ADLG Justinian Byzantine v Han Chinese

Another outing for a 25mm army in ADLG, this week against Gordon's Han Chinese. Not having an historical opponent for Han I decided to use the oldest army I still possess, a huge Byzantine army which was first painted in the late 70's when I was at school!

The figures are all Hinchliffe and are, somewhat surprisingly, still available today. In their day they were some of the best figures available (having said that the only alternate choice then really was Minifigs or Garrison!) and the army is still in pretty good condition considering it's age. 

I sprayed fresh mat varnish on the figures and rebased them a while ago so they were all set to go for ADLG.

The C-in-C, in this case representing Belisarius the Strategist, must have fought many battles in the good old days of the WRG 5th and 6th Edition Ancient rules:

I went for an army with quite a few infantry supported by some tough cavalry and light horse. The table ended up empty on the left flank and centre with some fields and a plantation on the right. The Byzantines won the initiative and decided to attack.

First out for the Byzantines was a command of mixed Skutatoi and Archers under the command of the somewhat slippery 'Armenian' John. They deployed on the right opposite the small plantation:

Opposing them was a large Chinese command of heavy halberdiers, mixed crossbowmen, convicts and javelin men:

Belisarius himself deployed in the centre with more Skuatoi and Archers together with his Boukelari and other cavalry. He also had some Moorish light cavalry skirmishers:

On the left flank Boutzes deployed next to Belisarius' force with a similar mix of Boukelari, cavalry and in this case Huns:

The Chinese had another large  infantry command very similar to the first in the centre:

The final Chinese command was mixed light horse and cavalry with a couple of heavy chariots, The quality of this command was much lower than the Byzantines opposite but the two chariots would be dangerous opponents especially as they were elite:

The Byzantine plan was a simple one, to dash forward on the left and in the centre with the Byzantine cavalry and overwhelm their Chinese opponents before the rest of the Chinese army could destroy the Byzantine foot. One Moorish light horse was despatched to delay the Chinese right flank while Belisarius and Boutzes advanced. Armenian John split his force with half supporting Belisarius' foot and the other half hanging back:

The Byzantines forced back the Chinese light horse as they pushed forward. The Byzantine reserve cavalry are moving up in support while the Skutatoi and Archers nervously observe the Chinese infantry line!

The view from the Chinese lines of the advancing Byzantine cavalry:

The Byzantine cavalry drive back the Chinese horse leaving the chariots and convicts slightly exposed:

On the Byzantine left the Chinese flood forward but are still delayed by the heroic Moorish light horse who hold on to their advanced position:

Combats are now occurring all over the left flank and centre with the Chinese mounted wing starting to suffer casualties. However, the Byzantine infantry is heavily outnumbered and won't be able to avoid contact for long:

On the Byzantine right the valiant Moorish light horse have been dispersed and the Chinese infantry are closing in on Armenian John's force:

The cavalry battle rages on. The Chinese chariots have been outflanked and much of the Chinese cavalry dispersed. The Byzantine infantry though are coming under increased pressure as they are forced to advance to support the cavalry:

Much of the Byzantine infantry is now in combat against the generally better equipped and motivated Chinese. They are starting to take some losses:

Gaps begin to appear in the Byzantine lines:

Meanwhile the Byzantine cavalry continue to mop up the remnants of the Chinese mounted wing:

With both armies teetering on the brink of defeat Armenian John leads his Skoutatoi against a Chinese mixed swordsmen and bow unit. The odds are even but the outcome does not reflect this as Armenian John and his Skoutatoi are cut down to win the battle for the Chinese!

For quite a while it looked like the Byzantines would win this one. The Chinese army itself was close to breaking but had held on well as had a couple of mounted units which delayed the Byzantine cavalry from exploiting their success quickly enough so that, in the end, the quality of the Chinese infantry paid off.

After many years of not really playing 25mm games I've greatly enjoyed returning to this scale and getting my older armies on the table again!