Sunday 18 March 2012

The Battle of Ariminum 217 BC (note ammended battle result)

The Roman centre advances slowly. The Carthaginians counter with a bold move on their right.

The Carthaginian move causes the Romans to dispatch an ala to counter it.
Hannibal's newly found Gallic allies occupy the woods.
The Romans know that time is against them. The legions go forward (with a triple move). 
The Gauls in the woods charge. The effect, charging into the flank of the legionaries or downhill upon them is too much for the Romans.
The demise of the Roman left has begun. 
The Gallic hordes.
The fight becomes general along the entire front. The Carthaginians keep rolling maximum die results - the Romans die by the hundred. 
The Roman withdrawal begins. 
The Romans in the foreground are the only ones that will escape.















With so few Romans escaping, and the Carthaginians in such fine fettle, it was decided to declare the result a 4 card battle with a double envelopment finish. Note that the Roman result has been ammended due to the rules being misread initially.

The Romans rolled badly on the battle casualty table and took 2 CU casualties. Then they rolled very badly on the retreat table - the army was destroyed completely in the resulting rout. Fabius was displaced.

Hannibal was unlucky, he rolled a 6 and lost 2 CU and both elephant CU. His army now only musters 6 CU - for the first time in this campaign I feel a bit exposed, but I have a cunning plan.

Gunny noticed that I'm using a different set of morale chip cards than that published in MW. I sent the wrong copy off for publication. The deck has the same 'characterisation' cards but the chip cards we are using are:

6 x 6 MC
10 x 8 MC
10 x 10 MC
6 x 12 MC
6 x 14 MC
3 x 16 MC
1 x 20 MC

10 comments:

Keith Flint said...

Great game. Even though this is not my period your efforts continue to inspire.

Thanks for posting.

Der Alte Fritz said...

Great looking game!

My only nitpick is in the ability of infantry to come charging out of the woods and crossing a small water obstacle --- while maintaining good combat order. I would think that even the best of troops would become a little bit disordered by such a move.

And what was the fate of the Roman Consul/General?

AJ (Allan) Wright said...

I agree with Keith - stunning epic battle.

James said...

Now that looks like an ancient battle!

JAMES ROACH said...

Hi DAF,

The infantry only had to come out of the woods, the stream having already been crossed. 'Formed' troops fighting in woods are not as efficient as 'formed' troops in the open, and are penalised for it.

Eric Burgess said...

Hi James, told you this was a bad idea for the Romans. As long has you both had fun that is all that matters.

Battlescale said...

Beautiful looking game. Thanks for posting.

Gunny Highway said...

James,
Well done! Congrats on finishing your project. Hope you can finish your Punic campaign as well...

Respectfully
Gunny
P.S. thanx for addressing the card difference!

Rodger said...

That is a fantastic looking game. Beautiful!!

Vinnie said...

An absolutely beautiful game and likewise with the figures. Fantastic to see