re-enactment fighting,
And got this battlefield.
Peter had the better general by one command point, so I started deploying as Rome. I was reasonably content with the Roman position. Rome on the left, Carthage on the right.
Since I deployed first I move first. My plan is simple: Peter has an overwhelming mounted advantage on his right flank, so I will move up the legions and LI on my right as quickly as possible to engage and defeat Peter's warband and Poeni foot whilst my left flank - cavalry and Auxilia - will delay Peter as long as possible.
Peter sends in his elephants first. Logical choice.
I send my LI forwards as fast as possible and they begin to drive home some important points with the Gauls.
Peter now advances his entire line, obliging my LI to evade after chucking a few additional javelins at the advancing Gauls. My legions are now in range of his Balearic slingers.
I move up my right flank cavalry to a strong position on the hill. My LI reform after their evade the previous turn and donate more pointy sticks to the Gauls.
On come the Carthaginian infantry and elephants and the Roman LI continue to fall back.
Missile exchange between the skirmisher foot screening the elephants and the leftmost legion, whilst the Roman LI continue to ventilate the Gallic warband.
The ellies charge legionaries and auxilia. For some reason (?) the Roman LI evade back through the legions. Not a legal move (nobody charged them) but, hey, no game is perfect.
Melee and nobody dies yet.
The legions creep forward. Since the legion engaged with the elephants has their commander, the other legions are out of command and can move only half a square per turn.
On come the Carthaginian infantry.
Melee and the auxilia are naturally overwhelmed by the ellies. First blood to Carthage.
The second auxilia unit turns to face the elephants whilst the LI move up in support.
The ellie likewise turns to face its adversary, whilst two warband units are finally shot to rout.
Second blood to Rome.
The legion continues to hold out against the ellie unit.
Two legions advance against the Poeni foot whilst the third legion pauses to shoot up the warband before engaging. Meantime the Auxilia charges the elephant unit to fix it in place whilst the LI move up to shoot it in the rear.
Wasting no time the Poeni foot and warband charge the Romans. Nothing if not courageous these Carthaginians. The Roman LI start shooting up the elephant.
Down goes one ellie unit! It surprised me but the maths checked out. Tough characters, these Romans.
The legion occupies the vacated square.
Time to soften up the one unengaged warband unit with some well-aimed pila
Not wanting to hang around for any more, the warband charge in. They knock a morale interval off the Romans as they are better in the charge.
Down goes on warband unit. Things are beginning to look good for Rome.
Meanwhile the Auxilia and elephants fight to mutual exhaustion and break off (instead of simultaneously routing each other).
Forward O most noble Romans! Forward to glory!
Wasting no time, the unengaged legion charges the Poeni. It could have stood off and pelted the Poeni with pila, but the Carthaginians are an armoured target and it would have taken too long to achieve anything.
The battle settles down to a slugfest. When are the cavalry going to do anything?
Oh dear. The one legion unit that had been battered earlier by the elephants goes down before the warband....
....who occupy its square.
One Roman LI unit turns to get into the fight....
....and the other shoots the elephant unit to rout. Meanwhile the unengaged warband moves to the flank of the legion. The Roman optimism of earlier is beginning to fade.
Goodbye elephants and good riddance. Incidentally, I forgot to take into account the fact that there was only one elephant per unit, hence they should have been in a thin line and suffered the minus modifiers accordingly. Oh well....
Time to get stuck into that warband menacing the legion's flank.
Not quick enough. The warband charges the legion in the flank, inflicting and all-grey minus modifier (all firm morale intervals are henceforward treated as shaken). This is better than the usual disorder inflicted by a flank charge. The legion's reserve line helps deal with flank and rear attacks.
The battle rages.
The auxilia unit turns to confront the Poeni foot.
Everyone stays in place. Carthage seems content with the way things are going.
Confidence that is misplaced. Down goes a Poeni foot unit.
And the legion advances into the hole in the Carthaginian line. Smiles on Roman dials again.
The legion turns to engage the Poeni flank.
The Poeni move up. The auxilia are a juicy target for them.
The slog goes on.
The legion charges the Poeni foot unit in the flank, disordering it. There is no resolution of charge combat but in subsequent melee combats the Poeni will suffer a -2 combat modifier.
The Poeni charge the auxilia. They're worth a good few victory points with their commander. Rome is 7 victory points away from its average units (most of its army) routing whilst the Carthaginians are 6 victory points away from a rout of the average units, but a large part of the Carthaginian army are resolute and will continue fighting even after an average rout.
A legion routs as well as the last auxilia unit. This is a disaster as the auxilia commander goes down with his men (no unit of his command left to run to). This costs the Romans a total of 7 victory points and make them one point short of losing all their average units - i.e. their surviving legions.
The Carthaginians lose a Poeni foot unit but they are not too worried, for now.
Sigh....
Nothing for it but to move against the surviving Poeni foot, whilst the Roman commander (me) remains acutely aware that any further loss will tip his army over the edge. O tempora, O mores!
The Poeni get useful or get out of the way.
The legions pursue the retreating Carthaginian foot, under relentless fire by the skirmisher foot and slingers.
The Poeni are now where they want to be but the warband are not - with a legion on their flank.
The legion charges the warband in the flank, disordering them.
Nothing much to do except keep up the missile fire.
Down goes the warband. Carthage has now lost enough victory points for its average units to rout.
Which are all its missile troops. Everyone else is resolute and stays in the fight.
The legions reposition themselves.
And finally the Carthaginian LH make a move, seeing the trouble their infantry are on the opposite flank.
This opens the Carthaginian MC to a charge and some rear-ending.
A Poeni unit charges a legion - and routs it! I wasn't paying attention to the dilapidated state of that legion and the rout caught me by surprise. 4 victory points lost and my average units now rout. That leave only my cavalry in the fight, and since I have lost more than 3/4 of my army they rout as well. Game over!
A narrow victory to Carthage. Well played Peter!