Battle of Telamon, 225 BC with TtS!

With the Society of Ancients (SoA) planning the Battle of Telamon for its 2019 Battle Day, my interest was piqued.  It might be fun to stage this battle and compare our groups' results with the other participants.  Even without the advantage of having SoA's Slingshot describing the battle yet in-hand, Scott jumped at the chance to field his Romans and Gauls in a test of To the Strongest!.  Scott quickly rebased his troops and set upon creating an Order of Battle and layout for the game.

On game day, we arrived to see the battle laid out with scenario and OB presented.  The table showed a large Gallic force surrounded on three sides by Romans with a low hill and woods hindering the only avenue of escape.  The Gauls were trapped!  Look at the beautiful brushwork on Scott's Gauls.  Wonderful check and plaid patterns.  The Gauls comprised two forces.  I commanded the van while Scott took command of the rear.     

The Gauls

Gallic van

The Roman commands were divided between Austin's northern blocking force and Kevin's southern blocking force.  The Roman cavalry and light infantry harassing the Gallic rear were split between the two Roman generals. 

Regulus' command on the north

As the battle begins, the Gauls are slow to shake out from their columns.  The van under my command was particularly challenged to turn anything over that was not an ace for the first few turns.  The exception to this lethargy was the cavalry in the van.  They head off to take the high ground before Regulus' northern force could gain a foothold.  The Romans waste little in harassing the rear column.  Roman cavalry attempts to outflank the Gallic column before it can deploy.

Roman cavalry envelope the Gallic rear

Roman cavalry attack!

The Gallic cavalry in the van reach the hillock first.  The Romans counter with hastati but are driven off by the Gallic horsemen.  As the Northern and Southern Roman pincers begin to close on the Gauls, the Gallic van finally snaps into action.

Gauls begin to scatter in all directions

Gauls turn to face their enemy

The Gallic cavalry in the front tease the approaching Romans but withdraw to safety before the Roman heavy infantry can close.  As Regulus' infantry chases the Gallic cavalry off the hill, they expose their flank.  The Gallic cavalry turn and strike as the Gallic van closes.  One legion is destroyed and a second badly mauled. 

Romans expose a flank while the Gauls expose even more.

Gauls close

The Gallic rear column has not been idle.  Splitting their force, all opposing Roman cavalry are chased off.  Hastati fall to the Gauls.  With the Roman cavalry in the Gallic rear now showing signs of wavering, the Gallic warbands press on.  These cavalry are scattered to both north and south.  In the pursuit, Regulus' camp is taken. 

Gauls pressuring the Romans

Back to the action in the van.  The Gaestatae warband facing the south and buying time while Regulus' northern force is pressured, is hit in front and flank.  Miraculously the Gaestatae hold. 

Gaestatae hit front and flank repel their attackers

While the Gaestatae are keeping the southern Roman army at bay, the warbands and cavalry attack Regulus.  One Gallic cavalry unit crashes into part of a legion from the flank, destroying it.

Gallic cavalry overruns a Roman legion

Two more Roman units succumb to the ferocity of the Gauls.  One unit is lost in tough hand-to-hand combat; the other overrun by cavalry.  The Roman armies have reached their break point.  The battle is over.  A Gallic victory! 

The final clash

Based on my limited reading of the historical accounts of the battle, goig into gthe game, I figured the Gauls had not much of a chance.  the actual outcome was a big surprise to me.  The Gauls showed tremendous power against the two Roman armies and defeated one in detail before the other could close.  The Gallic cavalry cut through several legions while the Gallic warbands repulsed the Roman cavalry.  The northern Roman blocking army lost four out of his five units in battle.  The Gallic cavalry, alone, scattered three of those units.  Decisive!  For the Gauls, it was a fun and decisive day.  The path home to the north lays open for the Gallic warbands.  We look forward to fighting Telamon again and I am energized to get some Gauls into the painting queue. 

The battle was fought on Sunday.  On Thursday, SoA's Slingshot 322 with the Telamon Battle Pack arrived in the post.  I look forward to reading the material and applying this new information to our next battle of Telamon.  It looks like a good issue.  Several more Telamon battles await!