Saturday 3 June 2023

Cannae with Lost Battles

I recently finished rebasing my African veterans (post to follow) giving me the units I needed for a game of Lost Battles Cannae scenario. I did try to keep a record of the battle for a blow by blow account but I started to lose track of things towards the end so have opted to do a photo report with the battle loosely narrated in the photo captions below. 

The battlefield at Cannae

The hill on the Punic right made using some cork tiles under the fleece

Low tech river of laminated card with a water effect print,
loose foliage was used to make up the banks

Armies deployed 

Hannibal's intimidating cavalry arm
Hannibal's thin infantry line

The Legions massed to overwhelm the Carthaginians

The Velites quickly give the Caetratii some trouble


Both lines close

Roman cavalry hold despite desperate odds

The Romans press hard

The Punic line struggles to resist the Legions

The Numidians are repelled by the Romans

Hannibal's infantry line buckles while the cavalry 
swings round the flank 

The Romans press the centre and the Roman cavalry attempt
to relieve the pressure on the rear

Carthaginian left struggles against the might of Rome

Roman cavalry attempt to distract the Punic cavalry however
the Numidians return to threaten the Roman rear

The Legions tear through the Punic infantry while the
Carthaginian cavalry wreak havoc on the Roman rear

Only the Roman centre remains but continues to fight

The encircled Roman centre battles on 

Another blow to Hannibal's line, Hannibal managed to 
keep them fighting for a little longer but eventually the 
Gauls broke and the cavalry to the rear fled, leaving the
Romans to win the field.

6 comments:

  1. Nice report Tony! Cheers, Aaron

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  2. An interesting game with the Carthaginian’s just unable to hold on, and nice looking tabletop.

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    1. Thanks Peter, yes its an interesting scenario Carthaginian victory is not assured!

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  3. Fine looking battle, Tony! I find that Cannae can be a toss-up for either army especially when playing CCA.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan! Yes it makes it a good scenario and one worth revisiting often!

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