Having been deep in the rules for a week or so, I finally learned and played my first game of Hoplite of the Great Battles of History series, really pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't describe myself as into ancients normally, but I do enjoy learning about the period of classical Greek warfare, and this game is REALLY good.
Battle of Ephesus is a Greek hoplite army, small, with a couple skirmishers. Persians get chariots, light cav, heavy cav, plenty of skirmishers to go around. But, their infantry is light. Basically, if the Greek formations crossing the open ground can survive the harassing fire facing them and maintain cohesion, once they come to grips with the Persian infantry, they should win out.
Alot of Greek units took significant hits to their cohesion in this one. One formation of hoplites that was running forward separated from the rest (they tend to all move at different speeds) was countercharged by what looked like an overwhelming amount of light infantry, taking them partially in flank. They held, and when a supporting Greek unit attacked in their support, a combat ensued in which the Greek army commander killed the Persian army commander in personal combat. It was at this point I was really starting to get into this game...
Persian heavy cav charged on the left, but wasn't quite enough. After the death of their commander, the Persian light infantry held on for a bit, but was driven from the field. I'm really looking forward to playing some of the bigger battles in this game.
