Other people's Portable Wargames ... sort of: The Battle of Xylonduo

I recently had the opportunity to take part in an online wargame that continued the action covered in Professor Gary Sheffield's recent Battle of Caesar's Hill.

I took on the role of Sultan Chor Durrai of the Seljuk Turks, who, following the defeat of the Seljuk army at the Battle of Caesar's Hill, has rallied the defeated troops and lead them forward in a last attempt to expel the Byzantine invaders from Seljuk territory.

The troops available to Sultan Chor Durrai were as follows:

• 1x General (Sultan Chor Durrai/me) = 6 SPs
• 1 x Heavy Cavalry unit = 3 SPs
• 4 x Bow-armed Light Horse units @ 2 SPs each = 8 SPs
• 1 x Bow-armed Light Infantry unit = 2 SPs
• Total = 19 SPs (Exhaustion Point = 7 SPs

The Byzantine forces included:

• 1 x General (Demis Roussos/Gary) = 6 SPs
• 3 x Heavy Cavalry units @ 2 SPs each= 6 SPs
• 1 x Bow-armed Light Cavalry unit = 2 SPs
• 1 s Bow-armed Protected Infantry unit = 2 SPs
• 1 x Spear-armed Infantry unit = 2 SPs
• Total = 19 SPs (Exhaustion Point = 7 SPs)

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The strategic situation:

After the Battle of Caesar's Hill, the Byzantine army advanced towards the city of Edessa. When the local Seljuk governor received new that Sultan Chor Durrai had rallied the army and was advancing from the north, he refused to surrender. As a result, the Byzantine general, Demis Roussos, settled down to besiege the city of Edessa, but his army was soon affected and weakened by an outbreak of dysentery. The city was therefore able to hold out in the hope of relief, even though food supplies were running out. News eventually reached Sultan Chor Durrai that unless the siege was raised soon, Edessa would be forced to surrender.

The Seljuk objective was to decisively defeat the Byzantine army, thus allowing Edessa to be relieved. If the Byzantines were able to win or even draw the battle, Edessa would be forced to surrender and the Seljuks would have to seek a peaceful end to the fighting. The fate of the entire levant was in the balance ...

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The battlefield:

The battlefield was a 7 x 10 square grid with two wooded areas.

The Seljuks entered from the top edge of the battlefield and the Byzantines entered from the opposite edge.

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My battle plan:

My plan was simple. I placed two of my Bow-armed Light Horse units on my left flank, the other two on my right flank, placed my Bow-armed Light Infantry unit in the wooded area, and co-located myself with my Heavy Cavalry unit in support of the Light Horse on the left flank.

I hoped to entice the Byzantine Heavy Cavalry facing the two Light Horse units on my right flank into a battle, and then using the Light Infantry in the wood as a pivot, outflank and roll up the Byzantine units facing my left flank.

Initially the plan worked ... but the Byzantine Heavy Cavalry proved to be a tough nut to crack, and they soon destroyed my Light Horse unit. On the other flank, my Light Horse units made some progress against the Byzantine forces opposing them, but the Byzantines fought harder than I had expected and before my troops could prevail, my army reached its Exhaustion Point and I had to fall back.

The Byzantines had won and it looked as if I would have to negotiate a peace settlement ... but I still had some troops left should the Byzantines choose to continue the fight.

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The following are some of the photographs Gary took of the battle.

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Please note that the photographs featured above are © Professor Gary Sheffield.