Below is the fourth in a series of articles from The Boardgames Chronicle playing through the Belisarius campaign in Commands & Colors: Medieval. You can find the first three articles in the series here. Enjoy! -Rachel

The Campaign

Welcome to the fourth part of the Belisarius Campaign–the series of articles focused on the greatest Byzantine general, Belisarius, and his struggles against the Sassanid Empire in sixth century AD, as depicted by Commands & Colors: Medieval. We had already covered two skirmishes at Thannuris (528 AD) & Melebasa (528 AD), as well as the siege of Dara (530 AD). Today, we will focus on another city-related battle–Satala.

The Scenario

The Sassanid loss at Dara did not end the so-called Iberian War–a conflict raging between the Byzantine and the Sassanid Empires from 526 AD to 532 AD over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia–quite the opposite. Another Sassanid army under the guidance of Mihr-Mihroe was assembled and marched to the city of Satala in Byzantine Armenia. The city was besieged, and two very capable lieutenants of Belisarius–Sittas (hidden with some cavalry forces outside the city) and Dorotheus (commanding city defenses)–were fighting Sassanids.

When the Sassanid army moved forward to surround and storm the city, Sittas attacked from the rear. Mihr-Mihroe turned his forces to face the danger. After this, Dorotheus led his forces out of the city and attacked the Sassanids from behind. The Sassanids were more numerous, but they were taken by surprise, and their morale began to crumble. Once they lost the standard, they collapsed and routed–another close but successful engagement of Byzantine forces against Sassanid invaders.

The scenario features a fairly new rule–from the siege of Dara–regarding city gates. Each gate that is stormed and opened gives 1 VP to the Sassanid player. Also, although Belisarius is not on the map, his subordinates definitely fight like the great general.

GAME 1

The set-up of the scenario shows the situation just before the Sassanids started to attack Satala. You can clearly see Byzantine forces concealed behind a hill at the far side. The game is ready for a dynamic and brutal start.

And here it comes–a devastating charge by the Romans, who move first. The attack is successful but to some extent contained by a timely play of an Ambush card by Marcin. Anything can happen, and the game is wide open.

In C&C:M, you rarely see infantry attacking cavalry, but why not try it when the enemy lost its leader?

Ok, maybe that was not such a great idea–despite concentrating most of its forces in one place, the Sassanids are repelled by well-placed Byzantine forces on the hills, who use Inspired Tokens to ignore flags rolled against them.

Final look at the board–everything took place in one area around hills. Our battle was very bloody, quick, and intense and resulted in a definitive (6-2) victory for the defending Romans. Would a similar fate await the Eastern aggressor in the second game?

GAME 2

As usual, we immediately prepared the rematch. This time I had to lead the surprised Sassanids. And as you will see, this time we played much longer with a greater variety of tactical options.

However, it began in a predictable way–the Byzantines charging from behind the hills and killing some Sassanids.

Soon they were dealt with–Marcin definitely had unlucky rolls that day.

Quick look at the board mid-game. It is 4-3 for the Byzantines, and everything basically starts from scratch.

The Sassanids use redeploy for an innovative play, concentrating all the heavy units in one place, plus infantry screen. The screen is immediately attacked by Super Heavy Roman cavalry.

It is time for an Eastern cavalry charge! They dealt huge losses to a weakened enemy and were on the verge of victory–I was rolling 6d against unsupported Auxilia–but did not manage to kill the enemy or force them to retreat…when Marcin’s turn came, I was dealt a final blow. 6-5 victory for the Romans!

Summary

Satala is in some ways similar to the Dara scenario–both are city-siege/relief type scenarios and in both we have tactically superior Byzantines attacking the opponent with hidden forces from the rear/flank. Also, both are great fun as the gameplay is quick & brutal with both factions set-up in a very confrontational way. It is really easy and quickly gets to hand-to-hand combat.

Satala–as with Dara–should definitely be played by more experienced Commands & Colors players and requires some experience with less complex scenarios to grasp the mechanics and subtleties of a C&C:M game. It was a rewarding gameplay in which–twice–Byzantine forces found themselves superior to their opponent.

Thank You!

The BoardGames Chronicle

https://theboardgameschronicle.com/

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Commands & Colors: Medieval Belisarius Campaign Part 1 – Thannuris (528 AD)

Commands & Colors: Medieval Belisarius Campaign Part 2 – Melebasa (528 AD)

Commands & Colors: Medieval Belisarius Campaign Part 3 – Dara (530 AD)