Monday 26 September 2011

The Battle of Hamath 933BC: 15mm Egyptians vs Hittites.

This fictitious battle is fought south of Tunip which in 933BC (new chronology) was besieged by Ramesses II. The Hittites have gathered various loyal supporters to their cause which has swelled the size of the army immensely so the Hittite king has decided to confront the Egyptian army well away from the walls of Tunip and so has marched south to engage the Egyptians.
Spies from both armies have been busy so both sides know the others whereabouts, the armies have started to deploy on the plains of Hamath just west of the town of Hamath, the terrain is ideal chariot terrain with both commanders confident of victory. (Words supplied by Postie)

We gathered last Sunday for this 15mm game put on by Postie with Dave, John, Smithy and Surjit playing the Hittites and myself, BigLee and Richard playing the Egyptians, we all had a division each with the Hittites having more troops and better chariots but the Egyptians have better quality troops especially in archers. We were fine tuning Posties rules "Let the Gods decide" but they needed very little done to them and it was a good days gaming with a fine win for the Egyptians, good game, good food and good company.

Some eye candy and brief descriptions of the action.

Part of the initial Egyptian deployment.

The Hittite King forces, poor old John had to actually pay for the loyalty of his generals with several dice rolls which luckily went his way ( he took the money back though).

The town of Hamath which if you entered you had to roll a dice to see if your troops started looting and for how long!

Hittite troops stream forward.

Egyptian chariots, fast but vulnerable in melee.

Egyptian archers, good missile troops and decent infantry.

Egyptian axeman, big choppers.

You had to roll for your generals ability, I hate dice rolls like this.

Lunchtime oven chips, how he spoils us.

Richards forces defending the right flank.

Unit of Hittite spearmen, good solid troops.

The Hittite heavy chariots, ancient panzers if you let them get into melee.

Egyptians light chariots with attached runners.

Hamath where Smithy is busily looting, he was a little pissed at this.

The clash in the centre which went well for us with the help of terrible Hittite dice.

Reinforcements just in the right place at the right time.

Hittite bodyguard heavy chariots, tiger tanks of the ancient world.

The battle ended before this clash.

This didn't go well for the Egyptians and was one of the last melees before time caught up with us.

Good game with the egyptians strong in archery and the Hittites strong in infantry and heavy chariots, we destroyed a lot of Hittite light units and chariotry  but we were close ourselves to losing a lot of units and with a few more turns things may have gone the other way, playing the game again we would have deployed differently especially as we know the rules a bit better now but a good set of rules and a well balanced game.

38 comments:

  1. Brilliant themes, idea, silliness and lunchtime treats! Well done all :-)

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  2. Nice looking game and enjoyed the brief descriptions.

    Christopher

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  3. Good set up guys, it looked like a hell of a lot of fun, I would love to do Kadesh one day...... too many projects and no time to do them.

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  4. Is there a version of rules available ?

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  5. Really nice! One of the things that tempts me into (someday) doing an ancients project is the openness of terrain that really accentuates the appearance of the minis themselves. I find that quite visually appealing.

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  6. Good company, good food, nice models, a nice table - what more could a man ask for?? :-)
    T.

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  7. Good pictures and write up Fran... It was a good game and I'd happily play Posties rules again.

    Sorry but I've got to insert a shameless plug for my own write up of this battle.

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  8. looks good, the village is great. only chips no pizza?

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  9. Great looking game thanks for sharing your picturs.

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  10. love the ancient times, wish we had more of close up pics of those figures.

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  11. Very nice! Love the big-battlefield look. The models are very nicely painted & based too. Best, Dean

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  12. Those little chariots are so dang cool looking!

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  13. Great game with great looking figures and battlefield.

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  14. Good report. A very nice collection of miniatures for this period.

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  15. Cool. Nice to see some ancient world stuff in the mix.

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  16. Neat little blog, love the little figures

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  17. I love these ancient warfare setups. The details on those chariots are great.

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  18. Great report Fran, shame I missed the game!!!

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  19. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, these battles look like so much damn fun. Also, those chariots look fantastic.

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  20. Awesome looking set up, good times :)

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  21. Ditto on the chariots comments, they steal the show. Roll to loot? DON'T MIND IF I DO!

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  22. The way you present this makes the game look like so much fun. And the paint work on the figures is so well done. I'm thrilled to see the complexity and the knowledge needed to play a game at this level. You're keeping something alive in the world that is worth preserving.

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  23. Fab report and photos. Rules sounds excellent like the looting rule!

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  24. A battle of biblical proportions. BTW...Hamath looks very cool.

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  25. What a wonderful looking game; food seems to play an important part in the proceedings.

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  26. I love those chariots...a grand looking set up!!!
    Cheers
    Paul

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  27. do u guys ever get shit faced and try to place this? or would that cause conflicts?

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  28. Very nice report with some nice pictures! And the figures are excellent painted!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.com/

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  29. i personally loved the egypt pharaohs better,pretty cute. And chariots and everything - so real. Loyalty? wow..never knew

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  30. very nice. Bart has a good question there :)

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  31. Cool, I didn't even know there are miniatures for the Ancient period. I guess every single time period has been covered, as far as war goes.

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  32. Great figures and setup!
    Looks like a funny day :)

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  33. I read "Hittite bodyguard" as HITLER bodyguard. Hilarity ensued.

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  34. @Bart:No alcohol allowed, we only allow that with with poker games.

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  35. @Sgt Steiner: I think there his version of something else but I could ask if you want, I know you have a rules fetish.

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  36. Great stuff! Looks like a fun time.

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  37. Good post and Smart Blog
    Thanks for your good information and i hope to subscribe and visit my blog Ancient Egypt and more Egyptian Goddess Mut thanks again admin

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