Orders of Battle for Gaugamela

by Jeff Jonas

I have been writing-- what a chore! I started to dabble into the historical stuff to get things grounded but I had soon written a huge confusing pile of drivel that anybody could get a better dose of by reading an Osprey book! So I have been writing up scenarios and OOB's and things that can get me focused on the gaming again- which is more fun than worrying about what so-and-so is going to rip me a new one in some SOA review! So without further ado..... attached is a a bit of work- a 1:60 scale Persian and Macedonian OOB for WAB using AoA for points values (although I've fudged them a wee tad).  I am currently cooking this list down to a much more palpable 5000 point list each. I hope you are properly amused!

 

 

MACEDONIAN ORDER OF BATTLE
GAUGAMELA

The following is a conjectural 1:60 ratio Order of Battle given for Alexander’s army at the decisive battle against Darius King of Persia at Gaugamela in 331 B.C. It is Alexander’s largest force used in any of his battles, and includes just about every type of unit known to have been used in the Macedonian Army of Conquest. After Gaugamela, Alexander’s army changed considerably by incorporating many asiatic troops from the now conquered Persian provinces.

The 1: 60 ratio was determined as a starting point number that could create WAB sized game formations and still have some historical validity. The points values are based on the Armies of Antiquities Alexander and Sucessors list. The purpose of this exercise is first, to demonstrate historically accurate percentages of troops in Alexander’s army so a player can cook down this OOB to create a balanced and historical Macedonian army list, and second to allow players with a lot of miniatures and a big room to refight this massive battle! Also, it is tailored to fit WAB style "effective" units. For example, the Macedonian Companions fought in 200-300 troop "squadrons", and it would be silly and ineffecient to force a player to take a units of four or five models, so they have been combined into more effective larger units. Whenever possible the units have been "scaled to fit" actual known Macedonian sub-units, thus the 25 figure Macedonian Phalanx units formed 5 front by five ranks, have the look and feel of Syntagma’s of 256 pikemen that fought in 16 x16 man squares, and they have a bit more depth than Hoplite phalanx’s arrayed 6 front by 4 ranks. A boiled down 3000 pt list is also availiable as an actual two-player scenario, but the more you compress an actual OOB, the more you must make decisions about what gets amalgamated, and what gets lopped out entirely.

A corresponding Persian OOB is under construction, guess what---- they need more miniatures!

(It’s scary)

1:60 ratio Historical Macedonian OOB Gaugamela

(Since this force is huge by WAB standards it is assumed that it would be controlled by a team of five to eight players. It would be best to have an umpire and this game could take a long day!)

Units marked Ä have been reduced in cost -2 pts for removing shields. Units marked ­ have been reduced in cost -1 pts for trading kontos for thrusting spears. The Hypaspists have been fudged a bit because they just look best at 5 front x 4 ranks.

Right flank guard

#/Unit/Commander Points

(* these two hoplite phalanxes have the stats of "Veteran Phalangites" and are stubborn)

Foot/8780 Cav/1700 Models= 166 Right flank guard Total 2037

Right wing (commanded by Philotas)

Foot/5300 Cav/2000 Models= 131 Right wing Total 2233

Phalanx and Reserve (commanded by Craterus)

Reserve Phalanx

Foot/16224 Cav/0 Models/ 268 Phalanx Total 2839

Left wing (commanded by Parmenion)

Foot/6672 Cav/2400 Models/150 Left wing Total 2020

Left flank guard (commanded by Coeranus)

Foot/0 Cav/2700 Models/45 Left flank guard Total 735

Camp Guards

Foot/600 Cav/0 Models/ 10 Camp guards Total 95

Foot/37576 Cav/7800 Models/723 Total points costs 9959 !

Total est. troops= 45376

 

 

PERSIAN ORDER OF BATTLE
GAUGAMELA

The following is a conjectural 1:60 ratio Order of Battle given for Darius army at the decisive battle of Gaugamela in 331 B.C.

The 1: 60 ratio was determined as a starting point number that could create WAB sized game formations and still have some historical validity. The points values are based on the Armies of Antiquities Achmaenid Persian list. Although it is unlikely that players will have enough miniatures to field such a force (let alone a 18 foot table!), it is possible that a club or group could re-play such a giant game in a very long day. It is suggested that the Persian host have at least 6-10 gamers to push the lead across a table at least 18 foot long by about 8 feet wide.

Persian forces were not efficiently organized, and thus some cavalry formations are wastefully over ranked, for example the 16 figure regiments must be in 4 front x 4 ranks. 32 figure units must be 8 x 4. This represents the unwieldy and ponderous Persian masses. Only bow armed cavlary may skirmish. Also, very few Persian units are given leaders, standards and musicians- this will serve to balance the Persian point superiority as they will lose a lot of ties. Darius experimented with arming his cavalry with longer thrusting spears to try to match the Macedonian Cavalry in hand to hand, this is why there is a dearth of bow armed cavalry. In fact bow armed troops were on the decline in Persian armies since they now depended on their Greek Mercenaries more than their missile armed troops. Unfortunately for Darius, by Gaugamela his Hoplite force had dwindled to around 2000 Greeks. The scythed chariots have been reduced in numbers to reflect their terrible performance at this battle.

Gaugamela is a whacky battle to simulate- the almost all Persian cavalry force is facing a Macedonian force impervious to attack frontally by cavalry. The Persians must break through and pin the Macedonian army in place and not allow Alexander’s elite units to penetrate to Darius’ position and rout him off the table. The Macedonian player must channel the Persian cavalry attacks and not let them break or get into the rear of the phalanx, or he will find himself ultimately surrounded and attritioned.

 

1:60 ratio Historical Macedonian OOB Gaugamela

Left Wing Commander Bessus, Satrap of Bactria

Advance guard

#/Unit/Commander Points

Foot/0 Cav/2000 Chariots/6 Models= 42 Left wing Advance Guard Total 1060

Left flank Cavalry Barsaentes, Satrap of Arachosia

#/Unit/Commander Points

Foot/0 Cav/9000 Chariots/0 Models= 144 Left flank cavalry Total 2001

Left Center Bupares

#/Unit/Commander Points

Foot/1000 Cav/4000 Chariots/0 Models= 80 Left Center Total 1216

Center Army General Darius

#/Unit/Commander Points

Foot/6400 Cav/3000 Chariots/3 El/1 Models= 158 Center Total 2633

Right Center Phrataphernes, Satrap of Parthia

#/Unit/Commander Points

Foot/1000 Cav/5000 Chariots/0 Models= 96 Left Center Total 1264

Right Wing Commander Mazaeus Satrap of Syria and Mesopotamia

Advance guard Orontes

#/Unit/Commander Points

Foot/0 Cav/2000 Chariots/3 Models= 35 Right wing Advance Guard Total 897

Right flank Cavalry Atropates Satrap of Media

#/Unit/Commander Points

Foot/0 Cav/8000 Chariots/0 Models= 128 Right flank cavalry Total 1728

Asiatic Levies Satibarzanes *

#/Unit/Commander Points

* These units fighting value is negligible, they have been included for completeness and can easily be left of the Persian table edge. They have modified stats: BS is reduced to "2" and Ld is reduced to "3". Because of their ill-discipline, they may only count one rank bonus in hand to hand. They must form up at least four ranks deep, may not march move, or wheel. However, for each rank after the first they may add +1 to their leadership (up to +3). They are included at 1:100 to further reflect their worthlessness!

Foot/50000 Cav/0 Chariots/0 Models= 500 Levies Total 500

 

Foot/58400 Cav/31000 Chariots/200 Models/685(plus 500 levies) Total points cost 11287!

Total est. troops= 39400 Chariots +400(crew)

Including levies Total= 89800

Back to Main Page!

E-mail The Old Sage!