The Deuteros Raid

 'The second year of Michael Ponos, Emperor, was a year of constant pressure from without the Byzantine Imperium, and revolt within.  The armies, provincial and imperial both, found themselves constantly on the march, when they were not in action, withal.  In the early spring of 998, a considerable Bulgar raiding party, led by the local kavkhan, Attishu, made an attack across the river Potomos in an attempt to seize the border village of Hapax.  This place being a border market town, wherein met every day peoples from both sides of the water, this was to be the lucrative beginning of what was hoped by the Bulgars to be a profitable foray.  The ultimate aim  was the rich town of Tetrakis, several miles inside Byzantine territories.

Pakourianos Dryos, the local commandant Hapax and its hinterland, had heard rumours of Bulgar preparations for the attack, and prepared according to the resources available to him.  He resolved in the first instance to oppose the river crossing at Hapax itself.  For all his determination, he still apprehended the small size of his force that he could bring against the Scythian* hordes...' 
Michael Psellophanes, Byzantiad.

Such is the generating circumstance of my second foray into Mark Cordone's 3x3 battleboard concept.  Since its inception, the concept has been expanded into 6 battlefields.  These six seemed to me to form the basis of a campaign comprising a sequence of battles - a raid, withal.  Here is the plot.

1. The battleboard maps:

Maps 1 and 2

Maps 3 and 4

Maps 5 and 6

2. The Bulgar raiders begin at the top of Map 1, and work their way, top down, through the maps in succession until they reach Map 6 - the bountiful town of Tetrakis.

3. The composition of the raiders' force is constant:

• Commander, Kavkhan Attishu (who may be replaced if killed) 
• 1 noble heavy horse archer with javelins and bow (elite)
• 1 noble heavy horse archer with javelins and bow (average)
• 2 light horse archers with javelins and bow (average)
• 2 close order infantry with spear (average)
  
    

4.  The defending Byzantine forces vary over time.  They begin with

• Commander, a local commandant name of George Pithikos, or a higher commander later on.
• 1 heavy cavalry unit (kavallarioi) with lance and bow (average)
• 1 light cavalry unit (prokoursatores)with lance and bow (average)
• 1 close order infantry unit (skoutatoi) with spear and bow (average)
• 1 loose order infantry unit (peltastoi) with spear and javelins (poor).
  

5.  Possibly for this campaign, the skoutatos unit should could as 'poor' spearmen when faced by other spearmen, but 'average' when facing horse and other foot; and 'average' for shooting.

5. For the battles in Maps 3 and 4, the Byzantines add a second heavy cavalry unit.

6. For the battles in Maps 5 and 6, the Byzantines add a third heavy cavalry unit.

7. For this campaign I used Developing the Portable Wargame rule set with Mark Cordone's 'Fall of Rome' 3x3 game system.

8. All units begin with 2 Strength Points only (2SP).  I did consider staying with the 'standard' Portable Wargames SP, but I tend to regard this 3x3 version as 'PW-Lite' or 'PW-Quickplay'.  As such the 2SP system 'feels' about right, here, and qualitative differences among the units - weapons, training, esprit du corps etc - have to be brought out by other means.  I've stayed with the PW 'standard' in this regard, but possible refinements might be considered.

Battle of Hapax 

To face the impending invasion, the commandant, George Pithikos, placed himself with his loose-order peltastoi spearmen in Hapax town itself, and line the river bank to the left with his skoutatoi foot and to the right with his heavy cavalry unit.  His light horse he retained in reserve.  

Initial set-up. The river is the border between Bulgar and Byzantine Empires; the town is Hapax, garrisoned by 1 unit of heavy and one of light cavalry; 1 unit of heavy infantry, and one of loose-order mediums. The last defends the town, led by the commandant in person.

The Kavkhan's plan was with his light horse to engage the flanks in a cross river archery duel in the hope of weakening the defenders before charging across with his heavies.  In the centre, he led his spearmen to storm the bridge into the town itself.  

First blood went to the raiders when accurate archery inflicted serious losses among the kavallarioi east of the town.

Bulgars close up to the riverbank, and a shooting war begins on the flanks. First blood to the Bulgars! Each counter represents an SP lost. 

Heavy losses on both sides from horse archery on the flanks, as the Bulgars have made no attempt yet to force the river crossings there; and battle royal as the Bulgar spearmen, led by Kavkhan Attishu storm the bridge.

The town being forced, the Byzantines win the next initiative roll, and the right to counter-attack. Had the Bulgars won the initiative roll, the battle would have ended, right there, with a Bulgar victory.  But now, so savage was the fighting that the peltastoi fought themselves into exhaustion in evicting the Bulgars the town, and slew the Kavkhan in the process! This looks like an ignominious end to the raid before it has properly begun!

Under the cover of the prokoursatores light horse, the skoutatoi infantry entered the village and prepare the place for defence. Note that as the condition for victory is to reach the enemy baseline in at least one sector, with no possibility of being driven back as has just happened, I took that as superseding the Strength Point loss criterion.  Meanwhile, although the peltastoi disintegrated, their Commandant remained in the fight, ready to lead where his presence would be most needed.

Momentarily taken aback by the reverses along the front, the Bulgars soon recovered their determination to take the town.  Command assumed by Tarkhan Tiercel, they were very soon once more pressing along the river line.

Battle of the bridge.  Both sides score hits...

...and both sides lose a Strength Point.

So  the fight was not yet over. Bulgar heavy horse finally forced the river crossings either side of the town, and the reserve body of spears, with light horse supporting (presumably with their arrows), tried once again to force a crossing. Already both sides took further losses.

Bulgars victorious! The skoutatoi were forced back, but there being no space available in the Reserve Area, they were eliminated. The Bulgars having forced the crossing all along the line, and only two Byzantine units remaining, it is not possible for them to recover all the lost ground, whichever side won the initiative at this point.

This was a pretty tough and hard-fought battle, with heavy losses on both sides, actually in favour of the Byzantines (6SP lost out of 8; Bulgars, 7 out of 12).  But, although facing defeat with the fall of the Kavkhan, it ended with an undoubted Bulgar victory.  Having given themselves over to a day or so sacking the town, the raiders gathered themselves together to plunge further into Imperial lands.  

 Awaiting them was George Pithikos, with his reconstituted command.

To be continued: Combat on the road.

* Scythian - generic Byzantine term for Asiatic hordes of just about any kind...