3x3 1st Punic War Battle 5. Bagradas

 The last of my five experimental 3x3 Portable Wargame battles. Hot on the heels of Asculum, I thought I may as well do another engagement as that version of the PW 3x3 Ancients seemed to work quite well. I think I've got my head around how the facing in squares should work, and the ramifications of allowing units to advance after combat. So, off we go to the last battle in the 1st Punic War chapter of Lost Battles - Bagradas in 255BC. 

It was another featureless plain according to Polybius, but no-one knows quite where it was, just somewhere near Tunis which the Romans had recently captured. Bagradas is a river near the city.

The Carthaginians under the mercenary general Xanthippus. The Carthos had 1 x Average Heavy Cavalry, 1 x Average Light Horse, 3 x Average Heavy Infantry (Spears) and 1 x Average Elephant. Lets see how well Nellie does in this battle. As usual, the OB bathtubbed down from the 20+ elements in Lost Battles. 

The Romans under Regulus were a real bunch of hard nuts: 1 x Average Heavy Cavalry, 1 x Average Light Infantry (Velites) and 3 x Veteran Legionaries (Blades) plus 1 x Average Legionary. Ouch.

Vaguely based on the historical deployment in Lost Battles. The Carthos are leading with their cavalry and elephants, as they tended to do, with their infantry in support. Xanthippus is on the right. The Romans have got their Velites leading on the left flank, cavalry on the right and a  big blob of Legionaries in the middle. The Average Legionaries are in support in the centre, along with Regulus.

Another close initiative roll, but the Romans have it. 4:3

They roll forward on the flanks. The cunning Roman plan is to encourage the Carthos to put their elephant in the middle square to stomp all those crunchy Legionaries, but of course being outflanked on both sides will be a serious disadvantage. There is no combat as the Romans are either even odds or disadvantaged.

The Carthaginians take the bait and fighting breaks out along the front. I've just realised that they would have needed four PIPs to active both units in the centre and to attack on both flanks. Doh.

In the north the Carthos with a slight advantage inflict a hit on the Velites who stand their ground, but in the south they fail despite a much bigger advantage (supported flank and General). The Cavalry take a hit. That means that Nellie attacks with both flanks in the air against doubled ranked Legionaries with a General. The Elephant takes a hit but doesn't retreat (and stamp all over its friends).

Next turns initiative goes to the Romans, 4:3.

The Romans spring their Elephant trap in the centre, and it all goes horribly wrong and the attack fails on a draw. That was a bit unfortunate, +5 Blade, +1 support, +1 General vs +5 El +1 support, -2 for two open flanks. +7 vs +5 should have been a walkover, but such is life. Apologies for the rogue dice in the photo. 

In the continuing battle to the north, another shock reversal, this time the Velites rout the Numidian horse, and their supporting infantry promptly flee as well, leaving the Romans in control of the column. Is this going to be a re-run of Asculum and over in two turns?

Well, no. Using their 3 PIPs the Carthos take advantage of the more liberal movement regime and slip the supporting infantry from the elephant behind  the Romans meanwhile the Infantry in the reserve box lead the counterattack out. The Carthos now have a unit in each column again, and a third of the Roman Army is cut off.

The Velites flee from the Carthaginians and are destroyed. The supporting Legion fails its morale test and takes a hit as it can't retreat. Things are not looking good. Next time I'll leave the support unit behind to block stuff like this....

The last PIP is used to attack in the south and a hit is put on the Roman cavalry, leaving the Carthaginian centre held by the Elephant with 1SP. Next turns initiative 6:1 to the Romans. 

The Romans also indulge in some unit shuffling. The support Legion in the centre moves north to block the top row, while the isolated Legionaries at the top march south and turn to face the Elephants rear. Nellie is surrounded!

Sadly the attack on the surrounded elephants merely causes a retreat. Right over the top of the Legionaries in the way. The Legionaries take a hit and are destroyed. That went well then.

The battle lines have stabilised, but the Carthaginian centre looks very vulnerable. The Carthos still have two units in the reserve box though, which is a big advantage, but with only 1 PIP there isn't much they can do. The weakest unit is the Carthaginian spearmen in the centre top square. They are stuck in combat, facing away from the Roman Legion behind them.

The cavalry dashes forwards two squares to support them. At least if they are eliminated there will be a full strength unit left in the square.

The cavalry combat continues in the south. The Carthaginians have the advantage here and drive back the Roman cavalry. In the north the surrounded Carthaginian infantry are destroyed by the Legionaries. Carthage has lost 4SP, Rome has lost 5SP. Initiative for next turn is 3:2 to Carthage.

Xanthippus does some reorganisation. In the south the cavalry are  now disengaged so fall back through the infantry, who move up to take on the Legionaries (who have just lost their cavalry support). The other Carthaginian infantry unit moves up to support the Elephant in the centre.

The Elephant attack goes in an Regulus is killed! What a disaster! The Romans have now lost 6SP.

In the south though, the Carthaginian infantry attack fails and they lose 1SP.

The Romans move their cavalry across the support the Legionaries in the centre, but the attack on the elephants is a draw. In the south, the unsupported Legionaries get lucky and rout their opposite numbers. The Carthaginians have now lost 7SP and reach their Army break point. The will run on a '1' and roll a....'2'. Phew. The Romans are still hanging on having lost 6SP and their General.

Xanthippus hastily reorganises his support lines again. The cavalry sidestep to support the elephants along with the general. The Spearmen swap places with them and move south to hold the line and attack the Romans as they have a hanging flank.

Xanthippus leads the Elephants into the Legionaries and inflicts a hit. The Romans are now at their break point, and will run on a '1'. The roll a '2', however as Regulus is dead, it is subject to a -1, so the Romans break and run.

There is just the combat in the south left to resolve. The Carthaginian attack fails and they take a hit, so need to pass another break test. They have now lost 8SP so will run on a '2', but they manage to roll a '3' and hang on.

Well, that was a close run thing and it really could have gone either way. That all worked pretty well and I enjoyed doing the last two games. It takes longer ot write them up than to play them, but I'm not sure what longevity this has for me. I enjoyed getting out the Ancients stuff again, but as is my way, I've now become distracted by a couple of other projects, so who knows if I'll actually ever write these modified rules down. I've got Marks originals covered in my scribbled notes, and that will have to do for now. Well, that was fun!