Battle of Lake Trasimene 217BCE

As hinted at in the prior post, the Battle of Lake Trasimene is on the table in what may be a series of replays.  The first game saw Mark (Roman Right) and David (Flaminius, Roman Left) take command of the Roman Army while Chris (Maharbal, Carthaginian Right) and Tony (Hannibal, Carthaginian Left) attempt to channel Hannibal and the Carthaginian Army. 

Initial situation

Carthaginians look on as the Romans march below.

The Romans Army finds itself in a difficult position with Flaminius and his legion strung out along the north shore of Lake Trasimene.  Flaminius' vanguard is advancing through the defile to the east in pursuit of retreating Carthaginians.  Mist shrouds the battlefield.  Hannibal has the initiative on Turn 1.

With initiative on Turn 1, Hannibal sets Maharbal's mostly cavalry wing into motion on the first impulse.  With three Gallic warbands hiding in the woods, the eastern-most warband charges down the hill into the unsuspecting Romans.  The warband hits the nearest hastati.  Surprised, hastati are forced back into the lake.  The impetuous warband pursues its defeated foe into the lake hacking as it wades into the water.  The second warband charges downhill but halts once it clears the trees.     

Gauls charge out of the woods and into the Romans!

A charge stalls.

With one warband swimming in the lake and another stalled, Chris launches the third warband into the fray.  These Gauls reach their target (another surprised unit of hastati).  The sudden impact breaks the hastati and they rout into the lake to their doom.  This time, the warband does not run pell-mell into the lake after the vanquished foe.  Cautiously, Maharbal advances his cavalry up into the woods to get within striking distance.

A second Hastati takes a swim!

While Hannibal and his center stands quietly in reserve, Flaminius sends word to the van to attempt to break out of the defile.  He may be sacrificing his command to allow part of the army to escape.  The Roman vanguard advances toward the mouth of the defile.  Carthaginian heavy infantry move up to block the path.

Hannibal watches on at the destruction below...

his heavy infantry move up to block the defile.

Still having a grip on initiative, Hannibal orders Maharbal to keep hammering away at Flaminius.  The warband nearest the road, having dispatched hastati to its front, turns to attack Flaminius' principes in flank.  Despite the unfavorable situation, Flaminius rallies his men and the Gauls are repulsed.  Hurrah! 

Flaminius attacked in flank.

Flaminius' triumph is short-lived.

The warband that stopped short only moments before, gains the courage to charge into Flaminius' principes.  After a desperate fight, the principes are driven into the lake.  Flaminius narrowly escapes death and rides to join the nearest friendly unit.

Another Roman unit takes a swim... 

as Flaminius flees for his life.

With the enemy positioned between him and his escape to the east, Flaminius charges into the Gauls blocking his path.  Still fatigued from their exertions hacking apart the principes moments before, the Gauls fall back along the road to the east. 

Flaminius attacks!

Back in the defile, the battle rages as the blocks of heavy infantry grind away at each other.  First the Romans are driven back.  Then the Carthaginians are driven back.  Finally, the Roman van sees daylight ahead as lead elements break out of the defile.  

Grind...

Grind...

Breakthrough!

Concerned with the situation degrading on his left at the defile, Hannibal orders his center into action against Flaminius' remnants.  His hope is to destroy Flaminius before the Roman van can break out of the defile and turn his flank.

First Spanish light infantry are sent in against auxilia light infantry.  The Spanish are repulsed!  Then two units of slingers are sent forward.  They fail to drive the enemy back.  Finally, the warband straddling the road attacks Flaminius and the principes.  The warband is scattered for its efforts.

Spanish light infantry attacks!

and is repulsed!

Slingers come forward to threaten the auxilia.

In desperation, the warband attacks and
is destroyed by Flaminius' principes.

With his left wavering, Hannibal turns about his third heavy infantry and two units of scutarii.  Still the grind at the defile continues.  Casualties mount as heavy infantry continue to attack and counter attack.  One minute the Carthaginian infantry are pushed back. In the next minute, the Roman heavy infantry are pushed back.

Fighting continues as large units are cut in half.

Ebb and flow at the mouth of the defile.

Situation on the Carthaginian Left.

While Flaminius' legion has taken a hard pounding and his army is inching toward the breaking point, Hannibal's army is not in much better condition.  The loss of two warbands in the center and several heavy infantry units on the left pushes the Carthaginian Army toward the brink as well.

Flaminius holds on by his fingertips.

Taking the initiative, Maharbal leads his cavalry back into action before the Roman van can press on with the attack at the defile.  Spanish medium cavalry attacks Flaminius only to be repulsed by the staunch defense of the Romans.  Then, the Numidian light cavalry on the far right of the Carthaginian line go in to sweep away the Roman velites.  With attack after attack, the last of the velites are cut down.

Spanish cavalry repulsed!

Roman velites attacked again...

and again.

Finally, with Maharbal leading the charge, Flaminius and his principes are caught at the lake's edge.  For the battle-weary Romans, this is one too many fights.  The Romans break and rout back into the lake.  While the Roman van is still intact and poised to move out of the defile, this battle is over. 

Maharbal v Flaminius

Flaminius and his legion are destroyed.

What a great game!

Hannibal wins the battle but the cost is high.  From the Army Breakpoint Clock, the Carthaginian clock was down to '5' when the Roman clock reached '0'.  Had the Romans won the initiative on this turn, Mark's vanguard may have been able to inflict enough damage to break the Carthaginian Army.  Just as in the historical battle, fortune was not with Flaminius. 

Ending positions.

Also as in the historical fight, Flamininius' legion was destroyed but the vanguard escaped, for now.  Accounts say the historical battle took about three hours.  Our refight took three hours to fight to conclusion.  Uncanny the similarities.

Well played by both sides.  Congratulations to Chris and Tony for the victory.  Close but no cigar for Mark and David.

Before the game, Mark said, “I think this will be the toughest battle I’ll have ever fought.”  I replied with, "Flaminius probably thought the same…"

We plan to swap sides and let the players refight the battle from the opposite perspective.  We will see if the Carthaginians come out victorious a second time.

Great fun!