Completed Let's actually win the Second Punic War in Rome & Carthage

[Grimgravy]

Well, if only Hanno in Sardinia can move, let's take Corsica to humiliate Rome by denying them anything outside the boot. Too bad the navy got ganked. The Romans have moved to blockade Tarentum as well, stopping the Greeks from landing reinforcements.

 

[ValeVelKal]

Well, everyone can move, but whatever the Senate says since everyone is in Italy except Hanno and there is nothing to do outside of Italy (except Corsica), it only changes something for Hanno

 

[baud]

If you send Hannibal to attack Rome at this point, Valerius will just break the siege?

 

[ValeVelKal]

If you send Hannibal to attack Rome at this point, Valerius will just break the siege?

If Hannibal siege Rome, Valerius will move out and attack from the outside (or worse, transport his force in force and attack from the inside - since they have naval domination).

Then I ll have to pull back, the Roman will draw a card and I will be in the same situation (though hopefully I can force another battle with the Roman).

I consider TheLoneGunMan (from OT forum) the only valuable vote as "reinforce Italy", but I have 2 (one here one on the other forum) "take Corsica to humiliate the Romans", so I will try (but the Roman fleet will try to stop me).

 

[ValeVelKal]

Carthage - 207 BC

The year is 207 BC. Upset by the prospects of a victory only due to the Barcids, the Senate tries to sabotage the war effort :

Meanwhile, in Italy, the Barcids shrug as more sieges bear fruits :

Hannibal also receives the news that the old Senator Marcellus is with a skeleton army in Genua. Hannibal cannot pass this opportunity. Leaving the siege of Asculum for only a few weeks, Hannibal bolts toward the North, and assault Genua :

For Marcellus, the situation is pretty desperate [I also used a card to remove one of his legion] :

[/URL]

Marcellus proposes a singular combat to Hannibal, who promptly either the doubtful glory of killing a 60 years old in combat, or the shame of losing to the only owner in recent memories of the spolia opima.

The assault is given, Marcellus fight like a Troyan hero, but ultimaly he dies like all his men :

As per the chronicles :

When Hannibal heard of Marcellus' death he travelled to see the body, allowed Marcellus a proper funeral, and even sent the ashes back to Marcellus’ son in a silver urn with a golden wreath.

[In this AAR I have been unfair to Marcellus. He was probably the third greatest general of the Roman during the whole second Punic war, something his game stats do not reflect as much as they should. He is also the only attested Roman of the Republic to have won the spolia opima, ie to have killed an enemy leader in singular combat, with maybe another "real" case in the 5th century [Aulus Cornelius Cossus]

Once the deed was done, Hannibal marched with incredible speed [and the use of a card] back to Umbria. From the point of view of Valerius in Asculum, he had never left his position [I also received another "remove 2 Romans units" card]

In the South, Mago started the siege of Venusia :

This was all for the Punics, Hannibal recruited forces [and received ANOTHER Hannibal on the march !]

I know the Senates wants Hanno to try to seize Corsica but he cannot embark without risking interception.


Rome - 207 BC

In Rome, Africanus knew he had to do something - anything - to lift Roman morale.
He gnew that Genua was defenceless, so he took his meagre force, and assaulted it :

But the defenders held ! The attacking legionnaries were slain ! Africanus had to go back to Rome in shame !

While they were defeated in the field of battle, the Romans would still yield victory in the arena of diplomacy :

They also actively recruited, and elected new leaders

Despite his humiliating defeat, Africanus optimism got him reelected, as did the former leaders. As for Marcellus replacement, he was a total newcomer :

Here is the situation at the beginning of 206 BC (Hanno arrived in Carthage) :

Senate of Carthage, the Suffet confidently informs you that he values your opinion and will be bringing many presents and slaves from Rome upon victory, and inquires on what you would propose him to do ?

The course of the war has been decided already, yet the Suffet believes it is polite to ask for your opinion.


Please note that :

- Depending on what you choose to "reinforce", I will be able to send Hanno-in-Carthage there. There are 2 going ideas : Spain (recruiting more units there, then going on foot) and Italy.
- You need to know we can transport by ship only as many units [leaders excluded] as we have ship units, so 4. And we probably cannot recruit more at this point, though we may get luckty.
- Mago will take Venusia at the beginning of the year, so either he should assist Philip in the assault of Tarentum, then move together in Apulia, or he should remain autonomous.
- Hannibal may skim off some units of his army in order to tempt Valerius into sallying out - given us an opportunity to destroy that army (or at least being able to "guard" it with a more minor leader. Should we attempt this ?
- Should we allow Philip the glory of besieging Rome ?​

 

[oscar]

Italy. I sense we're close to victory here so let's cut to the death blow

- Mago should assist Philip, doesn't look like victory would be a sure thing if the defenders were to Sally
- No, slow and steady. Let's not get cocky
- Philip and Mago can combine to do the dirty work so long as Hannibal is the one to march through victorious

 

[Grimgravy]

It's too bad Africanus didn't take Genua. It might have isolated him and set him up to die like Marcellus.

Italy.
Having lost two units to intrigue, the Greeks need help.

Philip and Mago can combine to do the dirty work so long as Hannibal is the one to march through victorious

 

[Andnjord]

- Should we allow Philip the glory of besieging Rome ?

Hannibal has been doing all the dirty work for ten years and now this effete Hellene wants to waltz in and steal the glory?

Spoiler

EDIT: Haven't had much free time recently to comment on this but rest assured that this has been a great LP worthy of the Codex.

But you're still a fag for listening to these Paradox pussies

 

[ValeVelKal]

The Senate [of RPGCodex] has voted :

- Reinforce Italy !
- Do not let Philip the glory of taking Rome. Only Hannibal deserves Rome !

But Philip can get Tarentum with the help of Mago

 

[ValeVelKal]

Carthage - 206 BC

The year is 206 BC. The Senate is in panic : "What if Hannibal won, despite all our efforts ? Let's at least pretend we helped him"

Consequently, the Senate gave Hannibal reinforcement, elite cavalry - but critically no fleet :





Venusia had fallen to the Punic siege. Tarentum's walls had a gap.




Philip, now advised by Mago rathern than Himilco, gave assault [after I used one card to soften the defense] :



The Greek lost some infantry, but the city was their :



After this, Philip and Mago marched on Ancona, waiting to receive reinforcements [I was convinced that if the city was available, Macedonian reinforcements always arrived in Ancona - turned out I was wrong].

There were other movements :



- The Lesser Hanno had the survivors of the Punic fleet transport him to Rhegium
- Himilco also marched toward Rhegium, ready to merge force,
- Hannibal lift in an instant, moved to Capua, drop troops for the Himilco/Hanno force to catch in the future - and also to make his aarmy maybe a more tempting target for Valerius, then moved back to his starting position.
- The Better Hanno decided to sortie his army to, maybe, taunt the Roman in landing in Sardinia and accept battle.

The Punic forces then wintered. Many Italians joined their force in Rhegium [and I got a card for one more fleet !]



Rome - 206 BC

Valerius looked outside the walls of his city. "Yep, Hannibal's still there. Better sto tay where I am !".

Scipio had been humiliated, so he devised another plan to wash the affront.

He took the force available in Rome, and use the naval domination of Rome to land... in Tarantum. The city was assaulted without any resistance :



He then moved to Venusia, but the defense was more fierce. Nevertheless, though with loss, he took the city as well.



He then sailed back to Rome for reelection purposes, after ordering a new legion formed :




Matho was replaced by another nobody. Scipio ordered to take command of the troops in Tarentum. Looking around him, Crassus realized he was senior to Cethegus, and ordered Cethegus to take command of the force in Tarentum. Cethegus looked for Mamilius, but he was nowhere to be found. "So that's how I die", though Cethegus as he sailed for Tarentum.

Meanwhile, some reinforcements arrived for Macedonia, except that it did not arrive where expected …



… and it was not what expected, since it was some ships, when nothing could challenge Roman naval domination at this point.

This is the situation as 205 BC begins :







[I also have 4 cards : 2 Hannibal on the March, one Hannibal Punic Trick for battles, and one "get one unit for free in Carthage", that I will use for fleet]


Senate of Carthage, the Suffet confidently informs you that he values your opinion and will be bringing many presents and slaves from Rome upon victory, and inquires on what you would propose him to do ?

The course of the war has been decided already, yet the Suffet believes it is polite to ask for your opinion. Note that whatever you ask me to "reinforce", this may only impact Hanno-in-Sardinia, and even then, provided a storm pushes the Roman fleet away from his ports.

On the other hand, you can give instruction for the rest of the forces, though Hannibal has a pretty clear cut idea of what is left to do.​

 

[Grimgravy]

Party in Italy if the seas allow. Make them bleed, Hannibal!

 

[ValeVelKal]

Carthage 205 BC

The Year is 205BC, and Carthage gives the pointless order to reinforce Italy with, errr, nothing, given there are no leaders able to lead reinforcements at the time :



The recruitment is limited to infantry :



As per Senator TheLoneGunMan instruction, Philip is... proposed... to pull his own weight and to retake Tarentum. Prudently, Mago reports on the situation from another close city :



This could go either way, but certainly the military skill of Philip should bring this assault to a satisfactory conclusion :

The troops are less confident though and some of the troops refused to carry on the assault.



Philip then took personal command of the forlorn hope. He would show the Carthaginians that the Greeks were still a force to be reckoned with...

… and he received a javelin in the neck. In only a few minutes, he bled to death and his army dispersed :



Cethegus was exulting. He was expecting certain death, instead he got rid of one of Rome's enemies.

This would not do for Hannibal though. In a lightning march, he took his force in front of Tarentum :



There was nothing Cethegus could do. He died on the top of the walls, slaying many of the Gallic soldiers who face him [I lost the Gallic infantry]



Hannibal recovered the body of the young King, and had the following epitaph written :



"Here lies the Philip of Macedon: If he weren't dead, he would still be envied"

[I also received a totally useless card, since I already have both Gallic & Syracusan alliance :]







Then, just as fast [Hannibal on the March card], Hannibal was back to his initial position, his army slightly weaker than the week before.

More in the South, Hanno delivered his army to Himilco, then went back to his ships to go report on the situation in Carthage. Himilco took his force, and marched toward Rome. After receiving the reinforcements from Capua, the Eternal City was finally put to siege - a real siege this time :







Meanwhile, Hanno checked was still waiting in Sardinia for the Roman fleet to leave. A Syracusan force was used in decoy, hoping maybe to at least split the Roman naval force.

That was the last action of the Punics this year, with only limited recruitment in Ancona.

Rome - 205 BC

The first action of Rome was to take the bet and attack the small Syracusan squadron with the whole fleet [10 units vs 1]

[I did not thought useful to take a screenshot until the result of the first round] :




[that's what's the second round looked like] :



Despite heroic resistance, the Syracusan squadron was thrashed. The Roman fleet after this naval victory came back in front of Rome... and Sardinia.

Valerius checked if Hannibal was still there, and well he was, so no heroic sally.

The Romans decided to play the diplomatic card :

- Toward Numidia, but only an handful of soldiers in Carthage deserted :



- and toward Syracuse...



… unsuccessfully. Who in his sane mind would join the Romans at the moment ?



The death of Philip had more impact diplomatically :



And that was all for Rome.

There was very limited recruitment [Rome is under siege so they cannot recruit there] :



And then the Romans reckoned that their old guard and the Scipii had made terrible decisions which had put on the brink of defeat, and therefore decided to elect their back-bench :



Those are mostly new men for us, except Tuditanus which has had a long history of sitting in Rome, so here is the new intuitu personae of Rome :



Here is the situation at the beginning of 204 BC :



Manlius, maybe due to his name, had the hardest job but the largest army. The rest of thhe Roman leaders decided to spread out more than the old guard, which will allow them to recruit more.

and here are our tricks :



Senate of Carthage, Rome is about to fall ! Macedonia is in shamble thanks to Mago subtle handling of its late King. Our city is about to become the master of the Mediterranean, tomorrow maybe of the known world. The Suffet know what he has to do, yet he informs you that he values your opinion and also would like reinforcement in Italy - though of course the Suffet reminds you that you are his master. Allegedly.​

 

[Grimgravy]

Party on in Italy. Kick them while they're down.

 

[Andnjord]

Suicide Hannibal against Manilus, he is becoming too strong and independent. :D

 

[ValeVelKal]

On this day, I found how to put the "in progress" tag to my thread !

 

[ValeVelKal]

Carthage - 204 BC

The year is 204 BC, and the Senate orders Hannibal to carry on his efforts.



There was also a personal note from Senator Andnjordal about storming Ancona and killing Manlius. Andnjordal had been an old rival of the Barcids, and Hannibal ignored it.

Yet again, the Senate only allowed for recruiting ground troops - the fleet was needed for trade. Nevertheless, Hanno found a way [using a card] to commandeer some ships.

There was another good news :



This meant Hanno in Sardinia could finally come to the rescue in Italy, as the Roman fleet was back in the port.

The Roman siege was going well, so he had no good reason to go help Himilco.




Due to this, he focused on Neapolis.

Meanwhile, Mago realized that there was no more manpower to recruit in Apulia, thus he moved to Bruttium, were plenty of Italians were fervently anti-Roman... and available for recruitment.

Hannibal remained in the field, waiting for Manlius to come out. Manlius never did.



Recruitment was solid this year, at least in Bruttium. In 204 BC, Hannibal kept receiving memos from the few remaining Roman cities about being willing to defect for a cheap cheap price. Many Italians were also ready to be assembled into an army



[Yes, I drawed an excellent card !]

Rome - 204 BC

The new Roman leadership sortied the fleet as soon as possible - too late. Hanno had landed.

The rest of the year was spent in petty quarrels, and nothing was done except limited recruitment, and then election of new, more competent leaders - except for Matho who managed to secure a Consul position. But how would even the most competent leadership save Rome ?





Here is the situation at the opening of 203 BC :



That year, much to the distress of the Senate, no request, no question, no information were sent from Hannibal. What had happened ? Had their general met death in combat ? Was he taking his independence ? Had the messenger drown in one of the Mediterranean storm ?
​

 

[ValeVelKal]

I[ planned to make one big update to wrap up the last turns in one play, but well, it turns out the Romans were not cooperative after all so I only played one year]

203 BC - Carthage

The year is 203 BC, and the Senate is worried by rumors of a coup and Syracuse, and lack of communication with Hannibal. Consequently, they decide to send reinforcements to Sicily :



In Carthage, Hanno really wants to go to Italy, so he delays leaving as much as possible. No point being stuck in Italy [though to be honest, it is a mistake due to me being complacent. Better Sicily than Carthage]

The siege of Rome is ongoing :



And Hannibal expanded his force significantly :



The only significant Carthaginian action was Mago moving North again to siege Venusia. Everything was, after all, going well :



Recruitment was also fairly steady :



Things were fine :



More than fine, everything was OUTSTANDING !

203 BC - Rome

For the Romans, everything was not fine at all. Scipio knew he had to take decisive action. But there was something to be done, as the complacent Carthaginians were spread out.

Scipio first order of business was to lift the siege of Neapolis :





The battle could go either way, but this was one of the last years to bask in glory so Hanno knew he had to pick up the glove and hold his sieging position. He trusted his military skill, his elephants and his lucky star :



The Italian infantry would keep the garrison of Neapolis IN Neapolis, while his African infantry and critically his elephants would wipe the reinforcement out.

The intial engagement went well



While the Italian garrison was pushed back with some losses for both sides back in Neapolis, the African held their ground [not showed : one garrison killed, one garrison in retreat]

Rotating his Italian force, Hanno was about to envelop the Romans [and missing screenshot here, sorry].

Except the Romans enveloped the Africans before the Italian units could come [1 hit and 2 routs, vs 1 hit against the Romans] :



His elephants dead, his infantry in rout, Hanno had to retreat. He regrouped his forces in Capua - Scipio had no cavalry for pursuit, and his force was exhausted anyway. Scipio had not destroyed Hanno's army, but nonethless he could claim victory. He had freed Neapolis.



His success in Neapolis - a staunch Roman ally - helped Scipio immediately recruit a force of volunteers :



Scipio needed more of these victories. Both Hannibal and Himilco were too strong at the moment... but there was another Barcid within reach :




Scipio first order of business was to secure a port. It was to be Brundisium. An easy choice : the gates were left opened for him :

​

With a port secured, it was now time for Scipio to meet Mago in battle :



Mago knew that caution is the best part of valor, and had already lifted the siege of Venusia, encamping himself strongly :



Scipio saw little interest in risking battle with Mago, and moved to his next - and last - target.

[in game terms it happens in two parts : Scipio attacks my siege force, I can choose to break the siege - giving a card to the Romans. My army is then in the field, Scipio attacked it but he did not succeed at "outmanoeuvring" Mago, allowing Mago to choose a "fortify his camp" option]


The Consul knew he needed Tarentum if he wanted to finish the liberation of Apulia. This would be easy - he had men he had left inside from his raid 2 years before !






The defense was nonetheless spirited. Many of the new soldiers recruited in Neapolis faltered :



Scipio had to shame them, by leading the men himself to the assault - like Philip had tried to do the previous year :



As Carthaginian historians studying the Roman Wars would later say : "Everything in history happens twice. The first time as a tragedy, the second time as a triumph" :



And with this final push, Tarentum was in Roman hands, again. It is where Scipio wintered his army


In one year, Scipio had voided several years of Carthaginian gains, saved one city, liberated two others, and humiliated two Carthaginian generals - including Hannibal's own surviving brothers. And his army was no weaker now than it was at the beginning of the year.

The Romans recruited who was left to recruit, reelected the leaders that had risen to the occasion and replaced those who did not, though by that point the pool of candidates was narrow.





Here is the situation as 202 BC begins :







Senate of Carthage - your suffer implores you. There has been a few difficulties in communication lately, but we are about to deal a decisive and final blow to the enemy - but to ensure this blow is given, I need reinforcements now !

Senate of Carthage, avenge your father dead in Sicily, dead in Sardinia, dead at seas ! Senate of Carthage, authorize Hanno to join force with me !

​

[in theory I could straight up bring Hannibal to Rome, merge his army with Himilco and assault at the beginning of the turn as Rome lost part of its defensive bonus and it would be 29 units versus 8, but it has a TINY chance to fail, and critically - what would be the fun in that ?]​

 

[Grimgravy]

The senate must order reinforcements to Italy. Victory is at hand!

 

[Andnjord]

Senate of Carthage, avenge your father dead in Sicily, dead in Sardinia, dead at seas ! Senate of Carthage, authorize Hanno to join force with me !

This senator Andnjordal recommends that we send reinforcements to secure Sardinia, that vital island is crucial to our survival. Hannibal can rot in Italy

But seriously, it would be hilarious if Valerius managed to raise a proper army, attack Hannibal and merge with Scipio.

 

[ValeVelKal]

Senate of Carthage, avenge your father dead in Sicily, dead in Sardinia, dead at seas ! Senate of Carthage, authorize Hanno to join force with me !

This senator Andnjordal recommends that we send reinforcements to secure Sardinia, that vital island is crucial to our survival. Hannibal can rot in Italy

But seriously, it would be hilarious if Valerius managed to raise a proper army, attack Hannibal and merge with Scipio.

I think you meant Corsica, the last island to resist to Carthage. Really Hannibal should allocate half his army to seize this Roman stronghold. Rome can wait

 

[baud]

Senate of Carthage, avenge your father dead in Sicily, dead in Sardinia, dead at seas ! Senate of Carthage, authorize Hanno to join force with me !

This senator Andnjordal recommends that we send reinforcements to secure Sardinia, that vital island is crucial to our survival. Hannibal can rot in Italy

But seriously, it would be hilarious if Valerius managed to raise a proper army, attack Hannibal and merge with Scipio.

No, send Hanno to Corsica, the Roman will never expect this!

Not joking: send Hanno to reinforce Hannibal in Italy! Delenda Romanun est!

 

[ValeVelKal]

202 BC - Carthage

The year is 202 BC, and the Senate decided that Spain is the further away from Hannibal they can send a force to.



Hanno immediate reaction was "I can work with that", and he left from Spain, hoping to recruit strongly there.

Meanwhile, Rome was really desperate :



In Italy, the other Hanno wanted his revenge. He had been the rising star of the non-Barcid generals after his liberation of Sardinia, and now he was the first general defeated by the Romans since Hasdrupal. He moved again for Neapolis, now poorly garrisoned by Caecilius and one Roman legion :



The assault did not turn as expected though :



Hanno cannot retreat again, and he also is renewed vigor - with costly result [an enemy militia is killed] :




By the third day of battle, both sides are exhausted, Hanno has the number - Caecilius the quality - and the walls :



But the Legions were exhausted and this time Scipio would not come.






This had been costly, but Neapolis was now Carthaginian. After this victory, Hanno joined up with Himilco, and took command of the siege.

More in the North, Hannibal had his own familial issue. Mago had refused battle and lost a whole Italian region to the Romans. He had to act. Once again, hoping that whatever Roman commander would stay put in Asculum, he moved to Brutium merged his force with Mago, and assaulted Tarentum :



The defense would be significantely more numerous - and well-led.

The initial assault surprised the Roman, who lost a part of the city already - and a legion. Hannibal had lost one of his units, too [sadly, no "hits" screenshoot, just the results ; I got lucky with 2 hits and one rout alone though] :



Hannibal had to dismount some of his cavalry to fight as infantry, as his numbers were reduced :



But the losses would not abate. Both the Romans and the Carthaginians received atrocious losses in a fight to the death :



More cavalrymen replaced the dead infantry, and the assault carried on :



Ultimately, the battle was a victory. Valerius's body was never found, but seeing that no Roman ship were in the port at the time of the assault, Hannibal assumed he was dead like thousands of other romans.



But this had been costly, with close to one quarter of his army dead...

… one quarter that would be immediately replaced by Italian volunteers, too happy to join the winning side [I drawed JUST the right card after this battle!]



With a force stronger than ever and no Roman army in any way able to disrupt his siege, Hannibal moved back North at his usual speed [using the last Hannibal on the March card] and started the siege of Asculum.

Recruitment was meager in Italy, as the country was depleted. On the other hand, it was plentiful in Spain :



[especially since my "end of turn" car is a card to recruit 3 more units in Spain …]

The Romans had been dealt some serious blows again. Would Scipio sally out and fight Hannibal, his last chance to save Rome ?

202 BC - Rome

… no.

The Romans elected new leaders to replace the dead ones, and recruited what they could :





Here is the situation as 201 BC starts (and the movements in 202 BC)





The Senate in Carthage received no news, no requests for advice.
Except Senator Darthshizno, a staunch supporter of the Barcids, to whom Hannibal had allocated "military governship" of Sardinia - without asking the opinion of the Senate.

"Bring a massive amount of salt to Neapolis. Keep as much ships as you can, we will sail home soon."​

 

[ValeVelKal]

201 BC - Carthage

The year is 201 BC. The old fools from the Senate, in a last-ditch attempt to send their cowardly scions bask in some glory, ordered reinforcement to Italy. None would have the time to arrive before the Grand Battle.






In Italy, Hannibal wanted to be the one capturing Rome - leaving such glory to a second rate general like Hanno would not do.

On the other hand, there was only one general he trusted with most of the army and that he accept to see defeat Hannibal : his broth Mago.

Hannibal sent dispatch to the other Hanno in Spain, asking him to recruit what he could, and come immediately to Asculum "Your men shall march, or they shall die".

And Hanno did exactly that :

He recruited troops...



… and crossed in only a few weeks from Spain to Cisalpine Gaul, and from Cisalpine Gaul to Umbria where he merged his force with the Barcids', before being ordered to investigate Roman disruption in, errr, Ancona ?




Hannibal was confident that Mago could hold his siege of Asculum - given his army was now significantly stronger than the Roman army in Asculum, and thus he moved to Rome to take command of the final assault :




The defenders of Rome were reduced to 6 legions - including 2 "Urban Legions" [elite in the game, though in reality they were not - it is to represent desperate defense] and one Italian legion which refused to fight [I used a card "remove one Italian unit" I won when killing Caecilius]

Ready to assault through the many breaches of Rome, the Punic army was massive :



The Punic Forlorn Hope were Spaniards - they were renowned for their ferocity in assault, but also they had outlasted their utility and Hannibal did not as many of them to be around when Spain would understand what "freedom from Rome" would mean for Spain, the rest of the Gallic soldiers and finally Italians from the cities the old Barcid trusted the less.

In front of them, the Romans had everyone on top of the walls, including freed slaves and gladiators.

The battle of Tarentum had been hard, but this assault was absolutely brutal - the first wave was absolutely mauled by the Romans, but nonetheless the walls were taken, and the Romans moved in confusion toward the Citadel.



But Hannibal had reserves, and the Romans did not. The Carthaginian losses were immediately replaced, the Roman losses could not :



Victory was only one assault away for Hannibal, and there were no reason to be mindful of the human price anymore :



And finally, the last defenders of Rome - paradoxically men who only a few weeks ago were slaves of the city - were destroyed. Rome, at last, was in Carthage's hands. Not Carthage's hands, no...



...Hannibal's hands. Rome, and the whole of Italy.​

 

[ValeVelKal]

So this is over .

I am slightly disappointed, or rather unsatisfied - as I expected to lose - I usually lose - and I wanted the AAR to be a long, drawed-out war in Italy but also Spain & Africa where slowly lose. I believe I won for 3 reasons :
- The capacity to reload once thanks to the "Senate" the absolutely terrible Senate decisions helped me have the correct decisions several times
- When you do an AAR, you think your moves waaaayyy more, and thus I did a lot less "small mistakes" than I usually do.
- I got lucky a few times,
a. when Scipio the Elder did not manage to engage Mago in Cisalpine Gaul (the chances for Mago to be outmanoeuvered were less than 50%, true, but if Scipio had pulled it Mago would have been mauled, though possibly he would have survived two turns and be able to flee),
b. when Scipio did not besiege Hannibal in Capua (when he could have). In a sally-out, Hannibal cannot use his punic tricks, so loses would have been awful ; this is probably when I was most lucky
c. in the final battle against Scipio the Elder, results were more or less in line with expectations but there was a significant chance they could have been several times higher, gutting Hannibal.

Hopefully, you liked it.
Some closing questions, more for my curiosity
- Did you know the game before this AAR ?
- Did any of you buy the game due to the AAR ?

I plan to do my next AAR on another Rome vs Carthage thing, in another game - just as unknown.​

 

[Grimgravy]

I was aware of the game from a previous aborted LP here.
I'd be interested in buying the game if/when I come up with some spare funds.