Hail Caesar 30/11/11

Jim's Republican Romans v. SteveJ's Seleucids

The Romans had 2 legionary divisions each 4 hast/princ, 2 velite, 1 triari, all small units & 2 allied divisions each 1 small med cav, 1 small light cav, 1 med inf, 1 light inf.   The Seleucids had an infantry div of 4 phalanxes, 1 med inf, 2 elephants & 2 skimishers & 2 cav divs, each of 2 cats or heavies & 2 small light cav.

The Romans deployed with allies on each flank.  The Seleucids put all their cav on their right with the left of the phalanx protected by elephants & light troops.

The mission rules were: Map deployment.  Army morale failure if 1) camp lost, 2) more than half divs lost, or, 3) all of inf divs lost.  Pics all taken from Roman side.

The Seleucids got first turn and generally advanced, except their right flank cavalry dithered.

The Romans tried to advance their right, but poor command dice made it slow going.  The first clash was on the Roman left where the cataphracts smashed through the weak Roman cavalry.  The left looked bleak for the Romans, but the Seleucid cavalry dithered and the allied medium infantry on the hill stood firm before the light cavalry and protected the Legion's left while it took on the phalanx.

On the other flank the Romans tried to send their cavalry over to bolster their left, but their div commander just didn't get it and they sat behind the wood for the duration.  But the infantry did better - charging the elephants and driving them back to secure the Legion's right flank.

In the centre the phalanx and the legion met head on.  The legions got the better of it on the right and broke the phalanx line.  The flexibility of the small units then allowed them to exploit the gap and the Seleucid infantry division broke giving the Romans victory before the Seleucid cavalry could make an impact.

The Seleucids considered themselves unlucky in the infantry fight, but it could be said that they made a strategic error in advancing the phalanx.  If they had held it back, the Roman infantry would have exposed their flank in attacking them.  As it was the Romans had the opportunity to counterattack with their strength before the Seleucid cavalry could be brought to bear.