SIMPLE rules ...
Opponents and scenarios were chosen at random. The five possible
scenarios included: Hydaspes, Alexander versus Porus; Heraclea,
Pyrrhus of Epirus versus Rome; Zama, Scipio versus Hannibal;
Cynocephalae, set piece battle, Philip II of Macedon versus Rome;
and Magnesia, with a Scipio versus Hannibal rematch. Four players
advanced out of the preliminaries to the semifinal round.
Preliminaries
Mike Metcalf (Pyrrhus) defeats Graham Cosmas (Romans) at Heraclea.
Cosmas bid 20 Rout Points to play the Romans. Metcalf bid zero
to play the Epirotes. The battle began with Roman velite advance
against Pyrrhus' skirmishers along the river. The skirmish battle
went against the Romans, so the first line of Hastati and Cohorts
went in against the skirmishers, with mixed results. Pyrrhus'
Phalanxes advanced to the river and engaged the disordered Hastati,
inflicting heavy losses. The Roman third line of Principe's and
Cohorts then joined the fight against the Phalanxes, eliminating
one and inverting two more. However, Roman losses were too heavy.
When Pyrrhus threw in his elephants, the Romans went over their
rout level. Victory for Pyrrhus.
Roger Taylor (Scipio) defeats Rich Phares (Hannibal) at Zama.
Taylor bid zero Rout Points to play Rome. Phares bid zero Rout
Points to play Carthage. The opening shot in the battle was Scipio
running off most of Hannibal's elephants. Nevertheless, Hannibal's
Balearic slingers moved forward to mix it up with the velites.
In turn, the Roman Hastati, the African Elephants and Hanno's
medium infantry joined the fray and there ensued a massive conglomeration
of fighting in the center. In the meantime, Hasdrubal's heavy
cavalry became embroiled in a "Dance of Death" with
the Roman cavalry and this the source of most of Hannibal's
successes. Unfortunately, the Romans threw their Principe's into
the maelstrom in the center, which obliterated the African light
and medium infantry. African losses exceeded the rout level for
Roman victory and Hannibal sailed for Asia Minor hoping for another
chance someday at Magnesia.
Peter Card (Pyrrhus) defeats James Tracy II (Romans) at Heraclea.
Tracy bid 10 Rout Points to play the Romans. Card bid 5 Rout
Points to play the Epirotes. The Romans kept their right flank
cavalry off the board, making the threat worse than the appearance.
The Epirote cavalry attempted to lure the Romans across the river,
but they shuffled to their right and forced them back. Then the
Epirotes deployed their medium and heavy infantry on their right
flank and attempted to outflank the Roman left, however, the
Romans countered by extending their left flank and the Hastati
did a number on the medium infantry. Meanwhile, the Epirote Elephants
moved around the center Phalanxes and charged the light infantry
covering the Roman right flank with moderate success. The Epirote
heavy cavalry then found a gap and got into the right flank of
the Roman Hastati; however, the Romans seized the next turn and
Principe's ended the threat. Finally, the Epirote Phalanxes crossed
the river and routed the Roman infantry in the center.
Mike Johnson (Hannibal) defeats David Lindsay (Scipio) at
Magnesia. Lindsay bid 12 Rout Points to play the Romans. Johnson
bid 10 Rout Points to play the Selucids. The early turns saw
a pitched cavalry battle on the Roman right flank. Scipio realized
too late that the Selucid superiority in cavalry, plus chariot
support, was more than he could handle. Every attempt to flank
the Selucids resulted in a counterflank. After the cavalry disaster,
both Roman legions charged in for a full assault along the whole
line. The 14th Legion faired well on the left, but the 10th Legion
rolled poorly and was decimated. At this point, Hannibal was
in a vastly superior position, so Scipio did the unthinkable
and surrendered.
Peter Card (Scipio) defeats Graham Cosmas (Hannibal) at Zama.
Card bid 8 Rout Points to play Rome. Cosmas bid 5 Rout Points
to play the Romans. The battle opened with Scipio's trumpeters
scaring off most of Hannibal's elephants, nullifying a Carthaginian
plan to shift the pachyderms to the wings to neutralize Scipio's
superior cavalry. Roman velites then advanced routing the remaining
elephants and pushing back Hannibal's weak skirmishers. Hannibal
threw in his first line of Celtic infantry against the velites,
whereupon Scipio's Hastati joined the battle. The Celts took
heavy losses but did the Romans some damage. Scipio advanced
his right wing Numidian light cavalry, which overwhelmed Hannibal's
much weaker Numidian horse contingent. Hannibal sent forward
his phalanxes and heavy infantry against the now disordered Roman
Hastati. The Romans lost about 50 RPs worth of units in a regular
Carthaginian activation followed by a successful turn seizure.
However, the Carthaginians were too close to their break point.
Further attacks by Scipio's Numidians broke Hannibal's army and
decided the battle.
Terry Coleman (Pyrrhus) defeats Roger Taylor (Romans).
Semi-Finals
Roger Taylor (Porus) defeats Peter Card (Alexander) at Hydaspes.
Card bid 1 Rout Point to play the Macedonians. Taylor bid zero
Rout Points to play the Macedonians. The Macedonians jumped off
by advancing their light cavalry, which brushed aside the chariots
covering the Indian left flank. The Companions followed, finding
their way around the Indian left flank to hit the light infantry
in the rear. Porus adjusted by turning the elephants around,
which was quite a feat, as they then took the Companions in the
rear, chewing them to pieces. The Macedonian Phalanxes moved
forward routing Indians to their front. By now, the battle hung
in the balance, but an elephant activation and seizure allowed
them to get into the rear of the Phalanx on the left. Macedonian
losses sustained on the last elephant charge pushed Alexander
over the limit and sent him packing west.
Terry
Coleman (Philip II) defeats Mike Metcalf (Rome) at Cynocephalae.
Metcalf bid 1 Rout Point to play the Romans. Coleman bid zero
Rout Points to be the Macedonians. This battle starts with Philip
II moving first. The Macedonian Phalanxes charged down the hill,
seized the next turn and crashed into the Romans. Philip also
managed to get his cavalry around the Romans. The pressure of
the Phalanxes and the threat in the rear were too much for the
Romans to handle. This battle was a complete rout, as the Macedonians
were successful on every seizure attempt, while the Romans fared
just the opposite, failing every seizure attempt.
Championship
Roger Taylor (Scipio) defeats Terry Coleman (Hannibal) at
Magnesia. Tied bids required a die roll to resolve sides. This
was a toe to toe slugfest, as neither player was able to outmaneuver
the other. In the early and middle game, it looked like Hannibal
was going to even the score with Scipio. However, in an unexpected
turn of events, Scipio made a crucial seizure roll and followed
it with great die rolls in the ensuing attacks. As a result,
Roger claimed the first WBC plaque to be awarded for Great Battles
of History (simple).
|