Preamble from C3i Equus SGBoH.

Just after the Lake Trasimene debacle for the Romans, Hannibal learned that another Roman force was approaching. Centenius, on the other hand, knew nothing of the recent disaster that had befallen Flaminius’ army. Hannibal assigned the task of dealing with this threat to his trusted marshal, Maharbal. Maharbal had served as Hannibal’s deputy in Spain, and was undoubtedly one of the greatest cavalry commanders of all time. He took a detachment of cavalry and Balearic slingers out to meet Centenius. With his superior Numidian scouts, Maharbal located the Romans and determined their route of approach. Setting a hasty ambush, the Carthaginians killed some 2,000 enemy horsemen in the initial clash and the pursuit that followed. The following day the remaining 2,000 horsemen were forced to surrender.

Carthaginian Army: Withdraws when units with TQ points totalling 30 have been eliminated.

Roman Army: Withdraws when units with TQ points totalling 28 have been eliminated.

So That’s what’s going on. We can imagine that Centenius was blissfully unaware of the disaster about to fall on him, not much is know about Gaius, other than he was Praetor. That and $5 bucks will get you bad coffee at Starbucks. The Carthaginians on the other hand were, blooded, in high spirits and ready to continue the carnage. This battle coming on the heels of Trasimene caused the Senate to appoint Fabius as Dictator.

This scenario appears to be very one sided so we are looking at this bad boy from the perspective of ‘oh I see why that happened’ I don’t see a lot of tactical doctrine exploration opportunities.

Lets pick up this scenario after the Romans have entered the map in column. We are using just half of the map, however there are no ‘win if you get off the map rules!’ So we must fight and die. I would think an alternate may be to allow the Romans to run for it and perhaps subtract the TQ points from the total they lose to create a sliding scale of victory, which is common in many ambush scenarios.

Here is the situation. The Carthage (C going forward) vs Romans (R going forward) capabilities are disparate. The 8 RC could dominate (ok..not dominate but have a whack at it) the LC if given the chance (they get a +3 modifier for weapon systems. The LN are a wash, so as the C player breaking the back of the columns of RC while in that formation is key, especially since they take -2 to TQ whilst in column. A more daring approach maybe to go for broke and try and kill all four Lancer units in the first turn! Could that be done?

As the Romans, …well I think getting out of Column fast will help, attacking at poor odds with half dead units in the hope of a few CH’s that might sway a later shock attack by a better unit is also on the cards. R can only afford to lose one or two units in the initial ambush, more than that and its likely game over.

Lets attempt the LC atk LN first. If it’s a huge fubar I will restart and not count the result for the Campaign, but we may as well experiment a little here, as we will be playing nearly 30 battles over the course of the 2nd Punic War.

C Attacks: 4 attacks, overall 3 CH from Missile fire, all the attacks work out to +6/+7 DRM. I roll a 2, so 1 AR (Auto Rout) after a failed TQ check. The 2nd LN cant retreat so he loses another 2 CH for a total of 5, 2 away from dying. The second multi unit attack +7 we roll a 5 both are Auto Rout.

C has 21 RPs inflicted upon the Romans.

C:0

R- 75% of the way to victory for Cartage. OUCH.

Now the deal breaker – Cav Pusuit TQ check. They all pass. If some of the Numdians had of gone to Pursuit Rome had a chance.

R2 turn, The leading Cav drop from column costing 1 MP, then circle to engage to prevent the loss of the lone Celtic LN. Having no choice but to attack they leave their rear exposed.

LC’s respond with 2 missile hits…dam.

The Roman shock attacks get #1 +3 DRM for Weapon system, -2 for TQ -1 CH +1 move

#2 +3 WS -3 TQ +1 move

#3 get +3 /-2TQ -1 CH +1mv

#4 +3 /-3/ +1

They all net out to +1 DRM …sigh

Leader combat – no results. roll 4/0/8/3….Rout chk for the high roll provides a pass for the LC. Rout check for low roll produces a pass also for the RC (over 8 yo do a rout check, 1 and under the same.

Net: 2 hits on #1, 1 for Defender /3h atk and retreat. /2h,R / 1ch def, 2 ch atk. Not good enough.

Hanno activates.

He encircles the RC with their Leader. They square off against each other. On a zero for your LDR Check , you roll again . On a 1 or a 0 the Leader dies.

Hanno, bravely leading the charge, sese the Roman Leader and directs himself and his men towards them. They clash, horses thrashing, arms flailing, spears jabbing at the face.

A sword connects…….. The Leader tumbles from his war frenzied steed. He lies dying….”how?” He gurgles, thru air and blood.”how?” All turns to gray.

Hanno lies dead. Thats going to impact a campaign storyline….

C:20

R:21

Dam what a turn for the books! The Romans are back in the battle. Lets finish the Shock combat.

On a +6 DRM the Lancers roll a 6 – AR.

C20
R26

Rome activates 2nd Prefect. They attack vigorously, at the weakest LC on the board.
no missile fire as all eligible units are in ezocs.

combat:

Atk #1 at DRM of +7. -> +3 for WS/-3TQ/+2Size/+3CH’s/+1move/+1Ldr… the money shot. Guaranteed 2 CH + no retreat available +2 CH total 4 hits, that leaves 1 TQ/CH point . ….Rome wins IF they roll 3 or better as it gives them an extra CH to make it 8 and a kill for 8 RPs.

They roll a 2. Making a 9 result, well it’s a zero..For all that it matters…., in so many more ways than one…….

Margo Barca activates and attacks the isolated RC

+2 -1 -0 +1=+2 DRM, they roll an 8, RC unit is Dead.

GameOver
Wow, I was really rooting for the poor old Romans there for a bit. It got rather exciting and tense. What a great game and a great system.