The bull and the shepherd - more 6mm L'Art de la Guerre

The Shepherd of the Sheepfold of Ur, and The Bull from the Sea, the Great Earth-shaker, got together for a 6mm L'Art de la Guerre rematch recently. Last time they fought, Lee's Sumerians decimated my Minoans. This time, I was rather hoping to turn the tables. Both armies had a pretty high break point of 27, so there was potential for a massive clash that could last all night. As it was, we did drag it on all night, but mostly thanks to the craic (and my wee lad being allowed to stay up late watching), rather than any grand strategies. 

I deployed with my Luwian command (using the Mycenaean list's Trojan options rather than the Myrmidon options this time) on the left, plonked in a marsh and on the slopes of a steep hill. Opposite them were ranged the best of the Sumerians: their heavy chariots and the ordinary heavy spearmen.

In the centre was my block of heavy spearmen with a screen of skirmishers, facing the Sumerian mediocre heavy spearmen and mediocre bow.

On my right were the Minoan heavy chariots with medium spear support, glaring intently at Lee's camel-mounted Bedouin allies.

The Luwian flank held back, seeking to hold the rough terrain and prevent the Sumerians from turning my left flank. As the Bedouin camels raced towards my right flank, the King Minos III, the Great Bull, led his chariot command forward to meet them. 

In the centre, the Minoan skirmishers exchanged shots with the Sumerian bowmen, losing a stand, but causing a couple of hits in return. On the right, the camelry unleashed a rain of arrows, disordering the Minoan support infantry, but ignored completely by the heavily armoured Minoan chariots. The chariots, not really wanting to shrug off to many more shots, charged in against the smelly camelry.

The engagement on the right didn't exactly go well, but nor was it a total and immediate failure. On the left, the stand off continued much as before with the Luwians holding fast, and the Sumerians plodding slowly forward.

The chariots managed to drive off one unit of camelry, but the Bedouin returned the favour by eliminating a unit of mine too. The supporting infantry attacked the camelry at the bottom of their gentle hill.
  

And then the melee spread the entire way along the line. In the centre the Minoan spearmen charged and obliterated the wavering Sumerian bowmen, before being charged in-turn by the mediocre Sumerian spears. On the left, however, the Sumerian chariots decided that they couldn't ignore the Luwians on the hill and - to my great surprise - charged in against them.

My glee was a bit one sided though. Over on the right, my lord and commander, King Minos III,  followed the example of his forebears and led his men from the front. He had actually been quite restrained up to this point, but there was nothing for it. The king must die after all. Thank the Great Mother that the House of Minos is blessed with many sons!

And that, dear reader, was the end of that. I really must learn to be more responsible with my chariots; and my kings too. 

In the centre the Minoan spearmen were holding their own, and the Luwians were picking away at he Sumerian chariots. All this time, the Sumerian regular spearmen were sort of... sitting. They couldn't quite make it into the melee and were being quite neglected.
  

The Sumerian ordinary spearmen finally made their way into the central melee, attacking the left end of the central block of Minoan spearmen, but to no avail. It was far too late. The Minoans had lost 21 points from their break point of 27. The Sumerian chariots exploded to bring their own losses up to 29. Victory for the Bull of the Sea, except of course that he was dead. But other than that, victory!

Long live Minos IV!