On the plains of Mesopotamia

With a revision of Comitatus in the works it is time for a play test. The battle chosen is Meshike (AD 244) with Persians attempting to prevent the Romans from capturing Ctesiphon. The battle is fought on dry plains of Mesopotamia near modern Fallujah in Iraq. The area is bounded by the Araxes river to the east and high ground to the west. Led by the 19 year-old Emperor Gordian III, the Romans are running low on supplies and the Praetorian Prefect Philip the Arab has been stoking discontent with an eye to the throne for himself.

Harassed by Persian horse archers, the Roman vanguard does its best to see them off. A swirling fight ensues which holds up the columns of the main Roman army.

Anxious to get a move-on Emperor Gordian decides to lead his main body through the high ground to bypass the Persian vanguard and then turn in on the flank of their main body. It is difficult going. The baggage train and artillery struggle to make it though. Wheels and axels are broken, the baggage animals struggle and the men lose order as they slog through the rocky hills.

The first line of Persian heavy horse archers then move up...

... and the Roman rearguard, commanded by Philip the Arab, deploys to meet them.

As the lines prepare for the clash, the Persian massed archery has little impact thanks to some rather poor dice rolls.

Undaunted, the Persian cataphracts make ready to charge the Roman line.

A fierce combat ensues but the Persians are unable to make any headway.

By this point Emperor Gordian has finally managed to get one of his columns into line to face the Persians but he is too late to influence the battle, nor does he need to.

One of the Persian generals is killed in the fight against the Philip the Arab’s men and the cataphracts retire. A charge by Persian elephants stops the advance of the Gothic cavalry from the Roman rearguard but it is now clear that the Persians cannot break the Roman line. With minimal casualties the Persians are able to withdraw in relatively good order to the safety of Ctesiphon.

Philip the Arab is able to claim a Roman victory without having received any help from Gordian. He is proclaimed Emperor by his troops and Gordian dies in mysterious circumstances — one story being that he was bitten by a snake on his march through the hills. Philip makes peace with the Persians and leads his army home in a close repeat of the historical engagement.

The rules worked well although I think I may wish to tweak them a bit to streamline some of the mechanisms to make the game flow even better. The next test game will feature Carolingian Franks against Old Saxons.