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Ilipa takes to the field aonce again.  This time, the battle is a rematch with four of the five previous players coming back for more.

The battle opened in a similar fashion to the first game.  That is, the two lines slowly closed the distance while skirmishers deployed ahead of the main battle line harassed their opposition.  Roman Velites on both wings were very effective in driving off Carthaginian elephants from each wing.  To stabilize the Carthaginian Left, Spanish cavalry attack.  They too are driven off.

Seeing these early reverses, Hasdrubal presses on by launching an attack with a warband against Scipio's Legion.  The legionaries stand firm and the warband is repulsed.  Still, the warband provides time for Hasdrubal to bring his heavily armored spearmen up to the front.  Hasdrubal follows-up by sending Spanish infantry in against the Roman Center.  His Spanish hesitate and fail to close with the enemy.

Seeing Spanish Scutarii caught in No Man's Land between the main battle lines, Marcius strikes!  The force of the legion bearing down upon the light infantry is too much.  They turn and flee.  Marcius (David B) orders his legion to pursue.  They oblige.  The legionaries plow into the adjacent warband.  They, too, are overpowered and retire.  Bloodlusted by their success, David's Romans press on, catching the retiring warband.  The warband turns and flees.  Still the Romans advance.  Is there no stopping them?  Not yet!  Next victim is a hapless unit of skirmishers.  They are easily overpowered and scatter.  With the Carthaginian Center hollowing out, David's Ever Victorious Legionaries turn to strike the elephant from the rear.  With escape route blocked, the rampaging elephant is dispatched.

Witnessing all of this destruction to its front and its own chance for glory slipping away, the other half of Marcius' (David's) legion moves into action.  They attack the Spanish light infantry that were supporting the elephant.  In all of the chaos, the Spanish turn with their back to the enemy and flee.  The Carthaginian Right is no more!

Having witnessed his right and center ripped to shreds, Hasdrubal attempts to salvage the dire situation by sending his heavy infantry in against Scipio's legion.  They are repulsed!  Sensing complete victory is only one charge away, the Romans in the center throw volleys of javelins into the remaining Spanish Scutarii in the center.  With the Spanish in disorder, a warband charges in to deliver the coup de grace.  Unfortunately for the warband, the Spanish are made of sterner stuff.  The warband's attack is repulsed. 

With his right completely in shambles and his flank turned, Hasdrubal orders his army to retire.
Victory to the Romans! A convincing victory it was too.

Full battle report with many captioned game photos illustrating the action can be found on Palouse Wargaming Journal at Ilipa Again, Again.

And once again,very good it is too Jon

Thanks, Dave!  You may be the only one reading these...

[/quote]

Quote from: Jon Freitag on September 18, 2023, 10:47:41 PMThanks, Dave!  You may be the only one reading these...

...oh no, he isn't.....🙂

Good!

Quote

Quote from: Jon Freitag on September 18, 2023, 10:47:41 PMThanks, Dave!  You may be the only one reading these...

...oh no, he isn't.....🙂

I could go on but it's not panto season yet

Quote from: Imperial Dave on September 19, 2023, 06:32:53 AMI could go on but it's not panto season yet

Thank goodness.

Spoilsport 

Having reread the blog posts, one thing that strikes me is how well documented the battles are. Lovely pics, AND a very clear recollection of what units did what and when. Admirably done 👍🏼👍🏼.

(Personally, my own reports are scant on detail, as after the event it can be hard to recall just what happened...the Duke's 'history of a ball' springs to mind).

I agree Martin (the bit about Jon, not your own self flagellations)

Quote from: Martin Smith on September 20, 2023, 09:29:25 AMHaving reread the blog posts, one thing that strikes me is how well documented the battles are. Lovely pics, AND a very clear recollection of what units did what and when. Admirably done 👍🏼👍🏼.

Very kind, Martin!  For me, battle reporting is hard work, made easier with comments like yours.  I often wonder if the reports are actually worth the effort.

Quote from: Jon Freitag on September 18, 2023, 10:47:41 PMThanks, Dave!  You may be the only one reading these...

I think reading statistics are kept somewhere, they certainly appear when you click on pictures as links. But one problem is that many folks read an article and that's that.
I recently posted about Asian hornets on our 'neighbourhood' forum thingy and had about a dozen replies/requests for more info and 19 reaction emojies(?) when after about 48 hours the site emailed me to say it was one of the highest recent 'trending'(whatever that is supposed to mean) posts with 2600 hits. My first reaction was total disbelief of the figure but my wife was out yesterday across town and was told by several people quite unconnected with beekeeping that they had seen my post. I may still write to 'More or Less' and ask them to check.

QuoteI often wonder if the reports are actually worth the effort.

Well, I always make a bee-line (that's for you Ian  ) for you new posts Jon. I will confess, while I recognise the economy in your repeat playings with different audiences, I'm not usually tempted to read the repeats. But others clearly are.  Given your achievements in creating an international gaming network for remote games, I do sometimes worry you may have burdened yourself with having to ensure everyones "go" at the scenario is fully reported and so your reports are harder work.  But maybe that ain't so?

Quote from: Erpingham on September 20, 2023, 04:53:17 PM

QuoteI often wonder if the reports are actually worth the effort.

Well, I always make a bee-line (that's for you Ian  ) for you new posts Jon. I will confess, while I recognise the economy in your repeat playings with different audiences, I'm not usually tempted to read the repeats. But others clearly are.  Given your achievements in creating an international gaming network for remote games, I do sometimes worry you may have burdened yourself with having to ensure everyones "go" at the scenario is fully reported and so your reports are harder work.  But maybe that ain't so?

Interesting stuff can occur in these repeated playings not seen in the first game.  I certainly see and appreciate your position that reading follow-up reports on the same battle can produce diminishing returns. For the players in these games, this does not hold since the game in which they participate is usually the most valued.  Often these players read the other versions to see if they performed better or worse than either consensus or expectations.

Your last point offers up an astute observation.  Perhaps it is the frequency that makes the effort burdensome?  With one or two games per month, the efforts are not compressed into such tight turn-arounds.  When the games (and reports) are ticking off at one, two, or even three games per week, well, I may run out of breath.  Why do I attempt to chronicle each encounter?  Besides my own enjoyment in chronicling the game, I write the reports as a token of appreciation to the players who have made the time and effort to participate and engage.  For me, it is a courtesy.

Why do others write battle reports?

For me, it's a form of story telling. Like reading a book or watching a movie.