ADLG Assyrian Empire v Meriotic Kushite

Another ADLG game, this time using my Assyrians against Gordon's Meriotic Kushite. I'd assumed this was the Biblical army but there is a later Kushite list which is the one Gordon used!

The Assyrians managed to get a waterway to narrow the table against the likely to be larger Kushite army. They decide to rush forward to try to engage the Kushites as quickly as possible. One Kushite command is missing. The Assyrians assume it must be medium foot ambushing in the palm grove, flank marching given the terrain does not seem likely. It later transpired that the Assyrians were partly correct in this assumption:

The Kushites advance to meet the Assyrians who throw a medium foot unit and a cavalry unit out on the right to slow the rest of the Kushites when they arrive:

Oh dear. The ambushing troops are a load of camelry and cavalry who will not be delayed much by the two Assyrian elements facing them. Not medium foot as expected!:

The Kushite cavalry withdraw from the Assyrian foot and chariots. The Assyrians desperately try to redeploy to meet the Kushite ambush on the right:

The Assyrian right is a confused mess of chariots and cavalry rapidly being out flanked by the Kushite camelry and cavalry:

The Assyrians form a line of sorts on the right. In the centre the Kushite foot, elephants and cavalry have charged home on the mixed Assyrian foot:

Despite an initial resistance the Assyrians do badly in the combats:

The situation looks bad but perhaps not unrecoverable:

The Assyrian mixed heavy swordsmen/bowmen in the centre are collapsing rapidly while the Assyrian chariots struggle to get into contact:

Much of the Assyrian centre has been destroyed while the Kushite camelry are more than holding their own against the Assyrian cavalry and chariots:

The Assyrians break in rout leaving the Kushites victorious:

Gordon only lost two elements in this game so it was a very decisive victory for him. Having said that I don't think I had the best of luck, despite being a largely shooting army the Assyrians inflicted very few shooting hits and did badly in the combats.

However, Gordon definitely out-thought me as I didn't expect the ambush to be mounted (though I should have done as looking his list he could have camels and was bound to have them). Once he sprang the trap I was left trying to shore up a desperate position and ended up aimlessly moving the chariots around to try to stabilise things so the outcome was by no means unlucky for me!