Fourth Battle of Lake Trasimene

[Jon Freitag]

Yet another replaying of this battle with a different foursome of players and a much different result.

Full battle report at 4th Trasimene
Getting some good mileage out of this battle with more refights on the docket.

[Imperial Dave]

must be time to buy some scuba gear then?

[Keraunos]

More like a dredger to deal with the quantity of armour going into the Lake!

[Imperial Dave]

 

[Jon Freitag]

More like a dredger to deal with the quantity of armour going into the Lake!

I wonder if there has been an underwater archeological study at Lake Trasimene.  A study producing artifacts may help pinpoint the location of the battle or, perhaps, dispel myths.

[Erpingham]

A quick google revealed this

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318815415_First_results_of_waterborne_geophysical_surveys_around_the_Malpasso_site_Tuoro_sul_Trasimeno_Italy_for_geological_and_archaeological_characterization

I haven't read, though.

[dwkay57]

Interesting that in the last two re-fights the melees in the defile went in favour of the Carthagians, whereas I think the earlier ones went in favour of the Romans (just about). Did you identify any particular reasons (other than dice rolls) for this Jon?

[Jon Freitag]

David, you make an astute observation and ask a very good question.

In the first two games, the Romans essentially cleared the mouth of the defile of any Carthaginian defenders.  Seeing this potential weakness, the Carthaginian players in Games #3 and #4 adapted to seal the defile.  In Game #3, this was accomplished by reinforcing the defenders with one more heavy infantry formation and attacking aggressively.   In Game #4, this was accomplished by attacking aggressively and watching the opponent fold like a cheap shirt.  Really, Carthage may have held the defile with a single light infantry the way in which the Roman Van operated.  Dice played a very big role in Game #4.  With better Roman resistance, would Game #4 have developed similarly to Game #3?  More games coming up to test that theory.     

[dwkay57]

What sneaky Carthaginians 

Based on the earlier battle results, as a Roman, I would have had confidence that my troops in the defile could have at least held their positions, allowing me to potentially divert some of them to support the men by the lake.

[Jon Freitag]

What sneaky Carthaginians 

Based on the earlier battle results, as a Roman, I would have had confidence that my troops in the defile could have at least held their positions, allowing me to potentially divert some of them to support the men by the lake.

With such a bottleneck in the defile, redirecting at least two, closest units back to the lake seems a reasonable play.  As the Roman player in the game later today, I will see if this can be pulled off successfully.  I face a sneaky Carthaginian opponent, however.