Battle of Baghadan 150AD

Last night it was up to the "Dynamic Duo",ie. Brian and I,to have a gripping Ancients game involving Romans and "Persians".

The usual scenario and table before any movement-Brian was the Roman commander,and opted to split the out-flankers,so that the cavalry re-crossed the river and attacked me both frontally and on the flank-the swine!!

And we're off!!,as Brian advances his elephants against mine,and I move to guard against his flank attack,the two first lines advance to contact-impressive stuff!!

The elephants clash!!-it's a long time since we had an elephant vs elephant melee,and it was swings and roundabouts for two moves,then I eventually won-hurrah!!-note Brian's cavalry making their way behind the elephants-oh dear!!

Our first lines are meleeing-the dreaded pila took it's toll on my troops,but because I was spear-armed,the Romans fought at -1 from their first dice,so,again,it was swings and roundabouts for a couple of moves.The cavalry are facing each other off,who will be the first to charge?

Meanwhile,on the other flank,I have sent one of Brian's elephants "packing"(trunk etc,get it?) but his cavalry are now threatening my line,and a small engagement is taking place in the foreground-this is tricky!

As Brian writes his memoirs(or is it his shopping list?) my first line troops are being destroyed-my second line troops are not very good,but I will have to put them into the Romans to try and stop them-in the far right background you can see that the cavalry are engaged,and,for a time I was winning-hurrah!!

All hell has now broken loose on my left flank!!The Roman cavalry are rampant-and mine are not!!,still,my elephants are just about ready to reform and give the Romans "what for!!"-if only Brian's archers don't shoot at them(he wouldn't,would he?)
YES he bloody well would-the double swine!!this was the result......................

Bloody mayhem!!-Brian combines this rampage with an attack on my left,with his auxiliary infantry...................

Brian's troops were too strong for mine,and in this shot I am being forced back-woe is me!!

On the other flank,I have been forced to use my "Immortals" to support my cavalry,who are being driven in a backwards direction(wargames- speak for being hammered!!) however they too have met their match in Brian's other auxiliaries-hell's flames,what's going on?????

In the centre,my second line has been beaten soundly,and Brian is looking "smug"-with both flanks and centre in a bit of a mess,we decided that the Romans had won(understatement of the year!!)
This was a good game,with a good deal of thought going into the battle plan from us both-well done to Brian.
The astute reader will have noticed that the playing surface is different from our "usual" desert-type terrain-in fact this is the surface we will be taking to Falkirk in May,for our demo. game of Assaye,and consists of "cheap" carpet tiles,but I think looks quite effective.
Roll on Thursday.