Chariot Rampant

My previous few games with the 28mm Bronze age armies have been using a cobbled together version of Dux Brit.  My original intention however was to use the Chariot rampant article from WSS:82 as a variant of Lion Rampant.  The Dux Brit worked well enough except for those chariots, and the overpowered panzer division that resulted.

I used everything I have painted so far for this game (well my Libyans are in Durham so that would have been difficult, but I used just about every Bronze Age figure I have here in Cyprus.)

The Book Of Jumping Jehoshaphat records that in the third year of King Arsephat of Girgan`s reign the Sea Peoples once again attacked the lands of the Canaanites.  The scenario I used was "bloodbath." 


Arsephat of the Girgashites boasted that he would drive the enemy before him.  Old Nestor boasted "None can stand before me."




Canaanites

• 1 Light Chariots with Chariot Archers (and Chariot 
Runners) @ 5 points
•  1 Light Chariots with Chariot Archers @4 points
•  1 Royal Guard Swordsmen @ 4 points
• 1 Spearmen @ 8 points
• 1 Skirmishers @ 2 points 

Sea Peoples

• 1 Light Chariot @ 4 points 
• 1 Ox-Cart @ 4 points 
• 2 Fierce Foot @ 8 point
•  1 Shassu warband @ 4 points
• 1 Skirmishers @ 2 points

The Canaanites drive forward the chariots, supported by the Royal guard.  They leave their Hupshu levy spearmen well to the rear under Yul-Yassib.  Prince Adonijah leads the guards in a charge against the right flank fierce foot of Peleset.  A close look at the Royal guard will show that it has quite a few Sherden mercenaries in its ranks.

The Royal Guard carve a path through the Peleset fierce foot.

The Canaanite chariots took on the Sea Peoples general.  To get the Epic feel I dismounted "Old Nestor" and had him fight in front of his chariot against the chariot runners and Arsephat himself.    


I have to admit a grudging respect for the Canaanite dice rolling.  Clearly the possession of the sacred casket of Baal is critical here.  I treated Nestor's chariot as a multiple wound model, as if there were two chariots.  The Canaanite chariot runners acted in a similar way, taking the initial casualties from Nestor's assault.  

On the Canaanite right flank a group of fierce foot launched itself against the other unit of chariots, which had been distracting itself skirmishing with the Sea Peoples light foot unit.  I suspected that they were doomed, but once again the dice rolled well, and the Peleset struggled.  One chariot model was killed but the other clung on until the Peleset gave it up and the survivors ran away.

The Shassu allies of the Sea Peoples were clearly unreliable.  They moved only once during the game.  Similarly I didn`t get that oxcart moving.  As the Canaanite skirmishers made it through the rocks to the stone enclosure the rest of the Peleset army were being defeated.  My Shassu chieftain decided that he had things to do elsewhere.

 The Peleset run away.  The Girgashites hold the field.

Arsephat decides to sacrifice some of his prisoners to the sacred Casket of Baal.  He clearly won his boast and had driven the enemy before him in fine style.  

So the question is... how well did Chariot Rampant work?  The game felt right, but it has a subtle difference from my mash up of Dux Brit.  Lion Rampant are an easy set of rules and they coped well with this game.  For me the game looked right.  The pairs of chariots, the units of 12 infantry figures, it all looked the part.  This felt like a clash of cultures more than a Trojan war style game.  The fierce foot and fighting chariots against skirmishing chariots and a mixture of foot.

On another important note, having looked at the pictures I will really have to get around to adding the textured basing to these figures...