Yesterday, Mike hosted another of his fine ancient games at his house. This games was Rome's 3rd Gallic Legion under the able command of Marc Anthony attempting to subdue and conquer the Numidian king Jurath who was supported by escaped slaves and former Roman soldiers. As always we used Tactica as our rules.
Mike supplied all of the troops and as always they were superbly painted and presented. Each side was evenly balanced with the only exception being that the 3rd Legion had more units armed with pilum and had the advantage of all it's heavy infantry being able to use the Roman maneuvering and deployment options while the Numidian force only had about half of their heavy infantry able to do the same (the ex Roman soldiers).
The Romans were played by Bill Weber and Jamie Welling (who's work I will show at the end of this report).
The Numidians were played by the game host Mike Adams and myself.
Here we can see the initial set up from the Roman side of the table.
And this view is from the Numidian side.
After some adjusting for the personal tastes of each commander and the initial Numidian first move (they won the initiative roll and decided to move first) we ended up like this. Here we can also see one of the Roman generals (Bill) either expressing his immense dislike of the Numidians or boredom. Could go either way.
We can see that the Numidians were in no way going to sit back and let the Romans dictate how this battle was to play out. Taking the initiative, they begin their advance toward the Romans.
During the next two moves, the Romans advanced their cavalry on each flank to impact the Numidians opposite them. This view is from the Roman right and Numidian left flanks. As you can see there are great cavalry battles on each flank with each side hoping to defeat the other and thus allowing them to sweep in behind their enemy's main battle line. In addition the Numidians had continued the advance of their heavy infantry.
Mike supplied all of the troops and as always they were superbly painted and presented. Each side was evenly balanced with the only exception being that the 3rd Legion had more units armed with pilum and had the advantage of all it's heavy infantry being able to use the Roman maneuvering and deployment options while the Numidian force only had about half of their heavy infantry able to do the same (the ex Roman soldiers).
The Romans were played by Bill Weber and Jamie Welling (who's work I will show at the end of this report).
The Numidians were played by the game host Mike Adams and myself.
Here we can see the initial set up from the Roman side of the table.
After some adjusting for the personal tastes of each commander and the initial Numidian first move (they won the initiative roll and decided to move first) we ended up like this. Here we can also see one of the Roman generals (Bill) either expressing his immense dislike of the Numidians or boredom. Could go either way.
We can see that the Numidians were in no way going to sit back and let the Romans dictate how this battle was to play out. Taking the initiative, they begin their advance toward the Romans.
During the next two moves, the Romans advanced their cavalry on each flank to impact the Numidians opposite them. This view is from the Roman right and Numidian left flanks. As you can see there are great cavalry battles on each flank with each side hoping to defeat the other and thus allowing them to sweep in behind their enemy's main battle line. In addition the Numidians had continued the advance of their heavy infantry.
Here is a closeup of the cavalry action on the Numidian right flank. This was after the Numidian light cavalry was beaten by the Roman light cavalry. This flank was comanded by Jamie for the Romans and Mike for the Numidians.
Here we have a closeup of the Numidian left flank and the Roman right flank. The Romans on this flank were commanded by Bill and the Numidians by yours truely. This view has the Numidians at the bottom of the picture.
These cavalry actions were vicious as much could depend on their outcomes. Each side desperate to delay the others attempt to break out behind their foe. Many crucial saves were made by each side in these hard fought battles.
As the Numidians continued thair advance towards the Romans, their goal was to close with the enemy before any Roman cavalry could make an impact on the battle's outcome. Time was on the side of Rome and the Numidians needed to crush the Roman center before any results on the flanks effected the game.
This view shows the Numidian right flank crashing into the Roman left. The Romans fought like devils but the Numidian commader gave as good as he got.
Here you can see the action on the Numidan left flank. The Romans have crashed through the Numidian center and have turned towards their right to flank the Numidian heavy infantry. The unit in column on the left is a Numidian unit made up of former Legionaires. By this point in the game the Romans had defeated the Numidian cavalry on both flanks, but did the Numidians hold them off long enough to prevent them from having any effect on the game?
Going toe to toe, the battle for the center was a close thing. At one point it looked to be an overwhelming Roman victory but then as fate would have it the balance swung towards the Numidians! Could they bring off the upset? Would history be changed? Will I ever stop doing this? No! No! A thousand times no!
ROME WINS! But they had to do it the hard way without their cavalry.
The game was great fun for all and a the bantering and camaraderie were even more entertaining.
Many thanks again to Mike for hosting this game and allowing us to play with his wonderful toys.
Here are some pictures to feast upon.
Here is some of Jamie's handy work. What a talented painter. I will have more from him in the future.
So thanks to all who have visited my little world. I hope that you found this entertaining and I hope to add more content on a regular basis. Keep gaming!
Greg