Friday 12 August 2022

To the Strongest Punic Wars action

 

My Carthaginian central command with units of Scutarii and Numidian lights

Steve and I played a wonderful game at the NWS on busy Wednesday night. His Polybian Romans, who have had a pretty good record against my Gauls in recents months, were ready yo take on my Later Carthaginian’s of the Second Punic Wars.  This was the first time I’d ever used this army as well as a first for taking Carthaginians.  

As a slight deployment surprise I put the Veteran spear in captured Roman armour and weaponry
along with some Spanish lights and African elephant to counter the Roman cavalry

The Gallic war bands, cavalry and Numidian light cavalry on the left flank


Freshly painted Victrix Numidian cavalry arrive on the field just in time and smelling of varnish

Steve’s Roman command on his right flank

Mighty Romans Velites set up against the woods with cavalry support

How are these for superbly painted figures? Beautiful.

Light infantry on Steve’s sabot bases look the part

The main Roman central command

The freedom loving Peoples army of Carthage laid out in all their glory


The central position showing Gauls and Scutarii

The battle started with an aggressive move by the Roman’s and Carthaginians on the left. The impassable terrain was to prove both a boon and vane for both armies, however the Gallic war bands were more cautious for a change.


Finally the Gallic war bands advance under the watchful eye of their paymaster General

A close up of the Victrix Numidian light cavalry. First plastic figures in my ancients collection 

Gallic cavalry on the left of the Carthaginian line

The Numidian lights advance in front of the elephant 

The Veteran spearmen advance on the right. The Romans were very reluctant to take them on which
 did cede this area of the battlefield to my forces. However Steven was happy to hold on here.

Forced into action the cavalry hit the enemy frontally whilst the light cavalry skirmish with
the Roman’s Italian allies and Velites look for a sneaky opening

Contact!

In the centre the battle rages on fiercely. The Roman’s are tough to beat as the manipulation swap rule, which is brilliant by the way, makes them hard to destroy and counter. In my mind they should be tough as this is the army that started the entire domination of Europe.


Can’t resist another shot of Steve’s troops painted expertly by Big Chris

Those Gallic cavalry are fighting hard however the end is coming

Those rocks look ominous however that wasn’t going to be the problem 

A critical part of the battle on the right flank saw the veteran spearmen neutralise the Romans cavalry whilst also sending their other regiment into the large legion flank.  It would be decisive as both armies were on the edge of total defeat via Victory Medals.

Same action, slightly different shot


A view from Steve’s side of the field

The end. The Roman legio is destroyed and the Carthaginians take the field. It was so close as the turn before Steve had bet all on the exact same action in taking on the Veteran Spear.

Once again this was a cracking game of ancients. As always,historical opponents in my opinion makes all the difference in the world and these rules are wonderful . Taking on Jeff c next week so let’s see what we end up matching up against each other. 

7 comments:

  1. Another gorgeous looking battle. Beautiful troops. Looks like fun. 😀

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    1. Great game system Stew. Lots of gun always, especially when playing Steve.

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  2. There are no cards but there is that big container of M&Ms. lololol. 😀

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  3. We prefer to use the chits over the cards due to the aesthetics though the cards certainly make the game quicker, which we’ve never had an issue with. Certainly helps the table look a lot cleaner . This was a fun game.

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  4. Stew I’m still waiting for Steve to start breaking out the chocolates however he is from Yorkshire so it could be a long wait 😅😂🤣

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  5. Are you using 100 point armies, Carlo? 150?
    I like the cards just fine myself. We pick them up for end of turn shots, and some times the cards on the table help tell the story, too. Nothing wrong with the chits, though! On the other hand, it has lead to adding card collecting to dice, figures, rules, terrain, books , etc.!
    The new Numidians look great. I love the Punic Wars match up with TTS!
    The (relatively) new Aces Triplex rules for the Manipular period work well, I think . Whenever I command them, at least, their pila never hit, and by the time they get around to the rally and exchange activations, it's always too late! :-)

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  6. I do love TTS (as you well know)!
    Jared has a game scheduled for us set in the Crusades, which will be a new thing for me!

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