Hittites vs New Kingdom Egyptians - Kings of Bronze #4

It's been just under a year since the Hittites have graced the table on home turf.... blimey that went quick, but the recent burst of ancient activity gave me a nudge to get the troops back on the table and the Overseer Huharmati's drive to push back the Egyptians. 

After the last encounter having beaten back the Egyptians, word reaches Huharmati that the Egyptians have captured a number of Hittite nobles being held in a small village to the East. The object is to reach the village and free the prisoners or break the force morale of the defenders.

I adapted Platoon Forward and added a number of potential Egyptian forces on blinds markers on the table in Yellow, Orange and Pink forces these had the potential to be light, medium or heavy forces. Roll low and the blind could be nothing, roll high and the defenders get tougher.

Without knowing the strength of the New Kingdom forces the Hittite's advanced rushing forwards to seize ground and perhaps supress the blinds before they can be unearthed.

A number of flags were pulled from the bag and units started to cover the approach to the village and the village centre. You guessed it lots of high rolls.

The Egyptians are quick to re-organised and formed a battle line as the Hittite chariots pressure the left flank masked by the high dune.

Luka Sea People mercenaries and allies of the Hittites crash into the Egyptian line from the dune but are swiftly bounced backwards taking a number of casualties.

The mass ranks of Egyptians hold the centre ground as a unit of Sherden Guard emerge from the village with the intention of bolstering the line, if only they could get an officer to activate them.

However the New Kingdom lines fixed in the centre of the table, they were unable to react to the horns of the Antelope the heavy chariots pushed around the left flank, would two light Egyptian chariots be enough to counter the threat?

Having tweaked the chariot runs recently and a good use of the heavy throwing spears. The medium Hittite chariot forced the Pharaoh's chariots backwards, the heavy Hittite chariot moves to exploit the gap.

Hittite spearmen catch the close order Egyptian troops with shields up after having been peppered by archers on the flank. Having spent all of their command flags they were unable to react to the charging Hittite warriors.

Having seen their close assault troops beaten back the Egyptian spearmen risked exposing their backs by wheeling into the Hittite ranks to beat back the Hittite warriors, however this saw them caught from behind by a fast moving spear unit, stepping out and crashing into the disorganised spearmen and their short lived victory. - 6",6",5" mighty lucky if you ask me....

The New Kingdom Egyptians morale dropped to zero as the Heavy Chariot tore through the unarmoured archers and the Sea People drove back the badly beaten shield wall.

Another victory for Overseer Huharmati's forces who simply walked into the village to release the Hittite nobles from captivity....

Great to get the Ancients back on the table, the blinds for Platoon Forward make for a varied scenario whether you are playing solo or multiple players. Perhaps the Egyptian centre could have been more aggressive before the Hittites got organised? The bows on the flank forced a poor tactical decision when the actual casualties were minimal. The Hittite chariots are tough and did well to stay away from the close order troops, but made a real mess of the light chariots and unarmoured archers.

If only the Sherden Guard could have gotten moving would it have been different?