Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time will know that I am a bit partial to getting elephants onto the wargames table. Even in 6 mm scale, and with my painting, there is something noble and dangerous about a large animal charging around a battlefield. Of course, with the advent of firearms, elephants were much less used, as they cannot be trained to tolerate loud bangs (very wise, elephants), but around 1600, firearms had not made major inroads into South-East Asia.
Which brings us to the next action in the 1600 Something saga. In South-East Asia, the Khmer invaded Siam, and both armies had support. So the game was fixed at eighteen bases a side. After a bit of calculation, each side had 2 elephant bases, one of which was the general, 12 tribal foot bases, 2 cavalry and 2 bows. Each side could have dropped a cavalry base and added another bow, but both ‘decided’ to go for the extra horses.
Now, immediately, I had a problem. An investigation of the box containing South-East Asians indicated that only 9 bases of tribal foot were available. This is, of course, a legacy of the rebasing project, where the number of infantry bases was halved, and the number of figures on a base doubled. Even so, I could not have fielded two augmented armies under the old system.
While I may well obtain some more Siamese / Khmer / Burmese foot at some point in the near future, I do not want to bog the campaign down too badly, so some innovation was required. I have sufficient tribal foot for three-quarters of one side, and that was made up with Chinese blades, which are close enough. For the Siamese, I ranged a bit further afield, and the trusty Aztec foot was deployed. As you may recall, even after rebasing them (again), I have a fair few of them, and a dozen bases barely made a dent in the box contents.
The terrain was a bit of a pain, to be honest. The table, as seen above, was bisected by a river. In order for there to be a game at all, I decided that my usual view of rivers, that they be uncrossable except at a ford, needed to be modified, and so bases were permitted to ford the river under usual stream conditions, that is, not rolling a six and taking two terrain shaken markers upon emerging.
The Khmer are deployed to the left above, the cavalry on the far side, then the bulk of the tribal foot, the elephants, the bows and then the right flanking force of tribal foot. The plan was for the right to cross the river, reform, and then support the centre in crossing, and so on. The Siamese plan was, essentially, to fight on the riverbank, taking all possible advantage of the effect of the terrain.
The picture shows the plans developing. The Khmer right have forded the river and reformed, and are now facing some Siamese tribal foot who have moved over from the centre. In the distance, you can see the Khmer archers and elephants attempting to cross the river, while the Siamese archers and elephants have moved up to oppose them.
The Khmer right got the drop on their opponents in the foreground and routed half the Siamese tribal foot. However, the other half have staved off the assault, leaving the Khmer right only sort of victorious. In the centre, the archers are reforming after crossing the river, while the Siamese archers are busy disrupting the rest of the tribal foot.
The action in the centre was complex and confusing. You can see the Siamese have moved up some tribal foot to oppose the Khmer archers, while the Khmer elephants have attempted to cross the river. The general has driven back the Siamese archers, but the other base has been held on the riverbank. Meanwhile, more Khmer tribal foot are attempting to cross the river.
It did not get much more straightforward. In the foreground, you can see the rallied Khmer tribal foot and the sub-general about to take the remaining Siamese in the rear. This did not go well for the Siamese, of course. In the centre, the Khmer general has routed some archers, but the other elephants have been dispatched by the Siamese archers. The Siamese sub-general has brought up some more tribal foot to oppose the Khmer crossing, while the Siamese elephants lurk in the centre, looking menacing.
The next turn was a busy one. On the Khmer right (out of shot), the remaining Siamese tribal foot were eliminated. The Khmer archers stalled the advance of some more tribal foot. The Siamese sub-general charged his troops into the Khmer who had crossed the river and routed them. He was then taken in flank by the Khmer general on his elephant. Remarkably, however, the elephant was bounced as the Siamese foot rushed past in pursuit. At this point, Khmer morale turned a bit dodgy, so the army had to fall back (which is why the archers are in the middle of the river). On the far side, the rest of the Siamese foot has been bounced by the Khmer. As I said, there was a lot going on….
The end for the Khmer came when I realised that the Siamese general was within range of the rear of the Khmer general. While everyone else was busy running away, wondering what was going on, rallying, or, in the case of the Khmer right, desperately trying to get into the fight, the Khmer general was routed, and the Khmer army followed suit.
That was great fun as a wargame. With no firearms on the table, the action felt much like an ancients wargame, and, finally, the rebased Aztecs got a victory. I think, given the terrain, the Siamese got their tactics right. The Khmer should have waited longer before attempting to cross the river, so their right could have supported the centre. But the Khmer right was delayed by the Siamese right refusing to collapse as quickly as they would have liked.
Strategically, of course, the Khmer now have a problem, with no army left and a war with Siam to deal with. They will have to hope that the campaign gods have mercy on them, I think.
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