After the fall of Athens in 404 BC, Sparta dominated Greece and grew arrogant with power. By 372 BC, the proud Thebans were chafing under the rule of Spartan puppets and eventually grew confident enough to expell the Spartan garrison from their city. The Theban tactician Epameinondas and his close friend Pelopidas quickly organized an army. Pelopidas had already recruited 300 of the boldest warriors to form the fabled Theban Sacred Band. Their muster complete, they set forth to met the inevitable Spartan response in open field.
Near Leuktra, the two armies came within view. The larger Spartan force, under King Kleombrotos, established an entrenched camp and settled in to prepare their mid-day meal, perhaps expecting the Thebans to negotiate or even withdraw. After the meal, Kleombrotos drew up his army in a long line twelve ranks deep in the classical Greek manner, posting his best warriors on the right wing. Epameinondas responded with a tactical innovation. He first gathered his troops to the sound of his voice and issued a proclamation giving those who were afraid to stay and fight permission to leave. Next, with only brave men in his ranks, he formed his battle line in echelon with his right flank refused. On his left flank, Epameinondas advanced the Thebans in a compact column fifty ranks deep stiffened by the 300 of Pelopidas' Sacred Band.
The battle began with an initial cavalry charge and countercharge, which drove the inefficient Spartan squadrons from the field. The Spartans were not dismayed, however, and Kleombrotos immediately ordered his infantry to advance along the whole line. His right met the advanced Theban left, which had also advanced quickly at Epameinondas' order. The melee was too rapid to allow Kleombrotos to deploy his light troops to advantage. The shock of the impact as the Theban column and the Spartan line came together was considerable. With advantages in both mass and impetus, coupled with the fanatical bravery of the Sacred Band, the Theban pressure began to buckle the Spartan line. In the fierce hand-to-hand combat that ensued, Kleombrotos was killed and the Spartan right gave way. To this point, the balance of the Theban and Spartan armies had not engaged. But with their King dead and their right wing in disarray, the remaining Spartans fell back in good order to the protection of their entrenched camp.
The reverse was apparently enough to dispirit the Spartans and their allies, who declined an invitation to renew the battle and asked for a burial truce to remove their dead. Epameinondas then employed his final stratagem, granting the truce but on stipulation that the bodies of the Spartan allies must be buried before those of the Spartans. The extent of Spartan losses was thereby made plainly obvious, to their great dismay. It was the first recorded Spartan defeat in over 400 years.
Demoralized, they quickly retired to Sparta. Epameinondas was not long in raising a great army, reputedly 70,000 in number, and followed. There he conducted a short siege without testing the makework defenses of the hastily fortified city, which by tradition had no walls and whose women it was proudly said had never seen the smoke from the campfire of an enemy. The Spartans declined to give battle and inexplicably Epameinondas abandoned the seige, retiring to Thebes. For a time thereafter Thebes enjoyed its place as the ascendant power in Greece, although both Epameinondas and Pelopidas were subsequently killed in battle.
Thebes (#32) -- 1x3Cv, 1x2Lh, 8x4Sp, 1x3Aux, 1x2Ps
Sparta (#32) -- 1x3Cv, 10x4Sp, 2x2Ps
Note that the Spartan army is overstrength by one element of Spear to reflect their numerical superiority in this battle.
Sparta deploys first, then Thebes. Then each side rolls 1D6; high result moves first bound using result as PIPs.
================Theban Baseline==================
. . h h h h h h h h h h . r . . . . . . . . . . .
. . h h h h h h h h h . r . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . h h h h h h h h h . r . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . h h h h h h h . r . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . h h . . h h h . r . . . . . . . . . . . . s
. . . . . . . h h . r . . . . . . . . . . . . s .
. f f f f . . h h . r . . . . . . . . . . . s . .
f f f f f f . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . s . . .
f f f f f f . . r . . . . . . . . . s s s . . . .
f f f f f f . . r . . . . . . . . s . . . . . . .
f f f f f . . r . . . . . . . . s . . . . . . . .
f f f . . . . r . . . . . . . s . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . h h h
. . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . h h h h
. . . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . h h h h h
. . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . h h h h h h
. . r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . h h h h h h
================Spartan Baseline=================
SCALE: The space between each dot/letter is one inch.
TERRAIN KEY:
.=Good Going (Good Going)
s=stream
h=Gentle Hill (Good Going)
f=Light Wood (Bad Going)
r=Road
All hills are gentle slopes. The stream is a minor feature, treat as bad going with no check required to cross.
The Theban commander may elect to use either one of the two following special rules for this scenario:
The Theban Column: The Theban player may deploy a single column of Spear three elements deep. The two ranks each provide a +1 combat bonus as support to the lead element. If destroyed by close combat, only the lead element of the column is removed unless the column is flanked, in which case all flanked elements are removed.
The Sacred Band: One element of Theban spears may be designated as the "Sacred Band" with a +1 modifier to close combat. The Theban general (i.e. Epameinondas) may not be placed with this base, which is lead by Pelopidas.
Normal DBA.
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Last Update: Jan. 14, 1999
Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome. Send them to Chris Brantley at brant@erols.com.