Hail Caesar: Pyrrhus v. Rome

Mike had finished a Pyrrhic army so we got out some Romans to give them a run.
We also decided to use straight Hail Caesar for a change.

The Romans (on the left) have a small cavalry division of 2 medium & 2 light & 3 legions, each of 2 Velites, 6 Hastasi/Principes & 2 Triarii, all small units.  Divisional command 9, CIC 7.  Army break test: break on losing 2 infantry divisions.
Pyrrhus on the right has 2 cavalry divisions, 2 divisions of 2 slinger, 2 spearmen & 2 light infantry & a division of 2 elphants & 2 Galatian warbands.  Command 8.  Army break test: lose 3 of 5 divisions.

On the near flank the Roman cavalry dashed forward & took out a cavalry unit before bouncing back off the 2nd line to form a line with their supporting infantry.
On the far flank Pyrrhus' cavalry advance is held back by poor command dice.
The central legion has advanced ahead of the other two.

The Pyrrhic commander on the left saw that the Roman advance in the centre had exposed their flank & charged their flank with his elephants.

On the far flank the Roman legion is held up in its advance by the Pyrrhic cavalry.
The Roman centre is still desperately hanging on despite being attacked front & flank.
On the near flank the Romans are advancing cautiously.

On the far flank the cavalry have finally got past the Triari, but the Principes & Hastasti have attacked the enemy infantry before the cavalry can get to them.
In the centre the Romans are still hanging on.
On the near flank the Galacians were scattered by the Roman foot & the elephants broke with them.  The Pyrrhic cavalry on the near flank has beaten off another cavalry attack.

The Roman centre has finally collapsed, but the Pyrrhic foot there is under great pressure.
The Pyrrhic horse on the far flank has arrived too late to save the RH Pyrrhic infantry, but has hit the Roman foot before they could regroup.

The battle should have ended when the Pyrrhic cavalry hit the Roman foot in rear, but hot dice saved the division & the cavalry have been beaten off.
Then it should have ended by the LH Pyrrhic infantry breaking, but they too hung on against the odds.

The Pyrrhic cavalry on the right charged again, but were again repulsed.
The Pyrrhic foot in the centre fell back on half strength, but the Romans were too shaken to follow up & finish them off.

Finally a double or nothing charge by the last fresh Pyrrhic infantry unit got lucky & took out a cohort to break the Romans on the far flank & give Pyrrhis a ... Pyrrhic victory.

It's been a while since we played Hail Caesar straight by the book.  I was reminded why we developed Hail Whoever even though HC is a rattling good game:  HC has a great basic structure but we think it has a number of flaws we have house ruled out, such as:
- Troop characteristics are too dominant relevant to tactical factors.
- It's too easy for shaken units to hang on & on leading to indecisive end games.
- Saving throws slow the game down.