"Never were dispositions better taken to resist the attacks of the enemy at all points; never on the field were openings more quickly seized; never was threatening disaster more skillfully retrieved…The world will never see more splendid tactics." Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Dodge

The battle that was the Waterloo of the Persian Empire has been the source of historic myth for centuries. Arrian, in his The Campaigns of Alexander, estimates the Persian army at Guagamala as 1,000,000 infantry, 40000 cavalry, 200 scythe-chariots, and a few elephants. Alexander has 7000 cavalry and about 40000 infantry. No elephants! When the battle was over and Alexander was victorious there lay on the field of battle about 300,000 Persians. Persian prisoners greatly exceeded that number. On the Macedonian side about 100 men were killed. Arrian notes that over 1000 horses, most of them from the Companions, died either from wounds or from exhaustion, chasing the Persians in the rout! There is no mention of whether the elephants were among the casualties.

Such numbers on the Persian side, both casualties and combatants, are scarcely to be believed but one thing is certain. Alexander won a tremendous victory against overwhelming odds and in the game simulation you will have to play like Alexander to achieve a victory. First some brief historical notes.

Alexander by the spring of 331 had beaten the Persians at Granicus, and Issus. He had successfully concluded the siege of Tyre and had destroyed Persian sea power by taking the bases from where that sea power sprung. Egypt was his and he had been declared a god by the wily priests of Egypt who probably believed their own pronouncements, especially the part of his coming world conquest.

So now it was time to march north from Egypt and finish off Darius and his courageous but somewhat overmatched soldiers. He crossed the Euphrates at Thapsacus in August and continued eastward across northwestern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). The eventual target was Babylon down the Tigris which would take care of logistical problems.

Darius figured the move and massed a huge army on a plain north-east of the middle Tigris. With his tremendous superiority in cavalry and overwhelming size he hoped to crush and envelop the flanks of the much smaller Macedonian army. The plain would give his army the maneuvering room it needed to get the most out of its mobility.

The first image we see the battle plan of Alexander. For a better view I recommend Warfare in the Classical World by John Warry whose excellent work is must reading. The formation Alexander envisaged had his left flank refused with the whole front line in echelon. The force would advance toward the Persian left and with the fine troops on the Macedonian right would crush opposition by achieving a sort of qualitative local superiority. If the Persians were to force the issue and try to take the Macedonian army in the flank or rear then the infantry stationed on the right flank and rear could be used to thwart this maneuver. In short the formation, a rough diamond, was designed for a mobile offence but well adapted for defense.

Darius had prepared the plain for chariot activity and was counting on his 200 scythed chariots to be a major factor in the battle. Thus, when he saw Alexander commence the battle late in the morning by moving toward the Persian left Darius was concerned. Alexander had awakened quite late much to the astonishment of his generals. He was so confident in his plan that he certainly had not lost any sleep over the battle once the significant points were fixed in his genius military mind. Darius had probably been up most of the night along with his troops because of the fear of a possible night action and were really not in top condition. When that maneuver to the Persian left started Darius thought he was losing the opportunity to use his dreaded chariots and ordered Bessus to start the flanking move with the masses of cavalry on that flank. Also the chariots were ordered into battle.

On the Persian right Mazeus was then ordered to start developing his attack against Parmenion's forces. However these forces were angled from the main battle line because of the echelon formation and it would take awhile before the Persian attack with very heavy numbers could make itself fully felt.

The second diagram shows how all these actions resolved themselves. First, the chariots had no effect on the Macedonians who were too well drilled to be affected by such archaic engines of war. The skirmishers simply destroyed many of them and the few that got through were met by opened ranks and passed harmlessly through the flexible formations. In the rear they were disposed of with no trouble.

The three critical maneuvers of the battle though were evolving. Bessus, on the Persian left could not turn the Macedonian flank and was met by the Old Mercenary Guard under Cleander. Mazeus, although causing much havoc on the Macedonian left could not quite break Parmenion although Parmenion would later call for help from Alexander. Right now though as the battle was developing Parmenion and Mazeus were engaged in a very vicious battle where the Macedonians were just holding.

As Bessus battled on the Macedonian right more Persian horse from the Persian left joined him. This caused a separation in the Persian line. Alexander ordered a general advance, put the Companions (Hetaroi) into a diamond formation and charged for the gap which happened to be a little to the left of where Darius was stationed. The phalanx followed and Darius, after witnessing his charioteer being speared through the throat, realized that death was eminent and fled the field. Alexander took off in pursuit. Bessus started a withdrawal upon seeing Darius flee.

Some Persians did managed to get through a gap made by the phalanxes in their advance and sacked the Macedonian camp which was about 4 miles back. It would have definitely been better had they turned on the rear of the phalanxes as any good Great Battles player knows. At any rate they were eventually annihilated when the companions came back with Alexander.

Parmenion, even though he sent messengers to Alexander to come to his aid, was able to halt Mazeus' valiant attempts to force the flank. When Mazeus found out that once again as he had done at Issus Darius had fled the field he disengaged.

Thus ended the battle which resulted in the conquest of the Persian Empire, the death of 300,000 Persians, and the loss of 1000 Macedonian horses.

Sources, Further Reading and Illustration Credits