6mm Ancients Battle report, Early Achaemenid Persians vs Assyrians

The premise for the battle was reports of a member of the ruling house surviving the fall of Nineveh. They could be the rallying point for any army elements remaining so must be eliminated.
A force was sent to capture or kill the aforesaid person, said to be in a town in the north.

Little did I know that this would be an 8 day battle! First it was the heat in the conservatory then it was work commitments. Luckily, I could leave the game set up.
It has somewhat interfered with the painting though.

The Persians had a higher points total as I felt that the Assyrians would have had the bulk of any forces defending the capital.
I am, again, using the 'In Death Ground' rules.

The Persians, as the attackers, are delegated as side one. This means they go first each turn. Again, I thought this appropriate.
The strategy of each was the Assyrians would be on the defensive and the Persians would advance to attack. With a larger force I didn't expect too much trouble for the Persians.

The Persian host.

On the right the Assyrians defend the town

As can be seen, the Persians have the larger force. The lighter elements of the army are raw.
There are:-
2 large, 4 elements in DBA, units of Sparabara
3 heavy cavalry units including the general
1, 4 element light cavalry with javelins
1, 2 element unit of Scythian horse with bow.
1 unit, 4 element, of raw, warriors (Mesopotamian infantry)
1  element of raw, skirmishers.

The Assyrians have:-
2, single element units of warrior bowmen.
2, single element units of armoured warriors,
1 unit of 2 elements of elite armoured warriors
1 unit of 2 elements of warrior bowmen.

The Persian light cavalry advance on both wings. The right having a heavy cavalry unit.

The Persian advance.
The Assyrians are quite nervous.

Assyrians

The Assyrian cavalry advance on the left.

and into contact

inflicting the first casualties

This cavalry battle was to last quiet a few rounds.
The Persians were confident and advanced their army regardless.

The L/C of the left wing advance on the town.

The Persians close and set to shooting.

Meanwhile, the right wing cavalry lose an element of light cavalry,after the reserve Assyrian heavy cavalry move up and flank them.  The Persian reserve heavy cavalry move into a position to intervene the next turn.
Which they do the next turn as the second element is eliminated
Bow fire from both armies is not causing many casualties.
After turn 4 the Persians move to contact.

and stop short!

The left wing cavalry action

Seeing the light cavalry heading for the town the armoured warriors move to intercept, which they do. The cavalry bounce off and spend the rest of the battle skirmishing to little effect.

The chariots arrive!

After 2 rounds of combat, and terrible dice rolls for late arrivals, the Assyrian Chariots make an appearance.
The combat between the foot soldiers was slow and heavy going. Not many casualties inflicted. Those that were, were successfully diced to be removed. This makes armies very resilient under these rules.
The morale check for seeing enemy chariots caused some reaction..

Once into contact the battle was hard fought.
The Persian right wing cavalry began to lose and were eliminated.
The victorious Assyrian cavalry attacked the back of the Persian line killing the general.
The Persians gained disorder points for failing morale checks but held the line. But the battle was lost the next period as the first of the sparabara units was killed

There are elements of these rules I like.
But it was an overlong game. I am not sure I like the prolonged combat. Taking off the disorder points is all well and good for the first points but I feel it may be best not to continue using that rule. Disorder is quite hard to inflict in the first place IMHO under these rules.Yes, there may be times when disorder could be restored but I don't think it should be done every turn.
I'll probably try that the next time if I use these rules.

Honestly, I couldn't believe the Persians were going to lose this battle. That was especially so when the chariots didn't show until move 7. I always thought the numbers were going to overbear the Assyrians.
I need more of them!