opposite. In the end though, this plan failed idespite the initial breakthrough by the Libyan Warband which then Pursued to be ultimately defeated by the Hittite second line of (Impetus) chariots. The Hittite Guard Unit was though defeated in this sector in their ambitious uphill attack on disciplined Egyptian Foot units (including armoured archers) positioned on the Low Hill. On the Egyptian right however, the passive refusal of the line didn't prevent its being destroyed by the more numerous Hittite chariots. This then left the unit of 30 Egyptian Foot Archers (FV 3-6) on the right end of the Egyptian battleline horribly exposed to the combined Charge of the Achaean Warband and a large unit of 48 Hittite Foot (FV 4-6 Militia Grade); with inevitable consequences. Overall, I think that the Hittites had a slight 'rub of the green' with the dice but not excessively so; just at a couple of critical moments. Although the Chariot Interpenetration (optional) rules were available for use, I don't think anybody availed themselves of the additional tactical flexibility it could have offered. Personally, I felt that the absence of a concentration of the Egyptian Heavy Foot archery in a single specific 'locus' combined with the forward disposition of the Egyptian (Nubian) skirmishers which somewhat occluded their available targets available to them diminished the efficacy of the Egyptian firepower which is one of the strengths of the Egyptian army. This, combined with the readily apparent, defensive passivity of the Egyptian (refused-right) deployment and the relatively weak composition of forces deployed on their right was possibly too severe a constraint on the tactical flexibility imposed on the Egyptian forces in this sector of the field. Essentially, the resources were insufficient to promote any confidence in a more aggressive posture. That said, the end result was actually pretty close with the Hittite army being significantly degraded. Nest week; revenge? The armies were quite large and room for manoeuvre by the chariot forces was indeed limited but then again, the optional 'Interpenetration' tactics were not used. These may have compensated for the lack of 'wide-open' spaces in the Flank sectors. The Wood and Steep Hill on the Egyptian left also cramped the space available. The Egyptians need to be able to maximise the effectiveness of their Missile Capability and also be able to exploit the manoeuvrability of the small (2 Model) Chariot units available to them. COMMENTS WELCOME .

On 12/03/2024 17:30 GMT Doug Lange <lange@...> wrote:

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Simon,

As always a very impressive table full of troops and AAR.

Doug

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On 2024-03-12 07:15, WATSON SIMON via groups.io wrote:

Last night's game was a hard-fought victory for the Hatti. Pharoah Seti decided on a left hook with a mixed force of chariots, disciplined foot and the Libyan Warband whilst inclining the overall battleline (at an angle) to the right, holding back the rather outnumbered chariot wing in the right Flank Sector of the table in the face of the much superior (in numbers) Hittite chariot forces deployed in in multiple lines opposite. In the end though, this plan failed idespite the initial breakthrough by the Libyan Warband which then Pursued to be ultimately defeated by the Hittite second line of (Impetus) chariots. The Hittite Guard Unit was though defeated in this sector in their ambitious uphill attack on disciplined Egyptian Foot units (including armoured archers) positioned on the Low Hill. On the Egyptian right however, the passive refusal of the line didn't prevent its being destroyed by the more numerous Hittite chariots. This then left the unit of 30 Egyptian Foot Archers (FV 3-6) on the right end of the Egyptian battleline horribly exposed to the combined Charge of the Achaean Warband and a large unit of 48 Hittite Foot (FV 4-6 Militia Grade); with inevitable consequences. Overall, I think that the Hittites had a slight 'rub of the green' with the dice but not excessively so; just at a couple of critical moments. Although the Chariot Interpenetration (optional) rules were available for use, I don't think anybody availed themselves of the additional tactical flexibility it could have offered. Personally, I felt that the absence of a concentration of the Egyptian Heavy Foot archery in a single specific 'locus' combined with the forward disposition of the Egyptian (Nubian) skirmishers which somewhat occluded their available targets available to them diminished the efficacy of the Egyptian firepower which is one of the strengths of the Egyptian army. This, combined with the readily apparent, defensive passivity of the Egyptian (refused-right) deployment and the relatively weak composition of forces deployed on their right was possibly too severe a constraint on the tactical flexibility imposed on the Egyptian forces in this sector of the field. Essentially, the resources were insufficient to promote any confidence in a more aggressive posture. That said, the end result was actually pretty close with the Hittite army being significantly degraded. Nest week; revenge? The armies were quite large and room for manoeuvre by the chariot forces was indeed limited but then again, the optional 'Interpenetration' tactics were not used. These may have compensated for the lack of 'wide-open' spaces in the Flank sectors. The Wood and Steep Hill on the Egyptian left also cramped the space available. The Egyptians need to be able to maximise the effectiveness of their Missile Capability and also be able to exploit the manoeuvrability of the small (2 Model) Chariot units available to them. COMMENTS WELCOME .