To this end I brought four green cohorts and one Auxiliary cohort supported by archers and the Lanciarii, I weighed the cavalry arm with cataphracts, Contarii and horse archers, these were to be my strike force. Kevin brought his usual line up of African spearmen, a small Italian contingent and his huge Gaul warband, supported by javelins, archers and several cavalry units, all inferior to my own in weight. I believe he is going to paint up more of the allies but everything takes time, he also has a Pyrrhic army in his sights.
I deployed with a rather weak right which I intended to retire if need be, a solid centre of legionaries and all my heavy cavalry on my left as the ground there was more open. The enemy had a strong left and centre but the right was very weak and open, it looked like I would have to follow my plan as things looked decidedly dodgy on my right.
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| Rome on the left, Carthage on the right. |
Kevin immediately saw the danger and turned several large spear units towards his right while removing his cavalry on that flank from my advancing heavies, the advance of his centre was soon in trouble as the Lanciarii and the cataphracts turned in to threaten his phalanx. On his left he again advanced quickly but left his Italians in the rear as a reserve, although my archers ran from a cavalry charge they were in turn destroyed by my massed archers, they then sent the javelins packing. It now looked like I could hold the right, I was sure my Auxiliaries would stop the warband long enough for the Praetorians to flank them, things were looking very good for the Thunderbolts, all was going to plan.
Kevin's archers on my left became a real pain, they fled but returned, so I had to keep my horse archers out of the battle to counter this, as they had been reduced in numbers it also meant I had to send the Lanciarii to help. Sure enough in the first clash Cohors I and the cataphracts destroyed one phalanx, the cohort then went on to hit another, this time the Contarii charged in, I was looking for another swift kill, but it didn't happen, it was a tough struggle although I eventually won, very displeased with the Contarii who, over several rounds only killed one man I think. No big deal but the Legion seemed at this point to give up trying as I had been heaping praise on them, but although the writing was on the wall the Carthaginians were not giving up easy.
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| Carthaginian centre begins to crumble. |
On my right the Gauls turned the tables on the Auxiliaries who had been beating them, the Praetorians were prevented from joining the fight as they had to take care of some enemy cavalry. This gave the Gauls the time to defeat and pursue the Auxiliaries, Kevin now advanced his Italians and the Praetorians found themselves staring at flank attacks, they failed one charge due to the rough ground, I got the chance to send them in again and this time they made it, however they had to beat the Italians pronto to prevent the Gauls hitting them in the rear, they did not, I had lost the right flank.
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| Roman right in trouble. |
In the centre however Cohors II and the archers were within a move of finishing off yet another fearsome fighting phalanx who stood magnificently despite being flanked, the rest of the army were about to overwhelm the last Carthaginian unit in the centre when we called it a day. I was more than pleased with the way I handled the army, my luck certainly seemed to drain away in the second half of the game though but we eventually won through after some very heavy fighting. Despite being hit in the flanks those phalanxes put up a desperate defence.
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| It's all over. |
The result was fairly close but that is, I feel, misleading and was the result of some fortuitous dice rolling. It could and perhaps should have been over in a couple of hours. In the hands of a competent general - and George is certainly that - the Roman army on display yesterday simply cannot be beaten by any of my armies at least not without a huge slice of good luck. The Carthaginian African trained phalanx probably have the edge on most of the Roman infantry but it's a slight edge and in a stand up fight it's likely to be a hard slog. But the remainder of the army - perhaps with the exception of the warband - is outclassed and the Romans have a massive advantage in two key areas that effectively determine (or rather limit) Carthaginian tactics. The Carthaginians are forced to send their infantry in early because the army is outgunned in missiles, 16 skirmish archers against Roman skirmish archers, horse archers and a 24 man archer unit capable of mass shooting. If the Carthaginians hold back they slowly but surely get shot to bits. But when they attack they have nothing on the flanks that can hold up the Roman heavy cavalry with kontos and Roman cataphracts. Carthaginian cavalry armed with javelins and spears and with AV 2 or 3 are mincemeat for AV 4 and AV 5 units armed with lances. So, either before they engage the Roman infantry or soon after the African spearmen are hit on the flank or rear and lose the phalanx bonus and then it's only a matter of time. I posted long ago after the repeated destruction of my Greeks that the Roman army fielded gets too much bang for its bucks. At the risk of being branded a sore loser I remain of that opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe EIR army is very versatile. The Carthaginians do have the choice of lots of missile skirmishers, also light cavalry, granted mainly javelin armed, but dangerous nonetheless and the elephants have yet to turn up. Yesterday was the first time the cataphracts made an appearance. Both the Carthaginians and the Greeks are tough opponents for Rome.
DeleteFine looking game and interesting AAR George. Interesting to read you opposite number’s assessment too.
ReplyDeleteI used both desert mats for the first time and it suited the armies, it did look good thanks. I think there is a fear factor with units like cataphracts, elephants, chariots etc. which certainly helps. The cataphracts only charged once and got a flank, the Contarii hardly killed anyone in their fight and I had to give them heavy armour as most of the time they get into scrapes they either lose or come out with two men and a dog. Such is wargaming. It is always good to hear the tale from the other side.
DeleteGeorge makes a valid point regarding the cataphracts and Contarii but with respect it misses in my opinion the point. The very presence of such formidable units necessarily impacts on the opponent's tactical decisions. After all, I can't assume the Contarii are going to roll bad dice. George says rightly the cataphracts only made one charge but that's largely because my cavalry knew it would be trounced and avoided contact. It meant inevitably my flanks would be exposed. I can't see George's point that the Carthaginians have the choice of lots of missile skirmishers. Rob's list limits them to less than parity with other skirmishers so to field a decent number of archers and slingers I would have to field a vast number of skirmishers.
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is (again in my opinion) a deeper one that army lists make sense horizontally but not vertically. The Carthagian army was intended to fight republican Romans. If Hannibal had been confronted by massed archers, cataphracts and heavy cavalry with lances I think it's pretty obvious he would quickly have equipped his army or hired mercenaries to match them. If you have a points cost for say a cataphract that makes sense in 250 AD you can't sensibly in my view transport him back to fight an army of 250 BC and him still cost the same. History is full of examples of technologically superior armies making mincemeat of huge numbers of more primitive armies. Rant over!
You certainly cannot beat fighting in period.
DeleteTop looking game George!
ReplyDeleteWAC always gives a good if frustrating battle at times, and as I have said before we are spoiled with figures and so many talented painters.
DeleteAnother epic struggle, go Thunderbolts.
ReplyDelete