Pharsalus Turn 3 [PvC]

In the final Battle of Greatness Evolved; Pompey v Caesar [PvC] we are looking at the war waged between almost identical forces. Pompeys large cavalry force is a factor but his generals struggle to bring them to bear. The battle is Legion on Legion, Roman v Roman. Except where Conscript Legions are present!

Here in lies the problem for Pompey, he has the larger force, but less experience and lower morale for the Legions brought in hurriedly from Syria, Macedonia and Crete.  This I think more than anything is going to be a telling factor in the Boss on Boss, Pilum v Pilum fighting that is taking place. Lets see what transpires in Turn 3. Full video on youtube tomorrow.

In the South the Galatians fight toe to toe and give as good as they get.

In fact forcing the VII to ease back and protect the flank from 2 squadrons of Roman Cavalry penetrating and running amok. However next door the Cilician and Cretan recruit level Legions are not faring as well. They quickly retire due to the aggressive stance of the forces in front of them and attempt to start doubling up so that their line has more upfront depth and size. The Caesarian forces cannot do this without leaving large gaps in the line. 2 Cohorts fall holding the line.

The Macedonians face the same challenge and infact have paid dearly for it. They lose more forces this turn but manage to withdraw in good order for now, but create a significant bulge in the line. Caesars Domitus does a great job here and likely should have attempted to continue. Further along the XII and XVII force the Syrians to double up also and their leaders SCipio and Anharbus play cautious. They do however have to fight this turn in a few locations and take more losses than they give.

Caesars V and X legions stand firm but lose isolated cohorts (due to advances) to Pompeys vaunted I Legion. The VIII pulls back to re organize for Caesar Antonius however pushes the Andulae forward to fight the Cretans. This results in the 2 dead cohorts mentioned above, due to retreats being thwarted.

Labienus leads the charge on the Pompey left wing killing the Gaulish Lancers and attempting to get past the skirmishers. The mass of Cavalry press forward, wary of the special rule regarding TQ check they move carefully.

Caesars RP’s 20

Pompeys RP’s 76

Look for video tomorrow with more details!