Author Topic: Refighting Cannae  (Read 3591 times)

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MikeCampbell

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Refighting Cannae
« on: September 18, 2008, 03:40:47 AM »
The DBMM-ers from around Wellington New Zealand are going to gather for
a refight of Cannae on the 27th of this month.

Being almost all 25mm players it's going to be a big toys battle - I've
calculated that the Roman army will form up 4.68 METRES wide ( a little
over 15 feet), so we're going to have 3 x 6'x4' tables to play on.

The Romans are mostly going to be Romans...albeit the legions will be a
little bit Republican, a little bit EIR, a little bit LIR, a little bit
Byzantine and the Triarii mostly hoplites!

Getting enough Gauls was the main problem - however we have large
numbers of all sorts of Irr Ax & Wb(F) that will do, and plenty of
actual Carthaginian spearmen for the Africans - albeit they will look
like Carthaginian Spearmen and not Romans! (we have 2 x 25mm Cartho
armies to get them from)

Figure scale is 1:250 for the infantry, 1:200 for the cavalry, and the
armies are as follows (yes I know that some of the stuff is arguable,
but a decision had to be made....)

Romans:
8 legions, each 6 leves/velites Ps(I), 12 Hastati & Principes (Bd(O)), 3
Triarii (Sp(S))
8 Legions as above but 3 Ps, 11 Bd(I) and 3 Triarii as the newly raised
armies of the 2 consuls and allowing for camp guards as below.
12 elements Cv(O) Romans for their right wing
18 elements Cv(O) Italians for their left wing.
Inert CinC, Ally Gen, 2 sub-gens in those numbers

Some of the nominal infantry strength is presumed to be guarding the
camps - I've decided to take a figure I read of about 7500 light and
2500 heavy infantry for these troops for the Romans, and further assumed that they will
mostly be taken from the 8 "raw" legions as being troops not good enough
to be in the main battle line.

The Roman CinC will command left wing and 4 raw legions on the left.  2
Sub-generals (proconsuls) will each command 4 "old" legions in the
centre and get the high PIP dice, and the ally-gen will get 4 raw
legions and the right wing cavalry.

Carthaginians:
16 Sp(S) African infantry
80 Reg Ax(O) Gauls (the rest assumed to be guarding the camp as per some
accounts)
16 Reg Bd(F) Spanish
32 Ps - 4 Ps(O) slingers, the rest Ps(S) Javelinmen
18 Lh(O) Numidians
33 Reg Cv(O) Spanish/Gauls
3 Reg Cv(O) Liby-phoenecian Cv(O) generals (Brilliant CinC, 2 subs)

The Carthaginian camp guard is 4-8000 Gauls "missing" from the main battle line depending who you read for numbers.

Neither side will have camps on table, but I'm still undecided whether
to count them for ME purposes.

This will NOT be a free-form refight - ie the Romans will NOT get to
setup as they wish nor allocate PIP dice as they wish - they will be
stuck with the historical setup and each legion will be setup in 6 or 7
ranks (depending on the # of Ps they have) - 1 or 2 of Ps, 4 of Bd, 1 of
Sp.

And for the sin of organising this and screwing the Romans with the
conditions I'm going to be Varro!! :)

Writeup & pics will follow after the event.

MikeCampbell

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Re: Refighting Cannae
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2008, 05:17:18 AM »
The movement trays are cut, the deployment plans have been organised,
the hordes of heavy infantry have been assembled, and a MacDonalds'
breakfast awaits early tomorrow morning!

Romans: (totals 1767 AP, 363 ME)
Varro as inert CinC - Reg Cv(O)
      18 Italian cavalry as Reg Cv(O)
      9 Velites/leves as Reg Ps(I)
      45 Hastati/Principes as Reg Bd(I)
      9 Triari as Reg Sp(S)
      2 Reg Bg(O) as command baggage (off table)
  93.5 ME

Paulus as ally general Reg Cv(O)
      12 Roman cavalry as Reg Cv(O)
      9 Velites/leves as Reg Ps(I)
      45 Hastati/Principes as Reg Bd(I)
      9 Triari as Reg Sp(S)
      2 Reg Bg(O) as command baggage (off table)
  87.5 ME

Marcus Atilius as sub-general Reg Bd(O)
      24 Velites/leves as Reg Ps(I)
      47 Hastati/Principes as Reg Bd(O)
      12 Triarii as Reg Sp(S)
      2 Reg Bg(O) as command baggage (off table)
  91 ME

Gnaius Servilius as sub-general Reg Bd(O)
      24 Velites/leves as Reg Ps(I)
      47 Hastati/Principes as Reg Bd(O)
      12 Triarii as Reg Sp(S)
      2 Reg Bg(O) as command baggage (off table)
  91 ME

Carthaginians: (totals 1181 AP, 218 ME)
Hannibal as Brilliant CinC, Reg Cv(O)
      14 assorted Javelinmen Reg Ps(S)
      2 Slingers Reg Ps(O)
      16 African Spearmen Reg Sp(S)
      8 Iberian infantry Reg Bd(F)
      40 Gallic infantry Reg Ax(O)
      (army baggage)
  76 ME

Mago as sub general Reg Cv(O)
      14 assorted Javelinmen Reg Ps(S)
      2 Slingers Reg Ps(O)
      16 African Spearmen Reg Sp(S)
      8 Iberian infantry Reg Bd(F)
      40 Gallic infantry Reg Ax(O)
      (army baggage)
  76 ME

Hanno as sub general Reg Cv(O)
      18 Numidians as Irr Lh(O)
      (army baggage)
  26 ME

Hasdrubal as sub general Reg Cv(O)
      32 Iberian & Gallic Cavalry Reg Cv(O)
      (army baggage)
  40 ME

Off table camp
      8 Irr Bg(O) as army baggage
  4 ME

One thing that became obvious when getting down to this detail is just
HOW expendable the Gauls are - the Carthaginians can afford to lose
every one of them (40 elements, 20 ME per command) and still not be
broken....they'd be disheartened and wouldn't be far from it of course,
but that'd leave them with mostly the Sp(S) who couldn't care less(plus
a smaller number of Spanish Bd who could of course....but they can lose
over half of those as well and still be hanging on for grim death - 40
Gauls + 5 Bd = 25 ME lost - they need to lose more than 25.33 ME to be
broken)

Something that irritates me is that DBMM baggage isn't right for this
battle (IMO DBMM baggage is too complicated and has forgotten what it's
there for....).  As an ally general Paulus is supposed to have his own
baggage and cannot share in the "army" baggage that the Romans have.
But this is palpable nonsense.  The Roman army was unitary - the consul
who was not in command each day did not, AFAIK, sit in his own camp then
move back to the rest of the army the day after when he was CinC as the
other consul moved out!!  :(

Giving the Romans a camp with regular baggage would give them an extra
PIP dice......which goes completely against their total lack of
manoeuvrability in this battle (as I see it).  So the only "realistic"
option is to give each of the 4 Roman commands their own "off table"
command baggage.  The Carthaginians also get 4 ME/command from 8 "off
table" army baggage in a 5th command - but it's irregular baggage so
adds nothing to their on-table command & control.

Table depth may be an issue if the Carthaginian cavalry tries to repeat
its historical manoeuvre and sweep around behind the Roman army.
Historically there was nothing in that area other than the smaller of
the 2 Roman camps, so the "edge of the world" at the Roman table edge
should not prevent them from doing it.

So we'll play a "house rule" that Carthaginian cavalry that move
off-table on the Roman edge can march off table, coming back on anywhere
they like - using a tactical move if that is within 400p of any Romans
who would prevent marching, or march moves if further than 400p.

I don't see table depth being an issue for pushing the Carthaginian
centre off the table - they'll be at least 10 recoils away from that as
I calculate it, which should take 15-20 turns in average.  And if it
does come to that we'll improvise something on the day! :)

MikeCampbell

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Re: Refighting Cannae
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2008, 12:26:08 AM »

It was a dark and windy day....in Upper Hutt...gale force forecast not far from here and it was certainly blowing outside with grey clouds.. :)

The battle was set - could the local Carthaginians match Hannibal's genius?

The Romans "set up first", Hannibal 2nd...Rome took the 1st move...the
PIPs were 0, 1, 0 and 3 (from left to right low (Varro), high, 2nd, ally (Paulus) were an immediate warning of what we could expect.

But we didn't have to wait long for the action - Carthage got 6, 6, 4
and 4, with their cavalry wings getting the 2 highest dice and the infantry centres averaging the low ones.

It only took to turn 2 for the Gallic and Iberian cavalry to smash into
the Roman cavalry, and instantly they killed an element, creating the
dreaded gap...

But for some reason the carthaginian plyer there didn't exploit it on
turn 3 - maybe it was only getting 2 PIPs?

In the centre the Punic skirmishers and the first line of Gauls advanced
to attack the Roman light screen - which struggled to retire through the
legions behind them - the formations were so deep and dense that all
sorts of moves had to be tried to get the light troops out of hteway
(basically they advanced with 2 ranks of blades to create a gap into
which they could retire) - much of the Roman PIP resource was spent
trying to bring the heavy infantry forward through the obstacle of their
own light troops!  They may have been better off just fighting with them!!

On the Roman left Varro had 0, 1, 0 PIPs for the first 3 turns, and the
Numidans (with 6, 3 and 6 PIPs) promptly marched outside their flank and
lines up on the end of the more-or-less stationary Italian allied cavalry.

Contact was made between the advancing Gauls and the Roman centre on T4,
but the Italian cavalry got 4 PIPs that turn, and turned on thir
tormentors - advancing a line towards the main body of Numidians and
telling off some elements to cover their flank - but they didn't
actually kill anything.

The Roman cavalry was crumbling fast on the right....right up until the
bit where Hasdrubal got himself killed (T6)!!  Over confident in his
numbers he had fought in the front rank and pursued too fat - finding
himself isolated and flanked!  Oops.

However numbers and hte gaps did tell, and that was the end of the
successes for the Roman right flank as the African spearmen came up onto
the outside of hte Roman infantry....

With 2, 3 and 2 PIPs on turns 5, 6 and 7 Varro was positively racing
around the table on the left - and even managed to kill a few
Numidians.....but early casualties meant the Italians were outnumbered
in elements, and excrebal PIPs vs great ones for the light horsement
(1,1,1 T8-10 vs 5, 6, 6) meant the Italians were essentially sitting
ducks - they won a few combats, survived a few occasions being lapped
around, but were being whittled down without being able to respond.

In the middle the Roman infantry pushed forward.  Gallic casualties were
mounting, but only a couple of handfuls so far...

On the right Paulus's infantry tried to turn outwards to face the
victorious mercenary cavalry and the African spearmen....tbut he newly
raised legions proved no match for the veterans, and by T10 Paulus'
command was disheartened.  By the end of T11 it broke, and T14 it was
shattered and fled the table in disorder, followed by such Gallic and
Iberian cavalry who were close enough to get impetuous pursuit and who
were not controlled.

They had inflicted casualties on the Africans tho - especially where the
 Carthaginians had carelessly not covered a flank properly and were
lapped by some Principes using that well known Roman manouvre the 80p
slidus......:)

In the centre the Romans were pressing forward and Gallic casualties
were mounting....it was fairly obvious the Gauls were going to be broken
through right in the middle....advancing them early in the game had just
bought them closer to the Romans and given them more time to be killed -
not a good move.

With a few Sp(S) dead the left wing of the Carthaginian infantry  was getting close to being disheartened, and at one point Hannibal even throw his own bodyguard into the fray, attacking directly at the pro-consul ...but he achieved nothing of note (2 brilliant strokes as +2's in combat vs the Roman general....)

Back on the left....with the Roman right wing broken it was now a race
to see if the Roman left would break before the Carthaginian infantry...

The Numidians all but cleared out the Italian cavalry, but the African
spearmen found them much harder (lost 2 elements to 6-1's at 3:3!) - the
last 4 elements of Italian cavalry, incl Varro's own Extraordinarii
(thought I'd get that in... :)) simple refused to roll low...

On T13 Hannibal's infantry became disheartened......on T14 Mago's
infantry became disheartened....by this time the centre of Gauls had
completely disappeared...the Numidians had closed on all sides of Varro
and his bodyguards...but inspired by the Consul the Itialians forced the
 lighter horsemen to retire time after time.

More Numidians arrived to harrass the rear of the Roman left...but all
this time Gauls were being cut down in the middle...the 2 pro-consuls
had turned many of their troops towards the flanks and were "running
down" the line....

Adn so to the final turn...T16.....both Carthaginian infantry commands
were within 1 element of breaking, ht Numidians were attacking the rear
ranks of the Roman left (ie the Triarii Sp(S)), Varro was
surrounded...again...and his raw legionaries were being attacked in the
front by Hanno, and in the flank (Bd (I) forvced to turn) and rear (Sp(S) that couldn't turn) by Numidians.

But hey...it's jsut a game of dice....:)

So the final round of combat in the Carthaginian turn - Hanno killed the Bd facing him....but the Carthaginians couldn't buy another victory anywher - the Triarii turned and faced the Numidians, refusing to give in to panic;  Varro's Italians finally caught some of the nimble horsemen coming too close and killed many who were unable to get away (ie he killed the element facing), and in the centre the Romans wiped out some more of Hannibal's Gauls - so Hannibal's own command broke, and the 2 ME penalty for seeing tht broke the other infantry command - Game over, and Rome wins the day!

ANALYSIS (some thoughts)
As Varro having a death of PIPs was unbelievably frustrating - most of the time all I could do was try to get the general out of danger - half hte time when I did have 1 PIP he was stuck in close combat and couldn't move any troops anyway!

A better PIP allocation system may have been to average the 3 eligible Roman commands - this would haev given Varro extra PIPs at the expense of the 2 central commands - but they also had their generals' PIPs which they used often to get into combat.

In this case the Roman psiloi would probably have had to fight rather than attempt to withdraw.

The Carthaginians made several mistakes IMO:

1/ Advancing the gauls - no need to do this - the longer it takes for the Romans to get to them the better, and a couple more turns delay before it happened would have seen the Carthaginians probably win.
2/ Fighting with Hasdrubal - unlucky dice in some respects, but there was never any need for his extra factor

Both of htese I put down to them being a bit impatient to get into contact and not fully realising that they needed to accomplish some things in order - ie FIRST clear away the Roman cavalry wings....THEN do the infantry fight...

You may notice three's no mention of the Iberian infantry - that's because they only fought a couple of times right at the end of the game.  They had been set up on the flanks of the Gauls and not been advanced with the Spearmen - so they only barely made it into combat with the remnants of Paulus's army on the Roman left, and not at all on the right.


THE SEQUEL (ie how history changed....)

With most of their cavalry intact the remnants of the Carthaginian army were able to gather back at their camp - with Varro's urging, Paulus offered battle again the next day, but Hannibal refused, then slipped away that night, leaving his wounded to be slaughtered by the vengeful Romans.

Terrentius Varro was aclaimed as the Saviour of Rome, and Fabius Maximus was reviled for having spent a year withiout inflicting any defeat on Hannibal. 

Hannibal could not stay in southern Italy - no Italian cities rebelled agaisnt Rome, and he was forced to retreat back to Cisalpine Gaul for supplies.  But even there the carnage among his gallic troops had made him unpopular.

A year later Varro was ambushed by Hannibal while marching without proper scouts in northern Italy, but the revenge gave only temporary relief, and Hannibal was forced to make a long and arduous reverse passage through the alps and return to Spain.

While there, his star seriously diminished and his troops exhausted, demoralised and many fewer than had left, he was defeated by the otherwise little known Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio - Carthage was forced from Spain, and the 2nd Punic War was ended on terms of Carthage losing all its territories outside Africa, having its fleet limited to 30 Triremes, and having to pay Rome a massive tribute for the next 50 years.

Just 23 years later the Carthaginians had had enough of this and went to war with Rome again - some say Hannibal was the chief instigator, but it was of no import - Carthage no longer had the resourcs to fight and had timed it's declaration badly - Rome had defeated Macedonia and Seleucia in recent wars and neither was able to offer more than encouragement - although both did declare war.  After several years desultory fighting in Africa, Rome sent Lucius Aemilius Paulus to command - son of one of the consuls at Cannae.  He invested Carthage, and after a seige of 2 years accepted its surrender, sold it's peoiple into slavery and destroyed the city forever.

So nothing really changed....:)

MikeCampbell

  • Guest
Re: Refighting Cannae
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2008, 01:30:58 AM »


Lets see if this image thing works......the Carthaginian army

MikeCampbell

  • Guest
Re: Refighting Cannae
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2008, 02:17:12 AM »
Good oh - here's a couple more of the smaller ones from the DBMM group files section - you can see the rest at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DBMMlist/files/Cannae/

The left flank of T9 -

The right flank T9 -

MikeCampbell

  • Guest
Re: Refighting Cannae
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2008, 09:36:59 PM »
Ah damn - looks like the pictures don't work after all, and you have to be a member of the list to see them there.....which you can easily be of course...:)

MikeCampbell

  • Guest
Re: Refighting Cannae
« Reply #6 on: September 29, 2008, 03:40:09 AM »
Try www.jungleoflife.blogspot.com for a short blog with some pics