Following the end of the second Punic War,
Rome began consolidating its foothold in a number of foreign territories and in
particular Hispania. The two military theatres in Hispania continued their day
to day operation and in 197 BC the Senate found it expedient to have them
become administrative provinces, each governed by a proconsul. Hispalus would
serve as the seat of government for Ulterior Hispania and Tarraco for Citerior
Hispania.
Our test scenario opens in the year 197 BC and proconsul
and propraetor for each province have been given their assignments. The consular
army for each province is at full strength, two Roman Legions and two allied
legions bringing the combined total to 36 elements.
For this test scenario, each proconsul will serve a
term in which he is free to conduct military operations within the parameters
set by the Senate and these are the consolidation of territories formerly held
by Carthage. Carthage once controlled nearly half the peninsula and this year’s
objective is to extend the current frontier two or three map squares. Each
consular army has been split into two equal halves making four columns that may
independently operate for the campaign year. All forces must return to winter
quarters by November. After which new lots will be cast for the coming year and
troops whose contracts have expired shall return to Italy. May Fortuna smile on
your enterprise.
Photo one shows the disposition of the four columns and photo two their initial move into the
interior.
Photo one
Photo two
Ulterior Hispania
Proconsul’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2
x Sp based at Hispalus.
Propraetor’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2
x Sp based at Baria.
Citerior
Hispania.
Proconsul’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2
x Sp based at Tarraco.
Propraetor’s column: 4 x Cv, 4 x Ps, 4 x Bd, 4 x Ax, 2
x Sp based at Sagunto.
197 BC
March
(Roman player)
In photo three,
the cards dealt for the Roman player are displayed. The proconsul of Citerior
Hispania has the option to play the diplomacy phase and does wishing to create
a “Friend of Rome” (shown in photo four).
The negotiation falls on deaf ears as the local tribal leader kindly says no
thank you (photo five).
Cards are discarded and new ones drawn for the next
phase.
Photo three
Photo four
Photo five
Miffed, Rome
attempts to gather revenue in a nearby region but is not successful, in fact
Citerior Hispania has lost by suspicious means revenue as the Spanish player
successfully counters the Roman bid (photo
six).
A counter is placed in the province to signify its
loss.
Photo six
In phase three, as each column is well supplied, both
Roman players will pass this phase but discard one low value card and replace
it with a new card as seen in photo
seven.
Photo seven
The last phase also does not offer any possible bid, therefore both
Roman players discard one more card and draw a new one.
March
(Spanish player)
Spain has no armies in the field at the moment so her
strategy at this time is to undermine any gains produced by Rome or impede army
movement by sabotaging her supply. Photo
nine display the cards for the Spanish player.
Photo nine
With nothing to lose, Spain will raise rebellion in
the area of Baetica (southern Hispania) to impede the Proconsul’s column. In photo ten, the Roman player cannot
counter with the proper suite and now confronts its first hostile tribe.
Photo ten
Spain attempts some skulduggery to inflict lost
revenue for Rome, embezzlement was a favourite pastime back then (photo eleven). Rome losses the bid and
a counter is placed on the map to be covered by an embarrassed Roman player’s
cards.
Photo eleven
In the third phase, both Spanish players hope to
inflict damage on Rome’s supply and this is successfully done in the Ebro
valley (photo twelve). The Roman
player in the south is happy to have saved his supply column as he now faces a
hostile tribe.
Photo twelve
Spain is intent on giving battle against the Roman
column in the south and will attempt to use a stratagem. Unfortunately, the
attempt is foiled (photo thirteen) but
the Spanish will meet Rome in the field.
Photo thirteen
Battle report will follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment