“…Carthage must be frickin destroyed…”
The site of most of the action this session
When we last left our tale, Carthage was under extreme pressure in Western Sicily…
…and Team Rome was beginning to prepare for a victory celebration in the near future. However, the wily and cagey Carthaginian player was also making his own mutually exclusive plans.
For this session, we gathered on a beautiful July 12th day to resume our campaign. We had already played four sessions of the game (along with the usual preparatory boot camp session). On average, we put in about 6 hours of play per session – plus the 2 hours of post and pre BS and lunch. So, about 24 hours of game time covering 11 turns… 2 hours a game turn. We’re still completely enjoying this particular campaign and hope to finish it in another four sessions. Can’t recommend the game enough if you have any interest in ancients.
Team Roma (Dan and myself) and the wily and cranky Carthaginian in blue (aka John A)
253 B.C.
Upgrades
Nothing significant
Strategic
ROME
(note: leader number listed)
310 Proconsul Duilius 26B
336 Rome consul Sulpicius 15E
318 Field consul Cardicius 14E
325 F1-9s (fleet 1-9 ships) 26C
314 F2-2s 26C
305 F3-20s 15D
317 F5-12s 26C
334 Urbanus 16E
Rome receives no reinforcements from the damm Senate
CATHAGE
Maguelies family stays in charge, Cartha builds a fleet
Activations
1: Consul Army III picks up 8 SPs in Sicily
2: Lilybeaum fleet sails out into the port
3: Siege…Lily is the only active siege…Carthage trying to retake the city…no loss for Rome…Carthage losses 3 SPs
4: IP1…pass
5: Roman F1 sorties into the straits
6: Random event…good crops in Africa
7: IP14…Cartha’s IV Army runs to Parnormus
8: Siege…Lily again…no losses
9: Hiero runs to Syracuse
10-11: Proconsul passes
12: IP1 pass
13: IP5 pass
14: IP17…an attempt to take Lily by treachery…fails
15: IP15…Carthage fleet of 9 ships attacks Roman fleet of 2…both lose 1.
16: Consul…passes
17: Proconsul pass
18: Siege again…ROme losses 1 SP
19: Field Consul takes Consul Army 2 to Sicily
20-21: Proconsul passes
22: Dumaveer Carthage…two raids both fail
23: Proconsul pass
24: Duilius (the best Roman general in the game) 310 leads the vaunted Consul Army III in an attempt to lift siege of Lily….Rome ends up with a +6 battle mod (+4 for ldrs, +1 odds, +1 Vets)…and wins big….suffers 10% losses and inflicts 20% losses…after the battle, Rome has 21 SPs and Carthage has 14 SPs…siege lifted.
Team Roma beams with victory and tells the Carthaginian “Talk to the shirt”
Turn Summary
With Rome lifting the siege of Lily and only one city in Sicily under Cartha’s control, the prospects for a complete liberation of Sicily by Rome in 252 B.C. appear great.
Wayward Ken (lower left), back in the tribe
We also had the pleasure of another wayward wargamer, Ken D, stopping by to observe our game. Turns out, he saw something on BGG regarding our play of Carthage at The Source.
He is also a big fan of the game (and the Roman Republic) – and wonders (like us!) when Mr.Berg will get us the 3rd in this series (the WHOLE 2nd Punic war). Ken indicated he actually has written a few books including A Test of Wills: Discovery – with elements of Rome set in the future on a distant planet (remember the great Star Trek episode?).
Ken also said he hadn’t had a chance to do any real face to face gaming for quite a few years. Now it appears that 1st Mn may have gotten a new recruit. And speaking of recruiting…
252 B.C.
Upgrades
Nothing significant.
Strategic
ROME
Rome Consul Otacilius 308 15D (yuk)
Field Consul Manilius 334 16E (double yuk)
Consul III army Mamilius 306 15D (oh my…2 D’s and an E – Rome may be in for a thumpin)
F1 9s 307 14E
F2 1s 309 26C
F3 20s 320 26D
F5 12s 316 15E
Urbanus 302 15D
…comment, Rome could be in trouble; the Senate replaces a good lineup leading the three armies with a band of dogs…
CARTHAGE
Barca family takes control and goes aggressive. Cartha raises a new army…and hits paydirt with 100 SPs (75 Inf, 20 Cav, 5 elephants). These 100 SPs immediately change the balance of power (Rome at this point had probably about 80 SPs in its armies…Carthage under 30 SPs).
Reinforcements
The Senate manages to only raise 4 SPs to reinforce the vaunted Consul III Army in Sicily.
Activations
Start of 252 B.C…remnants of Cartha’s two beat-up armies huddling in Northwest Sicily…as usual, fleets indicated by wooden ships and armies by soldier figures
Well, the sudden appearance of a Carthaginian death star certainly changed the game. Team Roma huddled and decided:
1. They would have to suspend the Corsica campaign for a bit
2. The army that had been training in Rome would need to rush to Sicily
3. A fleet would need to rush to Mare Africum East to block Cartha’s death star movement to Sicily
4. Pray that the luck gods would give them the first few moves
Activations….
1: The luck gods say IP-13! Hanno the Great is in command of the 100 SP Carthage death star. He decides to pass and not risk an interception by the Roman fleet at Lily.
2: Duumvir…Cartha attempts a raid…it fails
3: Siege…none active
4: IP17. A beat up Carthaginian army runs to Panormus (the only city left in Sicily in Cartha’s control).
5: The Consul army in Corisca moves back to Rome.
6: IP8…a cartha fleet of 15 ships sails to Lily
7: Hiero…stays in Syracuse…can’t find the rule regarding recruiting for his army…grumble…grumble
8: F3 of 20 Roman ships sails to Lily to hopefully tip the balance of naval power…but scatters.
9: F3 initiates a naval combat with the Cartha’s big fleet at Lily. The winner will decide if Cartha’s deathstar can come to Sicily. One of the main reasons to play a monster (in this case, a game that takes 20+ hours to play) is the arc of story it produces. It’s taken us almost 30 hours to get this point. Each side has experienced a number of horrible disasters and glorious victories. The bones are rolled…
The key naval die roll…joy for Cartha, tears & fear for Rome
…yet another Carthaginian naval victory…Rome retreats it navy into the straits between Sicily and Cartha. {NOTE – doesn’t really seem right – that a fleet can retreat anywhere – it should have to go towards a home port we think. Without that restriction, we essentially had the loser (Rome in this case) of the fight, significantly improve their position.
10: IP13…Hanno the Great examines the situation (pictured below): a Roman fleet appears to block its passage…
Roman fleet attempts to block any passage to sicily by Cartha’s death star
…well, they don’t call the Team Cartha wily for nothin!…John A pulls out a vegas move…runs across “All Sea” hexes..risking a big naval disaster. The luck gods reward his boldness and allow peaceful passage. The Carthaginian death star has arrived in Sicily! Not only does it arrive, but Hanno the Great then passes a series of continuation rolls. It catches the vaunted Consul Army III at Lilybaeum. Outnumbered 4 to 1 (24 SPs vs 92 SPs), Cartha gains a +5 battle mod and inflicts 30% losses on Rome, while suffering 20% losses. After the battle, Cartha rips off somewhat nasty pursuit & butchery …and Rome losses another 30%. So, after the battle, 10 SPs Romans remain vs 73 pissed off Carthaginians. The luck gods continue to shine on Cartha; a siege of Lily is again initiated.
11: SEIGE. Cartha is drowning in good fortune. Rome losses 1 SP (2 remain) and Cartha losses 5 (68 left in the death star).
12: IP14 passes
13: Random events are a non-event this turn
14: Mamilius (306) leads the vaunted Consul III Army into pages of history by dropping out its remaining infantry factors at controlled cites in Sicily.
15: F5 with 12 ships sails to Lily…loses half its ships in a naval battle and flees to Syracuse.
16: Proconsul pass
17: IP8 pass
18-19: Proconsul pass
20: SIEGE….Lilybaeum again changes hands, as the last Roman defenders starve.
21: IP1…a Cartha fleet sails to Sicily and scatters
22: IP1 decides to sail back to Cartha
23: IP15 Cartha fleet tries to engage Roman F3 and fails
24: The Consul II Army under Mamilius (306) moves to Lilybaeum and engages the death star despite the LONG odds (Cartha has big edge in SPs and leadership in this battle)… Rome has 43 SPs…Cartha 66 SPs… the dice are rolled and both sides suffer 20% losses (essentially a big victory for Rome). After the battle, 34 Roman SPs and 52 Cartha SPs.
Turn Summary
Well, the appearance of the Carthaginian death star changed everything. Rome was unsuccessful at keeping it out of Sicily. Once in Sicily, it retook Lily. Only bright spot for Rome is that the Cartha death star was cut in half.
251 B.C.
Upgrades
Nothing significant
Strategic
ROME
Rome Cornelius 311 25D
Field Manilius 317 26C
F5 330 25C
F3 310 27B
F1 321 26C (Team Roma gets a great break with this lineup of military leaders)
Urbanas 307 14E
Rome is able to generate a new army: bringing the Consul III army out of retirement. A leader is appointed by the Senate: Caecilius 326 26C.
CARTHAGE
A new family takes control and promptly goes cautious. Carthage disbands the two beat up armies in Sicily, leaving only the death star.
15 SPs reinforce the death star (now 67 SPs).
Activations
Not much action this turn:
Consul army tried to leave Rome, but was denied by the Senate. Eventually, they relented and the army sailed to Corsica. Aleria would fall to Rome, meaning Rome only would need one more city to take Corsica.
Carthage reinforced the naval forces in Lily.
Hanno the Great led the horde of 67 SPs against the main Roman army in Sicily, Consul Army II. Team Roma decided to evade and Consul Army II did so successfully.
Consul Army III was able to get to Sicily and siege Panormus. It took the city and ended up with 37 SPs remaining – awaiting the arrival of reinforcements and potentially teaming up with Consular Army II.
Turn Summary
Pretty much a turn where both sides licked their wounds and prepared for a real street fight due to occur in 250 B.C. It is was about 8 P.M. now and the 1st Minnesota boys & girls were arriving in force.