Nisibis 217AD, or "look out Marcus, he's got a camel!"

This was a Command & Colours game played at the Sheffield club on 8 May using my 25mm toys and Hexon terrain.

This game saw a Roman army under Marcus Opellius Macrinus having a showdown with the Parthians under Artabanus IV.  The players were Martin and John respectively, the latter benefiting from the morale raising presence of Kayte Hides for part of the game.
The Parthian army was made up largely of mounted troops.  As well as a great cloud of horse archers there were no fewer than five units of cataphracts and - joy of joys - two units of armoured camels, or as they are popularly known, 'Camelphracts'.  These veterans were among the toys rescued from JR's attic a couple of years ago - see also my earlier posts here and here.

The Romans fielded a predictable mix of heavier infantry and lighter support troops.

 

The Roman left made an early advance and was soon locked in combat with Parthian light horse.

 

The Roman medium cavalry (on the white horses) made a dramatic charge!

 

Kayte was clearly enthralled by life at the Parthian HQ...

 

Parthian cataphracts were in the thick of the fighting - Artabanus is overseeing things near the front.  Will he survive?

 

He did, but his cataphract unit died horribly, so off he went to lead the camelphracts.

 

The camelphracts proved to be quite nasty - here they are flanking some Roman auxiliaries.

 

Before long the Romans were tramping forward in their customary menacing fashion.

 

By now the Parthians were down to only 2 cataphract units...

 

...and even Artabanus's camelphracts had been shot from under him. 

Given his record these horse archers were understandably nervous when he joined them!

 

The Romans had full control of the centre and honours were even with both sides

having seven (out of a required eight) victory banners.

 

The Roman advance meant that the Parthians were under great pressure, and after a desperate struggle a narrow Roman victory resulted.  Historically the battle lasted for three days(!) and was resolved by negotiations between the exhausted leaders.  Given the number  of dead cataphracts I wonder who got the scrap metal rights...