Trebia - the fight

Without further ado, here is the report of our Lost Battles playthrough of Trebia from the other weekend. SP took Rome, DS took Carthage, and I was umpire (preparatory post is here).

The battle begins with the Roman turn, but there are a few factors to note first. Hannibal, as a brilliant general, is able once in the game to reverse the turn order and take a second turn in succession to reflect his genius as a commander. The limitation with this is that no zone can be attacked out of in both turns. 

There are two obvious ways to use the 'flip-flop' (as it is termed by Lost Battles players): one is to employ it early in the battle to bring all units into contact with the enemy and attack from all zones on the flip-flop turn; the other is to declare it after a breakthrough on one or both wings, and use the flip-flop turn to get cavalry in behind the Roman line. In Lost Battles, this not only allows combat advantage when attacking the infantry but also reduces local morale (zones with enemy to front and rear or on left and right suffer a -1 in morale tests and also lose their lead unit bonus when attacking).

Legionaries are difficult to beat in these rules for a number of reasons. Heavy infantry units facing fresh legionaries lose their +1 attack bonus meaning it is more difficult to hit them. They also have a morale bonus meaning that it is harder to rout them. Facing Romans you have to look for every combat and morale modifier advantage you can get: that means trying to surround them, trying to force them out of their key zone, trying to shatter 4 and then 8 of them, and trying to reduce the units left on field until you outnumber them 2-1.

An advantage the Carthaginians have at Trebia is that the Romans are fatigued. Fatigue has no impact when units are fresh, but spent units have a -1 applied to their attack rolls. 

There is a lot for players to consider tactically in this scenario, and for the Carthaginians especially.  

With that out of the way, let us commence the commentary.

(Photo with additional info - lines, etc)

Rome begins by attacking the enemy skirmishers in the central zone. They have no success. Rome then brings the legionaries forward into all three central zones. One unit on each wing of the legions is kept in the rear zone in reserve. The cavalry units on each wing turn to face the enemy.

Carthage holds back in the centre and centre right, but advances the elephants and Libyans of the centre left into contact. On the wings the Numidian light cavalry skirmish with the enemy, with the heavy cavalry following up behind them. The right wing scores a hit on the the Roman cavalry. The skirmishers in the centre see off the Roman light infantry who retreat behind the legions, but as the Carthaginian lights have no heavy infantry support they will be extremely vulnerable themselves to attack by the Romans on the next turn.

In turn three the Romans attack in the centre and on both cavalry wings. The Carthaginian failure to support the light troops with their heavier cousins results in the Numidian cavalry on the left and the skirmishers in the centre being shattered. The Carthaginans are half the way to the '4+ shattered' morale effect and have already lost their key zone in the centre (also a negative morale effect) as the Romans advance into the pocket. On the right wing the cavalry do not advance, to buy further time on the flanks. In anticipation of the coming fight the Roman infantry in reserve turn to face the flanks.

Carthage, now realising the seriousness of the situation, uses Mago to reinforce the right centre and also bring the infantry up from the rear. The rest of the cavalry attacks on both flanks, but the -1 to their attacks for charging in from two zones away saves the Roman cavalry from any damage.

Rome attacks again, with great success. There are four successful hits across the five zones engaged in combat. The Carthaginians respond, shattering a cavalry unit on each flank. Carthage clears the Roman left wing zone and advances.

Hannibal now declares his flip flop: all zones can move this turn, but only the victorious advancing cavalry of the right can attack. The remaining Numidian cavalry turns to prepare to attack the Roman left centre next turn; the victorious cavalry attack and shatter the reserve unit of Roman legionaries, despite the minus for attacking after turning. Carthaginian prospects are improving!

In the Roman portion of the turn (we had to keep reminding ourselves that the turns were now reversed), they take their steady toll on the enemy. The single remaining cavalry unit scores a double-hit on the Carthaginian cavalry, leaving them all spent on the Carthaginian left. In the infantry battle the Romans score another two hits. The Carthaginian centre is now entirely spent and has nowhere to retreat to. The Romans just keep grinding them down. 

Carthage loads up with combat bonuses where it can and continues the attack. The cavalry gets into position behind the Roman lines to prepare to attack next turn and to affect the Roman morale. On the left the cavalry is successful (all Roman units are now spent, including the reinforcing legionaries) but they cannot quite manage to finish the job and shatter a unit. The elephants score a hit in the left centre, and the Libyans a hit in the right centre, but the centre itself is too disorganised to inflict any damage on their opposition.

The Roman efforts now begin to pay off. The cavalry scores a double hit on the Carthaginian cavalry, shattering two and routing the other. The Carthaginian left flank is defeated and opened up for the Romans to advance. Another unit is shattered in the centre, but high morale roles keep the rest of the army on the field. 

In a desperate attempt to turn the tide Mago himself leads the attack from the Roman centre right, leading his guard unit with two combat bonuses. His charge is a success, and with attacks on that same zone from the flank and the rear, the Romans there are now entirely spent. The cavalry shatter the levy light infantry holding the Roman centre, and advance into the Roman key zone, removing the key zone morale penalty that the Carthaginians had been facing.

But Sempronius is not done: an attack in the centre sees a unit there shattered, and the other routs in sympathy, as do the light infantry and the elephants. The Romans advance two units into the vacated zone. 

Carthage now has some success: they shatter two units in the Roman left centre, but the Romans remain steadfast and do not rout. The Romans advance to surround the remaining Carthaginian infantry blocks to reduce local morale, and the centre turns to drive off the Carthaginian horse to their rear, who retreat on their next turn.

The Carthaginians cannot cause another shatter and the Romans advance into space. An attack is made on Hannibal's zone: a unit is routed, Hannibal fails to rally the hit, and the zone routs. At this, the army routs.

Sempronius has won a battlefield victory!

****

In what was a profound reversal of the historical result, Rome won the field as well as winning the points victory. It was an unusual outcome, and interesting to analyse. Inexperience with the rules played a part in DS's struggles to make headway against the Romans, particularly with the early failure to reinforce the light troops, leaving them exposed to Roman attack and also preventing Carthage from being able to being force to bear efficiently in their own attacks. This was partly my fault as umpire. My approach was to give both players access to their options at all times, but not to recommend any course of action. I probably did not quite emphasise enough the potential negative impacts of leaving light troops unsupported. That said, DS did have a definite plan and I did not want to interfere with the prosecution of that plan. 

The other issue for DS in only his second Lost Battles game was how best to use the flip-flop rule. While it can offer a great advantage when used at the right time, it probably requires a little more experience to know what those advantages are. In hindsight, it might have been better to give SP the task of commanding the Carthaginians and wrestling with the nuances of flip-flop strategy. That said, SP had not yet encountered a brilliant general either, so he would also have been flying somewhat blind.

As it turned out, DS missed out on about 6 potential attack rolls with the non-reinforcement of the light troops early in the piece, and on the flip-flop turn missed out on another potential 11 attacks. 

Still, both players will now have a bit more experience with what sort of play the rules encourage and discourage, and this should stand them in good stead in the future.

It was a really good day and personally I get just as much enjoyment from acting as umpire / scribe as I do playing.  

The battle has weather effects and fatigue to worry about as well as the brilliant commander considerations, so there is a lot going on for players. We did not use the 'favour of the gods' rule but did use the revised scoring (not that it was needed!). 

Always good to get a game on the table!

Tunis 310 BC with Lost Battles

Tunis is an interesting battle. You have an all-infantry Syracusan and mercenary army led by an inspired leader in the person of Agathocles fighting a Carthaginian force of infantry, cavalry and chariotry under Bomilcar and Hanno: commanders who, due to an 'inherited feud', make a disfunctional pairing. The restrictive terrain and scant room for maneouvre forces both sides to go to it at once as hard as possible.

There is an entertaining description of the battle and events leading to it in Diodorus Siculus which can be read on the Lacus Curtius site here. It is well worth the read, but the gist of it is that while his home city of Syracuse was blockaded by Carthage, Agathocles conceived the madcap idea of taking the war to enemy territory. With 60 ships he made a run for Africa, succeeded in landing, and then burnt the ships on the beach as a sign of his intent (and also to prevent them falling into enemy hands). Carthage hastily prepares a welcoming committee, and before long battle is joined.

The Lost Battles scenario has Agathocles with two units of veteran hoplites on the Syracusan left, non-hoplite heavy infantry supporting this wing and centre, and hoplites and light infantry on the right. He has a qualitative edge and a fighting value of 60 versus the 51 of the more numerous, more brittle, Carthaginians. 

Two-thirds of the Carthaginian force is levy, which translates to about half of the units in the army, and the rest is average quality, barring two veteran heavy infantry units with Hanno on the right, opposing Agathocles. Bomilcar is on the left - as far a way from Hanno as possible - and the cavalry, chariotry and light infantry are deployed in front of the heavy infantry in a ploy to shock the Syracusans from the outset. Fortunately for the Greeks, Agathocles has prepared in advance a parliament of owls (owls being sacred to that most Grecian of goddesses, Athena) to release to hearten the men in the face of this violence of horses.

Rough guide to the scenario dispositions.

Battle commenced with myself commanding the Carthaginians against SP lording it as Agathocles. Our initial charges were not especially successful, but did score a hit in the centre. Here SP rather misread the memo, indulging in David Lee Roth-esque 'OWWWs' instead of the tu-whit to-whoos appropriate to the winged servants of grey-eyed Athene.

Whither the sacred OWWWs owls?

The Carthaginian levies in their masses.

The Syracusans for their part repel the charges and score hits of their own. Agathocles' veteran hoplites are a little too enthusiastic, prosecuting an all-out attack which exhausts themselves as well as the enemy. A lucky break for Hanno!

After the first combat turn: five units spent for Carthage, two for Syracuse.

Turn three sees some good work from the Syracusans as they shatter a unit of heavy infantry in the centre. This unit was spent but as it had attacked in its own turn it could not draw in behind the arriving reinforcements. Left in the lead unit position, when it was hit it a second time it shattered. There was not a lot else for Carthage to cheer about, except that more hoplite units all-out attacked in the Syracusan turn, which evened up the hits somewhat. 

Agathocles heroically rallied two hits in his zone, much to Hanno's chagrin.

After turn three. Eleven units spent for Carthage, six for Syracuse, and one shattered.

On turn four the damage really began to tell. Syracuse lost another heavy infantry unit shattered in the centre, but Bomilcar's zone lost its own best infantry unit shattered and all along the line the Carthaginian troops are spent. Miraculously, Hanno rallies a hit on his zone, while Agathocles is involved in a close shave, meaning he is not able to attempt any rallies or use command exemptions until the next turn. 

This does nothing to stop the march of the hoplites however, as they rout Bomilcar's zone and advance to outflank the Carthaginian centre.

The Carthaginian left wing has gone, and Bomilcar with it!

Turn six opens with six Carthaginian units remaining on the field. They force Agathocles into a close shave* again, but it is not enough to prevent the centre being crushed. All is lost, and Hanno and company flee for their lives.

 

The battlefield cleared!

And so to the tallying of points. Despite being driven from the field the Carthaginians showed some resilience, and all of the Syracusan units on table were spent. This, along with the two units previously shattered and the points handicap for being the side with lower fighting value, gave the Carthaginians 72 victory points.  For their part the Syracusans had shattered six units and routed the rest, giving them 74 points. A victory for Agathocles by the barest of margins....

It was another great game of Lost Battles. It resolved very similarly to the (admittedly sparse!) account in Diodorus, and gave us plenty of oohs and ahhs. SP retains the Washbourn Trophy with the win here, justifying his arrogant 'forgetfulness' in not bringing the trophy along to be contested on the day.

There will be all to play for next time!

Thanks to SP for another good battle and of course to Phil Sabin for this Olympian set of rules. 

* Note on close shaves in Lost Battles - this is when a leader of a certain class rolls a 3 on two dice when attempting to rally a hit. It is not low enough to kill him (a 2 would do that) but there are some consequences!

Market Garden

SP popped over this afternoon for another game so I set up Market Garden for Memoir '44. It has an interesting mechanism to reflect both the Germans having been initially caught napping and the Allied difficulty in maintaining momentum. 

(I have mixed up 82nd and 101st Airborne all the way through this post!)

SP took the Germans again (I sense a theme?) and we got down to business. The Allies start out with 13 command cards and the Germans only 3. The goal is to get 13 victory banners through a combination of destroying enemy units and taking key objectives. 

XXX Corps looking formidable

The 82nd - oops, it seems one unit didn't make the dropzone!

The 101st, with three units equipped with inflatable boats. 

1st Airborne.

To start the Allies focused on activating XXX Corp and 1st Airborne, trying to open the road towards Eindhoven with the one and taking Arnhem with the other. 

XXX Corps drive on Valkenswaad.

The Airborne establish a foothold in Arnhem.

There is little progress for the Americans.

The 101st and 82nd Cautiously approaching Eindhoven and Nijmegen. 

Turn three sees the first signs of organised German defence. An armoured unit is damaged near Valkenswaad. The 101st takes casualties from air attack and a bombardment. 1st Airborne is hit at Arnhem. 

Each Allied unit destroyed sees the Germans draw a new command card immediately and the Allies discard one of theirs at random. The initial 13 - 3 card differential is now 10 - 6.

German resistance catches XXX Corps in a crossfire and blocks the road. 

101st is hit and dispersed.

German counterattacks at Arnhem: note the Tiger approaching the bridge. 

Turn four starts well for the Allies: the 82nd close-assaults Eindhoven and secures a portion of the town.

The Tiger unit is forced to retreat from Arnhem.

But the Germans reinforce Nijmegen, and the prospects of the 101st being able to take it appear remote. 

Turn five sees the fighting intensify for the Americans. More units lost, meaning our command cards discarded and more picked up for the Germans.

 The 1st Airborne are now embattled on two fronts.  

XXX Corps are still fighting their way forward.

Turn six will be our last turn, as SP has a dinner date. The card differential is now in the German's favour, something like 11-8.

The 82nd is half destroyed.

But they still hold Eindhoven.

XXX Corps is bogged down clearing enemy remnants.

1st Airborne is still holding on in Arnhem (just).

And have difficulties to the rear, with heavy enemy presence in the woods.

And the whole scene:

The Germans are leading the victory count 8-6, but the card differential is now 12-6 in their favour. We call the game for the Germans - the Allies have shot their bolt and are just holding on everywhere but in the XXX Corps sector. 

***

Well, it was another entertaining afternoon of Memoir '44. It is a hell of an enjoyable game, even when Monty's gamble fails. This is an interesting scenario, and you really feel the Allied attack stagnating as the Germans begin to inflict casualties and alter the command card differential. I would like to try this scenario again. It's certainly a hard fight for the Allies. 

Thanks to SP for a great day at the table. 

ANZAC day game, Operation Lightfoot

We had a beautiful sunny day in Tasman yesterday for ANZAC day. It was a happy-busy day for me - dropping the lady of the house at the airport at 5am for her trip to Japan; coming home for a two-hour nap (which turned into a four-hour nap, meaning that I missed the local wreath-laying service!); a large pot of coffee and some guitar strumming in the sun; a walk; a trip to the local store with my son; a phone call to mum; dinner prep; and finally a game with SP from 7 (well, 8:30 once we'd caught up on all the news).

As our friends across the ditch say, how good!

We hadn't played Memoir '44 for a while, and the ANZAC day weekend seemed a good time to play out a battle that the 2nd NZEF had a role in. I went with 2nd Alamein: the scenario is Operation Lightfoot from the Through Jungle to Desert expansion, using the Overlord (double-sized board) rules. 

A Wikipedia map of the situation:

By Noclador - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2547277

And a view of the Memoir 44 map, looking south from behind El Alamein itself.

Commanding the Commonwealth forces my aim was to clear a route through the minefields, attack Miteiriya Ridge (in the centre of the battlefield), drive through, and claim victory. We needed 14 banners to win, these coming from unit kills and by achieving terrain objectives.

For SP, it was hold us off, deny us objectives, and score banners from delaying the allied advance.

As with most Memoir games, too much happens to relate it in detail. In broad terms we pushed in the centre and on the right. There were messy scenes as engineers clearing minefields were attacked by entrenched infantry and marauding armour. 

Drive on Miteiriya Ridge

But the advance through the centre and right seemed to reach a critical mass.

Strength in numbers on our right.

Yet each turn SP would find some way to give us a bloody nose. Our infantry was chewed up on the advance; Armour Assault cards were used to great effect on the counter-attack; Ambush cards were used to pre-empt our close assaults.

Looking north from Ruweisat Ridge.

Ground being taken in the centre.

Suddenly, the battle was on the line. Over two turns SP makes a clear scoring break to come within two banners of victory. This is achieved by repeated armoured assaults picking off exposed units and judicious counter-attacking play.

With five banners needed for victory and just one chance to do it, the Allied army plays the 'Their Finest Hour' card, allowing us to activate units all along the line.

We come agonisingly close - two units killed; two terrain objectives achieved; but the crucial final kill eludes us.

SP storms to victory!

The front denuded!

It was an excellent game. SP did Rommel proud with a masterful display of disciplined defence and devastatingly-timed counter-attacks.

While not a great game to blog about for various reasons (it looks too toy-ish; units are representative rather than exact; it's too busy to photograph well), Memoir '44 is a great game to play. It was an excellent evening of good company, the kinds of jokes that you can only enjoy with an old friend, and a gripping ANZAC battle. 

We really do need to play this more often.

Thanks to SP for a great evening of gaming. 

Edit: while my material here is light, I would encourage any readers to look at this wonderful post from Craig at Craig's Wargaming about a family connection to ANZAC day. In the Antipodes we all have our family stories to bring out in their own time, and Craig has done so here. Well worth reading. 

Dominion of the Spear

I picked these rules up last year when they were getting quite a few nods of appreciation around the traps, and while I haven't done them to death I have played a few games, mainly using scenarios from the 36 Battles for Dominion of the Spear expansion.   

Last time I played I scribbled down some notes for a future blog post but lost them in a fit of organisational ineptitude. 

Monday last week I pulled the rules out again and decided to run through Marathon. I have only the beginnings of an Achaemenid army painted, but there are enough for these rules, so I set the figures up. 

Then it was all over in 14 dice rolls.

I left the figures out and started writing up a post about why I probably won't play these rules enough to warrant getting all the various iterations. The battles, I wrote, are simply over too soon.

But I couldn't get the post to where I was happy with it. I had a couple of goes over a couple of nights without it working so I let it be. 

Tonight I went down to the den to pack the figures up, but decided I would play Marathon again, and then have a go at Plataea. Why? Well, I have a day off work on Friday. Why not?

Marathon. The Athenian army is composed of four units of armoured spearmen for the Greeks. The Persians have four units of ordinary archers and one unit of elite armoured archers. The Athenians have the initiative.  

Start - Persians at the top

Turn 1: the Persian archers take out a unit of the Athenian hoplites, but the hoplites drive off the archers on the other flank leaving things even after the first three rounds of battle.

After the first turn

Turn 2: The Persian archers strike twice to leave the Athenians with just one unit on the board, meaning they will be running home to announce a defeat, not a victory. 

Marathon at game end - a Persian triumph in 9 dice rolls

Plataea. The Persians have the initiative, and an army made up of two units of ordinary archers, one of elite archers, a unit of cavalry, and a unit of armoured spearmen (mercenary hoplites). The Greeks have a unit of elite armoured spearmen (Spartans), two units of armoured spearmen, and one of ordinary spearmen.

Plataea start. Greeks to the top. 

Turn 1: the Greeks beat the archers in the centre but lose the Spartans to Mardonius's cavalry. Talk about going home on your shield. 

After the first turn

Turn 2: the Persian archers destroy another unit of hoplites and open a gap to be exploited.

After the second turn

Turn 3: Mardonius and his cavalry win again.

At game end - another triumph for the Achaemenids, this time in 14 dice rolls.

By this time I am having fun, and am about to go to Gaugamela, but what is this, a scenario for Thymbra? I go back in time to the battle between Cyrus the Great and Croesus of Lydia.

Thymbra. The Lydians have the initiative and an army made up of two units of armoured cavalry, a unit of elite armoured spearmen, and a unit of ordinary spearmen. Cyrus's Achaemenids are comprised of two units of armoured archers, one of ordinary archers, one of scythed chariots, and one of cavalry. 

Set up with Lydians at the top. The field is fuller!

Turn 1: Cyrus's archers are effective against one of the cavalry units but Croesus's archers deal with the scythed chariots without breaking a sweat.

In war things can get blurred...

After the first turn

Turn 2: Cyrus's archers are unstoppable. The Lydian cavalry drives off one unit in its own turn but it cannot avoid defeat for the army. 

At game end - a Persian triumph in 9 dice rolls.

For the fourth and last Achaemenid battle in the scenario book we go to Gaugamela. Three battles, three wins for the men of the fertile crescent. Can Alexander reverse the trend?

Gaugamela. Alexander and his Macedonians have the initiative and an army as follows: a unit of elite armoured cavalry, a unit of ordinary cavalry, a unit of elite armoured spearmen (the phalanx) and a unit of ordinary spearmen. Darius III has three units of cavalry, a unit of horse archers, a unit of scythed chariots, and a unit of archers.

At game start. Who could ever tell which army is which?

Turn 1: the Companions and phalanx strike immediately to knock off the horse archers and the chariots. The Persian cavalry pulls one back for the team by defeating the Thessalian cavalry at the other end of the field.

After the first turn

Turn 2: the Companions and the foot companions are again victorious. Darius's men have no answer.

After the second turn

Turn 3: the Companions are deadly once more, and the phalanx turn into the flank of the remaining Persian cavalry and drive them off as well. 

The field is clear - a Macedonian triumph in 12 rolls

The Companions have three rolls and produce three sixes. Perfection!

And so I am glad that I did not publish my half-formed negative take on Dominion of the Spear. As a one-off game with miniatures, it seemed to be a waste of time. As a four game exploration of Achaemenid battles on a week night with no work the next day it was a something entirely different.

Going back to my original thoughts:

"Part of the issue is that I'd got figures out for it. The figures probably took about fifteen minutes to find and to set up. The game itself was over in about two minutes, or as long as it took to make 14 dice rolls."

But this was the wrong way to look at the game. 

Will I buy the other games in the series? I'm not sure. I have the ACW version and that will certainly lend itself well to a themed evening of gaming like the one tonight. I think I might look at the horse and musket ones. I will see. I don't think there is any need to worry either way: I've had my money's worth in games from this series tonight already, and anything that helps to inspire a blog post is doing well given my recent output! 

In other news, I got to see a band play this week in Nelson, and they were brilliant. New Zealand's efforts in the arts can often lead to a sort of cultural cringe: you take a peek and want to slink out the door. Not so with Auckland's The Beths. 

Here's a solo acoustic version of their song Mosquitoes. They are a four piece and all excellent musicians but Liz Stokes is the songwriter in the band. She is quite a talent. If you get a chance to see them, take it!