A Tale of Two Armies

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the time for glorious charges; it was the time for inglorious repulses.  It was the time for encouraging advances; it was a time for discouraging retreats.  It was the time to move against the enemy; it was the time to be moved against.  It was the time for the favor of the Dice Gods; it was the time for the Dice Gods to look away.  In short, it was a very dynamic game.

My apologies to Dickens for paraphrasing his powerful opening lines to A Tale of Two Cities.

With the brief teaser in the previous post, five players joined in for the first running of the Ilipa scenario using Basic Impetvs (BI) on a grid.  Of the five players, only Mark has taken command of troops on the BI table.  Chris has played a version set in Feudal Japan but the Two Dave's and Tony were new to the experience.  Given that, Wednesday's game would serve as a rough boot camp where players have an opportunity to experience the rules and learn to move and fight their armies.  Perhaps have a little fun in the process.

The two armies were arrayed as shown in the diagram below.  For the Carthaginians, Mark commanded the center.  Tony commanded the right wing. David B (Carthaginian Dave) took up command of the left wing.  For the Romans, David C (Roman Dave) commanded Scipio's right legion.  Chris commanded Marcius' left legion.  The two shared command of the Spanish in the center.

Battle Deployment with player commands

For battle plans, Hasdrubal was set to hold the wings while the heavy infantry in the center drove in the Roman center.  Scipio planned to drive in both Carthaginian wings before turning the weight of the legions toward Hasdrubal, himself.

Which plan would prevail?  

Carthaginian Battle Plan

Roman Battle Plan

Hasdrubal's Heavy Infantry

Scipio's Heavy Infantry

Marcius' Heavy Infantry

Let's find out!

The battle opens with Hasdrubal seizing the initiative.  Tony advances smartly with the right wing.  In initial skirmishes, one Velites is destroyed.  Opposing cavalry clash.  Each army sees horsemen break for the rear.  As Chris moves up his legion, some are disordered from missile fire.  Roman Dave probes against the Carthaginian left sending Numidian cavalry scurrying to the rear.   

Tony attacks on the Carthaginian right.

The battle lines close.

Fighting picks up on the Carthaginian right. 

Probe against Carthaginian left.

Then all Hell breaks loose!

Cavalry clashes on the Carthaginian right see Numidians turn and flee.  Romans are in hot pursuit.  As Chris' legions move forward, they come under missile fire.  The legionnaires are disordered.  Still, they close with the enemy to their front.  The remaining Velites bring the elephant under fire.  Spooked, the elephant rampages back through its lines.  Luckily, the elephant has a gap in which to pass!  That gap in the Carthaginian line is only momentary.  The Spanish are driven back at the hands of the lefthand Roman heavy infantry.

Numidian cavalry turns and flees.

Chris' legion goes into action!

The Roman heavy infantry, victorious, follow-up their success.  The unlucky Spanish are caught a second time.  Both they and the supporting skirmishers are driven back again. The Roman pursuit takes them into contact with the rampaging elephant.  Presumably shocked by coming face to rear of the rampaging elephant, the Romans waver and then retreat!

Then Chris' righthand heavy infantry goes in against the enemy.  They are repulsed!  Given no quarter, the Spanish quickly launch counterattacks.  Chris' righthand heavies are sent off to the rear in retreat while the lefthand heavies are hit in the rear by Carthaginian spear.  These poor Romans are cut down where they stand.  Few escape.  Triumph is short-lived for these Carthaginian spearmen, though.  Still disordered from their efforts, the spearmen are overcome when counter attacked by Triarii.

Lefthand Roman heavies carve through the enemy line

but retreat at the sight of the elephant's behind!

Chris' Legion is hit hard!

One Roman breaks while another falls under the spear.

Half of one legion, dead on the field.

Spearmen head for the rear after clashing with Triarii.

Returning to the Carthaginian left, after softening up Roman cavalry with skirmisher fire, Spanish cavalry charge in.  The enemy horsemen are sent to the rear but the Spanish choose not to follow up.  Wasting no time, the remaining Roman cavalry moves up in an effort to turn the enemy flank.  The Spanish horsemen fall back to prevent this attempt.  The Roman center advances to cover the defeat of the Roman left.

Spanish cavalry charges in!

The enemy flees in the face of the charge.

The Roman center moves up.

Spanish cavalry falls back.

In a similar attempt to outflank the enemy line, Roman cavalry, having driven off the Numidians, turn toward the elephant.  Disordered, the Roman cavalry recoils from the sight.  Slowly, the elephant turns about and sends the cavalry off.  Take that!

Seeing the Elephant!

Roman cavalry is seen off.

With the Roman left in tatters and the Roman right stalled, Mark's dense infantry block in the center of the Carthaginian line advances.  In a series of hand-to-hand combats all across the center, the Romans are pushed back.  The Roman center is broken.  Seeing that his left and center are gone, Scipio withdraws.

Carthaginian center readies itself for action.

Roman center breaks apart.

The fighting is hard.

The fighting is desperate.

The fighting is unrelenting.

No quarter is given.

Until the battle is over.

Victory to Hasdrubal and the Carthaginian commanders!  Great job to Mark, Tony, and Carthaginian Dave.  My condolences to the Romans, Chris and Roman Dave.

As a first contact with the rules and the period for most, I call the game a success.  Of course, players will have their own evaluation!  As a learning exercise, I reckon the players picked up how to maneuver and fight with their armies and experienced some of the subtleties of the rules.  Game lasted about four hours.

Overall, play seemed to favor the Carthaginians as their battle plan was carried out more successfully.  The Carthaginian wings prevented much progress from the legions.  The Romans never it made it to the point of defeating a wing and turning in toward the enemy center.  With the legions either stalled or ripped apart, the Carthaginian center was able to advance and tear up the Roman center.

Afterwards, Chris coined a new term in that the Romans received a Hasdrubbing!  I must remember that one!

Great game!  Thank you all!  Hope you enjoyed the clash as much as I.  With luck, you will want to return for more.