Pyrrhus angers Rome - Asculum 279 B.C.

We greetings and good wishes to all who visit. After a long Winters pause we are back for a new campaign season in Mike's basement. Mike thanks for having us over and providing wonderful figures and an interesting game for us. As most should know by now Mike has a huge collection of ancient figures covering the era of about 300 B.C. to about 300 A.D. in 25/28mm. Beautifully painted and lots of them.
So we gathered for the first of what we always hope to be many games. In attendance were, Mike, Wendel, Bill, Jamie and myself. The battle was Asculum which saw Rome vs. the general Pyrrhus and his army of Greeks supported by Etruscan and Samanite cavalry.
Bill. Jamie and I were the Romans while Mike and Wendel were the forces of evil, no I mean Pyrrhus. As always with us we were using our old but trusty Tactica rules. As for Tactica II we are firmly convinced that we will not see or play these rules until we travel either to Hades or sit with the Gods. But I digress.
So Rome was fielding a traditional Republican army and arrayed themselves accordingly. Pyrrhus had his trusty Pike men supported by those traitorous neighbors of Rome those Etruscan devils.

The above picture is actually from turn 2. You can see the strategy of each side here. Rome intends to break the Greek left while delaying the Greek cavalry on Romes left. The Greeks on the other hand are out to use their large massed pike unites to chew through the Romans to victory.

Here you can see the strategy of each side in action. The Romans deployed in depth knowing that the attrition of battle would wear away their small unit long before they could break the massive Greek units.

Above is a panoramic view of the field of battle. Rome is on the left. Wendel, the great cavalry master he is, has engaged both Roman flanks and is in the process of trying to destroy the Roman flanks. He did a fair job of it on our right (this is me by the way) but was having difficulty on his right where he faced Bill of the mighty dice. In the middle Jamie commanded a large number of the mighty Roman legions. The only problem with this is Jamie's historic tendency to roll a great number of dice with the opposite numbers to what he needs!

Above we see the mighty class of Bill and Wendel on Romes left flank. Fortunately for Rome Bill drove off the Italian allies but it took a long time to accomplish.

At the same time Wendel completely destroyed the Roman cavalry on Romes right and began swinging his troops to swoop down on the Roman rear and flank.

In the hotly contested center Jamie is holding his own rolling massive amounts of 5's and 6's. All the right numbers! Yea Jamie! But those massive numbers of Greeks lead by the brave and determined Mike were not to be denied. In Tactica the skill is in the setup but all can turn on the luck of a die.
Both sides made critical morale checks and succeeded a number of times. But today fortune favored Pyrrhus and failed for Rome.
Licking their wounds Rome fled from the field vowing to return for revenge another day.

Again a wonderful time was had by all. It is always a good time when friends can gather to enjoy each others company and play with wonderful and amazing toys at the same time. Thanks again to Mike for hosting the game and thanks to all our other friends who each added another layer of enjoyment to our gathering. Looking forward to our next game, the revenge of Rome!

And now we have the traditional eye candy!

The sheer numbers and quality of Mikes collection is staggering.
Thanks again for all who played and all who visit.
Good gaming,
Greg