Mediterranean campaign - contributors requested

[Ian61]

Hope this uploads but internet intermittent at best for last few days none last night or this morning and just won't let me add pics/diagrams (they are small not even th 44K one!!)

Romans v Invading Gauls – HC2
Wow – Aaron, I enjoyed that. I threw equal points values of Romans and Gauls onto the table and thought – terrain advantage?.  Decided that Gauls had found a nice campsite but not thought carefully enough. Canny old Spurius Ruga has realised that there is a bottle neck that he can use to his advantage. He has the Marines get some Archers over to the other side of the steep sided but narrow river from which they can fire quite safely into the Gauls who stray close enough (in HC2 shooting isn't usually very effective so this is more a hurry-up for the Gauls, although one Warband managed a command Blunder that moved them into the firing line. Assaulting at dawn the Gauls panic fearing being boxed in and their battle lines fill up as each group gets sorted out. Apart from some Fanatics (sorry, I know, but they helped the points balance!) each unit had to be rolled for in order to get to the front. All this means that there is not enough room for all the Warbands and when they do arrive there will be some confusion and difficult positioning. It is a Roman Victory but tighter than you might expect. Both right wings did well and Gauls looked like they might break out alongside the hill but the Heroes of the Hour undoubtedly the Axillaries as they held up a Warband for a couple of round before being overwhelmed by numbers and a flank attack from the Gaulish Cavalry. The (now shaken) Warband then proved easy meat for the Legionaries.
The Start set up look a bit like this – (I took photos at start and after every turn and used a drawing package to trace the opening positions but there was quite a bit of distortion with the 0.5 zoom needed so my diagrams are only approximate.

[Prufrock]

Brilliant, thanks Ian. That is excellent. I will roll up the follow-on events tonight and report back with updated map

[Ian61]

Ok, Open Reach engineer has just left and while I have it working I will try and get some things done but I really wanted to have some diagrams /pics up days ago. However despite much faster connection cannot seem to upload pics. I will play in the forum sandbox when I have time later and see if I can work something out.

[Adrian Nayler]

Ian, Your computer difficulties may not be at your end. See this current thread:

https://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=9311.0

[Ian61]

Ian, Your computer difficulties may not be at your end. See this current thread:

https://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=9311.0

Thanks Adrian, I am rushing around currently but have just glanced at that. So perhaps uploading to the site problems a coincidence with several days of little and mostly no internet.

[Prufrock]

Ian, Your computer difficulties may not be at your end. See this current thread:

https://soa.org.uk/sm/index.php?topic=9311.0

Thanks Adrian, I am rushing around currently but have just glanced at that. So perhaps uploading to the site problems a coincidence with several days of little and mostly no internet.

If you are OK with it Ian, can you send them to me on prufrock.japan@gmail.com? I can put them on my blog (if you don't mind) and then add a link here if that would help. I'll wait to hear from you before I continue with updates so we don't get out of step.

Cheers,
Aaron

[Jim Webster]

Look forward to reading them on your blog 

[Prufrock]

Ian's battle is now up on the blog, with a bit of an intro from me. Many thanks, Ian! Campaign update is to follow.

Gauls versus Romans

For those who would rather just see Ian's images to go with his earlier account up the page, here they are:

[Ian61]

Thanks for getting those uploaded for me Aaron. Looking forward to see how this progresses.

[sztrave]

Hello Aaron

Late to the party but I am happy to play out games here and there.  I am sure I have forces for all the combatants.  Will be solo and will fit as much as I can on a 2'x2' or 3'x2' table using my slowest solo rules :-)

[Prufrock]

Hello Aaron

Late to the party but I am happy to play out games here and there.  I am sure I have forces for all the combatants.  Will be solo and will fit as much as I can on a 2'x2' or 3'x2' table using my slowest solo rules :-)

Great, thanks Shaun, excellent to have you onboard!

[Prufrock]

At the end of the first turn (228-225 BC), Ptolemy has successfully nabbed Phoenicia and the Gallic attack on Italia has been beaten off.

Map at 225 BC:



The dice have been rolled, and the following battles are due this turn:

In 224BC Seleucus, having gathered reinforcements from the east, attacks Ptolemy in Phoenicia.

In 225BC the Romans launch a punitive attack on the Boii and Senones in Cisalpine Gaul.

In 226 BC The Galatians attack the Macedonians in Thrace.



John G-L will play the Successor clash in the east.

Is anyone interested in doing the other battles? I'm waiting to hear back from someone who has first dibs on one or the other, but the other battle is up for grabs if anyone fancies it.

Cheers, and thanks very much for the continued interest

[Prufrock]

And we have another report in, this time from John G-L:

Excellent battle today against Russ King.  We diced for sides and I took the Ptolemaics; I invaded so had the advantage of setting up second. 

Seleucus occupied a large gentle hill in the centre with thureophoroi and Galatian warbands, with Thracian peltasts and psiloi in the open facing my left.  The pike phalanxes opposed each other in the centre, and on the right the Seleucid cavalry (DBM knights), light horse and elephants opposed my weaker cavalry (DBM Cavalry) and light horse.  There was a large area of rough going opposite my far right which I seized with Cretan archers and camel-riders (Inferior Light Horse).  I expected to defend on the right and attack on the left with my lancers, elephants and numerous thureophoroi.

Mixed fortunes on the left as the Thracians slew many of my infantry but the lancers and elephants destroyed Galatians and thureophoroi.  Ptolemy was himself at risk when Galatians luckily beat an elephant, but survived and led a victorious charge.  The right-flank Seleucid command broke.  On my right the Cretans delayed the Seleucid attack, but it eventually went in with heavy casualties on both sides.  In the centre I had more pikemen (only one file of Seleucid Argyraspids) and got the luck of the combat dice.  The Seleucid phalanx crumbled and then broke.

A tight game - my flank commands were both one element from breaking - but eventually decisive.  10-0 in DBM scoring.









Many thanks to John and Russ!

[Ian61]

Good stuff John.
PS Happy to go again as required, just let me know. Will be conscious of upload limitations next time.

[Martin Smith]

225 BC, Roman punitive expedition faces the Boii and Senones in Gallia Cisalpina.

Battle fought. Despatch to the Senate being dictated...