Clash of Spears: Punic War in Sicily Campaign (Turn 3, Battle 1)

Catching up on the third turn of the Punic War in Sicily Campaign for Clash of Spears with another batrep.

Aristarchus and his men had been moving through the Sicilian farmlands, looting when possible and living rough off the land. The horsemen of the Carthaginian army had been shadowing them, launching random harrowing attacks and waylaying his force’s scouts. All attempts to pin the enemy had failed, as the lighter armed force could evade them.

After a few more days of attacks, Elarchus reported a small plantation that had not been spoiled yet. Aristarchus knew the Carthaginians wouldn’t pass up a chance at the easy loot, and he was more than happy to acquire it himself. His heavier troops could prevail against the enemy in a straight up fight.

We played the This is Our Land scenario. My Greeks won the roll for the choice of scenario, and as above, my army was better suited to grinding combat versus my opponent’s army full of light cavalry and skirmishers. Since this was Turn 3, the armies are now 900 points. I had Aristarchus (lvl 4 mounted commander), 2 Lvl 2 foot leaders (Jason and Elarchus w/ Musician), 8 armored Hoplites, 8 armored Hoplites, 8 unarmored Hoplites, 8 Slingers, 6 Slingers, and 8 Peltasti. IIRC the Carthaginians had a Lvl 4 Commander w/ Musician, a Lvl 3 Commander, 7 Punic Citizens, 8 Carthaginian Veterans in Roman gear, 2×8 Libyan javelinmen, and 2×6 Numidian Horsemen. The scenario had 2 objectives in the center line to take. The terrain was an open area with palm tree forests and farm houses, with an enclosed field on on flank.

Highlights:

-The scouting phase had really gone the Carthaginians’ way, with their greater amount of scouts moving first to restrict the Greeks’ movement. With the Numidian extra move after deployment, they were threatening the objectives first turn. The Greeks had to move fast, marching with most of their force in a broad line. The Greeks divided their line into 3 groups, with a leader for each. Both objectives got an armored Hoplites unit to take, with the Slingers and unarmored Hoplites acting to plug the gaps. The Peltasti hung out on the extreme right flank to threaten that objective. They spent the whole game waiting for their Libyan counterparts to advance into range.

-Hostilities began with a round of javelins from the front Numidians bouncing off the right Hoplites’ shield wall, though repeated throws brought down a Greek. Return fire from the center Slingers sent a few horsemen from their saddles. Other Greek shooting was less successful, though a long range sling shot ko’ed a Carthaginian vet.

-The Greek Hoplites and Punic infantry faced off. The imitation Legionnaires hefted their pilums, punching through one shield, but the line held. The Greeks responded with their own charge into the Punic Citizens, but the lines mostly bounced off. Both sides being in close order meant little could be done initially. A series of counter charges pushed the Greeks back, but armor and fighting defensively meant only a few casualties. Javelins bounced off their shields as well. My opponent’s shooting dice were amazing, but my saves were equally good. Greek morale held strong.

-It was then that the Greeks saw their opening. With the Punic Citizens’ successful charges pushing the armored Hoplites back, the unarmored saw their exposed flank. A couple brutal charges ground them down and the unit was destroyed. Before the other Carthaginians could recover, the Hoplites reformed their line to face them.

-In the center, the front Numidian unit had retreated from my Slingers, circling around to aid the now isolated Legionnaires on the left objective. The center Libyans ran up and pelted the Slingers with repeated deadly accuracy, killing the unit down to a few members before they retreated from the field. The second Numidian unit moved up to eyeball the Hoplites near the right objective.

-On the flank the newly arrived Numidians pelted the other Slingers and the Hoplites, causing some casualties. Return fire went wide.

-The center Libyan javelins had come out of the forest to chase off the Slingers, but that put them in range of the Hoplites. The Greeks easily crushed the unit, piling fatigues and killing half the unit. Aristarchus called on his men to reform their line, as the Numidians were close by. Instead, he decided to finish them himself, running down the Libyans, then riding to safety.

-The Hoplite fight by the left objective ground down both sides, but the Greeks were coming out on top. Two units to one were too much for the armored Veterans. Once gain, Aristarchus elected to take the glory for himself, charging in and running down the weakened imitation Legionnaires. The Greeks then turned on the Numidians, but the fight was indecisive.

-The other Libyans finally broke cover from the field, both they and the Numidians pelting the right Hoplites with javelins, bringing a few down. The Greek Peltasti were content to watch them from cover (out of range for commands). Those loafers did nothing all game.

-As night fell, neither force could claim the objectives, but the Carthaginians had more Break Points from casualties (3 to 2) so Minor Victory to the Greeks.

This was a fun game. During the first 3 turns it was even, with some damage on both sides. However, the Greeks managed some brutal charges and turned the Punic units’ flanks, eventually crushing their line units. Late game saw both sides fail to activate units due to fatigue. The men were exhausted. My commanders had to expend command points to get units to rest to help bring them back under control. Aristarchus was truly bloodthirsty, killing off 2 enemy units (mind you they were weakened but who’s counting). Carthaginian shooting was amazingly accurate- we figured he should always declare he needs to hit on 6’s, since his dice were more than happy to do so.

The photos were provided by my opponent Henry, and you can check out his version of the battle (and the rest of the campaign) on his awesome site Plastic Pirates.