Thursday 1 March 2012

The Battle of Ariminum

 
The Carthaginians draw 9 Army Characterisation Deck cards. They draw 75 morale chips, a 'deft cavalry, command' card and a 'stratagem' card for which an '8' was drawn for definition - 'Rally again'. 
Carthaginian right. Numidian cavalry, Gallic cavalry and elephants.

We decided to define the hill as a 'type I + cover' hill. This means that it is fairly easy to traverse but not that easy to fight on.

The wood is a 'type II + cover' terrain feature.

The stream is 'type I + firm bed'.
The Carthaginian centre. Two commands comprising Gallic warriors and Spanish / African troops. 
The Carthaginian left. Elephants, Numidians and Spanish cavalry.

The ridge is 'type I'. The boggy ground is 'type III'.
The Romans draw 6 Army Characterisation Deck cards. They draw 46 morale chips, a 'look sir, army morale' card and a 'like hail, missilery' card.




The Roman left: Allied cavalry. 
 The Roman centre: The legions.
Roman right: Roman cavalry.
















Some Campaign Rules

OK. There are the forces deployed. Now here are some rule of thumb rules that we have come up with for CU and officer quality conversion for an Ager Proelii table-top battle.

CUs are fairly easy. The unit integrity value of a Roman consular army (68) plus any for special allied units is divided by the CU total. This is the multiplier for Carthaginian unit integrity - CU x multiplier - plus any elephants.

Officer quality is dealt with in the following way. We think this might work well, but it does need some testing.

Battlefield quality 1: D8 C-in-C plus D8 sequence deck. No Roman troops count as armoured. Spanish troops are not swift, Gallic troops are not fierce, Numdians are not specialist.
Battlefield quality 2: D10 C-in-C plus D10 sequence deck. Triarii count as armoured. Roman (not allied) infantry are stubborn.
Battlefield quality 3: D12 C-in-C plus D12 sequence deck. Triarii and principes count as armoured, Roman (not allied) infantry are stubborn. Spanish troops (for Carthage) are veteran.
Battlefield quality 4: D12 C-in-C plus D12* sequence deck. Triarii and principes count as armoured, Roman (not allied) infantry are stubborn. All Italian troops (for Rome) and all Spanish / African formed troops (for Carthage) are veteran.


ACD cards are dealt as standard except that the command quality of the commanders is compared. The commander with the lower quality reduces his card draw by 1 per the difference to a maximum of -2. Any further diference is added to the higher - E.g. Qualty 1 fights Quality 4: Quality 1 reduces draw by 2, Quality 4 increases by 1.

Hannibal always adds 1 ACD card, as do commanders with an ability relating to battle under Hannibal R Vs C.

6 comments:

Gunny Highway said...

James,
I have a question for you. Did you modify the morale chip cards? I only have cards with values III to X in my deck that I received in your rules. Just asking.... I see some XIV value cards in your photo.

Respectfully,
Gunny

Gunny Highway said...

James,

Having read your campaign rules, I dont know if I agree with your logic on troops abilities and armour being linked to a CINCs abilities. While I see what your trying to accomplish, I dont think Romans, for example, not being considered armoured, if the CINC is a D8. But are if he is a D12 doesnt seem correct to me. Many Roman armies were led by Idiots, or political lackies, but the troops fought well just poorly led. I think your rules do reflect commmander abilities or lack thereof, with movement, and command on the table. I. E. Romans are armoured but just couldnt move them well due to Generals abilities. Again, just some friendly discussion.....

Respectfully,

Gunny

Gunny Highway said...

James,
Rules question: Can the Triarii be pulled away to perhaps help the flanks hold. They dont have to be part of the Legion formation do they, at all times? I.E. can they be independent of the Triple Acies formation to bolster the cavalry?

Respectfully,

Gunny

JAMES ROACH said...

Hi Gunny

Morale chip cards: Yes. I sent the wrong ones to the printers.

Triarii: Yes. You only need a second rank to operate the triple acies, but it would not be as tough of course.

Armour: Under the rules armour is not a down. Rather troops ignore counting the first UI loss. This was simply a way of making the Roman army more brittle. The troops are armoured but get no benefit - it is simply a 'campaign rule' expedient.

Gunny Highway said...

James,

In reference to the above comments on your card mix, can you give a quick breakdown on what the morale cards should be?

Respectfully,

Gunny

JAMES ROACH said...

Hi Gunny,

No probs. I'll list them with the next campaign report.

Best Regards,

James