Fourth Battle of Trasimene

For Carthage, it was the best of times.  For Rome, it was the worst of times.  The levelling factor is that the battle would be decided quickly.  Jubilation and despair will ebb as fresh wounds heal.  

The Rejects gathered for a remote game Monday to fight the Battle of Lake Trasimene.  Richard and Steve would command the Romans. Lee and Ray would take the helm of the Carthaginians.

As a refresher, the battlefield and army dispositions are,

Unsuspecting Flaminius, pinned against the lake.

Army deployments

On to battle!

With Ray commanding the Carthaginian Right, he begins a cautious advance toward the unsuspecting Flaminius.  I remind him the one great advantage he holds is the ambush on Turn 1.  After a brief discussion, Ray amends his opening moves with the approval of the Romans.

The first of three Gallic warbands emerges from the hills and plunges into a Roman auxilia.  Easily overcome, the auxilia rout into the lake.  Having suffered minor damage, the warband halts without pursuit.  The second warband emerges from the hills but stops short of the enemy.  Gallic warband three screams down from the heights dispersing a body of velites.  Following up, the Gauls plunge into a body of principes positioned on the road behind.  Although disordered by the attack, the principes drive off the attackers and advance inland.

With no Carthaginian cavalry joining into the attack and only one unit lost, Flaminius has survived the initial storm relatively unscathed. 

Ambush!

One warband stops short and another is repulsed.

Roman heavy infantry advance inland.

Then Hannibal snaps into action.  Two units of slingers are brought forward to harass the triarii hemmed in by lake and hills.  The triarii suffer from the pelting.  At the head of the defile, Hannibal's heavy infantry advance to block the canyon.

Hannibal advances in center and left.

Having withstood the initial onslaught, Flaminius forms up his heavy infantry and attacks.  To avenge the loss of the auxilia destroyed only moments before, Flaminius leads an attack upon the now isolated Gauls.  After bitter fighting, the Gauls are dispatched.  Flaminius looks on as the crisis seems to have passed.  The legionaries form up into a second large block on the left.

After bitter fighting, Gauls are scattered.

Crisis averted?

The silence is quickly shattered as the Gauls who failed to reach the Roman line before, now attack.  With his back to the lake, Flaminius fights fearsomely and drives off the enemy.  Along the lake front, enemy attacks have stopped.

Flaminius under pressure...

and the Gauls are repulsed.

Sensing a stalemate forming on his right, Hannibal presses forward with his heavy infantry into the defile.  Working in tandem, Carthaginian heavy infantry push back the screening auxilia before crashing into the lead legionaries.  In hard fighting, the Romans are finally pushed back upon their supports.  Hemmed in by the defile, confusion reigns in the Roman lines.  Panic and a sense of urgency spreads.  

Carthaginian heavies press forward
driving the Roman screens before them.

Roman heavy infantry fall back upon supports.

While the Roman vanguard is slowly being pushed back in the defile, Flaminius attacks up from the lake.  First, Flaminius contacts a body of Spanish light infantry.  After a very long battle, the Spanish are driven away.  Unfortunately, the prolonged fight has seriously weakened Flaminius' legion.  Still, Flaminius fights on in pursuit.  His pursuit is stopped by a fresh body of Spanish scutarii.  After much hacking and slashing, Flaminius is forced to retreat back to the lake to recover.       

Flaminius attacks!

and attacks!

and, finally, retreats!

Back at the heated combat in the defile, feeling great pressure as they are being driven into a corner, the Romans counter attack.  After a long struggle to gain the upper hand, the legionaries are exhausted.  They are compelled to retreat.  With much of the vanguard bottled up in the canyon, this retreat disorders much of the van.  Formations begin to break and run.  As the Carthaginians continue in pursuit, the entire position collapses as Romans panic and stampede.  In the end, those not killed are forced to lay down their arms in surrender. 

Legion counter attacks but is driven back.

The Roman van is driven from the field!

The Roman vanguard is no more.

Getting word of the disaster in the defile and being surrounded by the enemy, Flaminius realizes his days are numbered. 

Remnants of the Roman army.

The last we see of Flaminius!

With that, the Roman Army bursts through its breaking point and the battle is lost in what yields a complete Carthaginian victory.  This contest was not even close once Hannibal's Heavies got rolling in the defile.  The Dead Pile shows the lopsided nature of this battle.

Butcher's Bill

Congratulations to Lee and Ray for an impressive victory.  Very impressive and decisive.  My condolences to Richard and Steve for a very painful and complete loss.

Luckily, this foursome has agreed to a rematch next Monday with the sides swapped.  I look forward to seeing how a replay pans out.

As an aside, rarely do I see fate and fortune of the dice side with one army almost completely.  Richard's dice let him down throughout the battle.  In retrospect, I am not sure he actually even won one clash. Ray and Lee rarely failed either a fight or Cohesion Test.

As suggested by the battle report, the results were astounding.  The game lasted only two full turns and was finished in under two hours.  See Richard's summary of the battle at Swift and Brutal.    

Can Richard and Steve turn the tables on Ray and Lee in the next battle?  Tune in next week to find out.