The Battle of Hydaspes is a historical battle fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and Porus, an Indian King of the Punjab area in 326 BC. It is featured in Rome: Total War: Alexander as the final historical battle. You take on the role of Alexander the Great as he fights a slightly larger Indian army.
Description[]
Battle objectives
- Destroy or rout all enemies.
Following yet another miraculous victory at Gaugamela, Alexander pursued Darius through the mountains. But he was robbed of his final triumph when the Persian king died by treachery at the hands of his own desperate generals.
Though he had achieved the seemingly impossible in pitting his tiny kingdom against the colossal Persian empire and winning, Alexander's ambition was not satisfied. After five years spent consolidating his hold on Persia, he once again rallied the flagging enthusiasm of his exhausted men and marched for the Indus valley to challenge the authority of the Indian rulers
Though Alexander met with early success, the Indian king Porus saw no reason to submit to this western upstart and gathered a huge army to thwart him. In the unfamiliar and unhealthy climate of the Indian monsoon and faced with large numbers of men, chariots and war elephants, Alexander once again pitted himself against the odds at the crossing of the River Hydaspes.
Units[]
Once again, Alexander is outnumbered, but this time his enemy is about matching him in terms of melee troops. The difference is that the Macedonian infantry is far superior to the Indian spearmen. The Indians have more missile troops and especially more cavalry, though it's a mix of light, medium and heavy cavalry. They are also fielding a few units of chariots but also a scarily large amount of war elephants, who double as more missile cavalry.
Alexander the Great (Macedon)
Alexander has a decent core of spear infantry which is far superior to their Indian counterparts. They're supported by a similar number of missile infantry units, as well as a unit of missile cavalry plus two units of heavy cavalry with Alexander himself. The army breakdown is as follows:
- Alexander x1
- Companion Cavalry x2
- Scythian Mounted Archers x1
- Agrianian Javelinmen x1
- Hypaspists x3
- Phalangists x6
- Mardian Archers x1
- Allied Cavalry x1
King Porus (India)
Porus has far more melee infantry in terms of manpower if not actual units fielded, since each unit of Indian Spearmen are over double the size of the Macedonian Phalangists. However, they're far weaker than the Macedonians in a straight fight. While Porus has some missile infantry, it's not as numerous as the Macedonians and his main strength lies in his elephants, who are extremely heavy cavalry, as well as a few chariots. The army breakdown is as follows:
- Indian General x1
- Indian Elephants x2
- Indian Spearmen x7
- Indian Chariots x2
- Indian Female Archers x2
- Indian Javelin Men x1
- Indian Medium Cavalry x1
- Indian Longbowmen x1
- Indian Slingers x1
Supporting Indian Army
Porus is supported by a second, far smaller, force which consists entirely of mounted unit. It's all cavalry and chariots, with the cavalry being two units of medium cavalry and one of heavy cavalry. The army breakdown is as follows:
- Indian Cavalry General x1
- Indian Medium Cavalry x2
- Indian Chariots x2
Gallery[]
