Kapissa is Mine

Now you may recall that in the previous installment, King Bobroes the Magnificent of Persia, had defeated the rampaging hordes of Hepthalite Huns, slain their leader Gnash, and began marching towards the pleasant valley of Kapissa, which he reasoned would be an excellent place from which to control the crossings over the Hindu Kush, and prevent any powers from India interfering with his plan to control the Silk Road.

However, as he drew near, he learned that King Chantony Gupta from India had already crossed the Kush, and taken control of it. This would mean war.

Now in his heart of hearts, Chantony knew that Indians had never successfully invaded anywhere. and unwilling to risk too much of his own army in the endeavor, had concocted a sort of military pyramid scheme, and coerced invited all his Maharaja chums to take part. Thus besides Chantony's own contingent, the army that faced Bobroes contained no less than three allied contingents, two from India, and one from Arakan in Burma.

Starting Positions

Chantony drew his army up in a strong position, with his centre protected by an area of enclosed fields, his right protected by a wood, and his left by a large area of scrub that would hinder the Persian horsemen, but present no obstacle to his own elephants. He placed one Indian ally on each flank, and the Burmese (who were all light footmen with no elephants) in the center. His own contingent of elephants, armoured cavalry and well drilled (if someone effete) spearmen, deployed in reserve behind the centre.

King Bobroes the Magnificent deployed his own contingent of armoured cavalry (known as Asavaran) on his left, another contingent of armoured cavalry in the centre, and yet another contingent of armoured cavalry on the right. Each contingent also contained some light foot, that on the right some light horse archers, and his own contingent contained many Dailami, the best rough terrain troops in central Asia.

As the armies faced off, it became apparent that Chantony's marketing materials had mainly focused on the balmy climate, pleasure gardens, and the cuteness of the native goats, and had made little mention of conflict with angry Persians Kings, or the possibilities of expedited entry to the next life. Faced with the serried ranks of armoured horsemen, the commitment of his allies started to waver, particularly that of the Burmese and the Indian's on his left. However, with many blandishments (got six for his first PIP dice, and spent them all on persuading his allies), Chantony convinced the Burmese to join battle, but the Indians to the left remained obdurate that they would not fight.

Main Movements

Seeing the disharmony in the enemy ranks, King Bobroes determined to strike on his left (the Indian's right). He lead his own contingent on a long march around the outside of the wood to outflank the enemy, while the central Persian contingent moved towards the gap between the wood and the enclosed fields, and the rightmost force, moved into the centre, ignoring the unreliable allies on the Indian left.

It was apparent to both commanders that the area of enclosed fields in the centre of the battlefield was a crucial piece of terrain. Chantony ordered four companies of fierce swordsmen (IBdF) from his rightmost ally to move up and line its edge. As karma would have it though, while Chantony had put much study into that famous sutra, he had neglected the deebeehememasutra, and was surprised when his force did not stay on the field's edge as expected, but instead rushed impetuously into it, seeking battle and glory. King Bobroes though, well understood the command difficulties involved in clearing such difficult terrain, and had arranged converging forces from three different commands to occupy it. With the Indians falling into disorder as they rushed forward, the Persians fell on their flanks and utterly routed them, securing the enclosed fields and allowing their own cavalry to advance safely.

Tiring of arguing with his allies, Chantony resolved to take action against the Persian threat. He ordered the rightmost ally to throw out some cavalry to screen Bobroe's flanking maneuver,  while moving its elephants and archers up next to the wood. The Burmese command moved rightwards to cover the enclosed fields, and Chantony's own command moved to the right behind his ally with the intention of  making a solid front against Bobroes.

Only slightly worried as it was the Indians bound next

King Bobroes rounded the wood, and started to engage the Indian cavalry screen. Initially the encounter did not go well, with the king at one stage in danger of being surrounded, but eventually the heavier and more numerous Persians prevailed.  However, by this time Chantony had brought his own force of spearmen and archers up to prevent further Persian progress. Meanwhile the Persian cavalry had moved up to attack the long column of marching Burmese. The later launched a surprise attack and scored some initial success, but lightly armed footmen (AxO and I) fighting heavy cavalry in the open are always going to have a difficult time, and eventually they were defeated and their contingent routed. At the same time, Persian cavalry, being almost immune to arrows, had killed many archers of the right-hand Indians, and with their cavalry and swordsmen already destroyed, that contingent too, broke and routed.

If you're going to make a final desperate charge, don't roll a one

This left Chantony himself in very exposed position, facing off Bobroes in a line from the wood to the battlefield edge, while Persian cavalry from the centre poured towards his rear. Realizing that all was almost lost, he spurred (or goaded or whatever you do) his elephant on and attempted to engage King Bobroes in personal combat. The latter, being somewhat disadvantaged by being mounted only on a horse, did not think it unkingly to give a little ground, and as Chantony pursued, Persian cavalry fell on his flanks, pouring arrow fire at his elephant, until maddened by its injuries, it through off poor Chantony, and trampled him into the ground. With this the remainder of the Indian army broke and fled.

So with another glorious victory, King Bobroes secured control of Kapissa, but even as he began to relax beneath a pleasant date palm, rumours came that once again the Hepthalites were mobilizing. It seemed that like cockroaches, however many you killed, more will always come.