The Battle of Issus

333 BC Late Spring: Alexander the Great is at Ancyra with his army and the siege train. I should note at this point that I undercharged myself by 1 Gold for building the siege train outside a port, so will dock myself an extra Gold at the start of this turn.

Alexander is faced with two options now that he has taken Ancyra - either head for Tarsus and besiege that port, or go through the Cilician Gates and descend on Darius and the main Persian host, encamped on the plain of Issus. With the army still at full strength, he is wary of getting into a siege that might cost men and resources, while committing a relatively fresh army into a battle with the Persian king seems more attractive. With Parmenion now on the war council, Alexander is more confident that he can win a battle against numerical odds. The Persian king has over 50,000 troops at Issus.

Alexander needs to spend 2 Gold to bribe some tribal chieftains in the interior to afford the army safe passage, but on the upside the Persian garrison at Tarsus remains quiescent. The Macedonian treasury drops to 25G.

The Macedonians march from Ancyra to Cilicia (4G), then on through the Cilician Gates (14G), to eventually descend onto the plain at Issus (8G). By this stage the treasury/supplies has been reduced zero. A big army is very expensive, as Alexander is starting to find out, especially with the Persians controlling the sea lanes. Just the feed costs for all the oxen pulling siege engines he could have built at Tarsus is a lesson in logistics for the young king. Still, his scouts sight the shores of the Mediterranean again and the plain of Issus, where Darius is waiting.

Once again Alexander is facing a Persian army, more formidable than Memnon's. This is going to be a decisive action. Alexander is fighting as a level 5 commander with Hephaistion. Darius is fighting at level 2. The Persians have brought the cream of their heavy cavalry to the party and outnumber the Macedonian light troops 2:1. Alexander has a slight edge in the heavy infantry with his formidable pike blocks.

Alexander contemplates trying to take out Darius, making the Persian general the target of an epic cavalry charge at the head of the Companions. This would mean committing the Macedonian king back into the heart of the fray, but if he can get to Darius, he runs a good chance of breaking the morale of the big Persian host. There is enormous Glory at stake here too. Parmenion is assigned to command the infantry in the Macedonian centre. Alexander sites himself at the head of the Companions where all can see him.

"Darius certainly had with him a much greater number of Asiatic foot soldiers than his generals had commanded at the Granicus. These he posted in large bodies in support of his forward troops, stringing them out in line as far as the battlefield would permit...in the centre of this motley array Darius himself rode in his chariot. The central position was normal to Persian kings in battle, and from it they were able to dispatch orders in one direction or another, to any part of their usually large armies." Alexander: Conquest of the Persian Empire, John Warry (Osprey Military, 1991).

 As ever the Macedonian scouts had underestimated the size of the Persian army, which was equipped with more archers than previous reports had indicated. In addition the Persians again managed to carry out a raid on the Macedonian supply chain (-2G applied retrospectively).

The battle opened with an exchange of arrows, though it appeared to be largely ineffective this time, with both sides inflicting few losses. The Persian horse looked restless and keen to get stuck in. Morale was high among the Iranian riders and it showed, with the Persian light cavalry getting the better of Alexander's Thessalian horse and driving it from the field. This was not an auspicious start.

As the infantry lines closed, Alexander went after Darius as he had promised. Surrounded by his elite horse, the Macedonian king crashed into the Persian Immortals, the crack Persian royal guard. He tried to get to Darius, but there were too many of his hand picked guards to get through. So far the Persian line was holding, even as the Macedonian phalanx under Parmenion engaged.

Another volley of arrows drove off the Macedonian light infantry but many of the Persian shooters were dropping too. The cavalry contest was starting to tell against the Persians as the Companions wrestled with the Iranians in the brutal battle on the right flank: They managed to rout some of the Iranians but there were still thousands of enemy cavalry all over the battlefield including deadly horse archers from Central Asia. And now the Companions were starting to run out of puff.

Things were looking a tad bleak for the Macedonians - the superior enemy numbers were starting to tell. Alexander and Hephaistion were still lost in the centre of the melee, trying to hack their way through to Darius. The Hypaspists managed to cave in some of the Persian infantry line, and it was at this point that Darius' nerve finally broke and he fled the battlefield. With his departure the Persian will to fight collapsed and the army started fleeing. In reality over half of the Persian army was still fighting at this point, but seeing their king leave, many of the subject regiments fled.

The Iranian heavy cavalry had taken some losses as had the Median infantry, but Darius' army was still relatively intact and many of his horse were coming around for another go, but they decided to save their own hides. Alexander receives 6 Glory for winning the battle, and also plenty of loot to be accounted for at the end of turn. Darius flees east.

Alexander rallies his Thessalian troops but his light infantry has been decimated. A small holding force is establised at Issus.With no gold left Alexander has to rest his army on the plain of Issus. He receives 25 Gold in re-supply, plus picks up 8 Gold from the Persian camp at Issus. Alexander decides against building anything at this stage as he wants to conserve his supplies for a potential siege at Tarsus and the march into Syria. Three Glory is spent on Diplomats, as the Macedonians will need their help to smooth their way into Syria next turn.

End of turn.

• Gold: 31
  
• Glory: 9