Game 3 - Kappadokians and Seleucids

While Jeff and Ryan fought two games, Ian and I finished one.  Ian led Kappadokians against my Seleucids, the attackers.  Ian set up the terrain heavy on one side, so I tried to deny him the use of it in my side choice.  However, I still managed to play to his game plan, and Kappadokian strengths, demonstrating my lack of experience.  I didn't deploy to my advantage.

Deployment

I fragmented my force, trying to swing a Kn and Cav around the left flank and moving my heavier forces along the right.  Insanely, I considered moving my Pike directly forward onto a bad going hill.  If Jeff had not pointed out that Pike would not far well against Auxila, the game might have ended sooner.  I ended up deploying the Pike in a line along the hill, which essentially kept them out of the battle.

Ian's luck with the dice was low at the beginning of the game; he rolled a lot of 1 and 3 PIPs.  However, I spent a lot of PIPs trying to get my act together.  Having a group comprised of an Elephant, Scythed Chariot, and Warband didn't work out too well for me, so I ended up with single elements scattered everywhere.  Ian quickly seized two key terrain features with his light troops.

Scattered Seleucids

First blood was drawn when I tried to run my Cav element along the board edge.  A Psiloi engaged from the rough, and I learned two lessons: the rule on mounted engaging light foot in the rough and the danger of recoiling off the board.

Ouch!

In the photo below, you will note the the Scythed Chariot is now missing.  It was fun to try out this element type, but it never paid off for me.  Ian is certainly managing his forces better, and I'm realizing that the powerful elements of the Seleucid army are not so powerful against a light foe like the Kappadokians, at least not under my direction.  I did manage to kill off one Light Horse with a Knight.

Few Good Choicses

 My elephant was flanked and killed.

Soon after, I lost a Warband.  I tried to maneuver my Pike into the center, but another mounted element loss ended the game.

Final Losses:  Kappadokians 1 - Seleucids 4 (+ Sch)