1600 – Something: Obscured by Clouds

And so, westwards in the Summer 1606 move, to another Persian invasion of Mesopotamia. After the last round of hostilities here, both sides have deployed field armies, and so it was two standard lists that encountered each other. The is three Ottoman light cavalry bases, five cavalry, two janissaries, and two militia bases. These faced two light cavalry, six cavalry, three shot, and a militia base.

For this game, I tried a little experiment. In the naval rules, as you might have spotted in the last game for Spring, there was a lot of smoke generated. This was inspired by historical accounts of naval battles in the Anglo-Dutch wars, where the sky is reported to have turned grey. Indeed, if you look at some of the artwork of the period, you will find that the skies are indeed grey, and it is not just an artistic conceit. The sheer number of cannon fired made for lots of smoke.

Anyway, after the success of the smoke reducing visibility at sea, I thought it was time to consider it on land. After all, 500 muskets going off at more or less the same time do make a lot of smoke. So a temporary rule was introduced that the smoke I use to keep track of who has fired this turn will linger unless a roll is made under the wind force number. I also added (which should probably be in the naval rules as well) that un-dispersed smoke will drift downwind.

The terrain rolling favoured the Ottomans, who are to the left above, sitting, mostly, behind a stream. Their light cavalry is deployed forward of it, just to make a nuisance of themselves. The Persians have put their infantry in the centre, with the militia, mindful of the Ottoman light cavalry, by the baggage. The Persian lights are on their right, hoping to make a gap somewhere for the heavier cavalry to pass through.

The Persians tried, shall we say. They got their shot in over the central hill and are firefighting the janissaries. Unfortunately, they were also taking pot shots at the Ottoman militia in the rough ground, and so did not focus their superior firepower against the Ottoman shot. On the Persian left, their cavalry has been held up and disrupted by the Ottoman light cavalry. On the far side, the Persian and Ottoman light cavalry are having a go at each other, but the Persian heavies are refusing to cross the stream.

The Persians were having to be cautious. The Ottoman heavy cavalry on both flanks is lurking within a charge move of the banks of the stream, so any attempt to cross is likely to be met by a downhill charge, which will, in all likelihood, destroy the Persians. The best hope was on the Persian right where the light cavalry could cover the heavies, and the Persian reserve and general headed that way.

This, however, took quite a long time, and the situation was not much better than it was when the general set off. The Persian cavalry was still refusing to cross the stream. Meanwhile in the centre the Persian shot had managed to drive back a base of janissaries but was not going to attempt to cross the stream without some cavalry support, which had just arrived on the right.

At this point some strategic considerations began to emerge. The engaged forces were the only field armies for both sides for quite a number of provinces. Neither side could really afford to lose the army, as then only local forces would be available to prevent an invasion. This might be adequate, but it might not, and neither side wished to risk it, particularly. Secondly, the Persians had never been sure they could force the crossing of the stream. With their cavalry advantage, they would have preferred more open terrain. Additionally, they could possibly have used their militia base on the front line to assault across the stream.

As for the Ottomans, they were on the defensive anyway, and the same considerations applied to them about crossing the stream. Light cavalry, of course, are not disrupted, but their light cavalry were stretched enough on the wings. They were also losing the firefight in the centre, partly because the smoke kept blowing in their faces, rendering their shooting a little less effective.

At this point, and with these considerations, the Persian commander gave the order to withdraw from the combat. The risks of crossing the stream outweighed the potential that could arise from it. While the firefight was going in their favour, the Persians could not see how to exploit it, especially having committed the reserve cavalry and general to the right.

While this was not, perhaps, the most exciting game in the world, it was, nevertheless, interesting. The tactical problem of how to cross an obstacle in the face of determined opposition is always a thorny one, and the Persians did not have an answer this time. The aim was to outflank the Ottomans on the Persian right, but the timing of that did not work out. They might have done better to have retained the general and reserve cavalry in the centre and tried to exploit the advantage they had gained there, but it was only marginal, and losing cavalry to militia might have been deemed embarrassing.

So, both sides live to fight again, and I dare say they will. The rule change seemed to work quite nicely, with a -1 to shooting factors for firing through smoke. Even though the wind was strong, the smoke still hampered the firefight. While I cannot think, offhand of too many incidents where smoke caused problems for combat, it must have been a bit of an issue, especially in those European actions where there were a lot of muskets and cannons. I do recall an incident at Basing House where a regiment of foot was loomed at out of the smoke and opened fire, only to find the loomers were on their own side.

Still, next up is the accidental Muscovite invasion of Latvia. All I have to do is work out a Latvian army list for 1606….