Second Punic War Midgard Game

 

Armies deployed

Opposite end

Forces advance

Roman equites charge Gallic cavalry

Equites and Iberian cavalry charge and
counter-charge on the other flank

Equites are at half strength and
Iberian cavalry are winning

Equites are destroyed

Last Thursday afternoon I played a solo Second Punic War Midgard game out in the shed. The forces were the 450 points Republican Roman and Carthaginian army lists on the Mogsymakes site, with the Romans attacking. This turned out to be a very close game with the Romans doing well on their right flank while the Carthaginians did well in the centre and on the Roman left flank. The Carthaginian elephant in the centre caused problems for the Romans and was fun to use, accounting for at least one Hastati unit and wounding the Roman consul army commander! In the end the Romans just managed to win on their right flank to finish the game. The Gallic warriors only armour two, couldn't match it with the armour three Roman heavy infantry and cost the Carthaginians the game.

Equites charge Numidian cavalry on the other flank

Roman infantry charge

Carthaginian elephant in the centre causes
some problems for the Romans

Roman left flank is under threat

Romans appear to be in trouble

Iberian cavalry disengage, Numidian cavalry
follow up retreating Velites

Romans win on their right flank
to finish a close game

Thracians versus Scythians Midgard Game

 

Scythians deployed

Thracians on the left, Scythians on the right

Thracian attackers advance

Scythians advance in the centre

Shooting commences

Last Sunday afternoon Craig came over and we played a Thracians versus Scythians Midgard game out in the shed. I added a Parthian shot trait for the Scythian and Getic horse archers, so they could shoot when they evaded. The Scythians advanced in the centre and charged a Thracian peltast unit. Single combat between the two attached heroes resulted in the death of the Thracian hero but the horse archers were destroyed themselves. The Thracian noble cavalry on the left flank charged the Scythian noble cavalry. The Scythians countercharged but were destroyed outright in the combat while only inflicting a single hit on the Thracians.

Back on the Thracian right flank the other Scythian noble cavalry unit charged the Thracian noble cavalry. The Thracians countercharged and were once again extremely lucky with their dice destroying the Scythians while suffering only a single hit. The Scythians were down to their last two reputation tokens by this stage and the Getic horse archers were able to destroy a half strength Scythian horse archer with shooting to finish them off. This was a rather unsatisfactory game as two combats with exceptional dice rolls for the Thracians really decided the result. Horse archer armies never seem to fair well under most rules that I've played.

A Thracian hero is killed but
the Scythian horse archers are destroyed 

Thracian noble cavalry and Scythian
noble cavalry line up a charge 

Thracian noble cavalry destroy Scythian
noble cavalry on the Thracian left flank

Same story on the Thracian right flank

Samnites versus Etruscans Midgard Game

 

Deployment from the Etruscan side

From the Samnite side

Etruscan right flank and centre

Etruscan left flank and centre

Samnite left flank and centre

Samnite right flank and centre

Etruscan cavalry charge on their left flank,
Samnite cavalry countercharge

Same thing on the Etruscan right flank

On Monday afternoon I played a solo Samnites versus Etruscans Midgard game out in the shed. The two sides were very similar, the Samnites were the attackers and the Etruscans the defenders. The Etruscan cavalry charged on both flanks and the Samnites countercharged. The Samnite cavalry eventually destroyed both Etruscan cavalry units but one of the remaining Samnite cavalry units at half strength was then destroyed by missile fire from Etruscan slingers. Once the infantry closed in combat the game became even more hard fought with no clear advantage to either side. In the end I called time as a draw with the Samnites on three remaining reputation tokens and the Etruscans four.

Samnite cavalry are victorious on their right flank

Combat continues on the Etruscan right flank

Etruscan slingers destroy the Samnite cavalry

Etruscan cavalry are at half strength

Samnite and Etruscan infantry slog it out

Game ends as a hard fought draw

Etruscans versus Tullian Romans Midgard Game

 

Etruscans on the left, Romans on the right

Opposite end

Forces advance

Cavalry combat Roman right flank

On Thursday afternoon Garry came over and we played an Etruscan versus Tullian Roman Midgard game out in the shed. The two sides were essentially Etruscan armies of the sixth century BC, while both of our armies are really Later Etruscan. Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of Rome, its second Etruscan king who ruled from 578 to 535 BC, and is credited with extending the voting rights of the plebs, which also incorporated military reforms of the five classes. The Etruscans were the attackers and both sides advanced eager for combat. Cavalry combat on the Roman right and then left flank was a protracted struggle. In the centre skirmishers exchanged missile fire and the first, second and third class infantry positioned themselves for what they hoped would be a devastating charge.

The Roman cavalry routed but the surviving Etruscan cavalry were below half strength and down to their last stamina point. One of these cavalry units charged some slingers who were destroyed but scored enough hits in combat to knock off the cavalry as well. The Roman infantry charged the Etruscan infantry but the devastating charge failed to materialise and they were soon retreating with quite a few units reduced to half strength. In the end the Etruscans ground the Romans down until they were victorious. It was a fun and satisfying game that was reasonably close.

This was our first game with the four new fold up tables bought from Bunnings which give a twelve foot by five foot playing surface which worked well, though the mat we used was only nine by five foot.  My old rickety table tennis table has been retired after fifteen years and probably hundreds of games, my partner really hated it and has been plotting its demise for years! I also picked up second hand from Abebooks, this Italian language book on Etruscan armies by Ivo Fossati, published in 1987 it's obviously not as recent as the Osprey Etruscan book but it is has many photos, some colour and is nicely illustrated with English language captions and introduction as well as Italian.

Cavalry combat Roman left flank

Protracted cavalry combat on both flanks

Roman infantry charge, their cavalry rout

Etruscan victory 

Etruscans versus Camillan Romans Midgard Game

 

Armies deployed from the Etruscan side

From the Roman side

A tribune and equites on the Roman left flank

Etruscan cavalry on the right flank

Equites on the Roman right flank

Last Sunday Rick, Gary and I met down at the Vikings Club for the Canberra Regional Wargame Group's monthly meeting. We played an Etruscans versus Camillan Romans Midgard game, with Rick and Gary the Roman attackers and I was the Etruscan defenders. It was pretty quiet at the club, as a lot of people were away playing comps, in the two day Anzac Cup event at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Alan and Roger came over and watched our game and provided much needed advice/instruction on the rules. The two sides were fairly evenly matched and we wasted no time getting down to brass tacks. 

Cavalry combat on both flanks went the way of the Etruscans. A tribune was killed and both Roman equites were destroyed, the bonus reputation tokens earned by the Romans for first charges were quickly gone. The infantry combat in the centre would decide the game as usual. The Roman infantry charged but Gary had his usual bad luck with dice and the Etruscan infantry were able to route several units. The Etruscan army commander was killed and several Etruscan infantry units were at half strength. On the left flank, a half strength Etruscan infantry unit down to their last stamina point, charged with an attached commander, a Roman leves unit and they were able to finish the leves off to end the game.

Etruscan cavalry left flank

Equites are destroyed

Charge and countercharge on the Etruscan left

Roman infantry charge 

Action on the Roman left flank 

Roman leves are destroyed, Etruscans win the game