Caesar vs Pompey,Roman Civil War 49-45BC

Last night was a night of "treats" for me-Brian came along to watch our game,Dave came along to play,and Paul brought me a Body Warmer,which he said is mine,but the Wife says she's never seen it before!!(however I will accept it,c'cos it's better than the one I'm wearing now!!) and the best treat of all,was the game we played-full of action,grand tactics and thoroughly enjoyable.

Here is the scenario,and table before any movement-I took "inspiration" for the game from the Terry Wise book,Battles for Wargamers(1974!!)
Dave was in command of the Caesarian forces on the right,whilst Paul and I took charge of the Pompeian forces on the left.

The opening moves,both side intent on getting stuck in!!-Paul and I had a "conflab" before the game started and came up with a cunning plan,which was to advance upon the enemy and "knack" them!!-Brilliant.
Paul looks too happy in this photo-is he the only one playing??-where's everyone else?

CRASH!!-we had put our German allied warbands in our front line,to take the dreaded Pila,and to blunt Dave's attack-this worked well,however the cavalry battle in the foreground didn't go as well,but on Paul's flank his Germans were doing ok,and holding Dave's Gauls(oh dear me,what have I said!!!!)

This is Paul's left flank-he managed to break through Dave's Gauls,eventually,but it took a while-Dave charged and counter-attacked,and at one point drove Paul back-this was serious stuff!

Oh look,there's Brian!!
This shot shows the whole table,ablaze with melees,and with both side's second lines waiting to get involved,in the foreground Paul's cavalry and infantry are fighting for their little lead lives,meanwhile,on the far flank,my infantry are advancing against Dave's flank-soon,something must happen!!

It did!!-after a long and hard struggle(in which my cavalry were destroyed!) I eventually gained the flank,which put Dave in a bit of bother,and with Paul also gaining his flank,the fate of the Pompeian forces was being rapidly sealed!!

With both sides throwing all caution to the wind,and their second lines involved,Dave was being put under tremendous pressure-however he coped well and started to turn his cohorts into a defensive "dog-leg" formation to meet our attacks-it was beginning to look like a Cannae situation!!-would he survive?

Oh look,there's Brian!!-Dave was being surrounded,and pressurised on both flanks,with no hope of winning,he "fell on his sword" and Paul and I were declared the winners.
It's always difficult commanding an army against two opponents,but Dave did extremely well,and should be congratulated on doing so well,especially as Ancients is not his "first love".
We all enjoyed the game,including Brian who kept us amused throughout with comments and anecdotes,we hope to see more of him over the coming weeks.
Roll on Thursday-another Ancients game,continuing the Roman Civil War theme,but only involving Paul and I,'cos Dave is working(ah yes,work,I almost remember that!!) and Brian is still attending Hospital appointments during the week.