Heirs of Empire- Perdiccas at the Royal Road I

[Eric Farrington]

I finished painting my 6mm Diadochi armies from Baccus Miniatures and I wanted to celebrate with a game of Heirs of Empire. This was the game I built to use these armies in. It focuses specifically on the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexander's death. As an added bonus, I am going to add the rules for Heirs of Empire on the Wargame Vault so you can pick them up for yourself!

Today, we are going to look at a side show operation after the Conference at Babylon established Perdiccas as the Royal Regent.

After Perdiccas solidified his position as Regent defending Roxanne and her unborn son, he had a great deal of work formalizing and consolidating Alexander’s gains. This was no longer a campaign to push the boundaries of the empire, instead it was stabilizing the internal arrangements of the Macedonian Empire. This included regions bypassed by Alexander for various reasons. One of his first goals was to re-open the old Persian Royal Road.

Perdiccas turned his attention to a Persian Satrap that had still been loyal to the old regime. This rebel still possessed a formidable force and threatened the re-opening of the roadway. Perdiccas mustered the army and marched to overthrow the Satrap.

History does not record who this was, but we do know that Perdiccas fought two battles with his Persian foe before defeating his army in central Anatolia. We fought the first of the two battles, and the Persians barely scraped by with a victory. The mighty Silver Shields were laid low!

Now, Perdiccas has sent the Silver Shields off from his Royal Army to escort a caravan of Gold to the royal treasury. They will not be with the army as they need time to rest and recover after their defeat. This will give them time to stay out of Perdiccas' hair for a while. After all, Antigenes and his veterans were spoiled pre-Madonnas.

Historically, at some point the Silver Shields were sent on such a mission and separate from the Royal Army. We know nothing of the Persian Satraps forces.

Forces

Perdiccas' Royal Army

Right Wing:
Companion Cavalry

Center:
Bronze Shields
War Elephants
Skirmishers
2 Theuropheroi

Left:
Epilektoi Cavalry

Rebel Persian Satrap

Right Wing:
Epilektoi Cavalry
2 Asphract Cavalry (Javelins)

Center:
White Shields
White Shields
Skirmishers

Left Wing:
2 Skirmishers
2 Archers

Both armies made changes going into this rematch. Perdiccas ditched the Silver Shields and replaced them with War Elephants and some Skirmishers. The Persians removed the Theuropheroi and replaced them with another Archer unit and Skirmisher unit. Both of the removed units were disappoint for their respective armies last game. The Persians also changed up the composition of their Wings.

Scenario:
We randomly rolled a scenario, and got a Breakthrough instead of a Set Piece Battle. That means, Perdiccas needs to get 15+ points of troops off the opposite board edge in 8 turns to win. That could be tough as he is out numbered with a more "elite" force. However, the re-alignment of the Persian wings may give him a chance to out-maneuver the Persians with his cavalry wings.

This scenario makes sense with Perdiccas objective of opening the old Persian Royal Road, and taking the rebel Persians main city.

Set-up:
We follow the guidelines for set-up found in the Heirs of Empire rules. Today, the battle will be played on a 48MU x 48MU board. 1 MU is 1 inch.

We decide to place the Royal Road down the center of the board stretching from edge to edge. We decided movement on the road would be at +1 MU. A small cluster of buildings is along the center edge. It is an old Persian messenger station and its perimeter is difficult terrain. Along the Macedonian right we placed rugged hills. On the Persian right are some fields. They are all difficult ground. The fields and the hills may hem in and hinder the cavalry operations of both sides.




The Persians have their Cavalry wing cover the gap between the fields and the villas. The Center confidently moves up the road. The Persian left is the weakest, as it is covered by the Skirmishers and Archers. However, the depth of their formation will make it hard to break through there. Their flank is anchored by the cliffs. A formidable position.



Persians Deploy
The Macedonians are the Companion cavalry across from the skirmishers and archers, the center is across the road and approaching the buildings. The Epilektoi are close to the left wing and ready to move up between the fields and messenger station.
Macedonians Deploy




You can read the full results of the battle at the blog:
bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2020/07/battle-report-heirs-of-empire-perdiccas.html