"Punic Heirs", Part 2. Polybian Rome vs. Carthage with To the Strongest!

 

Carthage starts Turn 4 with a charge by the Spanish MC; they fail to hit, and the strike back buy their Disordered Roman MC opposition misses as well.

Numidian LC toss their Javelins at the Velites, but fail to hit.

Javelins cast by the Gallic MC also fail to score.

A second charge by the Spanish MC fails to hit home again, but the battle back by the Romans hits, with the Spaniards failing their Save; both units are now Disordered.

Out of javelins, the Disordered Gallic MC charge their equally Disordered (yellow) Roman MC opposition; the first strike fails, but the replay by the Heroic General hits. The Romans fail to Save, and are eliminated, with the loss of 2 Roman Victory Medals. Losses thus far: Carthage 1 out of 14, Rome 4. out of 12.

The Gallic victorious gallic MC move forward to occupy the box of the defeated Romans. Their attempt to turn to flank fails. Although accompanied by a General, he has already used his replay for this turn in the melee. 

A second attempt by the Numidian LC to shoot at the Velites fails to activate. 

LI Spanish Caetrati shoot at the "red' Legion, and miss. They are out of ammunition now. 

The MI Libyan spearmen phalanx exchanges places with the Javelinmen in their box, and then attacks a box with 2 small units of Velites. Once again the first strike misses but the replay with the Heroic General succeeds. Although excellent troops, the Triarii only having a single hit makes them vulnerable to immediate elimination. Despite needing only a 5+ to save, they fail to do so in spectacular fashion, and are eliminated, costing Rome another Victory Medal. 

"Second verse, same as the first!"; another charge by the Phalanx hits the second unit of Triarii; they just miss their save, and are eliminated as well; another Roman VM surrendered (6 total now). 

The victorious Libyans move into the box of the defeated Romans. Their attempt to turn to flank fails (doubly difficulty activation; with an 8 showing only a 10 (which always succeeds) would have worked. 

The final Carthaginian command activates. The Balearic slingers miss on their 4th shot at the "green" Legion. The Libyan Javelin men cast their missiles at the opposing Velites, and are more successful; they hit and the Velites barely miss their Save (they needed a 6+) , and are eliminated. Another Roman VM is surrendered, making 7 lost thus far. Ouch!

An attempt to target the remaining Velites in the box fails, and the turn passes to the Romans. 

Eager for Revenge, the "green" Roman Legion charges the pesky Balearic slingers; they fail to evade, and are cut down mercilessly by the Legionaries. 1 Carthaginian VM lost, for a  total of 2 so far. 

The Velites attempt to return the favor by shooting the Libyan javelinmen fails, ending the turn for the right flank Roman infantry command. 

Whoah, that's a lotta cards! What's going on here? The Roman Legion has charged the Spanish "Scrotumius". It plays THREE hit cards, looking for a 6+ (one for the charge, one for the pila - 'shock missiles", and a third because their was a Hero with the unit, which is expended in the process. The sacred chickens evidently refused to eat today, as all three miss. The Spaniards, showing who has the cojones, cast their own shock missiles, and hit, and then hit with their battle back.  The boys form Rome fail to save either hit, and are eliminated!  Ka-ching!  Two more Roman VM are lost! Evidently there was a General present as well; he managed to save both times and is displaced to the nearest friendly unit. 

Somewhat in shock, the now rather lonely Velites shoot at the Scutarius and miss; an attempted second shot fails. 

The action passes to the now thinned ranks of the Roman cavalry; they turn to the left, outflanking the Gallic MC, but cannot be persuaded to charge home, even with the influence of their General. Tough luck that!

The leaderless (and thus permanently Out of Command) Disordered "yellow' Roman MC successfully pull back from the Spanish cavalry, and the successfully rally of their Disorder. This certainly helps stabilize the otherwise fairly dire situation on the Roman left. 

Not surprisingly, they are tired now and an attempt to charge back into the Spanish MC fails. Turn 4 is over. Rome has lost 9/12 Victory Medals, versus only 2/14 for Carthage. "Punic Faith!" says Livy. 

The Spanish MC move 1 box to the left, barely succeeding with their 3 pip card. This gets them to a place where they are relatively sheltered from being charged, and will be better able to rally off their Disorder. 

The veteran Liby-Phoenician HC have charged two boxes - one on the diagonal and then one forward into the "yellow" Roman MC.  There first strike fails to  hit, but a replay by an accompanying Hero hits home (Carthage decides to retain the Generals replay ability for possible use later in the Turn). The Romans fail to save, but their strike back hits the Carthaginians. The cavalry save, but the General fails!  Fortunately, he turns an Ace for effect... about the only time an Ace is good in TTS!, as it indicates a light wound; the general will carry on, but is eliminated if he suffers another light wound. 

It takes two tries, but the Spanish MC then rally off their Disorder. 

The African HC attempt to charge the now Disordered Roman MC again but fail; the General chooses not to replay. 

The Spanish Scutarius charge the Roman Velites, but they successfully evade. They charge again, and the nimble Velites dance out of harm's way a second time. The African phalanx turns to flank a Roman Legion, but needs the replay from the General to do so!

An attempted action by some Caetrati (LI - javelin)  fails miserably. 

The African phalanx on the Carthaginian far right attempts to turn to the left and skewer the bold Roman Legion. It's first attempt to do so fails (being a deep unit making a difficult activation it needs a 4+), but the general coaxes them to success. However, they refuse to take any further action this turn. "We had them right where we wanted them!" grumbles Hamilcar! The initiative now passes to Rome for Turn 5!

The "green" Roman MC charge the opposing, Disordered Gallic cavalry; the first strike fuials, but they hit with the replay of their Heroic general!  The Gauls fail to save, but the General passes, and trots off to join the nearby Elephants. The Romans cheer as 2 VM are lost by Carthage. Current score - Carthage lost 4/14, Rome lost 9/12. 

Having eliminated their opposition, the Roman MC attempt to face the threat posed by the El;ephants, but fail to do so. 

Needing a break and not wanting to risk a charge against the superior veteran HC with their General's still unused replay,  the Roman MC throws their javelins once, and misses. An attempt for a repeat fails. 

Shifting to their right flank, the pair of Triarius units easily moves forwards one, representing a potential threat to the African spearmen. The Legion moves forward 1 as well, now being in sight of a beckoning Carthaginian camp and its lovely 3 VM's!

Switching to the Central command, a unit of Velites sidesteps to the right and in front of the existing unit of Velites in the box. . This allows the (outflanked)  Legion to charge a Gallic Warband, and it does so. The Pila cast misses, but they still hit with their gladii. The deep warband makes its save, and misses on its strike back attempt. 

The Velites toss their javelins at the opposing Libyan javelinmen, but miss. The Legion then tries to charge the Gauls again, needing a 10. Not surprisingly, the attempt fails. Turn 5 is over!

The elephants charge the unfortunate Roman "green" MC in the flank. They play 2 hit cards, the first misses but the second hits. They then play a bonus one-time Elephant Charge shock card that misses as well. Note that Heroic Generals may NOT replay hit cards for Elephants.  The Roman cavalry fails their Save (they are -1 additional for fighting Elephants anyway), and become disordered. The General makes his save. Being hit in the flank, the Roman cavalry cannot strike back. 

The Numidian LC piles on, charging the Roman MC in the rear, playing 2 hit cards; both miss (being Light troops, they need an 8+), and once again the Romans cannot battle back. 

The Elephants try a second charge, but fail. 

Numidian LC move forward 1 box. The African HC charges the Disordered Roman MC but misses. A luck 2nd charge misses as well, as does the battle back by the Romans. 

The action moves to the Carthaginian right center, where the African veteran phalanx charges a Legion in the flank. 2 hit cards are played; here I made a mistake. The unit has both a hero and a heroic general, BUT it can only use them for a miss (both could be used for 2 misses). Anyway, I played it as 3 hits, the Romans only saved one, and are thus eliminated!  Score; Rome 11/12 lost, Carthage  4/14 lost. 

An attempt by the "Scrotarius" to charge the Velites ends the turn for this command. 

The Libyan spearmen attack the Legion from the rear; it misses twice, and uses a hero for a replay (I see I allowed a General replay as well, but the General already used his replay to allow the attack in the first place. An opponent would have caught that for sure. In the event it made no difference. The Legion easily saved the one hit. Further activation attempts failed, ending Turn 6 for Carthage. 

The Legion advances eagerly and sacks a Carthaginian Camp!  3 VM are lost by Carthage! The Velites consult the entrails of the sacrificed sacred sheep, and conclude there is little  to be gained by action this turn. Score:  Rome 11/12 lost, Carthage 7/14 lost.

Velites shoot at the hairy Scutarii, and hit, but they save. A second unit of Velites reloads,  then the first unit reloads and then shoots, but misses. Finally, the Legion turns to face the Numidian LC to its flank. A final wing and a prayer activation of the second Velites fails. 

The Roman "green" MC turns to face the Elephant. It then charges the elephant despite the poor odds, and miss; the General saves, and the elephants battle back but miss. . The Out of command Roman MC then fails to activate, ending Turn 6. 

Turn 7, Carthage. The Numidian LC ride for the Roman Camp, but aren't there yet!  The Elephant charges the Roman MC, and hits! They fail to save, and become Disordered. A second charge and a second hit eliminates the Roman MC. Game over - VM lost 13 for Rome, 7 for Carthage. 

 

Carthage still has ample VM left at the end of the game. 

Roman losses...

Carthaginian losses (plus a Camp). " Hannibal ad Portas!"

Overview at the end of the game. The Romans had poor luck, and had trouble getting their powerful Legions into action. It always seems a challenge for the Romans to withstand the superior Punic cavalry long enough to win the infantry battle; here they could do neither!  I should see how they fare against the Macedonians...

Thinking about doing a Celtiberian army of the Punic Wars era was enough for me to finally re-base these Spanish LC (Minifigs painted back circa 1970!). They were singly based upon thick balsa wood bases, I think so that they could form a ring in WRG 3rd edition. I played that only twice before deciding I didn't care for it at all, and the basing made the figures topple over repetitively. Now they are on 60mm element frontage Litko 3 mm MDF bases like almost all of my Ancient, medieval, and Renaissance troops. A few minutes with grey paint over 2 figures each with red and yellow shields  differentiates three separate units.