The Greeks were the invader, but really it was clearly a preemptive strike against the next Persian invasion, definitely not Greek aggression. Dirk correctly predicted my flank attack but threw his light horse around in an attempt to get to the Greek's rear before the cavalry arrived. Unfortunately for him the attack arrived on cue and half of the fleeing light horse were caught by psiloi(S) in rough going! Not ideal for the Persians. Things went better for Dirk on the far flank, where a Greek detatchment of psiloi(s) flank attacked some (Libyan?) psiloi(i) and were crushed for their troubles.
With the flank attack arriving the hoplites advanced and began pushing first into the disordered cavalry who had attempted to hard flank the phalanx, but had failed. Meanwhile the Persian cavalry and bowmen turned to face the arriving Greeks.
The Greek cavalry, outnumbered and outmatched were quickly beaten. However, they were able to take a number of Persians with them and broke up the Persian lines. Things were looking rough for the Greeks, especially as the psiloi sent into the village to defend the right flank of the phalanx began to loose badly against the Persian psiloi, and the remaining light horse captured the Greek baggage.
In the middle, the phalanx showed their superiority against the sparabara and immortals but weren't able to kill any, just pushing them back repeatedly. In desperation the sacred band led by Epimonandas hit the immortals and sparabara, and broke through!
The loss of their spear contingent caused the Persian cavalry to break and in the center the citizen hoplites of boetia also broke the Persian lines and exploited the gaps.
The rapid and complete collapse of the sparabara was enough to break the Persian army but they gave one last go at taking the Greeks with them, coming within 0.7ME of a draw. However the game ended with a fittingly tragic Greek victory.
With the Persian invasion defeated before it even left Asia Minor the Greeks could return home and fight the real enemy, other Greeks!
The initial deployment. You've got to look how a big block of spear looks. Pity it doesn't really work!
Traitors!
The Persian immortals, who I still think should be sp(s), but there you go
The Persians have repositioned their cavalry and bow, while the phalanx begins to move forward
Early moves of the light troops around the town. The Greek mercenaries and the Theban hoplites wouldn't do anything more than trade insults
Light horse flanking around, if the flank attack had arrived one turn later...
The Greeks reach the BUA filled with Persians
The Greek psiloi S are unable to show their superiority against the Libyans
The flank attack arrives!
All of the pieces on the table, the phalanx splits up slightly to protect its flanks from the Persian cavalry. This would delay the Greek attack for a couple of bounds
Psiloi S supported by O, a brutal fight
The Persian cavalry is in disarray as the Greeks arrive
Thankfully for Dirk they are able to reposition themselves to meet the oncoming threat
The Persian general ponders the situation over lunch
The victorious sacred band and Epimonandas. Not pictured: immortals
The Persian C-in-C attempts to shore up the lines, but its not enough to stop the sparabara from breaking
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