Hannibal at the Gates

Thomas, Kyle, and I got together this past weekend for some Punic Wars action with To the Strongest! Carthage went first and stepped off with Group March moves!

Kyle and Thomas, commanding the Legions of the Republic, responded in kind. 

Carthaginian cavalry working its way around the flank of their Roman counterparts.

On the Carthaginian right, the stream made outflanking the Romans harder, but with 5 cavalry units to 2, denying control of the flanks to Carthage would be difficult. 

Carthage, move 3. Evidently, the sacred chickens refused to eat, but the Romans insisted on giving battle regardless. 

In the center, the opposing LI javelinmen trade shots, mostly to little effect, but a unit or two does get eliminated. Meanwhile, the Elephants look for an opening. 

The Roman left flank is enveloped, whilst their infantry tries to come to grips with the opposing Gaulish, Spanish, and Libyan infantry. Theoretically, their pila, better save numbers, and special Quincux rally rule should give them the advantage there.

The Roman right is getting enveloped as well. A Disordered unit of Spanish Scutarius pulls back, hoping to Rally. 

On the Carthaginian right, an ongoing exchange of Javelin casts is indecisive, which is fine with Hannibal, as it delays the clash of the heavy infantry and buys more time for his horse to win the day... which they are doing slowly.  

Eagle's eye view of the field, as Carthage plays a bunch of aces, followed by the Romans doing much the same. 

Spanish, Gallic, and African Cavalry continue to work on their envelopment, while a Disordered unit of Libyan spearmen also pulls back in the hopes of Rallying. 

The Roman left flank cavalry have been eliminated. That spells trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with P and that stands for Publius Cornelius Scipio!

The right most Libyan spearmen are Disordered. 

But it is too little, too late, and on the next turn Roman losses exhaust the last of their Victory medals; in contrast, Carthage still has 16 out of their original 19 left. The senate convenes in a panic, appointing a Dictator to save the Republic!

Carthaginian left at the end of the battle. 

Carthaginian left center; the Spanish Caetratus (LI Javelins) in the woods repulsed multiple attacks by the opposing Legion!

Carthaginian right center; once again the infantry gave as good or better to the Romans than they got,  and any day that happens is going to be a bad day for the SPQR!

Carthaginian right flank cavalry at games end - clearly, it would only have gotten worse!

another  view. 

Another view shows the fragility of the Carthaginian left center. Despite the ill fortune on the day, the Roman players still enjoyed the rules, it being the first time for Kyle with TtS!

The fortified roman Camps, garrisoned by Ballistae and some raw Javelinmen. It was never threatened, but perhaps the points might have been better used elsewhere?

It's hard to see, but I used the system for terrain set up in TTS! for this game, except that I made the choices for both sides. Cartage tried to keep as much open terrain on the flanks with some cover in the middle,  whilst Rome aimed for the opposite! Yellow beads were fields, blue stream entry points, green woods, brown hills, black rocky impassable hills, and teal vineyards. 

Another hard to see view

and a 3rd!

as per the rules, cards are dealt for every potential feature. 

Any with clubs are removed. 

Diamonds are removed in the central zone, but stay on the flanks. Hearts are retained.

Spades drift in a direction determined by the pip value of the card. 

Final terrain set up - Roman side is near. 

Bookends

For more than 30 years, we have had a pre-Christmas get together and gift exchange with our dear friends,  the Hop[kins Family: Bob and Cindee both shared my passion for books and history...

So every year I could count on new books from them. 

This year was no exception. They were planning on taking a Cruise at Christmastime, so this year we held our annual get together in mid November. More great books followed, as ujsual.

We even got together with them again a week later, and had a great time

Then, the day after Thanksgiving, 1 month ago today, we got a call from Bob that Cindee had passed away unexpectedly in her sleep early that morning. She was only 71, in very good health and had been feeling perfectly fine, and, as was her normal, had  hiked several miles the day before. 10 days later, I was one of 4 speakers at her Memorial service, held at the Roxbury  Town Hall, which was literally standing room only. 

Cindee Hopkins


   Jan and I moved to New Milford 40 years ago, and lived in the Old Farms condominiums there. Not long after we moved in, another couple roughly the age of our parents welcomed us.. Anna Mae and Ernie Fournier. We shared drinks and happy hours and quickly became friends. They were both so friendly and supportive. While we were still living there, we hosted a 40th Wedding Anniversary party my parents, and Ernie built us a temporary canopy for our back patio just for the event. They soon introduced us to their daughter, Cindee, and her husband, Bob Hopkins, who were them living in Bantam, CT. .

    We bonded with Cindee and Bob very quickly; they were both teachers,, as were both my mother and Jan's mother. They both had a love of history, which I share, and we appreciated Cindee's boundless enthusiasm and Bob's wry sense of humor. When we moved to our new home in Bridgewater a few years later, Jan was pregnant with our second daughter, and could only help with organization and light things; Cindee and Bob came to the rescue, and helped us move on a cold January day... right after a moderate snowstorm

    A few years thereafter, Cindee and Bob moved closer to us, to Roxbury, and before long they had a daughter of their own. We soon began a 30+ year tradition of having a pre-Christmas gathering with our respective extended families, alternating homes. During the pandemic years, we held it outside on our patios. The weather was cold each of those years, but the warmth came from inside us. We are truly a big part of each other's families!

    Our two daughters both graduated from Shepaug Middle and High Schools, and had the privilege of having Cindee as one of their teachers... as I am sure was the case for many of you here today. Cindee was one of those special teachers that most students remember all their lives – her energy, passion for her subject, and genuine concern for the good of her students and the Shepaug school community were infectious!

    When we were breeding Annie, one of our Golden retrievers, Annie needed to go the veterinarian's office while were away, and it was Cindee who took her. She was the first visitor to see the new puppies a few months later. We have two wonderful dogs that would not be here today without her. Cindee was like that... always there to help out when there was a need.

    After her well deserved retirement, Cindee did tutoring, volunteered and was a driving force of nature with the Roxbury Library, worked at the polls for elections, and probably hiked every foot of the trails in Washington, Bridgewater, and especially Roxbury, the town that she so dearly loved. She was able to indulge her passion for history and geography by traveling across Europe and the near East. She shared her love of both of these liberally in her many Facebook posts, making us feel were there with her.

    One of my patients had a favorite saying about life, which has always resonated with me... “We're only here for a visit!” While we all hoped and expected Cindee's visit with us to be considerably longer, none of us can doubt that she made the most of the time that God gave her. Cindee brightened the lives of so many, and those of my family especially. Her loss will be deeply felt, but the positive impact of her “visit” here will endure long after our sadness eases.

Thank you from us all, Cindee!

Cindee and her daughter, my god-daughter, Alexa, last month.

Battle Report: Rio Gevora, February 19, 1811

  For various reasons, I haven't had a chance to post a write up of this game we played out a month ago until now.

A reminder of  the starting positions of the two armies. 

The two French Infantry Divisions aggressively pursue the attack on the superior numbers of Spanish on the ridgeline. Recall that the Artillery on both sides was not allowed to fire in the early phase of the battle. I had the far right Spanish Infantry Division, Kevin had the middle Infantry Division and the Spanish Dragoons and Line Cavalry, whilst Sean had the leftmost Spanish Infantry Division and the Spanish Light cavalry. Kyle had the leftmost French Infantry Division opposite me, and the French Light cavalry, while Mike had the other French Infantry Division and the Dragoons. 

French Dragoons advancing rapidly on their right, whilst the French Light cavalry decides to threaten the Spanish infantry on the Ridgeline. An early end to Turn 1 meant the Artillery was in action relatively soon, and the Spanish could form Square sooner than might have been anticipated. 

Kyle's French infantry badly out-rolled my Spanish at most opportunities; you will note three of my 5 infantry regiments doling their impression pf "Run Away!" very early on!

French Light cavalry charging up the hill. 

First charge by the French Dragoons as well.

The Spanish battery is overrun and destroyed by the French cavalry, but otherwise the charge was indecisive. 

French Dragoons defeat two of the Spanish Light cavalry regiments, the Spanish general being laid hors de combat!

In the center, Mike's general is hit by a stray cannonball!

Kyle's Division has pulverized mine, and he is planning to wheel in upon the Spanish Center. 

Facing a bunch of Spanish squares, the French Light cavalry call off any further attacks, and try to move around the Spanish left flank. The Spanish heavier cavalry gives as good as they get in a series of melees with the French Dragoons..  

Cavalry situation later in the game. 

Another view. 

The infantry battle sees new Spanish routers from the center command!

With the last unit of my command now either routed, destroyed, or retreated off the table, my commander seems to have fallen upon his sword rather than face the Junta's inquisition as to his conduct!

General Virues (yo!) in an appropriately Spanish red cap shortly before my untimely demise, with Kevin (playing Generals Garcia and Butron) looks on. 

The Spanish lost all their Morale points by about halfway through the game, but survived THREE Army Morale tests. Still by games end, these were all of our Morale points that the enemy had NOT taken. A pretty decisive result in Field of Battle terms!  We Spanish claimed moral victory, as the army did not break and considerably outperformed the historical result, with the performance of the Spanish cavalry being strikingly better than in history. We were happy to slink away under the cover of an early February sunset....