Second Punic War Mortem et Gloriam Game

 

View of the table from the Carthaginian side

From the Roman side

Carthaginian left flank

Carthaginian centre

Carthaginian right flank

Hannibal with Libyan Spearmen and elephants

Numidian and Gallic cavalry

Gallic and Spanish infanrtry

Last Thursday afternoon I played a solo Second Punic War, Pacto sized Mortem et Gloriam (MeG) game, out in the shed. It was early days with Hannibal in Italy (218-216 BC). The battery in my camera died at the start of the game, so the only photos I took were right at the beginning and right at the end. I haven't played a MeG game for a while and made some silly basic mistakes but by the end of the game was getting the hang of it again.

The Carthaginians got off to a good start and managed to break the Roman cavalry on both flanks. In the centre the Gallic infantry charged the Italian allies and the elephants charged Roman units of Principes and Hastati. A couple of wounded generals later the Romans managed to break the Carthaginian elephants and the Gallic infantry in the same turn and the Carthaginians were pretty much done. I may try a rematch at some point and will try the Carthaginians without elephants.

End of the game - Gallic infantry breaks

Same fate befell the Carthaginian elephants!

Remains of the Carthaginian left flank

Centre and right flank

Spanish and Numidian cavalry

Remains of the Gallic and Spanish infantry

Hannibal and Libyan spearmen

Gallic and Numidian cavalry

Sassanid Elephant and Infantry

 

Here's a Sassanid elephant and infantry that I've just finished painting. The ellie and crew are by Aventine Miniatures, although the mahout is actually A&A as I couldn't find the original Aventine mahout. The shield transfers and ellie blanket are by LBM. The Sassanid spearmen are all A&A with replacement shields I bought from Phil Hendry years ago. The larger version of these shields is available from Aventine. The archers are a mix of Aventine and A&A with a single Vendel Mede archer with a globe hat.

Battle of Clastidium 222 BC - Command and Colors Ancients Game

 

Side view of the table

View from the Roman side

View from the Gallic side

Marcellus is wounded but victorious and joins a unit

Roman cavalry attack Gallic light infantry

Gauls retreat on Roman right flank

Romans attack 

Cavalry combat in the centre

First post and game for the New Year! Last Monday afternoon I played a solo Command and Colors Ancients game out in the shed. The scenario was the Battle of Clastidium with a mainly cavalry force of Romans under Marcellus fighting a Gallic force of Insubres and Gaesatae under Britomartus/Viridomarus. For the background on the battle see the post: https://bucellarii.blogspot.com/2020/11/republican-roman-cavalry-and-leves.html

I wanted to incorporate the single combat between Marcellus and Britomartus in the scenario and did this by giving, Marcellus three wounds and Britomartus two, with two dice each in combat, hitting on leader and sword symbols. The victor would gain a victory point for killing their opponent, as well as depriving the enemy of a leader. 

In my game Marcellus was victorious but wounded and joined a cavalry unit in the centre. The Gauls had four command cards to the Romans six and no leader, after Britomartus was killed. The scenario for the battle, if anyone is interested, can be found on the Command and Colors Ancients scenario list site:

https://www.commandsandcolors.net/ancients/maps/59-celtic-war-225-222-bc/256-203-clastidium-222-bc.html

The Romans had a couple of Order Medium Troops cards which proved very handy for their five medium cavalry units. In the end the Romans won fairly easily 5-0 victory points. The Gauls never really got going and their most effective troops, the Gaesatae, had limited opportunities for combat. However a couple of the Roman cavalry units were only one block away from being destroyed, so the result was closer than it seemed.

Gauls attack 

Roman cavalry successful on the Gallic left flank

More cavalry combat in the centre

Romans evade

Gallic left flank is destroyed

Gauls counterattack

Roman cavalry holds on

Romans are victorious

Sassanid Clibanarii and Elephant

 

Here are some Sassanid Clibanarii that I've just finished painting and an elephant I painted about nine years ago. I've posted some photos of my 15mm Sassanids before but none of my 28mm figures. The clibanarii are Gripping Beast, except for a single A&A Miniatures figure, all with LBM shield transfers and the ellie and crew are all A&A. Once I've got a few more units painted, I'll try my Sassanids against my Late Romans in a Dux Bellorum game.

Numidian Cavalry

 

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy (and safe) gaming, blogging and painting for 2021! 

Above are some 15mm Numidian cavalry by Corvus Belli, that I've just finished painting. PSC have just rereleased some of these figures in resin (Ultracast) as part of their Pacto Mortem et Gloriam Carthaginian army.

Below are some photos of White Cockatoos and a Corella enjoying a pre-Xmas feast from our apple tree.