Lysimachid Successors at Beachhead, in 2025
This year's event at Beachhead 2025 allowed me to wheel out yet another Successor/macedonian army from the collection, this time my generic 28mm mostly-Victrix guys would be appearing as the Lysimachid Successors in a 5-game Themed event in which everyone had to use at least 2 of Elephants, Camels or War Wagons. My choice was Elephants, with some newly minted Victrix plastic kit elephants raring to get on table.
Camels, elephants and a Victorian Bathing Machine converted into a War Wagon, posed by an English seaside resort pier, generated by AI (in case you'd not already worked that out..?)
I had also chosen Lysimachid Successor to use as many of the 28mm Victrix Successor Pikemen figures as possible, as I had gone through the effort and pain of assembling, and then painting up 6 units (72 figures) and had only managed to field armies with 4 Pikemen units up until now.
This meant I ended up with a list who's key attributes were a solid core of pikemen, with a wingman command with 2 elephants and some Thracian Peltasts to hit hard against spearmen and also sweep through any terrain, and a third small command with 2 Companion-style heavy Cavalry lancers and a Light Horse to either cover a flank, or act as a mobile reserve with serious teeth if the right opponent could be found.
The lists for the Lysimachid Successor and all of the other armies in these reports from Beachhead 2025 Year can be seen here in the L'Art de la Guerre Wiki.
So, with a trip down to Bournemouth achieved, and a rather cheaper-than-we-had-hoped hotel survived for the evening, Beachhead 2025 was playing host to the Lysimachid Successor
Game 1 Lysimachid Successor vs Carthaginian
In this game Lysimachid Successor army was facing off against the army of Hannibal - the Carthaginians.
This would be an interesting mix, as Carthage has in theory a lot of Impetuous infantry (Gauls, Spaniards) who have the potential to smash their way through Pikemen with a Ferocious Charge - but as a very flexible list it can also be stacked with Spearmen - who Pikemen should gradually roll over and crush given sufficient time - and their elephants are also Mediocre.
Will the grinding pike power of the Lysimachid Successors triumph, or will the Carthaginians catch the Lysimachid's out with Hannibal's brilliance?
Game 2 Lysimachid Successor vs Communal Italian
In this game Lysimachid Successor army was jumping fowards in time to the early Middle Ages to take on the Italian City States and their mix of yeoman spearmen and the innovative and slightly unusual beat that is anti-elephant wagons!
The Anti-elephant wagons are a strange thing to find in an Italian army, an area not known for lots of elephant warfare incidents, but in reality the Communal Italians used carts festooned with guns and pikes that were pushed into the enemy to break up their formations - and in ADLG that sort of behaviour is best represented by the War Wagon with Blades category, which also includes Roman anti-elephant wagons. This would result in the slight oddity of the Communal Italian militia somehow being one of the best anti-elephant armies in the early Middle Ages!
Will the elephants of Lysimachid's Successors triumph, or will the Communal Italian's randomly effective countermeasures cause Lysimachid Successor to regret their time travel this time around?
Ron McHugh, Carpet Maestro: The Advert
Another chance to see the award-winning advert featuring Ron McHugh (the Yorkshire cousin of my opponent in this game Don McHugh) regaling us with a plethora of reasons why we should all always choose a McHugh Carpet if given the chance.
Game 3 Lysimachid Successor vs Phyrric
In this game Lysimachid Successor army was up against another "named" Hellenistic general of the era, this time the defeat in victory achieving Phyrrus
This would be pretty close to a mirror matchup, with both armies featuring the same sort of stuff in their rosters, although Phyrrus campaigns in Italy gives him a few more disgruntled anti-Roman locals to raw upon whereas Lysimachus has plenty of Thracians on his side.
Will the big choppers of the Lysimachid Successor's THracians triumph, or will the Phyrric's Etruscan-lite allies and mercenaries cause Lysimachid Successor to actually fall to a defeat that is really a defeat?
Game 4 Lysimachid Successor vs Classical Indian
In this game Lysimachid Successor army was up against the elephants and the bowmen of that most predictable of Ancient armies, the Classical Indians.
This would be a real test for the Successor skirmishers, who's job would be to catch all of the arrows winging their way towards the Lysimachid pikemen and elephants before they could hit home. Catch them all and the Pikemen will roll over the slightly flakey Indian foot - but if the slingers and archers are shot down and arrows land on the main body of Successors then the odds swing dramatically in India's favour.
Will the simple minded fast attack of the Lysimachid Successors triumph, or will the Classical Indian's huge wall of archery and elephants cause Lysimachid Successor to go down under a sky black with arrows?
Game 5 Lysimachid Successor vs Hussite
In this game Lysimachid Successor army was facing the static defence of the Hussites - the second time in only 3 events that I would have faced a Hussite army, having never faced one ever before (as far as I can remember!)
This would be the wagons and artillery of the Hussites trying to do as much damage as they can before the pikemen and elephants of the Lysimachid army slam into them and try to turn them to matchwood. A simple plan from both sides, which probably suited both players as well by this stage in the weekend!
Will the forward motion of the Lysimachid Successors triumph, or will the Hussite's ability to stand firm and wait cause Lysimachid Successors to stagger and fall?
The Post-Beachhead Podcast
In this episode of the Madaxeman Podcast we chat about Beachhead and these games - with contributors including Mark, my opponent in the 5th round using the Hussites. Listening to the podcast therefore gives you the full 360 degree Beachhead Lysimachid experience!
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
You can also see some of these figures being assembled and painted elsewhere on this site. That includes The Companions, some light horse and the Phalanx, as well as the elephant.
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