Trasimene - The Return Match

The Rejects reassembled at Jonathan's (Palouse Wargaming) virtual home to swap sides and refight the Battle of Trasimene.  The first ended swiftly with utter Roman humiliation in two turns and less than two hours.  So now that we all knew it and the rules a little better, how would this one play out?

Steve and I were now the Carthaginians, with me taking the defile and Hannibal.

Lee and Ray were the Romans with Lee as Flaminius and Ray in the defile (where most Rejects believe he should be!!).

Very few pictures and limited report I'm afraid  See Jonathan's post for a fuller and probably more balanced account.

Steve started by advancing his line, but without being able to successfully charge except with light horse on the right flank pushing at Roman skirmishers.  Likewise, the defile saw the heavy spears advance but failed to contact with one and saw the other pushed back by Roman light troops.

Flaminius took the opportunity to move away from the lake and form a line, making a conscious decision not to combine the heavy infantry into large units.

The start of turn two saw, what was to me, the defining moment of the game.  The Romans' were able to win the initiative.  Flaminius (Lee) quickly took the opportunity to stand his line and remove the disorder from all of his units.  This now presented quite a formidable wall of infantry in front of the Carthaginian centre and right.

Nonetheless, Steve made more advances on the far right with his light cavalry.  Perhaps even developing a future threat to the Roman flank.  In the centre, he threw his warbands against Flaminius's infantry.  The result was a little mixed.  A breach had been made in the Roman line.  However, the warbands were becoming exhausted in the process.

Meanwhile, in the defile an assault by the Carthaginian heavy spears was thrown back in utter disarray.  Ray rightly took advantage to tear forward with his heavies.  After a long attritional melee, he wiped out one heavy spear unit but was so worn down that it was pushed away by the light infantry on the far left.  However, Ray kept up the pressure and, like a juggernaut, engaged my light infantry, beat them back then turned to deal out death to my remaining heavy unit in the defile.  Fortunately, the Romans were repulsed, giving the spears a reprieve.

Hannibal's heavy spears decided to come out of reserve and advance towards Flaminius' line, having decided that the battle was going to won by the lake not in the defile.

With a concentration of skirmish shooting against Flaminius' right, things were looking less bleak for the Carthaginians.  Hannibal then advanced his Scutari into contact with Roman heavy infantry.  With their point blank weapons and capable meleeing, damage was being inflicted on Flaminius' line.  Indeed, the Roman general was pushed back to the shores of the lake... but not in it!

Flaminius, perhaps galled by the shooting and the Scutari, charged the Triarii on the Roman right to engage Hannibal and his heavy spears on our left by the hill.  The Roman infantry were beaten back, pursued then destroyed. Seizing the moment, Hannibal took the fight to the medium cavalry emerging  from the defile by the lake. The combat was deadly, forcing the cavalry off the battlefield.

With Hannibal's triumphant advance, the battle was won. Rome was defeated... but it was a close battle.

Final thoughts
The Romans played a good game. In winning the initiative at the beginning of turn 2 the game swung heavily in their favour, reinforced by their successes in the defile and in re-ordering the line along the lake shore.  With their good organisation and successes in the defile, it really looked like a Roman victory was developing.

The Carthaginian Scutari caused a lot of damage on the Roman infantry.  Plus, using the ranged weapons of the skirmishers and light infantry induced disorder and a nervous tension in Flaminius' line.

At the key moment, Hannibal and his heavy infantry was at the right place at the right time to receive Flaminius' attack by the Triarii, and to then follow through.

The Romans, Lee and Ray, played well and took good advantage of the turn two initiative win.  However, good and timely dice rolls were more evenly distributed this time.

At three turns and around two and a half hours of play, this was a longer game.  It was also a more balanced one with more consideration and reflection required by the players.  A close and intriguing encounter.

Well done Jonathan.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

Swift and Brutal... The Battle of Trasimene AAR

Jonathan Freitag of Palouse Wargaming hosted the Rejects in playing the Battle of Trasimene.  Hop over to his blog to get a fuller and better balanced report.

The title "swift and brutal" aptly describes the game and my part in it.

Steve and I were the Romans, with Steve as Flaminius and the vanguard under my command.

Lee and Ray commanded the Carthaginians.

The start of the battle.

Flaminius, having survived the initial attacks out of the mist was able to organise some sort of defence.  Meanwhile, the vanguard was being squeezed in the defile showing an inability to respond.

Flaminius made a bold move to damage Hannibal's centre...

... made a breakthrough...

... and ended up back where he started after being repulsed!
Meanwhile the vanguard took the fight to the Carthaginians and faltered.  In response, Hannibal's heavy spears charged, and won, and pursued, and won, and pursued and won, and.... well you get the idea.

And so, with only two turns played the Romans suffered a swift and brutal defeat.

Steve as Flaminius played well.  Alas, I did not do so in the defile.  Kudos to the Carthaginians.

A quick but entertaining evening of remote gaming.  Well done and thank you Jonathan.

Next week we will swap sides and once again enjoy Jonathan's fine company as host and umpire.

Basic Impetus Novice Meets Chariot Wars

Jonathan of Palouse Wargaming Journal invited the Rejects to an online game to dip our toes into the waters of Basic Impetus.  The outing was to be an Egyptian/Hittite clash.

The Hittites are closest on the photos (screenshots), with me and Steve commanding.  At the other end are the Pharaoh's boys led by Lee, Ray and Surjit.

As a complete novice, I have to confess to paying more attention to the rules than the action.  So, what follows is a brief resumé.

Both sides rubble towards each other.  The dust clouds representing the moving chariots.

The Pharaoh's chariots smash into the Hittite chariots on the left.

Ray, the Pharaoh, rolled beyond the laws of probability all evening and pushed the Hittite left back.

... and back

... and back. 

... and back.
The only consolation was that the Pharaoh was now isolated and damaged.

The chariots on the Hittite right now sought to clear the Egyptian skirmishers and push at their chariots.

But found themselves thrown back instead.
Meanwhile, Steve on the Hittite left turned his spears and dispatched the Pharaoh.

The centre seemed to be settling into a jockey for position with archery fire being utilised to damage the opponent.

The Hittite commander trundled forward in the centre and got pulses racing with his ten dice in combat.

The Egyptians set forth to break the Hittite right with a chariot charge which pushed back skirmishers, but then found itself at the sharp end of Hittite long spears...

... before being impaled and destroyed.  We were all learning that chariots are good but quickly exhausted without support.
On the Hittite left, Steve's Pharaoh killing spearmen now cast their eyes on Rays last chariot unit.

... and made it disappear!

With that final murderous blow, the Hittites gained a victory.

What the novice learned.

After Ray's incredible and dramatic action in breaking the Hittite chariots on the left, I thought the game was up. However, there were some further lessons to learn.

• Keeping control, especially of chariots, is difficult but is the key.  Pursuit can be very fruitful, but will leave those units damaged and vulnerable if isolated.
• Skirmishers are actually very useful if handled well to absorb shooting, or to evade and draw enemy onto better troops behind where supported lines may hold an advantage.
• It never occurred to me that infantry could charge chariots.  This just adds to the need for care and judicious use of these expensive units.
• Despite Ray's extraordinary dice rolling throughout, once isolated the Pharaoh was in danger, and average rolls were sufficient.
• Basic Impetus games can turn quickly.
• Basic Impetus seems to provide fast and entertaining games.

I am sure there is more to learn, but this is a start.

Thank you to Jonathan, who will no doubt produce his usual exemplary narrative on this clash, for an excellent and informative evening.