Punic wars in Spain - Infamy! Infamy!

 

Infamy! Infamy! is due to move on from it's Caesarean start and go back in time to some of the  republican conflicts including the Punic War. Rich was kind enough to send me a copy of the playtest rules which meant that my newly painted Carthaginians could get some time on the table.

The scenario was fairly simple, the Romans came on on a long table edge and had to get units off the opposite edge. 

The Roman force consisted of Two groups of Principes with a Level III leader with a Level I optio helping him out.

They had a Celtiberian tribe allied to the Romans and they brought 3 groups of warriors along with a Level II leader. A group of Cretan archers and a group of Velites both operated with Supranumerum leaders.

The Carthaginian force consisted of 2 Groups of Libyan Spearmen led by a Level III Warlord.

2 Groups of Iberian Scutarii with a Level II Leader

1 Group of Iberian Caetrati with a Level I Leader

6 Iberian Horsemen (Supra-Numerum)

6 Slingers (Supra-Numerum)

and of course an Elephant with some Libyan skirmishers 

The Principes, Cretans and the Velites came on quickly and moved bravely onto the board. The Caetrati immediately set out to deal with the roman skirmishers.

 

The rest of the Carthaginian force then deployed, looking to head of the Romans as quickly as possible.

Then the sneaky Celtiberians deployed off to the left, hoping to make a dash across the open space with no one noticing!

The Iberian horse were having none of this though and scooted across in that direction in order to head off Celtiberians.

Full of excitement and hoping the Romans had some buns, Nelly rumbled across the open ground.

But the Libyans decided they wanted the first go at the Principes. A nasty combat ensued and when the two forces parted Nelly was left in the perfect position to charge into the already damaged romans. 

The Romans just had enough time to bring the fresh group to the front before Nelly surged forward and started shaking legionaires up and down in the hope that buns might fall out. Everyone held their breath to see how badly Nelly might maul the beleaguered Romans. 

However it wasn't to be. Beset with sharp pointy sticks, Nelly succumbed to a number of wounds and fell, dead, on to the bloody ground.

This is what happens when your opponent rolls handfuls of 6's that you don't save!

The Principes didn't get any time to rest though. The Caetrati had chased the Velites round the rocky outcrops and were able to charge the Romans, firstly in the flank and then to the front. But the Romans still held themselves together. They were battered but still holding on.

Over on the other side of the board the Iberians had chased after the Celtiberians. The Celtiberians had been forced to turn so that they didn't suffer a flank charge and had instead decided to plough into the Scutari, who came off worst in the combat, pushing them back, full of shock.

The Carthagninian forces, had taken a battering and needed to regroup. Luckily, so did the Romans. The slingers and other skirmishers continued to pelt the opposition but all the main groups of warriors, attempted to reduce their shock and get their warriors back into the fight.

The Iberian horse, having spent most of their time trying to herd the Celtiberians away from the table edge, had lost troops to missile fire. Feeling brave, they charged what they saw as a soft target, the Velites. However, things didn't work out the way they had hoped and they were sent fleeing with only a single figure left.

The Libyan spearmen finally got themselves together just in time to brace themselves for the charge of the Celtiberi. The Iberians didn't stand, but the Libyans were made of sterner stuff and fought back hard. 

The Libyans flank was saved by a random event that brought a unit of Inferior Iberian warriors on the table edge behind the Principes, forcing them to turn and deal with them.

Losing the combat, the Celtiberians turned and fled from the Libyans and suddenly saw an opportunity to pull a win from the situation. The Carthaginian morale was dangerously low, but the Celtiberi could get off the table edge if they could out pace the Libyans.

There fleet foot took them all the way to the hills, presumably to report to the Roman superiors what had occurred.  

A great game that swung from one side to the next. Some of the new rules worked really well but we were sad about the poor performance of Nelly. The chaps all seemed to enjoy that game and it was played in a great manner.