After Alexander's Death, a dispute broke out between the foot officers and the cavalry officers over who should rule the Macedonian Empire. The officers of the infantry wished it to be Alexander's half-brother who was rumored to be an imbecile. The Cavalry officers supported the unborn child of Alexander's Persian wife, Roxanne. Through treachery, the Cavalry officers were victorious int eh dispute. This led to the raising of Perdiccas to regent.
As regent, Perdiccas ruled on behalf of Alexander's infant son. In theory, he ruled the Diadochi. However, many of the most powerful men across the new Hellenistic world would not settle for anything less than total power of their own. In a bid to seal his own power base, Ptolemy stole Alexander's body and spirited it away to Egypt. This was a great affront to the regent's power and Perdiccas prepared to march.
However, he could not leave the rest of the Empire undefended. In Turkey, he appointed Eumenes of Cardia to defend the region with the help of Neoptolemus the Satrap of Armenia. This was to protect the fertile heartland of the empire from the scheming and violent Craterus and Antipater in Europe. The results of his efforts can be seen in the battle reports here and here.
Perdiccas himself raised an army and marched for Egypt. Ptolemy drew up his army on the opposite side of the Nile and waited to face his foe. The Nile had traditional been a key strategic asset in protecting Egypt and Ptolemy banked on its help once more. The Nile was prone to flooding and had a strong current. Perdiccas tried to use his elephants as breakwaters in the waterway to allow his troops to cross. However, the footing was unstable. The fording of the river failed and a considerable number of lives were lost.
Angry at this unnecessary loss of life, Perdiccas was approached by a delegation of his officers in his tent. What exactly transpired is unclear, but Perdiccas himself was killed. Soon the invasion of Egypt was canceled and the attempt recover Alexander's body abandoned. Today's battle is an attempt to “re-fight” the battle that never happened between Perdiccas and Ptolemy. It is a great 'What-If” scenario as the following 6 Wars of the Diadochi may have been very different if the official regent of Alexander had lived, Alexander's body restored to Macedon, and the Silver Shields stayed within the loyalist camp.
This battle is a “What if” battle. This assumes that Perdiccas and Ptolemy did have a battle at the banks of the Nile. Instead of a failed crossing, this battle will be a forced crossing where Perdiccas is trying to force his army across the Nile in the face of Ptolemy's resistance. The winner will earn the right to keep Alexander's body as a talisman of legitimacy of rule.
The Forces:
Perdiccas-
Left Wing:
Epilektoi Cavalry- Seleceus
Center:
Silver Shields- Antigenes
Elephants
Bronze Shields
Right Wing:
Companion Cavalry- Perdiccas
Total Point- 54
Ptolemy-
Left Wing:
3 Archers
Center:
Bronze Shield
2 White Shields
Right Wing:
Epilektoi Cavalry- Ptolemy
Asphract Cavalry
Total Points- 54
Mission:
This will be a Forced Crossing by Perdiccas against Ptolemy. The objective is for Perdiccas to get 10 points off the opposite board edge in 8 turns. To make the game more like the historical situation, we will be placing a river down the middle of the board. It will be considered dangerous terrain. Nearby are various fields since the Nile valley was a fertile farm land.
Set-up:
For this battle, I am sure that the Silver Shields were in fact with Perdiccas. We know this since one of the officers, Antigenes; that helped assassinate Perdiccas. Therefore, I am 100% sure that the Silver Shields were there with him. We also know for a fact that Perdiccas had War Elephants with him as they were a key component of his plan to ford the Nile.
Beyond the details above, we have no idea what either army was composed of. Since no battle actually occurred, no one bothered writing it down. Therefore, we will need to guess at the organization of the rest of the armies. Since Phalanxes are the core of Macedonian and Successor armies, we can assume they were the core of these armies as well. Ptolemaic Egypt was known for their efforts to raise a native Phalanx, although the White Shields here are probably too soon. In addition, ancient Egyptian armies were well known for their archers so it makes sense that Ptolemy's force would have a strong archer contingent. Finally, all early Hellenistic armies also relied heavily on cavalry to try to mimic Alexander's successes, so both armies need a strong cavalry element.
In this case, the Ptolemaic are on the right side of the river. The Perdiccans are on the left side of the river.
You can read the results and the rest of the story:
https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2018/12/heirs-to-empire-battle-report-perdiccas.html
