This is my fifth Field of Glory wargame and I’m beginning to understand how the rules work, and just in time for version 2 to change all that hard won knowledge! That said, what I really need to do is play with the same army a few times. So far I’ve used Later Carthaginians, Later Babylonian, Mid-Republican Roman, and Nikephorian Byzantine. This will be my second full game with the Nikephorians, my original wargames army, which are sadly looking a bit tatty and are in need of some TLC.

This time the trusty Nikephorians played at home to the Khazars run by the determined Alistair. The battlefield was a wide expanse of open spaces perfect for a shooty well disciplined cavalry army like the Khazars. Both armies fielded approximately 800pts each.

This is the beginning of the second turn for each player. The Khazars had deployed in three lines and have a significant flank march waiting to arrive – guess where? The Khazars deployed with Arsiyah (Superior, Armoured, Drilled, Bow armed Cavalry) to the front; these are depicted with a mix of light horse and cavalry as we didn’t have enough cavalry figures. Behind the Arsiyah rode a line of superior Khazar lance armed cavalry supported by the Khazar Guard (Defensive Spear).

As the Byzantine commander I wanted to try and take advantage of the close deployment of the Khazar lines and advanced as rapidly as the weighed down Byzantine Kataphraktoi horses would carry us. This was a risk, but the second line of Tagma, as stipulated by the manuals when fighting a steppe army, and the presence of my own light horse on my left flank, made me feel confident I could hold off the flank attack when it arrived. I just had to try and catch the Arsiyah before the could deploy properly…

The Khazar ‘traffic jam’ as the Byzantines advance towards them.

The skies grew dark with arrows as the leading units of Arsiyah and the Byzantine main battleline and supports drew close to one another. Cohesion tests were taken on both sides, but none were failed.

The Nikephorian Blue Tagma (‘the Scholae’), on the left of the battleline, prepares to charge down the Arsiyah cavalry to it’s front with the hope that the Khazar lines will be thrown into chaos.

And this is how it looked after the Impact and Maneuver phases! As it was a play test both of us tried to figure out how this evade should happen. My understanding of the rules is that the evaders must flee to their rear or directly away from the direction of the charge. The rules allow evaders to slide one base to avoid friends and then drop elements behind them. In the following Maneuver phase they must reform to a legal formation. The Scholae (Blue Tagma unit) contracted an element width during the charge to avoid the light horse to their front, which in the Maneuver phase had peeled off to face the threat of the Khazar flank march.

This gave me a true appreciation of how tricky cavalry deployed in a single line for skirmish can be. Sadly, for me, the Tagma did not roll up on their pursuit.

The Arsiyah adeptly maneuver out of the path of my battle line. A clash between the Byzantine Tagma and the Khazar noble lancers now seems inevitable.

The advancing Khazar flank march, led by a field commander, and consisting of two light horse and one Arsiyah unit.

Due to our time limit we only had two bounds left for the game. I had been chasing and shooting at Khazars all day; it was time to practice being rash so I charged my protected light horse into the unprotected Khazar horse to see what would happen knowing that an unfavourable overlap would happen in the melee phase – it was definitely unfavourable, with my light horse routing after only two phases of combat.

In the centre my best hope for victory was to riddle the Khazar lancers with a storm of arrows in an attempt to disrupt their lines before contact. I was able to achieve two hits on each of the Khazar units only to discover that the Khazar general in support of them was Inspired!! What arrows? This was the response from the Khazar lines as all of the tests were passed and they charged home.

I choose to commit my troop commander to the combat in support of the blue Scholae Tagma on the left of my line. The Byzantine and Khazar commander in chiefs both held back encouraging their troops from the rear of the lines.

This is how the main combat looked at the end of the last bound. The Khazar line held firm except for a disrupted unit in the centre. My blue Scholae Tagma had won their combat when disaster struck – their valiant general was killed! The Khazar player had rolled a double six to do so! One spectacularly failed cohesion test later and they were fragmented and an elite unit of Kataphraktoi disrupted for good measure too, leaving the Byzantine Commander in Chief rushing to rally the line! The line, however, could yet be saved with the white Tagma unit able to move into an overlap position next turn and the Skutatoi loitering dangerously on the Khazars left flank, but we will never know what ‘could of’ happened.

It was a fascinating game and the Khazar army in this set of rules in a dangerous and highly maneuverable army. I’m looking forward to the next battle – perhaps I might take an Inspired commander of my own 🙂 An emperor? John I Tzimiskes and his Immortals I think 🙂