The 2nd Battle of Hispilis 204 BC

Hasdrubal opened hostilities with an attack on his right wing.....

...and an attack on his left. 

The cavalry attack on the right was inconclusive; that on the left was largely a matter of skirmishing by Numidians.

Scrotivius (aka 'The Old Scrote') writes of the battle's next phase: 

"Scipio gave the order. The Roman infantry, with blare of trumpet, went forward, en masse, without regard for themselves or the Gods: They went to do or die."

The Roman centre reaches its mark 

The Carthaginians launch several devastating countercharges along the line. 

Scrotivius again:

"But the enemy, undaunted, charged with war cries so fierce, and the ground beneath the feet of the elephants shook so violently, that the bravado of the legionaries wavered and several maniples broke at contact."

I rolled three maximum 12s in a row whilst Peter struggled to get a 2 in reply. 

On the right, supporting African infantry begin to tilt the balance. 

The battle becomes general all along the line. Casualties mount on both sides. 

Another shot of the Romans getting stuck in.















Six shots of the battle, from the Carthaginian left to right showing the state of play after the first nights play. The first shot shows the 'Carthaginian hope' - a vulnerable flank. In the centre the Spanish infantry and elephants, despite initial successes are looking decidedly flaky - they are simply no match for Scipios well trained 'veterans'.

Two further shots of the battle. In a moment of madness, I actually counted up the number of figures in this battle. I said that there were less than 1500 men: Quite a good guess, there were 1482 men.

Hopefully, we will will fight this battle to a conclusion next week. The battle has lasted only one turn so far (4 to go) but both sides have already lost 50+ morale chips each. The battle is, to say the least, bloody, very bloody.