Punic Wars - Armati campign week 1



The first move of the campaign saw the Carthaginians launch an attack into Cisapline-Gaul, beating the Roman's to the punch who had planned to attack from that province themselves.

The battlefield was a flat plain, with some low rises at one end of the  field that had little effect on the conduct of the game.

In Armati terms this was a 130 point battle with both sides having a break-point of 5 key units.



The reinforcements cards left the Roman's with an army consistently primarily of heavy infantry with Triarii and some gladiators in support. The Carthaginians had a more balance force of infantry and cavalry at their disposal.



The initial deployments

Fearing they would be rapidly outflanked the Romans deployed their infantry wide in the centre to broaden their front. One flank as supported by the manoeuvrable Triarii and the other by infantry / the gladiators. The wide deployment was a risk as the Punic forces contained several units of Celts.

The Carthaginian commander deployed the weaker Celts between units of more reliable African troops and balanced his cavalry between the wings, seeking an advantage on one flank.

Roman main line stands ready

The Romans began with a steady advance across the field towards the Carthaginian lines, with flanking units held back. The Punic forces responded by pushing forward with their mounted troops. On their left they tried a wide arcing movement to outflank the Triarii, whilst on the right they stayed close-in hoping to protect the flank of Hannibal's veterans who occupied the end of the line.

Punic and Celtic infantry

As the main lines clashed the Punic cavalry on the right broken the gladiators but became bogged-down in a fight with the flank guards. On the right one unit of Celtic cavalry was mauled by the Triarii but the other was able to outflank the Roman line. They had however been forced to go quite wide and so risked being unable to make it back before the main melee in the centre.

Celtic Horse

 In the centre the Carthaginian infantry proved better than expected with the Celts breaking one of the Roman units deployed in width. About half way through the game the Carthaginians were ahead and looked to have a real chance for a win despite the flank attacks having not yet materialised.

Veteran Triarii

As we entered the end-game the Carthaginians were 3-1 up against the Romans needing only 2 more kills to win. 3-1 became 4-2 in the centre of the battle fields but then they suffered a reverse. On the right the Punic cavalry became Tired and this resulted in them and their accompanying general both perishing to make it 4-4. Loss of initiate at the crucial moment left them vulnerable and the Romans were able to kill an exhausted unit of Celts to claim a 5-4 win.

African veterans

So Roman managed to hold Cisapline-Gaul with a narrow win. Given the army lists Carthage probably should have been able to out manoeuvred the Romans on the flanks and attack them behind, but they deployed their cavalry a little too close to the main lines thereby meaning they were dragged-into fighting the flank guards.