Roman Civil War 49BC.

For Sunday's game we've shot backwards in time,from the American Civil War to the Roman Civil War. The game is a ficticious battle on the Brundisium Plain in Italy.
Depending on if Graham can turn up,his wife has just come out of hospital, Brian and I would take the part of Caesar,and Paul would take on the role of Pompey.

Above is the simple scenario and map of the start positions for both armies.

This photo shows the overall view down the table,with the Caesarian forces on the left,and Pompey on the right.

The Elephants on Pompey's right flank legion,fronted by skirmishers.

This shot shows the Gauls on Caesar's right flank legion,again fronted by Velites.

This is a shot of Pompey's legions.

This is a shot of Caesar's legions,in their traditional 3 lines of,Hastati,Princepes,and Triarii.

Before I start the battle report,I must give a real heartfelt thankyou to Brian's wife,Sally,who sent us two model Doves,to grace the wargames table. It's really nice to think that these symbols of Peace and Love still have a place in a world that is full of violence and hate,so,once again, a big thankyou from the bottom of my heart.

And now the battle report;From move one there was action across the whole board,both Brian and Paul had decided to get their cavalry involved straight away,and ordered charges and outflanking moves.

This is a photo of the cavalry battle,both sides trying to capture the opposing hill,the cavalry melee'd for most of the game,the tide of war swinging one way then the other,with some good and bad dice throws bringing out the best and worst of both players-language wise that is!!

In the centre thing were always going to be tough,with the same troop types fighting each other.This shot is of the Gauls hitting Paul's left flank Legion,they did quite well, for Barbarians, and gave us time to engage all along the line,in the background you can see my move,with the Hastati,trying to thwart the Elephants coming in against me.

Here is an overall shot of the table,everything seems to be involved,scary stuff!! For along time the battle hung in the balance and it was down to morale on many occasions,with supporting troops and commanders playing a very important role.

This is ashot of Paul's Elephants crashing into my Hastati,however I had moved them obliquely,so he had to come in at an angle,which allowed me to get my Princepes onto his flank,the result was a defeat for the Elephants,and the inevitable morale test!!!

Off they go! in a formation that Billy Smart would have been proud of!!Paul was hoping that they would have routed to his left,and destroyed my centre legion,but the Gods were looking down on me,and they went right,and out of harms way.I quickly exchanged lines and renewed the fight on this flank.

The cavalry battle continues,however this produced a laugh-inducing moment of the game.Both Brian and Paul,to stop a unit retreating,put their commanders into the fight,and guess what? Both commanders were killed!!
This put both sides in jeopardy,and resulted in morale tests,which saw units taking off in all directions!! (Reggie,or Brian as we call him,maintained his King Killer reputation!)
This "episode" resulted in Brian's troops being widely dispersed,and Paul took advantage of this to threaten the whole of the centre.

Whilst I was holding my own (no law against that!) in the centre,Brian's legion was struggling ,here he had to throw the Gauls in for a second time,and,as they had suffered casualties before,they were soundly beaten,and thrown back!

The battle for the centre rages on,and on, and on..........

OH DEAR!! this is a photo the "ugly hole" that appeared when Brian's Gauls decided to go back home. This was the final straw for Caesar's battered and bleeding Legions,and Pompey Paul was declared the winner.

another great game,very exciting and played with excellent spirit.

Sally,here is a photo of Mr Dove spreading peace and love to Mr Elephant!

Oh look Sally,Mr Dove is spreading peace and love to Mr Lion now !!

Oh dear, Mr Dove is about to be catapulted against a city wall and reduced to a bloody,feathery mess,ah well it's the thought that counts!!

Roll on Thursday,which will be a Dove-free game,Peace and Love man,Peace and Love.