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Thursday, August 31, 2023

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.

44 comments:

  1. Once again, Jon, a splendid game, well thought out and superbly umpired/facilitated. I was unfamiliar with Basic Impulse, but found it pleasingly crisp in play, and the adaptation to a grid-based version seems very successful. The rules contain some concepts and mechanisms which were new to me, so I relied heavily on your good offices as Spielmeister(!), but I am sufficiently enthused to get back to studying them - I find this the best time to try to understand rules - once I've seen them in action.

    Period and rules both alien to me, but enjoyed it all very much, and would be keen to have another bash sometime.

    Thanks again to you and the other players.

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    1. Tony, you are most welcome! You may have been new to both period and rules but you handled the Carthaginian right wing with great competence. After your early elephant rampage, you settled in and completed your mission admirably. Hasdrubal could ask for no more. Great job!

      I appreciate your very kind words on the game.

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  2. Great game Jon. Those rules give a real feel of an ancient battle, once things kick off it gets bloody very quickly. Like Tony I am minded to study the rules a little more closely now and would be happy to have another go if that becomes a prospect. On reflection I think our battle plan was perhaps a bit naive, refusing our centre gave the Carthaginians complete freedom to angle units from their centre to right or left as circumstances dictated to maul our wing. Back to the drawing board for the Romans on that one I think. I also rolled some poor dice again of course but it doesn't do for a general to constantly blame his dice so I will only say congratulations to the Carthaginians, who carried out their plan admirably. Thanks to all the players and especially to yourself for being a splendid host and game master as usual.

    Dave C (Roman Dave)

    Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam

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    1. Thank you, Dave! Great to have you at the table and commanding the Roman right. I am relieved that the play of the game and the rules, themselves, work for you.

      The Roman Battle Plan as naive? I wonder if a Roman general advance executed more vigorously would have yielded a different result? Perhaps not with YOUR dice!

      I am happy to see you fellas replay the battle.

      I enjoyed your Latin byline.

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  3. Great to see another online bash Jon. I've heard a lot of good thing about BI, but I've never played them.
    Great looking game and well done to the Carthaginians!

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    1. Happy to oblige, Ray! I know at least one way in which you can give BI a try if interested...
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  4. A great looking game Jonathan…
    A Hasdrubbing indeed 😁

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks! "Hasdrubbing" is now firmly in my vocabulary.

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  5. Our Carthaginian plan depended entirely on both of my flank commanders fixing the romans in place - and they did that in spades. Keeping them engaged but never getting sucked into a grinding match they could only lose. A couple of points worth making - the Romans did seem a little fixated on the elephants (maybe at the expense of other easier targets) and the joint Roman command of the centre left that area in a sort of limbo for the first few crucial moves. I’d love to have a go at this again from the Roman side. The rules accurately reflect the difficulty in manoeuvring large blocks of men and I think reward a certain boldness of approach.

    Top game - great company.

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    1. Mark,
      Your Carthaginian plan was well conceived and superbly executed. Both of your wingmen held the powerful legions at bay while you destroyed the center with your massive heavy blocks. The game favors boldness since a successful pursuit drops the Army Breakpoint Clock. Pursuits can be as valuable as destroying a unit. Sometimes, you get both!

      Glad you enjoyed the game. we can certainly schedule a refight with anyone wanting to try again.

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  6. Excellent report. And it’s great to see high definition photos of your models Jon. My online view isn’t so clear.
    Also I echo all of Tony’s comments. Thank you for your usual excellent hosting.
    Re: Roman Dave’s comment about our faulty tactics: I came to the same conclusion myself.
    All the best.
    Chris

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    1. Thank you, Chris! Hopefully, the report conveyed a sense of the dynamism within the game. Once the two armies closed, the action was non-stop.

      See my comment to Roman Dave above on tactics and planning.

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  7. Great stuff. Some early inroads for the Romans but the Carthaginians turned the tide. Lucky the Carthaginians left the space for their elephant to rout through. What would have happened if they hadn't, and how difficult was the elephant to rally?

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    1. Thanks! If the elephants are blocked by their own troops, the blocking unit takes a VBU loss, becomes disordered but stops the elephant rampage. VBUs are never recovered but a unit can rally off disorder.

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  8. A good read despite the Roman loss, thanks.

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    1. Thanks! Perhaps the Romans will prevail next time?

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  9. Superb battle and plenty of swings in momentum before a final Carthaginian victory

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    1. Thanks! Yes, there was ebb and flow throughout the battle until the Roman army collapsed.

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  10. An interesting report and very nice looking armies. I thought at one time the Romans were going to win.

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    1. Thanks, Peter! At the outset, I thought the Romans might prevail too. Could this be a battle for a comparative test?

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  11. Excellent report of an exciting game fought with lovely looking troops, what more could the blog following public ask for Jon?

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    1. Thanks, Keith! What more could readers want? I have no idea…

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  12. A fine first outing for the troops and the players it seems with these rules. Certainly lots of action going on which is of course good to see:) Are the elephants able to rally once the retreat and/or rampage? I couldn't quite be sure on this front, or maybe I just didn't read things correctly?

    As for Dicken's, great to watch good adaptations on tv, but having suffered 'Little Dorrit' at 'A' Levels, the thought of reading his books fills me with dread!

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    1. Lots of action, for sure! The players seemed to enjoy themselves based upon their post-game comments. You can read their comments in the replies above. Yes, elephants can rally off disorder following a rampage.

      Sorry the adding to your Dicken’s trauma.

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  13. From the Rome / Carthage games I have played, I think the Romans came off better on the flanks than might have been foreseen! It strikes me, in many battles, the centre prevails until a flank collapses, yet they never seemed to fix their cavalry dilemma.

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    1. In a “traditional” deployment, I would agree with your assessment. At Ilipa, Scipio bucked standard practices by moving his legions out to the flanks. With that deployment, his legions faced weaker enemy forces on the flanks.

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  14. Many thanks Jon, for running such a great game, it was a pleasure and a privilege to take part! The rules did work well, and once units started contacting, things could get quite bloody very quickly! I admit I thought things looked bad early on, when Chris' Legions came forward and Tony's elephants went back - those Roman wings looked pretty scary. Our job on the Carthaginian wings was to just stay in one piece, (which I managed but I think Tony exceeded!), sometimes it's best not to just be gung-ho and charge forward. Elephants are very interesting, they feel powerful but also pretty fragile, and every single enemy unit wants to hit them one way or another! Maybe that obsession on the part of opponents can be usefully exploited...

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    1. Carthaginian Dave, thanks for the kind words on the game and my umpiring. Very much appreciated!

      You and Tony both performed very well and, as you suggest, Tony may have pushed a little beyond expectations. Not only did he hold the right, he saw Marcius' legion defeated. No small task.

      Those Roman legions do look scary.

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  15. Stunning images of a fantastic game with an impressive amount of beautiful Ancients, Jonathan! Haven't played Impetvs, but looks like it works well.

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    1. Thanks! I enjoy playing Impetvs and many of those players I have led through the game have enjoyed it as well.

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  16. An epic encounter there and no mistake. A Roman loss! A diceimation is in order there I feel.

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    1. “Dice-imation” is a great idea and pretty funny too!

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  17. Another good battle report, always a treat to read. I was trying to predict the outcome but it kept me guessing.
    A sign of a good game. I'm sure the Romans will be back, they never take defeats well! Congrats to the Carthaginians.
    John

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    1. Thanks, John! Glad you enjoyed the report. The Romans are plotting revenge.

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  18. Outstanding. Good to see Carthage with a win - earning 'Carthago delenda est' in the best way, on the tabletop!

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    1. Thanks! The Roman generals were not so pleased to see a Carthaginian victory.

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  19. Lovely looking game good to see nellie came out on top, I always liked basic impetus but have drifted away as it's not really played near me.
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks! BI plays OK solo too. I have a replay of Ilipa up for Wednesday.

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  20. Very enjoyable battle. Fear of the elephants was their number one factor I think over their actual combat effectiveness - seems that applied here too.

    I'm off now to research how historically armies dealt with actual pachyderms - massed long pointy sticks aside.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the battle report! I replayed the scenario today. A Great Army was destroyed. Good luck in your research project. Please report back.

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  21. Truly a hard fought battle. Excellent and exciting report Jon.

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    1. Thank you, Vol! Keep reading recent posts and you will see that these fellas enjoyed a rematch with a much different result.

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