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In Progress Let's defeat the Romans battle after battle without ever taking Rome in Field of Glory II

Tigranes

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Good, good. As those around me fall, I shall absorb their powers and grow STRONGER.

I am sure that one day an infantry unit will be the gamechanger against the Romans, just like the history books tell us, right?
 

Kalarion

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By golly I think I will!

Kalo Rionus. I'd like either heavy infantry or cavalry. If they're not available put me wherever you want.
 

ValeVelKal

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I am travelling a bit for work so I will start the updates next week. There should be heavy infantry available, though I have no idea where "Kalo Rionus" comes from. The heavy infantry I will have is Citizen Hoplites from Campania :)
 

ValeVelKal

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215 BC - Battle of Nola

The year is 215 BC. Hasdrubal has been decisively defeated in Iberia, the reinforcements for Hannibal are scarce and Hannibal himself had suffered his first setbacks in battle against Marcellus.

Hannibal had to defeat Marcellus decisively to seize the old Oscan city once and for all.

Unable to reinforce his troops, Hannibal drawed his force from local resources, and in particular was joined by :

- 3 units of Citizen Hoplites, under local command : Crivalius and Complagius Nappo. The third unit he would not trust the commander, and replaced him by a man from Carthage : Hasbo.
The Hoplites would be under TheLoneGisco overall command, as old grizzled mercenary had replaced the late and regretted Teepasthenès
- 3 units of Italian infantry. Hannibal wanted an infantry flexible and of which he would be sure in an instant. For this purpose, he assigned the commanders from his former African infantry : Zeppax, Bolkonim, and Tigranax in overall command. Andjorbal would coordinate this force with the rest of the non-spear infantry. The survivors of the African infantry units were merged by the Italians - certainly their experience would be decisive in insuring cohesion.
Finally Badadabon "the slayer" received some more men to replace the Gauls that had left the army to march back home.

The battlefield was in hilly Samnium, and it showed :



There were extremely high hills, terrible for Hannibal's cavalry, certainly, but just as much for the closed order legions. Those hills would be on the middle of the battlefield, with more open space on the left and right.

Hannibal decided that the hill would be led by the more green hoplites. There were little manoeuvrable, so having them defending a fixed position would be easier for them. They would be led by TheLoneGisco.
The perfect defensive position made Hannibal safe on the fact that there was little risk to be flanked by infantry. He allocated a further security by hiding some Gallic infantry (Hannibal had learned their commander name : a Romanized Gaul named Kallo Ronius) in the nearby forest.
This protection against flanking allowed Hannibal to reinforce the left cavalry flank by elephants. The situation of Cannae - where the cavalry was locked by the legions and the elephants went in full pursuit for the duration of the battle - would not happen again. Elephants and cavalry together would win the battle for the left. The left would be led by Grimgravim, replacing the crippled Baudon.

This left the center under Andjorbal command. Hannibal drew the conclusion from Cannae and instead of having the weakest infantry close to the cavalry (as presumably they would not have to fight long), Hannibal allocated the strongest infantry : Andjorbal's closed order Spaniards. If the cavalry would become separated from the infantry, Andjorbal would hold where Westbral had failed.
The rest of the center was composed exclusively of the new Italian infantry. Hannibal also allocated the command of the elephants to Andjorbal, as cavalrymen and their mounts did not like those, and the situation could evolve in a way where Grimgravim would be cut from the beasts.

Finally, Badadabon was deployed a bit in front of the right.



Order of battle :

Hannibal
*Narval and his men, under Hannibal's direct and personal command
*Kallo Ronius's Gallic Warband, under Hannibal direct and personal command
*Grimgravim's armored cavalry
**Lammo and his men, the "horns of Ba'al Hamon
**Rundnahr "the strife of the Romans" and his cavalry which decisively destroyed the Velites at Cannae
**Anderbal the Magnificient, commanding the light cavalry
*** Hym's Numidian cavalry
*** Oscal's Punic cavalry
*Andjorbal's Gallic Warband
**Swuulibal's elephants
***Alxon's elephants
**Tigranax's Italian infantry
***Zeppax's Italian infantry
***Bolkonim's Italian infantry
*TheLoneGisco's hoplites
**Nostra's African Spearmen
**Balitim's African Spearmen
**Hasbo's citizen hoplites
***Complagius Nappo's citizen hoplites
***Crivalius's citizen hoplites
*Badadabon's slayers
**Balearic slingers
**Barbarian archers
**Italian Javeliners

Meanwhile, the Roman also deployed their army :



Almost no cavalry this time - only some light cavalrymen on the flank, and the consul's bodyguards. The problem was that said consul was Marcellus - quite a wholesome leader.
The rest of the army was deployed in the classic Roman way, checkboard formation, Roman legions on one side, Italic allies on the other, triarii and raw troops behind, and an high number of velites.

Both armies moved toward each other :



@Grimgravim : The velites are in range. Do you charge them already, or do you wait for them to come to you - though they might not do it, or wait for the rest of the infantry.
 

ValeVelKal

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215 BC - Battle of Nola - Around 9 AM

On the left flank, Grimgravim orders the cavalry to wait for the Velites to be closer before engaging them. Yet, they seem close enough to Hym's numidian, not used to be ordered to stay put. They suddenly charge the enemy slinger, and those do not have the time to run away.

Grimgravim was non-plussed by the situation, but he could recognize an opportunity when he saw one. He confirmed his order for the rest of the cavalry to pull back, while he would support Hym in slaying the skirmishers :



Quickly, the Italic slingers were fragmented, and about to collapse.

The rest of the skirmishers come to the rescue of their comrades but too late. As they are still deploying, the slingers run for their lives, and Hym followed up, deeply penetrating the ranks of more skirmishers :



Lammo saw the opportunity, and charged from another side :



Finally, it was Rundharn the German's turn to charge, routing more skirmishers and catching other.




In a few minutes, the number of Roman light troops able to fight had been halved, for no significant losses for Carthage.

On the other side of the battleline, Badadabon had routed the Roman light cavalry, offering total freedom for his men to harass the Italic infantry in the future.

The situation for Carthage was solid. The hill had been taken by the right wing as expected, and the Carthaginians could even afford to envelop their enemy. The center had seized a villa which they used as a defensive position, and on the left most of the velites had been routed. Oscal had try to bring some of the glory to his feet, but failed as the remaining velites he had charged fled to the safety of the hills.



The Roman infantry finally managed to catch back on the Punic left flank, and Grimgravim pulled back. In the center, the Romans attacked with rage the Italic infantry serving the Barcids. Tigranax's unit in particular went under full-fledged assault, and in the confusion Tigranax receive a nasty blow, and fell out of sight of his men - who started to panic.



On the punic left, the victorious was disorganized, and Lammo was isolated from the rest of the force, and harassed from skirmishers shooting from the relative safety of an hill.

Was the situation turning against the Punics already ?

@TheLoneGisco : You are in a good position to start an envelopment. Do you send Balitim alone ? Balitim and yourself ? Balitim, yourself and Nostra ?
 

ValeVelKal

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215 BC - Battle of Nola - Around 11 AM

As you may remember, this was the situation :





As Tigranax was - presumably - slain, the center of the Roman line was faltering.

Tigranax's unit did not last long after their leader disappeared, and the unit routed, sending shivers down the spine of Zeppax's units !

Hannibal saw the center in troubles, and immediately rode to Zeppax's unit in the villa, hoping to bolster the morale enough so Rome would not seize the villa upon which the Punic line of battle relied :



Meanwhile, Grimgravim was ordering to the cavalry to regroup, and TheLoneGisco ordered Balitim and his own unit to start a flanking movement on the Roman left.

The Romans used the respite they had on their right and center to solidify their line : there would be no gap to exploit by the cavalry, and the whole center was in contact, though not necessarily in melee :



But on the Roman left, the less motivated Italian allies were not only facing with African soldiers, but with their own brothers from Campania, who had cast aside the yoke of Rome and joined the liberators from Africa :

"But, Emilius" said one of the socii as he pointed toward the incoming Kallo Ronius's soldiers "those people over there are dirty, noisy and they stink so much we can smell them from here. They look like Gauls or Spaniards or some sort of Barbarians ! Are you sure they are brothers from Campania"
"They are evidently from Neapolis, Tiberius. That's also why they are late to the battle.

Their morale could not be as high as the morale as the Romans, and attacked by all side by their "brothers", some of them broke rank and fled :



Seeing their left falter, the Romans in the center were now engaging ferociously in melee. Bolkonim was pushed back and disrupted, but Zeppax units now organised by Hannibal held against the dreaded triarii.

Meanwhile, Badadabon's slingers - using the new rules from the patch update - shot at more Italic socii from the hill, above the heads of their comrades :



Disrupted, the Italic infantry could be easily pushed aside by Complagius Nappo citizen hoplites :



and the rest of the Punic right followed up :

https://s984.photobucket.com/user/Narwhal_EUIII/media/Field of Glory/3. Part3D_zpsjgrjbu9t.png.html?sort=3&o=5


While those events unfolded on the Punic right, the Punic left was focused on eliminating what was left of the infantry and try to turn around some of the best Roman infantry :







Most of the velites except one unit were now routing or engaging in a desperate melee combat. Andjorbal had manoeuvred his men to the left of the elephants and tied down general's Eggnatius legionaries, allowing the two elephants unit to support each other :







The Romans were hard-pressed now, but Marcellus had one card up his sleeves :









Hastatii and Velites joined the battlefield from the back - though maybe not enough to make the difference.



In addition, Hannibal received a wave of mixed news :

- On the right, more Italic allies were fragmenting, but one unit had managed to turn the Carthaginians

- On the center, Hannibal had managed to stop the disruption of Zeppax's unit, but Bolkonim's unit was about to collapse

- On the left, Rundnahr had passed behind the enemy line, but he was in wild pursuit and the Romans had otherwise formed a solid perimeter







@Badadabon : Communication with Kallo Ronius is not possible. Do you carry on supporting TheLoneGisco's wing... or do you turn back to deal with the reinforcements ?

@Kallo Ronius : Do you move toward the flanking force in front of you, or do you turn to face the Roman reinforcements. If you attack the flanking force, do you move uphill (you will be in front of it and it will probably not engage you or anyone) or do you try to "flank the flankers", which will mean being downhill to them ?

@TheLoneGisco : An opportunity is in front of you. If Balitim engages the infantry in front of him, Complagius Nappo will be able to attack it in the flank, at the very minimum disruption it... but Balitim himself is at risk of being flanked if Kallo Ronius (with whom you can't communicate) does not come to support and Complagius Nappo will be VERY exposed if the Italic infantry is not quickly broken.



[tagging Kalarion ]
 

Kalarion

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Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong BattleTech Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
I assume by distance that we have a couple turns before the flanking force is able to get in engagement range?

In any case it seems to me that right now our right flank is the decisive action. If the Roman reinforcements arrive to a rolled up flank we should have plenty of manpower to engage cleanly. If they arrive to a flank that's still holding we run the risk of having our flank cracked and being rolled ourselves.

I choose to move up the hill to face the Romans. Best case scenario they engage me head on and are tied down while Balitim and Complo hopefully disrupt/route the flank. Worst case, the Romans attempt to hit Balitim from behind and I'm in position to flank them from even ground when they engage.
 

Tigranes

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FAKE NEWS reports of my demise from the first sword to come my way are unfounded! Just finish up this battle and I'll return with merely some limbs missing, I swear!
 

ValeVelKal

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Aug 24, 2011
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I assume by distance that we have a couple turns before the flanking force is able to get in engagement range?

In any case it seems to me that right now our right flank is the decisive action. If the Roman reinforcements arrive to a rolled up flank we should have plenty of manpower to engage cleanly. If they arrive to a flank that's still holding we run the risk of having our flank cracked and being rolled ourselves.

I choose to move up the hill to face the Romans. Best case scenario they engage me head on and are tied down while Balitim and Complo hopefully disrupt/route the flank. Worst case, the Romans attempt to hit Balitim from behind and I'm in position to flank them from even ground when they engage.
Yes, two turns.
Understood !
What campaign settings do you use?
Difficult 4/6 with progressive difficulty (so I must be at 5/6).

Looking pretty good so far general-packleader.
Is that flaking force a common thing, a pre-battle decision? Can we do it too?
Nope, it is only in campaigns. We can't do it to my knowledge.
 

ValeVelKal

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215 BC - Battle of Nola - Around 14H

By 2PM, this was the situation, as you all remember :

6%20Situation_zpszhyvslws.png


The Romans had apparently formed a solid line, but the old Gisco could see a weakness where others would see a wall of shield. He first ordered Balitime to engage the infantry in front of him :



The Lone Gisco only expected to pin down the Italic socii, but Balitim veteran when above and beyond. Charging downhill, they immediately slayed the Italic leader, fragmenting his unit.

The weakness was turning into a flaw. The Lone Gisco ordered Complagius Nappo to charge against the Velites. As expected, the Velites fled... and Complagius Nappo and his men charged the flank of the unit engaged by Balitim - routing it :



Some of the skirmishers saw their chance, and also pursued the exhausted Velites. Exhausted, disrupted, seeing their allies run all around them, the Velites broke, and fled.



Meanwhile, Kalo Ronius had put himself in position.

Badadabon's skirmishers understood they had one last action against the main enemy line before the enemy reinforcements had to be taken care of. They focused on the most disrupted of the remaining enemy, which also routed :



The rest of the Campanian hoplites - Crivalius and Hasbo - could thus turn and prepare to flank the Roman center.

On the left and on the center of the Punic lines, initiative were met with less success :



The cavalry managed neither to break through the rank of the Roman legionnaries nor - for the light cavalry - to catch the remaining skirmisher. As for the center, Bolkonim held a tiny bit longer in a miracle, but so did the Romans facing the elephants :



This would only be a short respite for the Romans. Marcellus ordered a final, desperate all out assault. Crivalius was killed as the legionaries charged his units.
True, eventually, Bolkonim's unit broke. But eventually, the Romans facing the elephants also broke and routed :



With their left disintegrated, and their center cut from their right by enraging elephants, while a solid like of hoplites was closing on them - the Romans could read the writing in the wall, and ordered the retreat - to save what could still be saved.



Punic losses had been incredibly small - while Roman losses were nothing short of catastrophic :



But for Hannibal and his man, the war would not be over...



Hannibal assembled his commanders. Hasdrupal was dead. The prospect of receiving more reinforcement from Carthage was remote, from Spain it was now folly. But this was the final push. Certainly, the men had not gone through all this effort to return back to Africa. So Hannibal asked his commanders :
- Should we wait for more reinforcements from Africa ?
- Should we recruit local troops from Brutium ?
 

ValeVelKal

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Well, it went faster than expected, and due to this we did not have to fight the reinforcements and we managed to still have solid Campanian units, though the Africans and Gauls are hopelessly depleted...
… though, in the case of the African spearmen, very, very veteran too :


Andjorbal now leads a "Superior" warband, too.

This is our line-up, minus the skirmishers and units I know I won't keep (Tigranax's and Crivagius - too many losses) :

 

Grimgravy

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
If there is only a remote chance of reinforcements from Africa, let's recruit some Brutes.
 

ValeVelKal

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If there is only a remote chance of reinforcements from Africa, let's recruit some Brutes.
No, that was my fluff.
In one case reinforce our troops and that's pretty much all, in the other case we get more troops but the old units are not refilled.
 

Andnjord

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:bro:That was a great battle!

Gotta admit I really don't know enough of the battle and campaign dynamics to make an informed vote, so I guess I'd like to selfishly see my own warband reinforced up to max strength if possible :D ?

ÉDIT: How many units do we need to send to garisson duty? Can we just send the depleted ones?
 
Last edited:

Kalarion

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Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong BattleTech Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
Reinforcement from home seems like a good idea. I note that almost 100% of our Superior and greater quality warbands are significantly depleted. Especially concerning to me is that all our Elite units (and all our Heavy Cavalry at that!) are near to half fighting strength. Worrisome.
 

ValeVelKal

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Recruit from Bruttium :

Hym
Anderbal
Badadabon
Complagius Nappos
Itebal

Wait for reinforcements from home :

Swuulibal
Nostra
Andjorbal
Kalo Ronius
Grimgravim
Baudon the crippled

I ll close the votes tomorrow
 

ValeVelKal

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:bro:That was a great battle!

Gotta admit I really don't know enough of the battle and campaign dynamics to make an informed vote, so I guess I'd like to selfishly see my own warband reinforced up to max strength if possible :D ?

ÉDIT: How many units do we need to send to garisson duty? Can we just send the depleted ones?
We need a certain amount of points, so depleted units are worth less, sadly.
 

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