DBA Battle(s) of the River Vulumenous

[has.been]

We (Macksmechas, Vodkafan & I)  managed two DBA games (& 3 Battle of the
Little Big Horn games).
First up was Macksmechas (M) as Republican Roman & Vodkafan (V) as Carthaginians.
163= Roman deployment
164=Note Romans deciding to not make use of the available high ground
165=They also must have been very worried about their Camp, they deployed
        all the Triari to help defend it. Well it wasn't finished yet. 
166 & 167= Carthaginian deployment. Note the Spanish Auxillia in the wood.
                   A good place for Auxillia. They obviously agreed, as the stayed in
                   that self same spot the whole game. V was prompted to move them
                   many times by the very nice umpire (Me  ) but said, 'I have enough
                    troops to beat those Romans without them'
168= Romans seem to need some traffic police. Troops moving all over the place!
169=The most mobile Roman troops, their Cavalry, stuck at the back of the traffic jam.

[has.been]

170= Punic General (V) reaches the river & tests the water.
         Very difficult was the result. 'Buggers my plan then' he said.
         Leaving the more expendable Numidians to pin the Triari he
         wheels to his right & leads the heavy cavalry towards the Romans.
         (Didn't want to risk his general in that torrent of a River)
171=The battle will be on the plain.
172=Balearic slingers managed to get caught & despite holding out for a move
        (M threw 1 & V threw 6 !!!!) they were too far ahead of the Punic heavies,
         & fell beneath Roman steel.
173= Carthaginian heavies advance, but too late. Told you.
174= Legionaries brace themselves to face the enemy heavy cavalry charge.
175= Punic Treachery!  Gauls attack from the flank.
176= Meanwhile the Numidians were busy tying down the Triari & almost
         succeeded in slipping past them & on to the camp.

BUT it was at this point Hannibal Barcode went onto the flank of the Legion in
search of victory. If you are quiet you can almost hear the god Jove chuckle.
V then threw several horrendous scores. Forced to recoil, which forced him into
the river! He then...drowned
That, the dead slingers & the lack of Roman casualties meant a Roman VICTORY 
None more surprised than the Consul (M), but it didn't stop him writing to the
Senate to say how his wonderful battle plan had worked.

         

[has.been]

Game two. As is our practice the players changed sides & tried to
show their opponent how it should be done.

177= The Roman battle plan seemed to be to make the enemy dizzy,
         by crossing & re-crossing the river several times.
178=Punic plans were simpler...Advance, slowly, but advance.
179='Right lads! Back across the River' 'Wot de one we've just crossed?'
180=Meanwhile, further down the River, on the opposite bank...
        'Right lads! Back across the River' 'Wot de one we've just crossed?'
        One theory postulated was the the Consul originally had the map
        the wrong way up.
181=The Numidian light cavalry gallop forward to harry the retreating Romans.
182= They slow the withdrawal enough to allow the Boss to bring up the
        heavy cavalry.
183= 'OK men. We take out these three isolated bases then we only need
         one more for victory.'
184=To ensure victory he manages to get an elephant onto the Roman flank.
        What could possibly go wrong?  Well the Legionaries refuse to realise
        the situation is hopeless & not only hold one Numidian unit, but
        force the other to flee. That makes the elephant withdraw. The General
        is now facing three units of blades by himself. All he has to do is hold
        out for a move (not throw rubbish dice) If you are quiet you can hear
        Jove chuckling. A Punic throw of one & the commander falls. Not a day
        to be from North Africa.

Two enjoyable games, both played in the right spirit. Thanks lads.

[Shahbahraz]

The dice gods are Roman it would seem.

[has.been]

So it seemed.

[vodkafan]

Here are my pics and battle report.
GAME 1.
 I am Hannibal Barcode commander of the Carthage Punitive Expeditionary Force.
Here is one half of my army


And here is the other half with all my cavalry and Light horse in one fast moving unit.


Here is today's Roman army I am facing. I cannot believe my luck- His Equites are boxed in behind the foot legionaries between high ground and the river.


I advance my heavy  foot troops ponderously in plain sight to make The Romans think the main thrust is coming in the centre


But in reality the Carthaginian plan is to race across the river and take his base. It is guarded by 2 bases of Triari but the odds are good. I could win the battle right there without engaging his main force! In my hurry to get started I don't have enough command points to advance the Auxiliaries, so they get left behind without orders and forgotten.

In a state of exhilaration we drive the horses hard towards the river


Meanwhile my foot troops jeer and goad the Romans, who are deploying slowly from their funnelled starting position


Carthage Cavalry reach the river. We find out only now the river is a fast flowing torrent, (determined by D6) the Numidian ponies of the Light horse refuse at the first attempt (another D6 test).


Hannibal changes plan. With hurried orders to the Numidians to do what they can to take the camp but avoid the Triari, Hannibal changes direction and takes the heavy cavalry off to join the main battle


He arrives at a crucial time. Both sides have been edging forward and with the Roman cavalry still not free to manoeuvre, the balance now tips slightly in favour of Carthage, if I can hit quickly!


The Romans turn to face the new threat of cavalry, but open up gaps in their line in the process. They are in penny packets all over the place.


I have to get in quickly. I rush in some Psiloi. They fight well for a turn but are quickly surrounded

Heavy troops are coming to help, but the slingers are whelmed by superior numbers and destroyed


Meanwhile the Numidians manage to cross the river but the Roman troops are fully ready for them and things go badly

 

Half of them thrown back into the river and the other half  in a deadly fight. The Roman slaves in the camp carry on their cooking duties unconcerned. Dinner will be on time it seems...

Hannibals cavalry connects with the Roman line which has to fragment still more to deal with a wild flank charge of Gallic Warband.

Initially there is success. 1 base of Romans are hacked to pieces.


In another part of the battle Carthage spears prepare to avenge their lost Psiloi brothers




Back to Hannibal. It's two bases of cavalry versus 1 base of desperate legionaries:


Then suddenly unbelievably it is all over. The cavalry is thrown back  and Hannibal, with his back to the river, fails the dice throw and is drowned. The  Dice Gods are indeed Roman today.

Game two coming soon!

[has.been]

Always interested in your view of the battles James,
& your pictures from the other side of the table are very nice too.
I look forward to your write up of the second battle.

[vodkafan]

GAME 2

Chris and I switch sides so now I am the Romans. Here is the bulk of my army facing the Carthaginian line up. We both placed our base camps in the same respective places as in the last game.

I put out some Velites to test the state of the river. It's crossable without much difficulty.

Is it my imagination or does Hannibal look rather mean today?


My Roman commander suddenly thinks: Why have I deployed out here in the open? I am supposed to be defending. I should be behind the river. Let Carthage have the whole battlefield and I will make a ring of iron around the camp and let him come to me!
(It is a shame this plan only came to me after I had already decided a different deployment)
I took advantage of a full 6 points command die role to form a column of as many units as I could and started moving without delay to the river.


The Velites are across


I shout back "Yes Gluteus Maximus you form a rearguard and join us later! No this is really NOT running! it's a change of plan!"

The enemy is quite nonplussed by my (ahem) cunning ploy. His Light horse rush forward but don't quite have the distance to make contact.  The rearmost men in the column can almost feel the Numidian horses' breath on their backs!

I dare not look back.

My dangling arses-in-the-breeze Velites distract the attention of Hannibal's heavy cavalry. An unintentional happy outcome of my original abandoned plan.

I leave them out there for another turn and then they leg it.


The rearguard has formed a battle line. The Carthage light horse is reluctant to attack it. Like the Germans at Dunkirk, they are halted while other elements of the army catch up. It must be said I am aided by very poor command roles by the Carthage player for a couple of turns, he only gets to move a couple of units at a time.

still, I am wondering how I will explain this in the Senate.

The Carthage army moves up


Bulk of my army is safe

But Hannibal is licking his lips at the prospect of rolling over my rearguard which is 25% of my army.

I throw back an initial attack by his Numidians.
I turn back with 2 lines of legionaries  from the river column to attack his cavalry in the flank.

So I now have 5 bases of legionaries in the battle.

This battle rages on for 3 turns! One side is pushed back and then the other but the Legionaries never break.

I rout one base of Light horse.

 The Romans even push back an elephant at one point!
When things look sticky I start to bring the rest of the Roman army back across the river

Then suddenly it happens. Hannibal is dead. A risk of having the commander in the battle line for an extended time.

I win the battle with no Roman losses and Hanibal's head on a pole.







 

[vodkafan]

Many thanks to has.been for putting on the games, giving us both impartial advice during, and for liberally supplying food and drink.
This last game broke my run of bad DBA luck! I had lost the previous 9 DBA games  in a row.

[has.been]

Thanks for posting James. I really must get started on my Goth DBA army,
as my spies tell me you are progressing fast with the Huns.

[vodkafan]

Thanks for posting James. I really must get started on my Goth DBA army,
as my spies tell me you are progressing fast with the Huns.

Your spies are misinformed, I could be going faster...

[has.been]

Your spies are misinformed, I could be going faster...

Still beats my Dead Stop.

[levied troop]

The Senate will be content
Good report and some excellent painting - I do like a bit of DBA.

[has.been]

Thanks LT. so do we.
It gives a quick game & as long as you don't play rules lawyers it is fun.
Two games in under three hours & that included a lot of chat too.