Continued from Part 1 of The Mercenary Wars

239 B.C.

Carthage now has 5 activations a turn with Hamilcar & Hanno present with the 2nd chit (LAM). The 2nd Carthage  Army led by Hamilcar also has about 50 Elephants and thousands of cavalry.

Mathos assaults Thisbrus and clears the township! Antaritus invests Tacape.

Hanno struggles to move as he must first siege Memphrisa to liberate it.

Matho moves on to  Taparura to siege but fails to follow thru on his plan completely.  With the center of two provinces alight with carnage and war the Carthaginian huge armies have a hard time being everywhere at once.

After leaving Memphrisa in late 240 B.C Spendius move South East towards the coast where he lays siege to Leptis which falls quickly. Hamilcar seizes the opportunity to engage Spendius who with his now larger army avoids combat, but is chased by Hamilcar and forces to fight near Leptis.

In another one sided affair Spendius loses just 15% of his force for virtually no losses to Hamilar. A significant victory. Killing Mathos in the process.

Hanno always a wily politician delivers Capsa back to Carthage at the same time.  While the rebels take Taparusa and lay siege to Tacape.

238 B.C.

Infuriated with how slippery the Mercs are being, Barca chases down Spendius again and launches all his Elephants. They trample 2 of his own Cavalry squadrons and crush his infantry.  Onwards he charges. The Mercs are unable to avoid the battle and suffer a another defeat losing 25% of their force[+12 DRM].

Not to be swayed the retreating army moves to the deep South to Siege Gigithis.

Barca continues his siege of the rebel town Taparura who resist fiercely. Attrition takes its toll on Barcas Cavalry heavy army.

Antaritus concludes the siege at Tacape bringing more forces under his command.

Hamilco and Hanno continue to reduce towns following  the Mercenaries at great cost. 1,000s die. Taparura and Sufetula are reclaimed.

Desperate for forces and success Spendius grapples with Gigithis. The town sucombs and nearly 10,000 men and horse join the cause.

The Year ends on a mixed note for both sides. The Mercenaries mourn the loss of Matho their General, yet are heartened by the surge in support for the oppressed Libyans tired of the heavy yoke of Carthage.

Carthage by the same token is winning the war, well they are holding Mercenary gains to 3 cities. This is however achieved at a horrible cost. It can ill afford a protracted war such as this and be paying the Romans.

Forces of both sides:

 

The final year of the war is upon us.