A short time later, the Auximites returned and killed Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan. The great Khosrow I, incensed by the acts of the Auximites, dispatched Vahrez Boes with a larger force to expel the Auximites once and for all. In a short time, Vahrez Boes did just that and remained in the Arabian South to ensure the eternal peace for the loyal subjects of the Immortal Soul.
Yet, Vahrez Boes' work was not at an end. The Auximites (with Roman Gold) stirred unruly elements of the populace south of Najran to oppose the will of the Immortal Soul and rose in rebellion. Sheik al-Hamil ibn Said cast out Vahrez Boes' loyal representatives and treated them most unjustly.
As a consequence, Vahrez Boes gathered his forces and marched to find the recalcitrant Sheik and bring his people back to fold of the Immortal Soul.
On the road between Sana'a and Najran, the Sassanid forces met the revolting Arabs...
The Sassanid List and Host:
The Pre-Islamic Arabian List and Host:
The rebels stood on the field as the Sassanid forces approached and opted for Developed. The Sassanids took the compulsory enclosed field and the open. The Arabs took the village and another enclosed field. One enclosed field fell on the left of the Arab line (to the right in the picture below) while the village fell on the Arab right. The other enclosed field fell on the Sassanid right. The Arabs deployed between the enclosed field and the village (just off camera to the left). The three Foot Warrior BGs deployed from the enclosed field towards the village. The Bedouin light horse deployed on the left of the foot (in the picture) with the City Cavalry to the left of them.
The Sassanids deployed with the Superior Asvaran BG on the far left next to the enclosed field. One of the average Asvaran deployed next to them. The last average Asvaran BG deployed on the Sassanid right (in the picture) with the Cataphracts in the middle.
The Sassanids moved first. The two Asvaran cavalry BGs on the Sassanid right moved a full 5" straight ahead to close the gap between the two armies. The Cataphracts and the remaining Asvaran BG double moved forward shifting 1 single base to their right in their first move. With no shooting or melee, the Sassanid 1st turn ended.
The Pre-Islamic Arabian 1st turn saw the Arabian foot move as a group straight ahead 3". The Arabian cavalry opted to remained stationary. There was no shooting at this point so the turn ended.
The Sassanid 2nd turn opened with the Cataphracts rolling not to charge - they held. The Cataphracts and adjacent cavalry move to just short of 2" of the Arabian foot and just outside 5" of the City Cavalry. The right flank Sassanid cavalry moved to within 3" of the Arabian foot. The center Arabian foot took 3 hits in the shooting phase but shrugged off both the death roll and cohesion test. All other shooting was forgetalble. Thus the Sassanid 2nd turn ended.
The Arabian 2nd turn opened with the right most Arabian Foot (the reds and whites right to left respectively) charging the Sassanid cavalry line to chase them off. Both cavalry evaded with the Superior Asvaran moving normal and the average to their left going 2" short. The red Arabian foot went 5" in pursuit while the white Arabian foot went normal. The last Arabian foot (the blacks) failed a CMT to move short in front of the cataphracts so opted to sit. The Bedouin cavalry moved to within 1.5" of the Cataphracts and the City cavalry moved to stay on line. The Sassanid shooting against the City cavalry had no effect so the Arabian 2nd turn ended.
To start the Sassanid 3rd turn, the Cataphracts charged straight ahead. The Bedouins evaded, rolled normal move and stopped just short of going off the table. The Cataphracts plowed into the black Arabian foot with one base making contact. In Impact, the Cataphracts scored 2 hits to none which was catastrophic to the Arabs as the Arabian foot lost a base and double dropped to fragmented. In the Movement Phase, the Cataphracts slid to their right to conform and the Arabs covered the 2nd file of the Cataphracts. The two right flank Sassanid cavalry BGs turned around and sat. The left flank cavalry BG made a CMT and backed up 2" and turned back around. Sassanid shooting again had no effect. In Melee, the Cataphracts scored 3 hits to 1. The black Arab foot passed the death roll but failed cohesion and is caught in the pursuit after going 1" losing another base. No-one cared about the broken Arab foot and in Joint Action the Cataphracts stopped pursuing while the broken Arabs went another 2". The Sassanid 3rd turn ended at this point.
To begin the Arab 3rd turn, the City Cavalry charged the Sassanid cavalry to their front who evaded 3" back while the City Cavalry pursued forward 5. The red and white Arab foot on the other end of the Arab line also charged and the Sassanid cavalry to their front evaded. The right most Sassanid cavalry went 5" and the next one went 7". The Arab foot lumbered along with the red Arab foot going 2" and the black Arab foot going 3". In the Movement Phase, the Bedouin cavalry turned 90 and wheeled forward 4.5" to get out of the way of the fleeing Arab foot. As there was no shooting or melee, the Joint Action quickly arrived and saw the broken Arab foot fleeing 3" to towards the table edge, ending the Arab 3rd turn.
To start the Arab 4th turn, the City Cavalry charged the Sassanid cavalry to their front but rolled short on their VMD and only went 3". The Sassanid cavalry went a full 5". In movement, the red and white Arab foot on the Arab left moved 3" forward towards the Sassanid cavalry. The Bedouin light horse moved to just in front of the Cataphracts at an angle. In the shooting phase, the Sassanids scored 4 hits on the red Arab foot who passed both their death roll and cohesion test. With nothing to do in the Joint Action Phase, the Arab 4th turn ended.
To begin the Sassanid 5th turn, the Cataphracts successfully rolled not to charge the Bedouins and instead wheeled towards the Arab City Cavalry. The Sassanid cavalry in the middle of the table advanced to within 3" of the white Arab foot. The Sassanid cavalry in front of the Arab City Cavalry turned to face. The Sassanid cavalry threw a lot of dice in the shooting phase but nothing happened. In the Joint Action Phase, the Arab Sheik moved to the red Arab foot BG thus ending the Sassanid 5th turn.
To start the Arab 5th turn, the Arabs charged across the board. The three Sassanid cavalry BGs, with space running out behind them, all stood. The Bedouin light horse charge into the Cataphract flank. Vahrez Boes opted to lead the Cataphracts himself. The Arab Sheik decided to lead the red Arab foot to counteract the superior morale of the Sassanid cavalry facing his men. In Impact, the Cataphracts recieved 3 hits to 1, lost a base but survived the cohesion test and the Bedouin's attempts to kill Vahrez Boes. The Sassanid cavalry facing the Arab City Cavalry scored 2 hits to 4, lost a base and disrupted. The Sassanid cavalry facing the white Arab foot scored 2 hits to 3, lost a base and disrupted. The Superior Sassanid cavalry facing the red Arab foot scored 4 hits to 4, survived the death roll and managed to kill the Arab general on a 12. The red Arab foot consequently disrupted for seeing the CinC killed but the white Arab foot next to them did not care. As everything on the table was in melee, there was no shooting. In the melee phase, the Cataphracts scored 2 hits to 1 but the Bedouins emerged unscathed. The Arab City cavalry scored 2 hits to 0. The Asvaran cavalry lost a base and autobroke. No one was close enough to care and they routed right off the table. The Arab City Cavalry pursued to the table edge. The white Arab foot scored 2 hits to 0 against the Sassanids to their front who passed the death roll but fragmented on cohesion. The red Arab foot scored 2 hits but took 3 in return suffered no loss from the death roll and passed the cohesion test. In the Joint Action Phase, the fragmented Sassanid cavalry broke off to the edge of the table. At the end of the Arab 5th turn, the Arabs had lost 2 attrition points to the 3 lost by the Sassanids.
The Sassanid 6th turn began with no charges. The fragmented Sassanid cavalry moved to overlap the red Arab foot and hopefully swing the affair into the Sassanid favor. In melee. the Cataphracts scores 3 hits to 0 on the Bedouins who lost 1 base and disrupted. The red Arab foot managed 2 hits against the Sassanid cavalry but took 3 hits in return. The red Arab foot survived the death roll but fragmented on cohesion. With nothing to be done in Joint Action, the Sassanid 6th turn ended with the Sassanids at 3 attrition points to 3 for the Arabs.
To start the Arab 6th turn, the white Arab foot charged the fragmented Sassanid cavalry to their front who broke for being charged while fragmented. The game ended at that point. Total playing time 1.5 hours.
Vahrez Boes, seeing the Asvaran on the far right of his line giving way, orders the rest of the army to withdraw towards Sana'a. The Arabs, leaderless, mill around the field stripping the dead Persians of all of their wealth. None stop to think that maybe they should pursue the disorganized Persians to end the fight today. Vahrez Boes swears to return and crush the rebellious Arabs, but that is another story...
