Map of the Methone Battleground
Submitted by Pierre Gobbens
On his way back to Methone, Argaeus and the Athenian mercenaries commanded by Manteias get ambushed by Philip.
Strategy guide
Size
Macedonian : TQ 51 (Rout Pts 48)
Athenian (in game Greek): TQ 56 (Rout Pts 56)
Notes
Rout levels:
Easy : Macedonian 31 (65%), Athenian 22 (39%)
Normal: Macedonian 25 (52%), Athenian 30 (54%)
Hard : Macedonian 18 (38%), Athenian 37 (66%)
Turn Limit
None
Credits
- Philip "the Great", by Stephen Jackson in C3i, Vol. 1 No. 13, 2001
(the periodical of GMT Games, the creators of the Great Battles of History board game
http://www.gmtgames.com)
- Battles of the Greek & Toman Worlds, JD Montagu, Greenhill Books, London, 2000
- Library, Book XVI, Diodorus Siculus
- Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Marcus Junianus Justinus
In 359 BC Philip, at the age of 22 or 23, succeeded his older brother Perdiccas III, king of Macedon, who had been killed in his attempt to recover the Macedonian highlands from
the Illyrian king Bardylis. Athens immediately sent a fleet to Methone, a city in Macedonia, under the command of Manteias, with the intention of placing Argaeus, a rival of Philip, on the throne. Manteias brought with him 3,000 mercenary
hoplites to support Argaeus.
From here the Athenians sent Argaeus in the care of their mercenaries to Aegea, the old capital of Macedonia about 40 miles away, to press his claim. Nobody took any notice of him. On his way back to
Methone, Philip was waiting for him with his soldiers and slew many of the mercenaries. Argaeus dropped out of the running, leaving Philip II in power after his first engagement
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Designers Notes:
- Little is known about this battle, only that Philip won by a stratagem. As the Macedonian army had recently been destroyed by the Illyrians when
Perdiccas III was killed, I assumed this was some kind of an ambush by a small army.
- As the Macedonian army before Philip's changes was mainly composed of the nobility as cavalry and inexperienced peasant levies as infantry, I gave
Philip an army of some 1,200 cavalry and 2,100 light infantry. Nowadays it is believed Philip had already started to train some of his soldiers in his new theory of warfare, therefor I added 600 Hypaspists.
- I assumed the 3,000
hoplites from Athens were accompanied by some 200 light cavalry and about 500 marines from the triremes as seemes to be customary for those days. Argaeus must have had some followers so I gave him 200 light cavalry of his own.
Map of the Erigon Valley Battleground
The Macedon army of Philip meets the Illyrian army of Bardylis on the Lyncestrian plain. Philip commands his elite troops on the right wing. Philip´s general Parmenion commands the new sarissa-armed phalanx in the centre and the light troops on the left flank.
Strategy guide
Size
Macedonian : TQ 85 (Rout Pts 111)
Illyrian (in game Danubian): TQ 110 (Rout Pts 108)
Notes
Rout levels:
Easy : Macedonian 51 (46%), Illyrian 26 (24%)
Normal: Macedonian 41 (37%), Illyrian 35 (32%)
Hard : Macedonian 31 (28%), Illyrian 44 (41%)
Turn Limit
None
Credits
- Philip "the Great", by Stephen Jackson in C3i, Vol. 1 No. 13, 2001
(the periodical of GMT Games, the creators of the Great Battles of History board game
http://www.gmtgames.com)
- Battles of the Greek & Toman Worlds, JD Montagu, Greenhill Books, London, 2000
- Library, Book XVI, Diodorus Siculus
- Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Marcus Junianus Justinus
Battle of Erigon Valley
(a.k.a. Heraclea Lyncestis)
As soon as Philip II had secured his position, he started training the whole
Macedonian infantry in his new way. Instead of relying on peasant levies he created a standing army with lighter armoured infantry and weaponry with a longer range: the well-known Macedonian phalanx.
In his second year Philip led
this new army against the Illyrian king Bardylis in another Macedonian attempt to retake the Macedonian highlands and ending the heavy tribute Macedonia was paying the Illyrians. Bardylis moved to meet Philip and their armies met at the
Lyncestrian Plain south of Lake Lychnitis near Heraclea Lyncestis. Both armies counted about 10,000 infantrymen and a few hundred cavalry. Bardylis placed the tribesman he had trained in hoplite tactics and who were wearing full hoplite
armour in the centre. The hoplite armour he had acquired during his short occupation of Epirus from 387 to 385. His common tribal warriors occupied the flanks. When Philip noticed this he placed his elite troops on his right wing under his
own command and made a determined assault on the left of the Illyrian army while his phalanx pinned the Illyrian hoplites. At the same time his cavalry was instructed to attack the Illyrians´ left wing in the flank and rear. For a long
while the issue remained in doubt. Ultimately, the Illyrians succumbed to the combined attacks on all sides and took to flight, loosing 7,000 killed. After this, they agreed to Philip's condition for peace that they should withdraw from
Macedonian highland and an Illyrian buffer zone.
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Map of the Crocus Fields Battleground
After Philip had taken the port of Pagasea, making it impossible for the Athenian fleet with reinforcements to the Phocian mercenary army, to dock and unload, he confronts the Phocian army led by Onomarchus.
Strategy guide
Size
Macedonian : TQ 250 (Rout Pts 317)
Phocian (in game Greek): TQ 284 (Rout Pts 256)
Notes
Rout levels:
Easy : Macedonian 104 (33%), Phocian 64 (25%)
Normal: Macedonian 83 (26%), Phocian 86 (34%)
Hard : Macedonian 62 (20%), Phocian 107 (42%)
Turn Limit
None
Credits
- Philip "the Great", by Stephen Jackson in C3i, Vol. 1 No. 13, 2001
(the periodical of GMT Games, the creators of the Great Battles of History board game
http://www.gmtgames.com)
- Battles of the Greek & Toman Worlds, JD Montagu, Greenhill Books, London, 2000
- Library, Book XVI, Diodorus Siculus
- Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Marcus Junianus Justinus
Battle of the Crocus Fields
(a.k.a. Crocian Plains)
In 353 BC, during the third Sacred War, Philip II had marched into Thessaly
with an army in support of the eastern Thessalians against the Phocians and their ally Lycophron, the tyrant of the Thessalian city Pherae. Philip was however forced to retreat to Macedonia.
The next year however he again pushed
south with 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry. His army was a mixture of Macedonians, Thessalians and some troops from the smaller cities of the north. He marched against Lycophron, who summoned the war argon of Phocis, Onomarchus, for
help. Athens also sent a fleet to assist him, containing 5,000 hoplites and about 500 cavalry under the command of Chares. Philip however marched fast on the port of Pagasae and seized it. Due to this the Athenian fleet could not dock and
unload the troops it was carrying and thus they could not join Onomarchus´ forces. As there were no beaches nearby the Athenians could only watch the battle from their triremes.
Philip confronted the combined army of Onomarchus and
Lycophron of 20,000 infantry and 500 cavalry on the Crocian Plain, on the western shore of the Pagasaean Gulf. A bloody battle took place as the hoplites of Onomarchus´ mercenary army fought with surprising resilience, holding off the
Macedonian phalanx and hoplites of Philip's allies. But in the end Philip was the victor by virtue of his superior cavalry. Many of the Phocians fled to the sea and tried to swim out to the Athenian fleet. Onomarchus was killed although
sources differ in what way.
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After the Battles ...
The surviving Phocians appointed Phayllus as their new leader and withdrew to the south, followed by Philip. Together with Chares and his Athenian forces they fortified Thermopylae,
causing Philip to withdraw. In 338 BC he would finally march south again and destroy a coalition of Greek city-states, led by Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea, the first battle in Great Battles of Alexander.
Three Battles from the time of Philip II of Macedon
