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Post by dpd on Nov 15, 2022 10:33:14 GMT
weaponsandwarfare.com/2020/06/18/pyrrhus-and-his-army/In the spring of 279 a double consular army met Pyrrhus at Asculum near the Aufidus River. The battlefield was rugged and unsuited to a phalanx, but Pyrrhus had created a flexible phalanx by putting maniples of Samnites and Lucanians between units of his phalanx. The two armies fought all day without a decision, but early the next morning the king seized favorable ground and broke the legions. The Romans retreated to their camp and defended it successfully. One consul and 6,000 Romans had been killed. Pyrrhus lost 3,500 men and was himself wounded. (Apparently Pyrrhus took Alexander's phalanx and took it to the next level.)
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Post by jim1973 on Nov 15, 2022 11:09:32 GMT
I think we are stuck with PB's view of the Pike Phalanx. Namely it is dominant on the attack and in open ground but catastrophically fails outside these conditions. I think history is more nuanced. Alexander's troops were quite successful, albeit after a hard fight, crossing the Issus, Granicus and Hydaspes but this is difficult in DBA. Bardunias and Ray talk about spears and pikes being equivalent in Hellenistic times but pikes were easier to teach and troop quality was paramount. Also Swiss pikes are different to Macedonian pikes.
But to house rule Asculum, give the Samnites side-support +1 if adjacent to a pike element and you may get a more historical result.
Cheers
Jim
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Post by lkmjbc on Nov 15, 2022 15:52:38 GMT
I would show this by keeping the pikes in the good going... and interweaving the 4Ax where the going is bad. This seems to be what happened. I don't see a problem here at all.
Joe Collins
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Post by jim1973 on Nov 16, 2022 7:16:49 GMT
I would show this by keeping the pikes in the good going... and interweaving the 4Ax where the going is bad. This seems to be what happened. I don't see a problem here at all. Joe Collins All true Joe. But Pyrrhus' pike block is only 3x2, which is pretty small. It won't cover too much of the board. It will need some precise terrain to allow this to happen and protect the flanks. Pike pursuit rules also make this static defence more difficult to pull off. An obliging Roman general will be most helpful! Jim |
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Post by Simon on Nov 16, 2022 8:40:24 GMT
I wonder if we sometimes expect too much from what is intended to be a 30 minute or so fast play rule set on a 2 x 2 ft table with a max of 50 miniatures a side and covering from the beginning of civilisation to around 1500AD!
Simon
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Post by jim1973 on Nov 16, 2022 11:16:55 GMT
I wonder if we sometimes expect too much from what is intended to be a 30 minute or so fast play rule set on a 2 x 2 ft table with a max of 50 miniatures a side and covering from the beginning of civilisation to around 1500AD! Simon Is perfection too much to ask?  Jim |
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Post by martin on Nov 16, 2022 12:05:11 GMT
I wonder if we sometimes expect too much from what is intended to be a 30 minute or so fast play rule set on a 2 x 2 ft table with a max of 50 miniatures a side and covering from the beginning of civilisation to around 1500AD! Simon Spot on, Simon….’big picture’, not ‘micro-management’. It’s a ‘top down’ rule set…trying to fine tune it from bottom up is a) tedious and b) fraught with the danger of potential cockups in the game process. |
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Post by Baldie on Nov 16, 2022 12:46:32 GMT
I wonder if we sometimes expect too much from what is intended to be a 30 minute or so fast play rule set on a 2 x 2 ft table with a max of 50 miniatures a side and covering from the beginning of civilisation to around 1500AD! Simon Is perfection too much to ask? Jim It is what I say every time I look in a mirror |
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Post by stevie on Nov 16, 2022 13:25:51 GMT
Is perfection too much to ask? Jim It is what I say every time I look in a mirror. Ask as much as you like Baldie... ...in your case it ain’t gonna happen.  |
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Post by Baldie on Nov 16, 2022 13:31:49 GMT
I fear you are right good sir
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Post by lkmjbc on Nov 16, 2022 15:48:55 GMT
Bald is beautiful! It is very close to perfection.
Baldie and I are proof.
Joe Collins
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Post by Haardrada on Nov 16, 2022 18:34:04 GMT
Bald is beautiful! It is very close to perfection. Baldie and I are proof. Joe Collins Me too.😁 Here! Here! |
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Post by Cromwell on Nov 16, 2022 18:54:06 GMT
"Oh! Why was he born so beautiful
Why was he born at all
Why was he born so beautiful
Because he is no bloody use at all!"
"That was a rotten song
and a rotten singer too
So sing us another one do!"
Old Royal Air Force ditty, with similar versions in all other services I expect.
Also
"She had the body of Venus!
Her eyes were like moonlit blue pools!
Her teeth were just like stars!
And came out every night!"
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Post by Baldie on Nov 16, 2022 19:21:41 GMT
Couple of faves were
Strangers in the night
exchanging flip flops
left one for the right
Stokers to the left of me
Dabbers to the right
Stuck in the FMRU
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Post by stevie on Nov 16, 2022 22:37:37 GMT
To Baldie, and all other…er…follicley challenged individuals:-
“Remember, it’s only the hairs on a gooseberry that stops it being a grape.”
(A quote from Benny Hill)
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