MEG Maximus Cyrenean Greek vs Late Republican Roman

 

Hi All

On Saturday we had a very interesting and full of suspense game of MEG Maximus

We played at IDAS wargame club in the center of Athens.

My Cyrenean Greeks against Kostas Later Republican Romans

Kostas had opted for a foot heavy army with only 2 units (1 was a skirmisher) of cavalry, while I had 4 units of horse and lots of Hoplites.

I won the roll of and opted to be the defender (I have only plains).

After the terrain set up only one hill was placed my right (close to Kostas board edge).

I won the scouting by 10% and we set up our forces.

My plan was to have the Hoplites in deep formations as to survive the Roman charge, while using my Horse units to turn his flank from my left side.

Kostas opted to put his sup legions in front of the Hoplites as to try and brake them while some average legionaries and the cavalry would try to hold me on the left. Kostas put some archers and the Thracians with some more average legionaries on the mountain to my right.

Turn 1

Kostas moved one of the 4 sup legionaries from the center to my left as to support his units on that side.
I moved two units of chariots forward, while I moved my Xystoforoi to charge a unit of average legionaries.

On my right I moved my ally forward as to pin the enemy troops in the area.

Turn 2

The Xystophoroi charged the average legionaries, while the 3 units of superior legionaries charged 6 units of Hoplites in the center.
On my left one chariot charged some cavalry but the skirmished so we had no contact.

The impact was brutal and the superior legions caused losses to my hoplites but thanks to the deep formation I was able to absorb the impact and even caused some wounds to the Romans ( the white dice has 2/6 chance of wounds).

The Xystophoroi on the other hand did a bit better but the average legion was holding on.

In the movement I only maneuvered my second chariot on my left as to take shots at the superior legion.

The melee that followed was more of the same.

The roman superior foot was causing hits to the hoplites but they were spread on 6 units while the hits that the hoplites made were more concentrated.

The Xysrtophoroi again could not break the average legionaries and I opted to break of and charge again in the next round.

Turn 3

The Xystophoroi charged again, as did the chariots against the roman cavalry, Kostas charged with his Thracians on my far right.

This time the Xystophoroi broke the average legion thanks to some shatter roles.

The chariots came in contact with the cavalry.

In the movement we had some more micro movement

The Melee saw the first of the superior legions in the center breaking while my chariots were taking more hits than the enemy cavalry was   

Turn 4

the superior legion on my left charge my chariots (I charged as well)

The impact was even so we both took some hits.

In the movement my Xystophoroi moved as to charge the 2 superior legions in the center

Melee was again bloody and I had 2 units of Hoplites that need 2-3 more wounds to break but they were still in the fight.

Turn 5

I charged with the Xystophoroi, while kostas charged my chariots with skirmish units (they can charge if the enemy is close to breaking)

The charge of the Xystophoroi from the rear broke both legions

Both my chariot units also broke in the impact.

 

A very strong test for both the armies and a very good opponent.

My Hoplites can only have a chance against the superior legions only in mass numbers.
The Xystophoroi (the most expensive unit in the army) earned the points they cost

I need to make some more experiments with the chariots as to optimize them.

The Romans on the other hand are very powerful in the foot department but if the terrain is open the lack of cavalry can cause problems

MEG Maximus Mid Republican vs Late Republican (Romans)

Hi All

More MEG during last weekend at IDAS wargame club in Athens

My friend Takis used Mid Republican Romans vs Kostas and his Late Republican Romans

The two armies’ lists are very different

Takis Had 11 Tactical Units while Kostas used 9 tactical units and 3 skirmishing units  

Both had 4 units of superior Roman infantry

Takis won the roll of and was attacker, the scouting was a draw.

In the end of the set up Mid republican had his ally on his left (secured flank sea) the superior romans were in the center while the loose foot and average romans were on the right. A roman cavalry unit was kept in reserve.

Kostas on the other had superior and average romans on the open ground and Thracians with archers on the two hills on the Mid republican right.

The Battle started with the Mid republican moving forward on the left and center while on the right a lot of cat and mouse was in play.

Turn 2

Thanks to good maneuvering on the Mid republican side 3 units of superior romans were ready to charge vs 2 units of superior romans.

On the right the archers had to move a bit off the hill as to be able to shoot the roman cavalry (We used Gallic horse).

The ally on the left made the hoplites in 2 frontage as to hold against the superior romans that were in front of them, while the ally cavalry was causing problems.

Turn 3

The two forces in the center collided and a grind match started.

In the right the roman cavalry charged the archers and the Thracians charged average legionaries

While on the left Kostas had to charge with foot against lancers and foot as to avoid a flank charge.

Maneuvering was limited as most units had engaged, only the Mid republican loose foot moved on the mountain to oppose an average legionary unit

In the Melee the grinding continued and only the lacers seemed to be getting an upper hand.

Turn 4

The superior roman on the left charged the Hoplites but fortunately they held on (they lost a base in the impact)

The loose foot on the hill and the average legionaries came to contact but it was even.

Now only 1 unit from the Mid republicans was not engaged while the Later republicans had 2

In the Melee units started to break from both sides,

In the center one unit from each side broke leaving 2 Mid vs 1 Late still in contact

In the left the lancers and superior legion broke the opposing enemy superior legion and chased them.

While on the tight the archers broke.

Turn 5

The allied lancers charged into the roman cavalry of the Late Republicans

After some more maneuvering the Melee started and in the center another unit from each side broke as did the Later republican cavalry fighting the lancers.

The Later Republicans lost the 5 Tugs needed to break and the game stopped but the Mid Republicans had also lost 3 units o legionaries in the game    

MEG Maximus Indo-Greek vs Mid Republican Roman

Hi All

Had a great game of MEG Maximus on Sunday

My friend Takis (MEG Pacto player) wanted to try out Maximus so I made a list of Mid republican Romans so he and I could play as a team against a very good MEG player (Kostas) who had Inod-Greek.

Our list was as expected lots of roman foot an ally with some cavalry and that’s it

The Indo-Greek had Cavalry lancers, Horse archers, Pikes, Hoplites, Indian foot

The Greeks were attackers and after terrain was placed only some wood were on the table on our (Roman) right side.

In the scouting phase the Greeks won and we had to set up 40% of our forces thus giving the Greeks an advantage.

After set up was complete the Romans had their flex foot in the woods opposite to Indian foot, the Roman heavy foot was next and on the far left the ally contingent.

The Greeks had the Indian foot on the roman right, in the center the pikes and some lancers and on the far left of the romans more lancers and horse archers and hoplites.

Both armies started maneuvers for the first two turns as to get in good positions.

The action started on turn 3

The Romans declared 6-7 charges to the Greeks 2

The Ally lancers and hoplites charged the enemy lancers and horse archers on the roman left.
In the center the Greek lancers and pike charged one unit of roman foot from two directions

While the roman flex foot and some heavy foot charged the Indian foot.

The ally managed to contact all 3 enemy units (Lancers, 2x horse archers) on the left and now allied lancers and hoplites were in battle with Greek lancers and horse archers.

In the center the roman superior foot having lost two bases in the impact was holding vs Lancers in front and pikes on the side.

While on the right the romans were starting to cause losses on the Indian foot

Turn 4

As most generals were in combat (both players are very reckless) the only new combat was 2 roman foot that charged a lone pike unit.

In the melee the Indians were the first to break as they had lost the front bases of the mixed units and now roman foot was in combat with loose unprotected archers of the rear ranks.

The horse archers on the roman left were the next to go, while the lone Roman foot that was in combat vs lancers and Pike was still holding on (very unlucky dice by the Greek).

Turn 5

Was the last round as the Greeks had lost 3 units and the pike in the center was ready to go we stopped after this turn.

The ally with the cavalry gave the Romans much needed mobility, while 6 out of the 11 units in the army are superior.
The Indo-Greek are a very good list and can defeat any opponent, It has a great mix of units and lots of speed (5 units of horse).

In the end the Greek was a bit unlucky with the dice rolls and should have taken 1-2 units of romans.    

MEG Maximus Western Wei vs Maurician Byzantine

 

Hi All

Had a very interesting game of MEG Maximus yesterday.

I am testing lists for a tournament I want to take part in (COVID permitting) so my Western Wei took the field vs Maurician Byzantine.

My opponent was Defender and also out scouted me by 40% so I started setting up troops first.
My center had 3 units of mixed foot (Short spear/bow).

My right had 3 units of cataphracts (1 superior & 2 average) and 1 unit of cavalry with bows.

My left had 1 unit of mixed foot, 1 unit of cataphracts and 2 units of cavalry with bows.  

My opponent put units as to counter my deployment and his heavy foot spearmen were on my right posit to my cataphracts, while in the center he had 3 units of cavalry lancers vs my mixed foot units, finally on my left he had 1 unit of heavy foot, 1 unit of foot bows, 2 light horse units with javelins and 1 unit of cavalry with javelins.

Both our allies were ok (got colored cards)

Turn 1

I started by discarding some cards as to make my opponent move first.
I moved my left up the field as to start shooting at the enemy units. My center got to 4bw from the enemy horse as to take some shoots (and get charged) while my right moved up.

Turn 2

2 units of Maurician Charging lancers charged my mixed foot in the center and thankfully for me I only lost 2 bases total out of the 3 units that were engaged.

In the shooting phase I killed a base of enemy bowmen.

I moved my cataphracts on my right as to get in the best position to charge the enemy.
The melee saw my mixed foot kill of the 2 enemy cavalry that charged me (2 units of 4 bases each). 

Turn 3

Another charging lancer of the Byzantines charged my mixed foot (my foot had taken casualties in the previous round)

I only managed one hit on the shooting and the lancers fell on me. The impact was terrible and one of my units broke.

The movement saw my Cataphracts ready to charge the enemy lancers on the right and another group of cataphracts were in position to charge the Byzantine ally.

The melee miraculously saw my last unit of mix foot hold on (it needed one more wound to break).

Turn 4

My cataphracts charged on both my sides. And a unit of mix foot charged the lancers in the center from the flank.

On the right my superior cataphracts were in contact with the enemy’s superior lancers

On the center my mix foot had contacted the enemy lancers from the flank
on my left my lancers chased the enemy light horse of the table and contacted an enemy unit of horse.

Only the center enemy unit broke the others will still in contact after the impact.

The movement saw both of us maneuver and the melee saw my cataphract cause many losses to the enemies without breaking them.

Turn 5

Saw some more fighting and maneuvering but by now we both agreed the game was over
I had lost 3 untis (1 cavalry with bow and 2 units of foot) while my enemy had lost 5 units.

We stopped the game and started talking about the tactics

As both of us were testing our lists we tested tactics
I used my cataphracts in 4 base frontage and even though 2 units of skilled bow and one unit of experienced bow were shooting at one unit of cataphracts I had no issue

My mix foot units even though I did not expect it held on against the lancers.

MEG Maximus Late 100YW English vs Free Company

 

Hi All

A battle from last week

My Late 100 YW English vs Free Company

I was attacker and actually managed to out scout my opponent (not by much).

We started the set up and I aimed my English mounted knight for my opponent downgraded men at arms on my left.
My longbows in the center were opposite to his men at arms but my plan was to shoot and fall back. While on my right I had some skilled and my Ally opposite to some Polearm.

  Turn 1

I moved my left wing up as to be in charge range with the knights.

My opponent also move his center up the field.

Turn 2

I started with my knights on the left charging in on the foot.

The impact was tremendous with shatters happening.

Some shooting from my longbows on the men at arms did not do much.

In the movement I fell back with the longbow in the center while my skilled bow on my right got in position to shoot.
The melee was not good for my opponents foot which having taken many casualties in the impact broke and my knights followed them fleeing.

Turn 3

My opponent started by charging with his superior knights on a group of longbows that did not have stakes in the center. While we both charged each other on the left side (only my mounted knights could not charge as they were far away now).
The enemy knights devastated the longbows but I did not brake (thankfully they were only 2 wide and even though he killed 2 of my bases I survived). The rest of the charged were equal (I charged with dismounted knights on longbows and he charged with men at arms on longbows)

My skilled longbows again shoot the pole arms and actually started making a dent on the 9 strong unit.

In the movement I started to get the mounted knights in position for flank charges and shuffled about my unengaged units.

My ally was also ready for a charge next turn on some men at arms and some more longbows.

Turn 4

My mounted knights charged in on the enemies’ rear catching two units (longbows and men at arms) on the left.

The charge was terrible for the enemy and it saved my longbows which were fighting the men at arms.
In the shooting my skilled longbows on my right devastated the pole arms and finally broke the unit (9 green dice is all I needed).

Most units were either engaged or pursuing troops so movement was minimal.

In the Melee I broke the men at arms with the mounted knights and the longbows.

While the battle in the center was also coming to an end with me losing the superior ally knights and my opponent losing some longbows.

At that point the Free company army broke and the game was over.