Battle of Ticinus, DBA - Hott

This was a small cavalry battle fought between Hannibal and Scipio in the 2nd Punic War. Hannibal had crossed the Alps and had been recruiting local Celts and Italians hostile to Rome. The Romans were surprised, but one Consul, Publius Scipio led an Army along the north bank of the Po.

 (Hannibal's Cavalry verses Scipio's Velites, Gallic and Roman cavalry)  

The battle was fought on an open plain in the county of Pavia, 218BC. The River Ticinus was of the left of Hannibal's line and to the right of Scipio's. As such there needn' be any scenery. Hannibal's force was 6000 cavalry with his Libyan and Spanish in the centre and Numidian light cavalry in the wings.

Scipio's force was 3600 Roman cavalry, 4500 Velites and 2000 Mounted Gauls. Scipio had his allied mounted Gauls and Velites (javelins) in the first line and his second line was Roman Cavalry. He was behind them with a small reserve of cavalry.

The view from Hannibal's side. HAT figures painted by Alex Self

Scipio had a low opinion of the Carthage cavalry, due to the Rhone engagement. He hoped his Velites javelins would disrupt them and their large shields would deflect Carthaginian spear and javelins. Upon seeing the Romans lines Hannibal just charged forcing the Velites to withdrawal back to their supporting Cavalry. The retreating light troops disrupted the Roman cavalry trying to advance.

It became a general melee with Carthaginan cavalry fighting a ''tangled mass'' of Velites, dismounted Gauls and Roman Cavalry. The coup de grace came when the Numidian cavalry enveloped the Roman flanks and rear. Scipio had charged in with his small reserve but to no avail. He was saved from death by his son - the young Scipio Africanus. 

The Forces:

Rome

Publius Scipio (1 Rider General) 5 Velites (shooters) 2 Gaul (riders) 4 Roman Cavalry (knights)

Special rule: the Roman allied Gaul's may dismount if not in melee and from then on are warbands. The 

Romans deploy two separate lines: the first: Velites and Gauls and second: Roman Cavalry, behind them are Scipio. 

Carthage

Hannibal (1 Rider General) 7 Lybian / Spanish (knights) 4 Numidian (riders)

Hannibal; deploys with his heavy cavalry in the centre and Numidians on either wing. He is in the centre behind his heavy cavalry.

Scenery 

A flat plain. One table side may be a river or stream but this is set dressing.

Result

I played this round a mates house and predictably the Romans lost with Hannibals heavy cavary slamming in the Romans first line of velites. The Roman cavalry put up a fight but were now outnumbered. In a second game swap side. Or let the Romans deploy as per the rules.





 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Warhammer 40,000: The Badab War

Image
[Above: Howling Griffons diorama, by Richard Kernick, WD117] A lot has been written about the Horus Heresy but there is another conflict which saw Marine fight Marine in a bloody rebellion: the Badab War. First mention is a quote from the Tyrant of Badab in Rogue Trader (1987) "Though my guards may sleep and my ships lay at anchor, our foes know full well that the big guns never tire." The first feature on the Babab War is in White Dwarf 101 (May 1988.) An Index Astartes article by Rick Priestly (p.71) and two pages of glorious colour pictures of the chapters involved painted by Gary Chalk (p.73 to 74.) The next mention is Chaos Codex  (1996 and 2007)  Later, Forgeworld books Imperial Armour vol. 9-10  (2010)   expanded   the story in great detail. The Badab War is now caused by Space Marine pride, honour, rivalry and Imperial mismanagement. But this post reviews the war and the fate of Lufgt Huron, Tyrant of Badab, from the earlier sources.  Rebels: Lamen...
Read more

WH40K, Rogue Trader: Grav Attack and Groundhog

Image
Way back in the mists of time when WH40K first edition came out, there were only a handful of vehicle models these were small white metal kits - a landspeeder, two bikes and an ork war buggy. Before the Rhino and Land raider GW suggested you scratch-build your own vehicles, shock-horror. So in White Dwarf 95 Rick Priestly  wrote an 'Eavy Metal article on building the Grav Attack.  This hover vehicle was an light tank-made from spares from your bits box and a plastic deodorant dispenser. It encouraged both thrift and personal hygiene. The latter is always a good thing for wargamers! Anyhow, the Groundhog was a kit bash from a popular toy, a Slitherzoid from Tomy's Zoid range. These were plastic, toy, clockwork, war, robot dinosaurs (well, it was the eighties.) They came with lotsa attachable guns, antenna and radar dishes. Apparently you can still get Zoids accessories box. The Groundhog - a temporary blip in GW history. Note gaps filled with Milliput and Rhino tranfers Obvious...
Read more

Rogue Trader, 40K: Battle of Jadeberry Hill

Image
  This follow up scenario to Battle at the Farm appeared in White Dwarf  94:  Skirmish on Rynn's World . Written by Rick Priestly, it was more of a challenge. The Space marines are on a hill defending the entrance to a vital road underpass. The tunnel goes under the River Pakamac leading into the capital New Rynn. However they are trying to buy time for the capital to complete its defences before the ork's assault. The figures are mostly from the Space Ork Raiders boxset and plastic marines from 1987 vintage. The Orks are trying to get as many troopers through the tunnel, to regroup on the other side of the Pakamac River, ready to assault the capital. You don't necessarily need a GM. The marines could do some additional dice rolling and book keeping. The scenario is difficult for the Space Marines. They are waiting for the order to withdraw and have to stop orks from entering the tunnel. If the defences take too long time, more marines will die and more orks enter the tun...
Read more