What River?

Jon Williamson

(Capt_S)

Canada
Calgary
AB

Just finished up a solo session of this battle. Very different feel from the first two infantry-only battles that I have tried.

What I noticed first was that the chariots should not attempt to shock combat the SI infantry via the latters' frontal hexsides. The defenders would be DS (Defender Superior) to the chariots and that would mean triple (!) hits to the wheeled wonders.

Next up was the fact that those chariots can boogie. Very mobile and with extra bonuses such as the ability to Orderly Withdraw automatically when facing a slower attacker (and shoot to boot if bow armed). Also, they can attempt to pass through enemy chariot formations shooting up the place as they do so. Hmmm....

All this added up to my being very cautious with the infantry. In fact, I formed them up in a sort of defensive hedgehog for fear of having those mobile chariots get behind them. This was particularly handy for the Hittites as they have a true OC who is not tied to a wing, so he created up a relatively safe rallying point behind the shields of the SI.

What remained was a fluid chariot battle with two wings (heavy and light) from each side going at it while the infantry looked on. These maneuvered about looking for advantageous positions to attack from. Eventually and very much quite by accident, I can upon an interesting tactic of having the light chariots (Hittite) pass through the same for the Arzawan. No OW available for the latter. Both sides were shot up a little. Then by the luck of the chit draw the Hittite heavies poured into the same Arzawan line. However, due the proximity of the Hittite lights now in rear of their line, the Arzawans could not OW and faced the onslaught somewhat pinned. After that it was a mop up as the Arzawan heavies could not recoup the situation.

It was fun. It was different. It was furious. I have a ton to learn about handling these weapon systems to be sure. That was the main lesson...

It would be interesting to play different folks just to see how they approach these tactical problems as there is a lot of room for experimentation.

One last thing. I am a fan of the chit pull mechanic. I like the uncertainty it brings to the table and also its benefit to solo play. However, sometimes when the total number of chits in the cup is pretty small and play mechanics benefit the aggressor to some degree, I have to wonder if the impact of the chit draw order is a bit too much. I had similar misgivings about AVL as well. At this point I think the benefits of the chits outweigh the negatives.

* Cross posted to another BGG thread.

Posted Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:04 pm
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