Hello and welcome to the last battle in my solo mini campaign. With the loss of their Spanish capital the Carthaginian army was forced to retreat inland hoping to link up with the garrisons of Castulo and Liturgi. This turned out to be a long and arduous march beset with attacks from local tribes who were looking to revenge past years of subjugation. The Roman army for its part, planned to catch and destroy the demoralized Carthaginian army before it could be reinforced. However, the Romans found the locals just as hostile, and were forced to fight their way inland.

Historical records lost to time

Historical facts on this battle are a little hard to come by(*). All we know is the Roman army caught up with the Carthaginians some 15miles short of Liturgi. Both armies drew up in line of battle on a small plain with no distinguishing features other than a group of trees and small patch of ruff ground.

*I have already fought this battle two times now. Both times I failed to write AAR or indeed, write anything down about either game at all. I do know, the results were basically the same in both contests. What follows was gleaned from the only photos left on my hard drive

Carthage begins the battle by pushing all of it’s light troops forward. Numidian skirmishers move into the rough ground on the left. A short exchange of missile fire here, sees both sides take casualties and fall into disorder. Much the same unfolds in the center as Numidian cavalry rush forward and pepper the Roman lines with their javelins. A single unit of velites tries their best to discourage the light horsemen.

On the right two large blocks of warriors thread their way slowly through the woods. Its tough going and they quickly lose cohesion. The Romans counter this move by sending forward a strong contingent of velites.

▲Massed Gallic warbands move through the woods▲

▲Veteran spearman move forward on the left▲

▲Numidian cavalry harass the main Roman battle line▲

▲Roman cavalry avoid the rough going on their right flank▲

The Numidian cavalry can do little to damage the steadily advancing legionnaires and are forced to fall back. On the left the Roman light troops disperse an element of skirmishers clearing the way for their cavalry to move forward. On the right the Gauls start to clear the wood pushing back the velites before them.

▲The heavy infantry clash on the road near the woods▲

▲The Roman cavalry continue to push forward▲

▲Crashing through the trees the Gauls burst onto the Romans▲

The Gauls push their attack on the far right of the Carthaginian line. Unfortunately their supporting spearmen clash with the Roman heavy infantry on the road. The Romans throw their pilums and charge shattering the disordered Carthaginian spearmen. The story is repeated on the opposite flank as two well disciplined units of Triarii butcher the confused mess of enemy infantry before them. This proves to much for the remaining Carthaginian units and the army falls apart.

▲A lone unit of Numidian horse tries to hold the Roman center at bay▲

▲The Roman cavalry continue to push forward▲

▲Disaster on the left for the Carthaginians as all their heavy infantry fall to the Roman onslaught ▲

▲The Carthaginian cavalry regroup but, can do little to save the day▲

▲With the battle lost the Gauls make their escape▲

Well there you have it. This was a total crushing for the Carthaginians and as a result Rome wins the Campaign. I did use the time clock for this game but failed to record what was rolled. To be honest the clock played little roll in all but, one of the games and would have made no impact on this game either.

If I remember rightly my first play through of this was over just as quickly.

All in all I really enjoyed messing about with the whole idea of stringing games together in a campaign setting. Next time I think I’ll give it a go with my newly acquired Triumph rule set and see how that plays out.