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. 

Numidian Light Cavalry - 1st Corps

When I orered my Hussites earlier this year, I threw in  some more Numidian Light Cavalry. As my 25/28mm  Carthaginian armies have expanded over the years, the contingent of these famously skilled horsemen became disproportionately small. Hannibal sent out the order to recruit more, and they are now ready for action!

I got one Command pack and one regular pack. I think the fellow on the far right is supposed to have a conch  shell trumpet or something in his hand.

I'm not sure I like the blue shields on this unit. The turquoise color is lovely, bu it seems too bright for these horsemen; I think I may repaint them black (and leave the blue bits otherwise).

The figures are nicely sculpted, and had little flash.

Nice detail sculpted on the rope holters.

I used the "Officer" figure from the command pack to ad some variety to this second small unit.

Quite dynamic poses! I found surprisingly  few manufacturers do Numidians in 28mm; they are notably lacking from the Old Glory range, for example,

I think I may dry brush the hair to bring out some of the detail and decrease the shine from the varnish.

I used the "Goop" for gluing the Javelins, shields, and riders, and I have to say that it worked very well. It seems stronger than the Duco cement as well. 

Update: I acted on my inclinations, and also took Phil's suggestion. I painted the yellow shields over with Raw Sienna, and the blue ones with Black. I also dry brushed the hair with CC Hippo Grey. 

I then used my index finger to make spots, using Craftsmart Bisque on the black shields and Craftsmart Khaki on the brown ones. I feathered the edges a bit with an old brush with splayed bristles. Much better!  Thank you, Phil!

Carthago renatus est! Part 2 - Cavalry, etc

When you think of Carthage, who doesn't think of Elephants?  I sure do! These are Minifigs, as is the bulk of my Carthaginian army. 

In reality they were a fairly minor aspect of the Carthaginian military, but I still built a large Elephant Corps for them, as seen above. Certainly Hannibal's greatest use of them, at the Battle of Zama, was also his biggest defeat. 

We now believe that the elephants used by Carthage were largely or exclusively the smaller, now extinct African Forrest Elephant, and that howdahs were not used. At the same time, countless images over the centuries have depicted them this way, so who am I to argue?

Portly posteriors of the ponderous pachyderms!

On the other hand, these rather plain looking troops are the famous Numidian (light) cavalry.

They were central to many of Hannibal's victories, and when the bulk of them switched sides, again at the Battle of Zama, the results were anything but good for Carthage

I made a crude "Leopardskin" cape for the Leader from paper. I got the idea from one of Charlie Sweet's Numidian units! I actually need more of these guys; surprisingly, many 25/28mm manufacturers don't seem to make them, plain as they are!

"Spanish" (Celtiberian) Light Cavalry.

Once again wearing white tunics with purple borders, and red-brown leather boots. 

The finely cast, slender  javelins have taken some wear over the past 30 years. I actually have 2 more figures of these troops who were AWOL during the photo session!

Cisalpine Gallic cavalry.

Their yellow tunics were evidently typical.

... as were the striped and checked cloaks. I had more patience painting these patterns back when, it seems!

"Spanish" (Celtiberian) Medium Cavalry. The dress of these fellows is rather similar to that of the Scutarius with their long black cloaks. 

Once again the purple and white tunics and leather boots. 

These Minifigs are cast with short lances more than spears; it's debatable if they were actually used in that fashion, though. 

Liby-Phoenician Heavy Cavalry.

These nice figures are by Ral Partha.

Yes, there actually is fairly heavy shading on their red cloaks. 

Carthaginian Noble Heavy Cavalry. 

Probably few in number, along with the Numidians, these were the creme de la creme of the Carthaginian cavalry arm!

"And their squadrons were gleaming in Purple and Gold..."

Finally, a Potpourri of Minifigs Balistae, Hannibal himself, and some Eureka Gallic leader figures.

 I definitely need more leaders and heroes for To the Strongest!

The Eureka figures are full of action, aren't they? 

Here's the entire army on the table, deployed for battle. 

Attempting more of a Cannae, it seems, despite having the Elephants out in front a la Zama!

A view from the rear.

Carthago renatus est! (Carthage is restored). 

Of course, using the language of the victors might be a clue as to who really won the 1st, 2nd,  and 3rd Punic Wars!