Back to the Ancient times

                                    Indian war elephants

A couple of Sunday's we ran an ancient game using Hail Caesar rules to fight a Alexander sucesser army pitted against the Indian army. As is usual in games I use the Macedonian army I was handicapped with some quite horendous command rolling, in particular my cavalry division which remained staionary for much of the game, which was a crying shame as I had great plans for these cavalry which were heavy armoured and carrying lances  matching the Indian heavy chariots! Still I managed to get into close combat with my Phalanxs with mixed results as my dads shooting with the Indians having a off day. The game ended in a draw which was probably a fair reflection of the game with both sides having lost  a couple of divisions and both sides having sucess in different quarters ofthe battle  field. Although frustrating at times the game was a good fun and it's always nice to see these 15mm troops on the table top. Here are some photos of the game unfolding........

Rome versus Carthage

Our last game we played saw me try my hand at commanding the Republican Roman army against the might of Hannibals Carthaginians using our rule choice of Hail Caesar. I had my troops in three divisions with my cavalry as a single division which was hidden behind the hills on the flank. My dad using the Carthaginians had three divisions of infantry with war elephants and a division of cavalry.

Using the Republican Roman army proved to be a real challenge as the army is predominantly small units, something which I have had little experience of using. I didn't really use my Velite troops to well or in the correct way to be honest but this was more down to miss understanding the correct use of role they played in battles and I over looked the fact that they counted towards your break point, as a result of this I used them way to rashly. However if you can coordinate your attack in close combat, getting a couple of these small units especially the tough fighting Hastati who are dispensable not counting towards your break point, in against the Lybian Spearmen proved to be a serious handful for the Carthaginians to handle, although abit of 'rule rust' saw us over look a few rules such as no combat bonus for charging in against long spears to the front.

 

Not where your Velites need to find themselves!

My Dad announces a charge against the flank of my Hastari, no chance I reply your going to need to roll a double one... Typically my dad rolls a double one...Charge!!!

Routing the Carthaginians skirmishes seemed like a good idea for the Spanish Caetrati, well for a brief moment anyhow....

The Gauls took their time getting involved in the fighting, deciding to to just stand and watch for most of the game to see how the Carthaginians faired, but when they did decide to join in the fight they did so ferociously as the poor old Spainsh Scutarii were to find out first hand.

I just about hung on for a draw, my left flank had been smashed by the Gauls with the Spainsh allies of the Romans had been broken, however a heroic last stand by a unit of Scutarii stopped the Gauls turning the Roman flank when their was still enough time in the game to have a major impact on the outcome. My cavalry faired reasonably well when they decided to move after failing every command throw for the entire game and were on the verge of breaking the Carthaginian cavalry. In the centre both our armies were still in a strong fighting condition to continue. Plenty of food for thought to take from this game and how to handle the Romans tactically, great game again though!

Macedonians back on the table top

After a few months of been stored away in  boxes I really fancied giving my Macedonian army a run out. Now this army has a kind of love hate relationship with me as I absolutely love the look of it, all those pike Phalanxs how can you not but my gaming record using it is appalling, try as I might,changing tactics, adjusting the personnel of the divisions, changing dice,I just can't buy a win or a dominant performance, Usually resulting in my army ending up a very disjointed..well mess to be brutally honest. Granted this army certainly isn't the luckiest army in my collection and when using Hail Caesar like its counter part Blackpowder when the chips are down it can be pretty brutal on you. So after another poor outing last weekend against my dads Indian army, it's back to the drawing board to rethink my strategy from scratch. I think I am a little to reliant on my skirmish screen, these troops tend to end up been a hinderance to my army and not the opponents so I think sacrificing some of these units and having some more Phalanxes should be the way to go, i think another division of heavy infantry phalanxes would give those Indians some food for thought, or more target practice if they decide to give up moving when they get to Bow range! Anyhow I sneaked a draw in our game, to be fair my dad didn't have the greatest nights dice rolling and for once those heavy chariots flunked big style, none more so than when 11 attack dice saw my dad hit twice (which I saved) when they had charged my Hypastists in the flank, and ended up losing the melee ! Still it was a fun evening and a enjoyable game to play, here are a few pictures of the game...

Macedonian camp

Indian archers and supporting elephants

The start of the slow advance over the table

The usually Hard hitting heavy Indian chariots 

The Macedonian general takes the lead of the static Phalanxes, blocked by those reluctant skirmishes who are not really interested in closing with The enemy 

Thessalian and Thracian cavalry clash with the Indian medium cavalry division

Heavy chariots flank the vulnerable Phalanxs who are engaged to the front 

The Macedonian pike prove to much to handle for the Indian heavy chariots

The phalanxes fall back to reform after somehow surviving the flank charge

The aftermath of tne battle 

Big Hail Caesar Carthagian & Roman Republic clash

Last weekend we played another game of Hail Caesar using my dads ever growing Roman Republic and Carthagian armies which now comfortably passes over the 1000 point mark. With not been able to my blog for the last week the details of the game are a little sketchy but what definetly was not in question was a Roman victory for my dad as the Carthagian army really faltered badly in this game. The Gauls division just couldn't manage more than a single move each turn and never really got into the action, the Carthagian veteran spears were anything but Veteran standard and could not handle the furoicous attack by the Hastati after the initial attack by the Velites and were swiftly defeated and as for the Carthagian cavalry..cough...we won't go there. It was a cracking game which we managed to play to a conclusion which was nice for a game of this size, here are some photos of the game 😀

The Velites clash with the Lybian Spearmen and elephants, even causing two of the elephants to stampede

The Carthagian cavalry charge their Roman counter parts and dually lose and both units fail their break test with a roll of 3 on two D6.....

The veteran lines of the Carthagian infantry supported by the citizen Spearmen await their orders to attack

The massed Warbands of the Gauls struggle to cover the ground to reach the Roman Spanish allies in the distance

The Hastati take over the fight from the  Velites and force the Carthagian lines back

The light infantry ready themselves for the advancing Gauls

The Veteran Lybian Spearmen see there lines begin to break as the Romans start to turn the screw

The Gauls fall short in their final attempt to charge the Spanish infantry

The Lybian infantry and elephant division breaks under the relentless attack by the Roman centre

The Carthagian centre completely broken as the Principes start to sweep round onto the flank of the retreating Lybian Veteran division as the Roman cavalry also push forward unopposed to threaten. The Carthagian position at this stage was completely unattainable and lost meaning a Fine Roman Republic victory was not in any doubt. 

Carthaginian and Roman republican clash

This weeks game saw us return to hail Caesar rules to have a ancient game using my dads Carthaginians and Republican Romans. I decided to use the Carthaginians and grouped my men in three divisions, cavalry on the rught, main body of veteran Spearmen with supports in the centre and over on the left was the Lybian Spearmen division with supports. My dad opted for a cavalry division which was facing off against mine, the centre was a massive division of Roman infantry and his right flank was held by a division of spainish allies. 

The battle lines drawn up

Velites, Hastati,and Principes form a formidable centre division

My Lybian Spearmen with supporting elephants and Gauls advance towards the Spanish infantry who had reached the hill line first after my CnC had blundered attempting a move!

The Roman Velites quickly dispatch the Carthaginian skirmishes shielding the main body of veteran Spearmen.

Both cavalry divisions close ready to charge.

Early action sees the Lybian Spearmen and citizen Spearmen somewhat surprisingly beat and shake the Triarii units.

The Roman Velite units reform their line leaving my Carthaginians little choice but to charge them.

Despite fresh Roman Principles joining the melee the Lybian and citizen Spearmen still win the melee 

Finally the Veteran Spearmen break through the first line of the Roman centre.

The cavalry clash as both division leaders join in the melee

My left flank performs very well and drives the Spanish troops back from the hill shaken as the presence of the elephant proves to much for their nerves

Along the centre the veteran Spearmen and elephants clash with the Roman Principes and supporting Hastati 

My dads right flank is broken and the remains of the division is forced to withdraw from the field, my Lybian Spearmen division now turns ready to launch a flank attack onto the Roman centre

The centre combat sees a bag of mixed results as both sides are forced back in disorder to regroup as a the elephant is broken fire failing its stampede test.

The Roman centre starts to thin out as the Principies start to break from the veteran Spearmen although the Romans do break the Gauls on the righ centre leading to the possibility of been able to turn the Carthaginians centre.

Despite having the upper hand in the game we ran out of time and I was unable to break my dads Roman Republic morale. I had won the battle on the right flank by breaking the opposite Spainish division and had started to get my troops into a position to seriously threaten the Roman centre. Both our cavalry divisions were a spent force from fighting each other throughout the game, my dads was one unit from been a broken division where mine was mostly shaken units. The centre was still very in the balance with both sides still having plenty of fighting troops ready to get stuck in, so the game we decided was a winning draw to the Carthaginians, as we both felt if the game continued the Carthaginians were likely to win. It was a good battle, we didn't wait round to long to get stuck into each other so there was plenty of action throughout the game. The rules played well again, we had a couple of sticking points during the game especially with using small units for the most part in the Roman army regarding when supporting in a combat but I think we have cleared this up since. We also forgot a few special rules during the game for certain units but to be fair we have been using a lot of different rule sets lately to remember everything. However I still think Hail Caesar allows for a good ancient game and I think they are my preferred rule set after trying different ones recently. Good stuff 😄