This wasn’t a case of combined arms operation. There was no coordinated attack with one type of troop helping one another in a practiced, planned way. Instead of representing our heavy infantry as blocks of reserves, they might have been better represented as light heavy infantry (more flexible, but less enduring that heavy infantry), and capable of working in the gaps presented by the (stationary) chariots.

Real World Examples of This Kind of Combat

Before we get anyone thinking that this isn’t “real”, and that no combat could ever take place this way, think about some of the scenes that we have all witnessed on television, where police in full riot gear (shields, helmets and truncheons) are trying to control loud and unruly crowds, who are armed with bricks and bats, and makeshift equipment. Except for the uniformity of the police, the rioters are often not that much worse armed and equipped. And guns are not advised, because the rioters probably have guns, too. And in a shooting war, no one wins. The rioters aren’t dummies --- they know that if a police life is threatened, then the police WILL shoot to kill. The aim is to have fun and beat up some of the enemy, not to get shot and killed. So in some senses, this is back to endemic ritualized (rioting) warfare.

The police move forward to “stake” their territory, or to try and clear the protestors out of some area (like a square, lets say). They set up with a line of shields, a second line of gas (the equivalent of missiles) and a third line of arrest teams, and then a back line of reserves. Perhaps they have a few armored trucks that serve the purpose of a command center or that act as a kind of moving fortress. The trucks might have water cannons or tear gas as short-range deterrents (while the supply lasts; sort of like primitive overhead archery acted as a deterent). The bulk of the crowd usually hangs back a bit (anywhere from 6 feet to 60 feet if there is gas deployed). But there are always the handful of agitators and show-offs who charge the cop shield-wall, kicking and batting and otherwise trying to break through. And when that happens in the middle, the guys on the sides of the rioters become brash and move forward, too (although they hang back a bit). Sometimes the third line of the police (the arrest teams) surge forward to “get” a particularly aggressive villain, and if they surge too far, people get surrounded in a general melee and people get hurt on both sides.

There are more parallels. Police horses might be good for intimidation, especially of angry, but not-really-violent protestors, but if we send the horses charging into the crowds, then a lot of people and animals are going to get hurt, so frontal charges aren’t really an option. And if we make a mistake, we have to face the wrath of “our” people (or perhaps our superiors) back home.

The most violent of the protestors might even overturn a car or two, or set one on fire, as “their” barricades. Rioters have been known to use vehicles, trees, furniture and fences to erect temporary barriers. On Apr 29, 1992, there were widespread riots as a result of the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles, and before the National Guard and the police could quell the unrest, some 53 people were killed, and 2300 seriously wounded, not counting some 7000 fires, and over a billion dollars of damage.

So How Do We Modify the Rules to Reflect This?

First, most Bronze Age rule sets are pretty good, as they stand. The biggest areas that might have to be rethought are the chariot rules (they act more like a patch of stationary rough ground in our synopsis above) and the numbers of lights and skirmishers have to go up, and we need to see how they can interpenetrate the stationary chariot wall.

The heavy infantry line should be “feathered” so we have the professionals in the middle, and the town conscripts beside them, but holding back a bit. We may not know exactly where the enemy professionals are located within THEIR line --- it might be to the left or the right of our professional core.

And of course, heroes (and anti-heroes who bluster and then run away) are all good.