Regarding the last move, one player brought up the issue of whether Pitames could legally attempt to rally the LN at 1901 (adjacent to the two routed Persian LNs which are in turn adjacent to Pharas). I double-checked the rules (having reviewed them when resolving the move in the first place) and decided to allow the rally attempt. The LOS rules say that units block LOS unless the potential blocker is closer to the firer than to the target (penultimate sentence of [8.16]). In this case, with the potential blockers on 1801 and 1802 are adjacent to the target unit, so the LOS is indeed blocked.
Perozes has Barasames move before taking his own turn.
Barasames, seeing the collapse of his spearhead, counterattacks. (What's the quote from Foch? "Center shakey, flanks crumbling, situation excellent, will counterattack", something like that?) The LC moves onto the hill to pin Byzantine cavalry while a unit of Lancers zips around the flank (accumulating 3 cohesion hits -- moving again, uphill, downhill -- while doing so). The LN takes another hit while doing his Pre-Shock Check, and Pharas's Charisma lowers the dieroll enough for a 3(2) result, which is treated as 3(4). It's still not enough, as the LN with TQ 6 has seven hits but the Heruli with TQ 8 have ten hits and are the ones forced to rout. Sunicas's presence saves them from elimination by providing a retreat path (the retreat arrow on the map is representational rather than literal, but you knew that, right?), but the Huns take a hit in doing so.
On the south side of the hill it's another pin-and-flank affair. Awful Pre-Shock dierolls ('9' and '8' for the Persians, '8' for the Byzantines) result in the LN routing their enemy but only narrowly avoiding the same result themselves. The LN advancing after combat gets two hits for its troubles in the only successful missile fire of the turn.
This flank has seen some real blood, huh?
Current Rout Point totals:
| Side | Current | Limit | Pct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persians | 53 | 109 | 49% |
| Byzantines | 23 | 102 | 23% |
Barsames rolls for Momentum and, of course, gets it. But the Byzantines can Trump. Will they?
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