Battle of Secutium River

Tuesday was my day off and I decided to make the most of the free time to play a solo game with my Punic War forces. I have recently been reorganising my Carthaginian army and during the painting challenge, I added several Gaul and Iberian units to the collection so it was high time these were played with. I also recently bought a new gridded game mat from DeepCut Studios and this was an excellent opportunity to christen it in battle.

The Setup

This game is a fictional battle set on the banks of the Secutium River somewhere in northern Italy. Both armies came in at 200 points apiece so this was going to be a relatively large game and more importantly it was going to be played solo. To add a certain level of 'automation' to my non-existent opponent controlling the Romans I decided to randomise the deployment of the cavalry command so it could have been on either the left or right flank. I also diced to determine the level of 'aggression' the Roman army would show in their actions. Would they be cautious and stand on the defensive; move forward timidly or press forward in a full-throated attack? After that, it felt like most of the Roman actions would be determined by the circumstances on the ground; ie who was attacking them, who was the priority target for missiles etc. Whenever it felt like there was a split decision I rolled dice to pick an action but for most of the game, the Romans were reacting to the Carthaginian plan. 

As before I have used 10 sided dice rather than cards to determine activation, partly because I prefer dice but also because at this scale there just isn't space on the games table for playing cards.

Order of Battle
Carthaginian Army c/o Hannibal Barca
1st Command
    General Senior/Brilliant
    3x Punic Cavalry (1 with Hero Attached)
    1x Punic Cavalry (Veteran)
2nd Command
    General
    4x African Spearmen (3 with Attached Hero's)
    2x Iberian Scutarii (Veteran)
    2x African Elephants
    2x African Skirmishers
    Camp
3rd Command
    General
    3x Gauls (with attached Hero's)
    2x Gauls (Veteran)

Roman Army c/o Claudius Marcellus 
1st Command
    General  Senior/Brilliant
    2x Equites Romani
    2x Equites Latini
    1x Equites Extraordinarii
2nd Command
    General
    3x Velites
    3x Hastati/Principes (1 with Hero Attached)
    3x Triarii
    1x Ballistarii
3rd Command
    General
    2x Velites
    3x Hastati/Principes
    3x Triarii


The Action

Initial deployment. Both cavalry commands face off against each other with woods restricting their movement somewhat. The Carthaginians have weighted their right flank with their veteran Gaulish allies and in the centre, the elephants prepare to advance. The Romans are deployed in their deep formation with a screen of Velites out front. 

The triple line of the Roman maniples with light infantry out front. The line exchange rules make the Hestati/Principes a tough egg to crack. 

The Punic cavalry moves forwards. On paper, they are outclassed by the Roman cavalry but both the Carthaginians and the Romans have attached their senior generals here. 

An early setback for the Carthaginians as the first unit to test in the centre command rolls a one and can make no further actions this turn. 

The third command, the Gauls, have better dice and begin to advance. I deliberately advance slowly to give the elephants time to cross the field to the Roman lines. 

The Romans open their moves by sending the Velites forward to throw their Javelins at my troops. A perfect set of dice allows these two units to cross the field and deliver a volley of pointy sticks at my troops. Thankfully my saving rolls are good and I don't take any disordered markers at this early stage of the game. 

The Cavalry of both sides slam into each other and melee back and forth for most of the battle. Disordered units have a red token on them but I'll get a chance to attempt a Rally in my turn. 

In the centre, all the light infantry are busy exchanging Javelins but with a relatively light outcome. One unit of Gauls is disordered but thankfully little else. The Velites should have withdrawn at this point but failed to do so and several were destroyed ceding victory points to the Carthaginians. 

Now the Carthaginian Elephants slam into the Roman lines. Despite getting an extra attack dice in the first turn of melee they fail to break the maniples. However, some of the Hestati have had to fall back and exchange with the Principes behind them, prompting a hail of Pilum at the Elephants.  

Pressure on the centre continues but good Rally checks save the Roman line on several occasions. 

My African Spearmen now approach ready to exploit any break in the Roman lines...maybe a little too close to those elephants? 

Oh dear. One of the Elephant units is destroyed, but not before rampaging back through one of the veteran Spearmen units disordering it.

A bitter blow but also a lesson to be learned!

The Cavalry clash is heating up. One of the Punic Cavalry units has broken through and hit the Equites behind. The roman unit is destroyed and the commander, the attached general is killed! The victory points are stacking up on the Carthaginian side, but so are disordered markers.

The Gauls are now in contact with the Roman lines and have destroyed one of the Hastati/Principes units. When the Romans have "Gone to the Triarii" things are looking bleak. 

Meanwhile, the victorious Punic cavalry has turned around and hit the remaining Romans units in the rear. Lucky Rally checks have kept the remaining Punic Cavalry in the fight and now the Roman Equities are feeling the pressure. 

The Gauls sweep aside another Hastati/Principes and the Roman flank starts to turn as the last Roman victory medals are won by the Carthaginians. The Roman Army withdraws from the field defeated. 

Analysis

Despite playing solo I was able to get this whole game completed in about 2 hours. I set up the night before to save a little time but the rules play fast and I was comfortably able to complete the game and get everything back in their storage units by lunchtime. I need to recheck some of the rules before I play again because I'm sure I got a couple of things wrong. I really need to play more often and I'm determined to do just that over coming months.