Corinthia invades Nemedia!

(One of my friends and I got together to try out the new Field of Glory ancient rules, with some help from my daughter. The forces involved were Republican Romans and Epirotes. The invading force from Corinthia was composed of 3000 cavalry, 7000 pike men, 2000 auxiliaries, 1500 slingers, and a few elephants. The Nemedians fielded two legions of 3500 men each, 2000 auxiliaries, and 2000 cavalry.)

Maximus Dentius was worried. He had been dispatched with 2 legions and some auxiliaries to stop the Corinthian invaders under the command of Pyros the Maniac. Not only did the invaders outnumber him; they also had some of those terrifying beasts called elephants. His army was deployed near the village of Numalia Minor facing towards the south in the standard battle formation with the cavalry on both wings, the legions in the center, and the auxiliaries to the legions left. It appeared that the Corinthians had placed all their cavalry on the opposing right with their auxiliaries to the right of the cavalry, the elephants in the center of their battle line and the pikes on the left. The battlefield was fairly open with some vineyards and olive groves to the west of the village.

As the battle commenced Dentius ordered the cavalry on the right to move to the left flank to counter the opposing cavalry. Both armies advanced towards each other with the lights troops engaging each other.When they were within reach Pyrhos ordered his heavy cavalry to charge the Nemedian auxiliaries. A protracted melee ensued that eventually saw the Nemedian auxiliaries routed from the field. Meanwhile the legion on the left attacked the Corinthian elephants killing several and causing the remainder to flee. The legion on the right engaged the leading formation of pikes and was soon aided by the other legion charging into the flank of the pikes. Although badly disordered they continued to stand and fight as the other pike formations moved up and eventually caused the collapse of the Nemedian legions. The Nemedian cavalry had been involved in chasing the Corinthian light horse and fighting the opposing auxiliaries and was unable to come to the aid of the infantry. Seeing the battle lost Maximus Dentius ordered his surviving forces to withdraw, leaving the village to the depredations of the Corinthians. As the Nemedian forces regrouped they could see smoke rising to the south from the burning village.

(We found the rules to be well written and playable. The game took about three to four hours to play including setting up the terrain and having to look up items in the rules that we were not sure about, this being only the first time for my friend and second time for me playing Field of Glory. )