Rules Overview: Lost Battles.

There was a post on the yahoo group the other night asking some questions about Lost Battles.  In reply I wrote what was supposed to be a brief summary of the game, but it turned out to be a bit longer than I expected.  I decided to re-post it here as it may be of interest to those who want to know a little more about the game.

The forthcoming Lost Battles board game  actually contains two games, "Lost Battles" and "Empire", but I'm going to concentrate on Lost Battles as that's the one I know most about.

Lost Battles is a system that models historical battles of the ancient era at grand-tactical scale. That means that each side will control somewhere around 20 units per side, with each unit representing greater or fewer numbers of troops depending on the size of the battle. At the battle of Trebia an average quality unit of heavy infantry represents 3000 men; at the battle of Leuctra a similar unit would represent 500 men. This is called the 'troop multiple' and allows LB to work for historical battles of different sizes without altering the core rules.

The board is divided into 20 zones; 5 wide by 4 deep. Troops move and fight from zone to zone, and these also scale in real terms from a minimum of 300m across to a maximum of 1200m across depending on the size of the historical battlefield.


Armies are made up of a limited set of troop types, with some sub-types to reflect different styles of fighting. The main types are light and heavy infantry, light and heavy cavalry, elephants, chariots and scythed chariots. The sub-types include phalangites, hoplites, legionaries and cataphracts, with rules to allow them to perform as they did historically.


Units are rated for quality and fighting value, with the three quality levels being levy (fighting value 2), average (fighting value 3) and veteran (fighting value 4)


The game also includes on-table generals, who make a real difference to the quality of a force. Generals have a range of special functions including the ability to rally units, move troops for free, give combat bonuses to units in their zone, and occasionally to boost morale. Better quality generals can do more of these things; poorer quality ones fewer.


So once you have decided on a scenario you want to play and set up your 20-odd units and generals (and seen your opponent do the same), what happens next?


Well, it's IGO-UGO, so if you're the starting player you must first work out how many commands you have. Commands are what allow your units to move and fight; the oil in the gaming engine, if you like ;-)


For every ten points of fighting value in your army you get 1 command. On top of that you roll a d6, and that gives you your command total. As mentioned, your generals also give you free commands (called exemptions), but I won't go into those too much right now. As an example, if you are fighting Cannae the Romans begin with a fighting value of 70, so they get 7 command plus the die result. The Carthaginians have a fighting value of 84, so they get 8 commands plus the die result.


Once you know how many commands you have you can start thinking about moving and fighting. It usually costs two commands to do most things (activate a group to move, activate a group to fight, etc) but there are a lot of different ways you can use commands, and there are many subtleties built into the system. You can make some units move farther at a higher command cost, or give units +1 in combat, and so on and so forth. Usually you can't do everything you'd like to do, so in how and where you use your commands resides a lot of the decision-making of the game, and it's where your tabletop generalship (and rules knowledge!) is most tested.


Combat is pretty simple: in most cases four units can attack from any one zone into another, so when it is your turn you choose which zones to attack with, and which units will attack from those zones and in what order. Two dice (six-sided) are rolled for each attack with a 'to hit' number required. As you would expect, different types of troops require different 'to hit' numbers depending on who they are attacking. Heavy cavalry against light infantry will hit on a 7; against heavy infantry they will need a 9, and so on for each troop type. The defending zone must always have a 'lead unit' against which all attacks are directed, and when a hit is scored on that unit it becomes 'spent' and another unit takes its place. Eventually, after a number of turns, 'spent' units will have to rotate back into the lead position again, and when spent units are hit they 'shatter', are removed from the table, and cause a morale test.


A lot of space could be devoted to talking about the details of combat, but to avoid overload I'll just say that it's simple but there is a lot to it and you have to make some interesting decisions, especially with 'all-out attacks' and rallies. 


Over time zones all across the battlefield will find themselves with more and more 'spent' units, and the process of trying to shatter enemy units while avoiding the same happening to your own becomes quite exciting.


Because it is grand-tactical scale, you will not be thinking about what formation you troops will assume, line of sight, whether to throw javelins at 40 paces or wait until 20 or any other low-level tactics. You will decide where to concentrate the greatest weight of your attack (represented by combat bonuses and high-quality troops), where you will attempt to hold the enemy (represented by refusing a flank, or stacking a zone with lower-quality troops) and how you will attempt to gain grand-tactical advantage (represented by attacking enemy zones from more than one direction, surrounding enemy zones or holding more of the central zones than the enemy).


To win battles you need to force a morale failure in the enemy army. When you shatter enough units and build up a morale advantage in other ways (holding key positions, killing enemy generals, surrounding zones containing enemy units) eventually one or both armies will start to fail morale tests and parts of the army will flee the field. At first spent light troops will run; then whole zones will flee, until finally a fatal shatter is scored and the remaining troops of one army melt away.


Once the battle is over, the secondary genius of the system shows through. At this point, players count up victory points and work out who wins the *game*. Unlike in many systems, the weaker army CAN (and often does) win in Lost Battles, because there is a handicap system in play. If you've played a few other ancients board game systems you'll probably have found that games are very imbalanced and there is not always much joy in playing the weaker army. Lost Battles is quite different in this regard, and each battle really is a game as well as a refight. The tabletop Caesar can win the field at Pharsalus but still lose the battle if the tabletop Pompey puts in a brave, stubborn and cunning performance.


So what do you get in Lost Battles?


1) a tense gaming experience.

2) a working model of ancient combat at grand-tactical level.

3) a sense of how these battles were fought and some insight into how and why the battles were won or lost as they were.

 Where is the game in Lost Battles?


1) how you deploy your army is very important (though you can use the historical deployments if you prefer).

2) where and when you employ combat bonuses is key.

3) it is necessary to have a plan for winning the battle, but you also need to be flexible in your approach.

4) which troops you put as lead units and the order of your attacks is a subtle but essential tool of tabletop generalship.

5) you must learn / gamble on when you can rely on your defense to hold and when you must stake everything on the attack.

6) use of reserves, withdrawals and encirclements is very important.

7) the order in which you move and resolve your attacks requires constant assessment to give your army the best chance of winning the field and yourself of winning the game.


8) how you use your on-table generals (where to position them, how to use the free commands, when to risk their death in a rally attempt and so on) is also quite important.


I hope that it gives you a bit of a taste of what you can expect from Lost Battles.

Heraclea

After a recent enlightening discussion on the Lost Battles yahoo group, I was helped by the excellent and knowledgeable fellows there to finalise a test OOB for a refight of Heraclea.  The other night I managed to get the battle finished, and now it's time to flex the fingers and write up the report.

I'd decided to try making both sides surprised, putting a stream across the roman baseline, and giving the Romans first move to reflect Plutarch's account of the battle which can be found here in his life of Pyrrhus (16 onwards being the relevant sections).

I went with the numbers Plutarch gives as having set out on the trip across to Italy even though some may have been lost in the storm.  As regards Pyrrhus'somewhat reluctant Tarentine allies, it seemed best to make their foot generic heavy infantry rather than Macedonian-style phalangites to accord with the passage in Polybius (18.28.10).

(As for Pyrrhus he employed not only Italian arms but Italian forces, placing cohorts of these and cohorts composed of men from the phalanx in alternate order in his battles with the Romans.)

I went with 4000 Tarentine foot, enough for one levy heavy infantry unit, which is a slight reduction from the 6000 that Jeff Jonas proposed in the very useful OOB he did for his Warhammer Ancient Battles scenario, here.  If you are reading this Jeff, your scenario was a great jumping-off point, so thank you very much for posting that.

For the Roman forces I went with four legions plus allies to allow Laevinus to outnumber Pyrrhus' men (as Justin's Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogas reports he did) without things getting ridiculous. 
Here then are the orders of battle.

Pyrrhus:

The 3000 men of the advance guard become 1 veteran phalanx unit and 1 average phalanx unit.
The 20,000 foot he brought over with him become 10 average phalanx units.
4000 Tarentine foot and 1000 Tarentine light horse (both figures basically plucked from the air) become 1 levy heavy infantry unit and 1 average light cavalry unit.
3000 heavy cavalry become 4 units of veterans and 1 average unit.  Pyrrhus is attached to his guard as an inspired leader.
2000 archers become one unit of average light infantry.
500 slingers and 20 elephants become one unit of Indian elephants with skirmish support.

The total fighting value of the approximately 30,000 foot, 4000 horse and 20 elephants is 80.

Laevinus:

The 27,000 or so heavy foot of the four legions and allies becomes 14 average legionary units.
The 10,000 or so light foot become 2 units of levy light infantry and about 2000 camp guards.
The 5000 or so heavy cavalry become 5 units of the same.
Laevinus is rated as an uninspired commander.

The total fighting value of the approximately 35,000 foot and 5000 horse is 78.

The zones were set at 800 metres across, giving an attack limit of 4.  Just to explain the 'surprised' rule in Lost Battles, the main differences between a normal deployment and a surprised one are that surprise limits the number of units that can deploy in a turn to four, with heavy infantry and elephant units counting as two units in the first turn, and the army fighting value for command generation purposes is limited to the units actually on the field at the start of the turn.

So then, to the action!

As you would expect, both sides send forward skirmishers and cavalry on the first move.  The Romans concentrate troops in all three central zones, with Laevinus and two units of Roman cavalry in the rightmost.  Pyrrhus responds by sending three cavalry units and a light infantry unit forward: the former force to counter Laevinus; the latter to protect the key zone in the centre.  

Pyrrhus' light infantry feel a little exposed...

The second turn sees Laevinus roll a 1 for command, giving him a miserable 2 commands plus 1 exemption to work with.  He spends 2 to deploy four legionary units in the centre, and uses his exemption to launch a cut-price attack on Pyrrhus' zone, scoring a hit.  In return, Pyrrhus double-moves some phalangites and two more units of cavalry to secure his presence in the centre.  In the attack from his own zone he shatters one unit of Roman cavalry and leaves the other spent.

Towards the end of turn two Laevinus begins to get a trifle nervy.

Laevinus rolls another 1, giving him 4 commands and an exemption.  He brings on another 4 units of legionaries and retires with the spent cavalry behind the safety of their shields.  Due to an accounting error he does not have enough commands to bring up support for the velites... 

"Why did I not count up my on-table fighting value correctly?" laments Laevinus.

...which proves costly as Pyrrhus now launches attacks in the centre and the centre-right, shattering both units of velites/leves. He declines to advance in the centre, but does advance the cavalry of the centre-right.

In the distance the phalanx begins to mass in the zone behind Pyrrhus.

Laevinus now gets a decent roll for his commands, brings on another two units of legionaries, and sends two units of equites into the far left wing zone, threatening to encircle the cavalry that advanced after defeating the Roman light infantry.  Pyrrhus pulls the cavalry back at a cost if three valuable commands, and elects to make an outflanking move of his own on the other wing.

We should have stayed here all along, grumble the cavalry. That way our support might have caught us up.

Laevinus now brings on two more units of legionaries in the centre left and his last unit of cavalry to defend the rear from the marauding Pyrrhus.  With a few more commands at his disposal his men are encouraged enough to score four hits on the phalangites on the Pyrrhic left, leaving the entire zone spent and dangerously close to ruin.

Determined attacks by the legionaries throw Pyrrhus' infantry off balance. 



An uncomfortable experience for the cavalry as the maniples move into line.

With his infantry line in danger of folding, Pyrrhus' earns again his storied epithet, 'the One'.  He decides that he will attack this turn and try to bring on reinforcements on the next.  It is a gamble, but his men do experience some success on the left.

The phalangites take a deep breath and pray that reinforcements will arrive soon...

Laevinus urges his men foward to break the phalangites opposite them, but they cannot score any shatters.  Elsewhere they have more success as the centre and centre left all score hits.  The consul now brings on his last undeployed units (the triarii, naturally!) to support his beleaguered cavalry in their efforts to ward off Pyrrhus' attempt at encirclement.  The cavalry score a hit on Pyrrhus' supporting veterans, and suddenly even these fellows are starting to feel the pressure.  Their reply though is magnificent: two hits; and knowing that the Thessalians have begun to come up in support, Pyrrhus does not feel the need to exchange cloaks and headgear with anyone quite yet.

It has come to the triarii...

Around this time Pyrrhus is faced with a problem: after rolling another 1 for command he can only bring up troops to support one part of his line.  The left or the right?  He chooses the right, and relies again on his staunch phalangites to hold on for another turn on the left. 

Laevinus is not idle - his men on the right shatter a unit of phalangites, continue to score hits elsewhere, and outflank the Pyrrhic centre-left.

Oh, dear. 

Things are not much better for Pyrrhus' infantry here, either.

Pyrrhus is able to bring up some fresh reinforcements in the left and the centre, including the long-awaited elephants, but it is now the right that is in trouble, despite its earlier reinforcement.  There is some encouragement though: all the units in the the Roman centre are now spent, and Laevinus' zone on the Roman left has only one fresh unit remaining.

I think we've seen you fellows somewhere before?

On turn 8 Rome begins by shattering a unit of phalangites and completes the 'spending' of Pyrrhus' centre and centre-right, but without being able to do as much damage as Laevinus would have hoped.  Pyrrhus is still unscathed, and the rest of the infantry line totters but holds.

Pyrrhus' line on the verge of collapse.

With the Thessalian cavalry now up in the line, Pyrrhus gives them their head and in a dramatic attack they shatter the stubborn triarii: the rear of Laevinus' lines is now exposed!  Elsewhere the attacks are prosecuted with vigour, but the disorder in the ranks prevents a breakthrough.

Those Thessalians are worth their weight...

It is now the Roman's turn to stall.  They can manage no shatters, but they do score a hit on the elephant unit, which brings them back into contention on their right.  Now though they are surrounded, and it does not look as promising as it once did.

Don't look behind you, gentlemen...

On turn 9 Pyrrhus attacks in the centre, using as many combat bonuses as he can.  The breakthrough is made, and with more than four Roman units shattered and the central zone with enemy to front and rear, the morale roll sends the rest of the units in the zone packing.  The centre, and with it the Roman key zone, has been won.  Now, all they need to do is shatter one more unit... but they cannot manage it.

Moving first on the last turn, the Romans finally cause a shatter and a morale failure on the Pyrrhic right.  Only the veteran cavalry stand, but they too are shattered in the next attack, and so a breakthrough by one side in one part of the line is matched by the other in another.  Laevinus however is unable to score a shatter on the zone opposing him, so the Pyrrhic army still has a chance to win the day. 

The situation at the of the Roman move in the tenth and last turn.

With all depending on breaking Laevinus' zone no combat bonuses are spared.  Two hits are scored, and Laevinus, summoning all his powers of inspiration, attempts to rally his men.  Two hits... and two rallies!  He succeeds, his men remain on the field, and the battle is a draw.

After such a dramatic battle, with so many changes in fortune, a draw seemed to be a good result.  Honour was satisfied on both sides.

When it came time to count up the points, I found that Rome had won a close battle on points by 84-68.  Rome probably won the game in the last turn when it routed the Pyrrhic left; but Pyrrhus might have won it back had it not been for the heroic performance of Laevinus in rolling two glorious 11s, in defiance of the odds (though obviously in accordance with the will of the gods).

A great game, finished in fine style! 

Zama page created to record our play-by-email game

I've set up a page on the old blog here to record the details of our second Lost Battles play-by-email game.   It occurred to me that it's probably neater to keep the details of this refight all in one place and update the same page rather than clog up the main page with lots of posts.  For anyone interested the page link is here.  It can also be found by clicking the 'Zama' page underneath the title of the blog.

In other news, I ordered another 64 foot and 19 cavalry figures from Strategia e Tattica to allow me to fill out me SeT legions.  The package arrived yesterday, and includes a nice-looking Scipio Africanus.  Will look forward to getting them painted up at some stage, but am not yet sure where they sit in the queue.  Having an Africanus on the table is, however, a motivating factor!

First painted figures of the year

After ten days fairly intensive painting I can happily report that there is a new force to be reckoned with on the Prufrockian battlefield: sixty-four Roman heavy infantrymen, thirty-two allied Italian infantrymen, sixteen velites, six command figures and eight supporting slingers for a total of one hundred and twenty six figures for the month (and the year) so far.  For me, that is pretty good going!

The bulk of these figures were part of a prize I won in a Commands & Colors: Ancients tournament.  I painted up the first sixteen hastati not long after I got them, but the rest have been sitting in a box for a very long time indeed.  It is rewarding to have finished them.

So, without further ado, here they are!

Principes and triarii, all Strategia e Tattica figures with the exemption of the eagle-bearer, which is a Chariot figure:

The entire lot, with all of the heavy infantry and half of the velites being Strategia e Tattica figures:

The Strategia e Tattica velites, with a Chariot one next to them in the wolfskin:

The army from the rear.  The command figures are also from the Chariot range:

Old Glory slingers:

The whole job lot in their box, waiting for the glue to dry:

These fellows will supplement my Chariot Romans, and I'm so pleased with them I'm going to put in another order with Roberto and Paolo at Strategia e Tattica to bring the allied legions up to strength. 

They turned out very well (bar a few grumbles with my own performance) and I will even go so far as to put up a review and comparison of the figures in a later post.

Stay tuned!

The paints are back out

I'm pleased to be able to report a bit of progress on the painting front this week.  My Anglo-Danish DBA army has stalled somewhat, but the Asculum game I played last week reminded me that I had half a consular army of Strategia e Tattica figures primed, brown-washed and ready for a few licks of paint.  So the other night I cleaned off my three year old's colouring-in table and sat down in the living room with the figures and a single pot of  paint. 

It went surprisingly well, and three nights later the things are nearly finished, which is pretty speedy going by my standards.  After spending a bit of time with them I've also decided that I quite like the figures and will put in an order for a few more packs so that I can do up some allied legions too.

Once they're all finished that should give me 4 legions plus allies at 75 men per figure, which is probably just about right for most occasions, though probably not quite enough to make me stop looking for more...

Humming and harring over base cloths.

Like all wargamers, I'm always looking for ways to improve the appearance of the old table.  One of the easiest ways to make sure a game looks good is to have a nice base cloth, but getting the right shade and the right texture is a bit tricky.  As I'm sure we all do, wherever I go I'm always keeping an eye out for cloths or carpets or other terrain pieces that might fit the bill. 

Anyway, the other day I found yet another carpet and picked it up, thinking it could be all right.  To cut a long story short, I thought it might be interesting to ask for opinions on which cloth goes best with the basing style I use for my figures. 

Please comment and let me which one you like best.  Feel free to go into as much detail as you like, and any peripheral advice or sage words of base-cloth wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

So, here are the options, in alphabetical order:



A) This is the first base mat I used.  It's made up of carpet tiles spraypainted various greens and browns.  It served its purpose but I don't really use it much these days.  It does fit my big table, however.

B) This is what I use for the big table these days.  It's a curtain, again with spraypaint added.

C) This is a different carpet (originally a kind of off white), with a fine grain.  I put hexes on it for use with Commands & Colors.  Again, it has been painted.

D) This is my current home table mat.  Green carpet this time with a bit of yellow and brown added to it.  It's the one I use for my Lost Battles games.

E) This is the new one I picked up the other day.  It's again carpet, and this is its store-bought colour. 

So, there are five of my base materials.  I have other bits and pieces I've fiddled around with too, but these are by far the easiest to pull out and set up, so these are the ones that get most use.

Which one would you prefer to see being trampled under hordes of leaden feet? 

Asculum, oh Asculum.

The hobby room has had a reshuffle of late with my wife's sewing stuff having been moved in there, which means that it had been a while since I'd had a proper miniatures battle at home.  Last night had seemed like an appropriate time to get back on that particular horse, and - as if on cue - around lunchtime the breeze (or perhaps it was the aircon) began whispering 'Asculum; Asculum.'

And lo!  There Asculum was...

Under Lost Battles Pyrrhus has a fighting value of 85 versus the 77 of Decius and Sulpicius, equating to a 24 point handicap.  This means in practice that Pyrrhus needs to shatter four legionary units to be on equal terms.  This is by no means an insurmountable task, but the Greek will need to proceed with caution and look to minimise the risk to his own forces.  When fresh his phalangites are strong against the legions, for they can attack in pairs to get a combat bonus (and fresh lead phalangites get a bonus against legions as well).  Less happily, the left flank of the infantry line is made up of a hodge-podge of generic heavy infantry types, so they will find it harder going against the Roman troops and could be a potential weak link. 

A weak link? 

Pyrrhus needs to work with flexibility: he will look to try his luck with the infantry and hold back a little on the flanks to see where the main attacks will come.  Once the Romans make their move he can direct his mounted reserves to shore up vulnerable areas and may choose where to concentrate his own assaults.

On the Roman side, Decius and Sulpicius will try to extend their handicap advantage by scoring hits and preserving the freshness of their own forces as long as possible.  If they can win on one flank they will have a good show off pulling of a points victory; if they can win on both they will have a good show of winning the field.

Decius waves to the crowd.

The first turn begins with Pyrrhus (known as 'The One' on account of his frequent production of that number in command rolls) ordering a general advance in a centre.  He has lived up to his epithet, and does not have the commands to do anything fancy with his cavalry.  They simply dress ranks, move forward to face the enemy and await proceedings. 

The cavalry and infantry align.

In the centre an eager unit of Italian allies scores a hit on the Roman skirmish line, drawing first blood.

The phalanx and the shaky levy lights.

The Roman machine now sets itself in motion: Decius advances his right centre and the centre itself moves up to relieve the skirmish line before it can get into any further trouble.  Sulpicius holds the left centre back, unwilling to face the cream of the phalanx without having given his men some sort of advantage.  On both flanks the Roman cavalry about-faces, but, daring the Greeks to charge in from a distance, elects to advance no further. 

Decius proves he can advance and wave at the same time even though he's only rated as an 'uninspired commander'.

With two thirds of the Roman infantry line in striking range, Pyrrhus makes the most of rolling a four for command and gives combat bonuses to his left centre and central phalanx.  He does not advance the cavalry on his wings, nor the infantry on his right.  Everything is thrown into delivering a weighty opening blow. 

This proves to be the right decision: he observes his 'weak link' left score three hits at a cost of one to itself and the centre chime in with another.

As if things were not going badly enough, the Romans now roll a one of their own.  Although there are only 8 command points to play with, it's now or never - the cavalry must attack.  Accordingly, the left flank advances, absorbing the negative modifier for moving before an attack, and scores a welcome and morale-boosting hit.

Who's the weak link now, eh?

Pyrrhus the One (once again) is now faced with a dilemma: which flank should he reinforce?  After some consideration, he decides that losing on the right would be most destructive, as it would see his valuable infantry line there outflanked.  In conjunction with an advance from Sulpicius, this could be enough to win the battle for the Romans.  Therefore, he reinforces the right with a unit of veteran cavalry, but not before the original denizens of that flank have scored a hit there and the left has also charged home to add two of its own.

Reinforcements arrive on the Greek right. 

Despite a quiet turn in the centre the 'weak link' does yet more damage to Decius' zone.  The centre right still holds its place in the line awaiting the outcome of the events on its flank.

The Romans appear to be inviting the Greeks to advance into the pocket. 

 
The infantry battle continues, with the Romans managing to make some gains in the centre.  Events there take a dramatic turn as Pyrrhus is forced to start attempting rallies so that he may retain a unit of fresh infantry in the lead position and a fresh pair of phalangites for the attack.  Decius is also beginning to make inroads, with all but two of the units opposing him now spent. 
 
Much depends on the cavalry.  If it could just win a flank... 
 
But the rolls come in, and it is clear that neither flank will be won quite yet.
 

An overview of the field as the moment of decision nears.

 
With the issue in the balance, Pyrrhus rolls a two.  He give a bonus to the cavalry on the right, but all three attacks miss.  The cavalry on the left is not given an attack bonus, and these two units also miss.  With nerves frayed, he orders an assault in the left centre.  The tension is eased somewhat as a hit is scored, Decius fails in his rally attempt, and the first unit is shattered.  The levy light infantry run off from the shock, leaving three units in the zone.  Finally, although the results in the centre are again inconclusive, it is evident that the Romans are being worn down.
 

There's our opening, gentlemen and elephants!

 
With the onus back on the Romans, it's time to break a wing.  The assaults are valiant, but with only eight commands to play with there are not enough combat bonuses to go around.  The lack of command points is particularly telling on the right, where both attacks would have succeeded if bonuses had been available.
 

What we wouldn't give for a combat bonus right about now...

 
On the left, one attack is successful, but the second cannot score the hit that would have caused a shatter.  Things are better in the centre though as the infantry come roaring back into the fight, shattering a unit of Samnites on the Greek left and leaving all but one of the infantry in the central zone spent.  
 
With Pyrrhus now in the ascendant, he obliges by rolling a three for command and commences with the 'weak link' zone.  Leading off with the elephant unit they score a double hit.  Decius rallies one, but is killed by the other, and the collapse begins. 
 

Decius has joined his forefathers, waving even in death.

 
This time the cavalry charge home on both flanks with no hesitation.  All four of the Roman cavalry units are shattered, and the flanks are laid bare; miraculously, the legions do not run. To add to the misery, units are also shattered in the centre. 
 
The Roman line holds out for another turn, but cannot claw anything back and is swept away in Pyrrhus' next attack.
 
With the forward line gone, Sulpicius' men are quickly surrounded and while they score three desperate hits of their own, it is Pyrrhus himself who administers the coup de grace with a devastating flank attack.
 

"Join the army they said. See the world, they said..."

 
As the final analysis is made it becomes apparent just how hard-fought this victory has been.  With one Greek unit shattered and seventeen units spent, the Romans have gathered 83 victory points.   But with nine Roman units shattered, a general killed and the remaining units routed, Pyrrhus has scored 105 points, which is enough to record a narrow victory.
 
All hail the victor, and it must be time for the Romans to raise another army...