About 279 BC: Antigonas vs the Thunderbolt

Started by MengJiao, November 08, 2020, 11:57:13 AM

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MengJiao


  Some time after Antigonas took over his father's holdings in Greece and before the Gauls or an assassin killed Ptolemy the Thunderbolt ruler of Macedonia, Antigonas tried to defeat Ptolemy and lost...though not very badly and not much is known of the battle.  Here we have my reconstruction and the image features Antigonas with his guard on the rather vulnerable left of his army.  We have supposed that Ptolemy has marched south with a slightly smaller, but better-trained army while Antigonas has been caught off-guard by his enemy's crossing a river and has barely assembled his larger, but less elite force in a poor defensive position.  In Antigonas's favor:  he is very deadly hand-to-hand and his troops morale is pretty good even if their spear-drill is not up to Macedonian standards.  He faces superior cavalry, but is standing on the defensive so he might survive this battle:


MengJiao

Quote from: MengJiao on November 08, 2020, 11:57:13 AM

  Some time after Antigonas took over his father's holdings in Greece and before the Gauls or an assassin killed Ptolemy the Thunderbolt ruler of Macedonia, Antigonas tried to defeat Ptolemy and lost...though not very badly and not much is known of the battle.  Here we have my reconstruction and the image features Antigonas with his guard on the rather vulnerable left of his army.  We have supposed that Ptolemy has marched south with a slightly smaller, but better-trained army while Antigonas has been caught off-guard by his enemy's crossing a river and has barely assembled his larger, but less elite force in a poor defensive position.  In Antigonas's favor:  he is very deadly hand-to-hand and his troops morale is pretty good even if their spear-drill is not up to Macedonian standards.  He faces superior cavalry, but is standing on the defensive so he might survive this battle:

  About half-an-hour into the battle, on the better-positioned Antigonid right, Demetrios knocks a hole in the Thunderbolt's phalanxes:


MengJiao

Quote from: MengJiao on November 08, 2020, 08:26:12 PM


  About half-an-hour into the battle, on the better-positioned Antigonid right, Demetrios knocks a hole in the Thunderbolt's phalanxes:

  And then the spear-wielding centers destroy each other:


MengJiao

Quote from: MengJiao on November 11, 2020, 01:48:18 PM
Quote from: MengJiao on November 08, 2020, 08:26:12 PM


  About half-an-hour into the battle, on the better-positioned Antigonid right, Demetrios knocks a hole in the Thunderbolt's phalanxes:

  And then the spear-wielding centers destroy each other:

  So...close to the non-event that seems to have happened historically.