The Battle of Arpi 215 BC

Last night Peter, back from his stable duties in Devon, and I started to fight the Battle of Arpi (part of our 2nd Punic War campaign) which was set up a fortnight ago.  http://olicanalad.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/battle-of-arpi-initial-deployments.html


Both of us felt this battle would be close. Two good commanders, the Romans with slightly more numbers and a very similar army characterisation card draw - 9 cards to 8. As it was, Carthage drew 74 morale chips, a Momentum (cavalry) March card, and a Stratagem (favourable omens) card. Rome drew 70 morale chips, an Aggressive Melee Up 1 card, and a Stubborn Army Morale card.


And so the battle began.........

The Battle opened with a cavalry fight in the centre which the Romans got the better of.

Carthage launched an attack with Numidian cavalry which skirmished with the Roman infantry to good effect.




 

The cavalry battle ended with heavy losses on both sides, especially for Hannibal who had to commit infantry to redeem the situation.




 

The Roman left advanced to clear 'the long hill' of Gallic warriors.

The battle initially went the way of the Gauls.......

But the Gallic counter charge was blunted after heavy fighting and they were pushed back in disarray.

The battle on the Roman left becames general......

The Roman cavalry on their extreme left did well initially but, then disaster struck. A series of 1 rolls shifted the balance of power.

Marcellus advanced the bulk of the army to put pressure on Hannibal's left.... 

.....but, Hannibal feared the imminent collapse of his right. Abandoning his position on the left, he rushed troops from there, behind his line, to reinforce it.

The Romans attack the 'hairy knoll' in the centre.

A shot of the battle at the end of turn 3. At this point Hannibal is down to 34 morale chips, the Romans are down to 13. Carthage is running out of fresh units, Rome is running out of morale chips - this is going to be close!

To be continued.........