Rome vs Carthage reprised...

So, our intrepid war reporter for “Sol” returned from deepest Scythia to the sun-drenched plains of Southern Italy to find the pesky Carthaginians still there. The game of two weeks ago was reprised but with sides reversed.

Phil started quite aggressively pushing the massed Quincunx in the Roman center forward. Malcolm did likewise on the Roman right, Chris remained passive on the left. Was treachery afoot?? With Dave “hors de combat” both Punic wings were left to Tony and he advanced, seizing the high ground on their right and advancing to meet Malcolm on the left. Not to be outdone Rob pushed the deep units of the centre forward to confront the Roman Legions. This was going to be painful.

The Chris/Tony battle on the Roman right settled into a tit-for-tat game of disorder but seemed to have no impact on the game. How wrong we would be! 

Malcolm soon destroyed a unit of cavalry and the Punic left seemed to be in trouble. Deft use of Velites only added to the Carthaginian woes. In the centre however Rob scored a victory when a combined slinger, elephant, Gallic warband attack on a Qincunx destroyed it in a single turn .The battle almost seemed to swing in favour of the Carthaginians.

Malcolm however continued his aggressive attack. One of the Carthaginian camps was stormed, a second cavalry unit destroyed and Numidians forced to flee off table. In the centre Rob couldn’t repeat his early feat and indeed his pachyderms were stuck behind his own units. A few disorders also made life far more difficult. Suddenly a one box gap appeared in the line of the Carthaginian right and a unit of Chris’ velites rushed through. Tony lost slingers and Chris some more Velites, but those losses brought the Carthaginians close to defeat. One more turn saw Chris’ lights storm the camp and claim victory.

A hard-fought game and one which was probably more even than the coin-count implied. Some poor chit-pulling for the Carthaginians was unfortunate and my the end Tony was decidedly grumpy. Still, if you will go and invade someone else’s country best watch out. A literally painful lesson for Crassus about 150 years later!

Simon

WAT...Somewhere Near Kharkov

 And now an exciting report from our Signal reporter on the Eastern Front.

Yesterday witnessed a hard-fought battle on the outskirts of Kharkov as the heroes of 2nd SS Panzer took on the massed Russian armour. T34s, one of the new SU tank destroyers and a mighty KV1 roared onto the table as the German armour of aged Stugs, a lightly armoured Marder and a lone Tiger closed to meet them. The lead T34 miraculously survived two shots from the Tiger’s deadly ’88, but lost dice. Not a good start. Then one of the T34’s lurking in a wood was picked off by the Marder. A to hit roll of double six added two more “hit dice” and the result was a catastrophic explosion. The unbuttoned commander bailed out leaving his crew too their fate. The NKVD would see him later...

 

 

However the Marder’s luck ran out and it too was picked off by the Russian armour. Still, it had killed a T34. Shame there are plenty more where that one came from.

The Tiger and the KV1 played cat-and-mouse until the Russian decided to try to outflank him. Poor movement dice meant he ended the turn staring down the barrel of the ’88. Next turn the KV1 came out first and he fired his 76mm at the front of the Tiger. A miraculous 5 hits and then the Tiger made zero...yes zero saves. Boom!!!

Things were looking grim for the Germans. Outnumbered in points and tanks, and the mighty Tiger hors de combat. However another T34 emerged from the woods on the south edge of the board and failed to acquire the low-slung Stug, also aided by the use of the "Impressive Bush" WAT card. This T34 was expertly despatched by Greg’s Stug. The pair of German Stugs then went a-hunting. 

The KV1 ended a turn trying to manoeuvre and fell to a flank shot by Greg, and Phil’s SU85 tried to cross open ground but ran out of luck with its drive dice and was caught in the open. Another flank shot from Greg and one dead SU.

That left Chris’ crippled T34 facing two Stugs. Chris decided to abandon ship preferring Siberia to death or a German prisoner of war camp.

The table was left to the Germans. Greg was declared the hero of the day and awarded the Iron Cross 1st class.

Simon

A fresh despatch from our man on the Italian front…..

The forces of Phil Barca (nice pun on that behemoth of ancient warfare WRG’s “Phil Barker”), met Scipio Buchanicus on the field of battle “somewhere in Northern Italy”. 

The Romans began well with an aggressive advance by their Quincunx-heavy centre. The cavalry/light infantry flanks, probed but it was clear that the centre was the true Schwerpunkt...as the Alammani will say in 2000 years time! The Carthaginian centre advanced to meet them, wary of the Quincunx prodigious fighting strength.

Their left moved boldly forward but Masinissa Banks stayed resolutely on his start line. Was something amiss? Hadn’t they received the back-pay?

In the centre the Roman Velites peppered the Carthaginian spear with javelins causing more than the usual number of disorders. The Maniples charged through and units began to die. However the fight on the flanks was taking a turn for the worse for the Romans. Malcolm’s cavalry, elephants and scutarii proved more than a match for the Roman cavalry who were soon destroyed or being driven back. 

The Banks/Aldridge contest was more even as Rob’s veteran Italian cavalry seemed capable of holding...or scaring...multiple Punic units. Definitely something not right with the Carthaginian right wing.

Phil Barca was grimly holding on. 

Units were pulled back to dress the line but rallies proved elusive, and soon Tonius Maius had broken through and was turning towards the camp. The nadir was reached when a velite unit charged a Punic spear unit in the flank to administer the “Coup de grace”...as the Franks will say sometime in the future.  Phil’s General died and he forgot to use his “stratagem” to save him! However  Malcolms’ attack had broken the Roman right. Buchanicus fled the field and his Quincunx was destroyed by a cavalry flank charge after the Scutarii’s frontal attack. Malcolm’s Numidian’s made a dash for the camp and Nike awarded the victory to Phil Barca and his allies.

A very close game. If a few chits had fallen the other way Scipio Buchanicus may well have been awarded the victory wreath.

Simon