Time to share another fan-made, exciting and fresh EPIC scenario for Commands & Colors Ancients. As you probably very well know, this my preferred way of playing that fantastic game – allowing more than two of my wargaming friends to take part in fierce battle!

However, as I played all official and many unofficial scenarios, recently I am designing new scenarios in EPIC mode. I have already did a whole EPIC campaign of Julius Caesar and were thinking now about something more exotic. When reading about Constantine the Great I realized that – except for famous battle of Milvian Bridge – there were many more large-scale engagements before he managed to fully consolidate the power in Roman Empire. After some digging I decided to create another series of scenarios – with working title “Wars of Constantine the Great” starting with Chrysopolis (324 AD) – actually last battle before he become unquestionable ruler of the whole empire.

Below I am sharing the picture-rich session report. It was true fun to play and the scenario will be soon available on https://www.commandsandcolors.net/ancients/.

PS. As always, you can click on each picture to see the details.

Some of my articles regarding C&C system:
Commands and Colors games – my 3 favorite
[REVIEW] Commands Colors Ancients
Strategy Article – Skirmishing and Evasion
Strategy Article – Breaking The Line, Holding The Line

My EPIC scenarios series:
EPIC Illerda (49 BC)
EPIC Dyrrhachium (48 BC)
EPIC Pharsalus (48 BC) 
EPIC Thapsus (46 BC)
EPIC Munda (45 BC)
EPIC Nisibis (217 AD)

Chrysopolis (324 AD)

Historical background

First things first. The wargames are predominantly fun, but also the lesson in history! So let us learn a bit about this very important but not-so-well known engagement.

The Battle of Chrysopolis was fought on 18 September 324 between the Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius near Chrysopolis, opposite Byzantium on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus. The battle followed Constantine’s victory at the Battle of the Hellespont, where his son Crispus destroyed the Licinian fleet. Licinius withdrew his forces from Byzantium to Chalcedon and gathered the remnants of his army, reinforced by Visigothic auxiliaries and the troops of the co-emperor Martinian.

Constantine crossed the Bosphorus into Asia Minor and marched on Chrysopolis. Licinius drew up his army with the traditional pagan standards, while Constantine advanced under the labarum. Constantine launched a direct attack that routed Licinius’ troops. Ancient sources report heavy losses for Licinius, and he retreated with the survivors to Nicomedia.

The defeat ended the civil war between the two emperors. Licinius surrendered soon afterwards, was initially spared, and was later executed after being accused of treason. His son was killed the following year. Constantine became sole ruler of the Roman Empire, ending the period of the Tetrarchy. He later re-founded Byzantium as Constantinople, establishing a new imperial capital.

Set-up

We played in four of us, split (randomly) in two team of two players each. The idea was for one player on each side to be an overall commander (in that case Lukasz for Licinius side and Marcin for Constantine) while the other member of the team would take role of a wing commander (I was facing Piotr). And then the dice were cast, and the rest became history…

Here is the disposition of forces as shown in details by VASSAL module. You can see four rough terrain on left and marshes on right. While terrain was pretty open, some of its features will have important impact on tactical decisions of the armies.
And now the game on the table, with sides assigned to players: me and Lukasz leading Licinius forces, Marcin and Piotr commanding Constantine army.

Session Report

You do not want to stay too long under the war machines fire – so Lukasz quickly closed with double-time on the Constantine center. The clash was not decisive but stage for much more important events later on…
The cavalry wing (Licinius left, Constantine right) was a place of true disaster for our forces. Constantine himself and his heavy cavalry were simply too much. Good that at least city of Chrysopolis held with its walls.
And then Marcin moved forward with Constantine center, bringing mass of red units to the battle. Our opponents were like 1 VP from victory, having advantage of 4 points…
…and then miracle happened! Lukasz played last, final army card which activated units in several sections. He attacked EVERYWHERE, got super lucky (look at killed leader above) and scored 5 VPs winning the game!
In the end the game finished in a super-crazy and unexpected way! Lukasz great push in the center decimate otherwise very well led and equipped forces of Constantine, wiping out several units in last, desperate attack and gaining the victory!

Summary

I knew I will have fun playing EPIC Ancients again and I was not disappointed. The game was enormous joy for both sides, with some twists and turns, a lot of surprising developments, and a lot of laugh after last turn crazy attack by Lukasz which changed the course of history!

I will definitely continue and post scenarios to CCA NET page:

More scenarios in the Constantine the Great Wars will come – stay tuned!