Calpurnii v Flaminii Game 5

Game 5

Middle Republican Roman (Michael 6,200 pts) v later Carthaginian (Alec 6,250 pts) 

Minor Defence: Second Punic War 211 BCE in Spain (MeG Magna, 7-August-2026).

Battlefield Effects: None

The Celtiberian nobles steal the show

Considering The Options

As it is a Minor Defence for the Flaminii the main objective of the game for me is:

(a) to defeat the Roman army, or if not possible

(b) to inflict more casualties on the Romans than my forces receive to deny Michael a Prestige Point on a draw.

As far as I can determine there are two ways to fight this battle:

1.   Maximise the number of skirmishers in an attempt to cause more casualties on the Romans than the Carthaginians receive thereby denying the Romans a Prestige Point; or

2.      Maximise the battle troops in order to take the fight to the Romans.

The first option is possibly safer in ensuring the Calpurnii don’t get any Prestige Points. The second option is riskier as the Carthaginians are more likely to lose more bases in the attempt and if the Roman’s aren’t defeated it will most likely result in them earning a Prestige Point.

The second option, I believe, will have the advantage of surprise; I don’t think Michael will be expecting it. On this basis, though more dangerous, I am going to go for the second option, it’ll also be more fun.

Accordingly, my aim will be to maximise the Carthaginian heavy infantry and get the Romans to commit their main infantry forces to battle as soon as possible in order to overwhelm them in battle.

Building The Army

I chose two Libyan spearmen TUGs and a TUG of Ligurian mercenaries, additionally I decided to maximise the allowable Elephants, so went with two TUGs of two each. I also chose a Bastetani tribe Iberian allied command under a Brilliant General to give me three more infantry TUGs, one of superior quality nobles , the other two being average but all armed with the Iberian version of the pilum . I rounded the army out with a TUG of Iberian Spanish cavalry. For SUGs I chose a unit of skilled shooting Numidian cavalry, a SUG of skilled Balearic slingers and a SUG of Bastetani caetrati, javelin armed light infantry optimised for hand to hand fighting.

Terrain

I think both sides wanted a mixture of terrain so we ended up with a deep water flank down my right, some dense terrain consisting of a wood and a marsh on my left flank, another marsh on my extreme back right and a mixture of small woods dotted about the rest of the battlefield.

Deployment

I decided to place three TUGs of heavy infantry in a block on my left, the elephants in the centre screened by the slingers, the Bastetani allied command to their right and the cavalry on the far right. My intention being to drive forward in the middle of the table and take on all comers.

Michael's deployment largely mirrored mine, a long line of sturdy Roman Hastati and Principes on his right with a couple of SUGs of Leves, a command of Celtiberian allies on his left, consisting of two TUGs, one being superior quality nobles (more about them later), and a SUG of slingers and his cavalry on his far left - one unit of heavies and one of lights. Michael ad learnt from previous battles to give his units an edge in the Fighting Phase by giving as many units as possible the Melee expert characteristic, consequently all the Roman heavy infantry and cavalry had it. Behind them all was an average quality fortified camp, all together this gave the Romans an army break point of four.

Michael had foregone the opportunity to have any Triarii, presumably because of points limitations, but as all the Roman infantry were melee experts they would be less likely to need the extra base. Also for the first time in all our games Michael actually had more command points than me - 12 to 11, so his army wasn't going to be unduly hampered by a lack of command cards.

Deployment ended as below, Michael's Romans are on the left, my forces are on the right.

As can be seen Michael had placed two ambush cards also, giving me that bit extra to worry about.

Turn One

The first turn saw a steady advance by both sides, though because, I guess, of poor cards Michael's right wing lagged behind slightly. On the other flank both sides' light horse advanced to javelin range of each other, Michael's Iberians forming Cantabrian as they advanced so matching my Numidians in shooting skill, this was going to be a contest of whose light horse  performed best in shooting.

The turn ended as below:

Turn Two

The start of the action occurred on the right flank with the opposing light horse throwing javelins. Michael's Iberians failed to achieve any damage, the Numidians caused one wound on the Iberians, so advantage Numidians.

I advanced my units along the line where I could, poor cards saw me hang back a bit on my left. Interestingly to my mind Michael advanced his TUG of Celtiberian nobles forward and also a TUG of Roman foot moved ahead of the line in his left-centre. This made me think he didn't want to have one big clash in a single turn and had adopted a strategy of trying to deliberately break up my line to force me into battle piecemeal.

The turn ended as below:

Turn Three

This turn saw the lines clash - Michael's two advanced units charged into combat. I decided not to charge forward with the rest of my infantry line to get to his more rearward troops hoping the the overlaps I had would help me grind down the two advanced Roman units. The Celtiberian nobles came off distinctly second best against the Bastetani nobles, elsewhere honours were even, my left hand elephant TUG, however, failed to shatter its opposing file of Roman infantry and took a wound in the process. 

On my right I decided that it was too risky to charge my heavy cavalry into contact with the Roman heavy cavalry as mine didn't have the Melee Expert characteristic. Michael withdrew the Iberian light horse though and on his right the Roman heavy infantry started progressing slowly through the marsh.

The position at the end of the turn was as below:

Turn Four

In the centre, faced with a mass of skirmishers that could slowly shoot them to pieces if I did nothing I decided to charge the other elephant TUG into contact. Elsewhere the lines closed up ready to charge next turn. 

In the fighting phase the Celtiberian nobles proved their metal, despite being close to destruction themselves they changed gear and wiped out the opposing Bastetani nobles, throwing two skulls in quick succession for no loss to themselves.

The turn ended as below:

Turn Five

The lines clashed all along my left centre. On my right my Numidian cavalry won the battle of the light cavalry and finally saw off their Iberian opponents. In the centre the Celtiberian nobles, despite drawing ever closer to destruction, managed to survive all my attacks whilst one of my elephant TUGs was wiped out, causing casualties to all concerned (on my side). 

At that point we ran out of time, the game ended as below:

Post-Battle Thoughts

My plan, whilst on its way to success (three Roman TUGs were within one or two wounds of breaking), but in the end failed to come through with the victory at the speed I needed. My three deep formation heavy infantry formations on my left wing were succeeding and more than holding their own, grinding the Romans down to the point of near collapse and the Celtiberian nobles, despite being the heroes of the game, were only one wound off breaking. However, at close of play the heroics of those self-same Celtiberian nobles ensured that the Romans had caused more casualties than they received. One more turn and it could all of been different!

Result

Draw with more Carthaginian losses than Roman - One Prestige Point won by the Flaminii.