OT2022 Round 2

Sir Kral aka Carl (Roman) 8 Banners

Gottoman aka Greg (Carthaginian) 4 Banners

Dice were with the Romans and just relentless pressure pushed the Carthaginians back to the baseline. A left wing counterattack from the woods made good progress, but the Carthaginian center and right flank ran out of space.

Sir Kral aka Carl (Carthaginian) 8 Banners

Gottoman aka Greg (Roman) 5 Banners

Both sides formed up nice battle lines with the line command card being awaited. It was the Carthaginians who got it first, with the Roman lines battered. A roman played I Am Spartacus card whiffed with a Carthaginian First Strike card nullifying one of the attacks. Then a counterattack card made the end inevitable. Cards and dice with Carl for the game, with Greg having limited options for attack.

It was a pleasure playing with Greg.

OT2022 Castulo Game 1

Scipio1zama (Romans) – 8 banners

Cavie (Carthaginians) – 2 banners

The Roman plan was to move forward and to the right, aiming to move Roman units off the map and perhaps pin his LC against the back row.  Luckily, I drew a Line Command in my opening hand. An initial Four Units Left card allowed me to move infantry units adjacent to one another. Then an attack with that Line Command, followed by a Leader card, damaged and drove back his Aux and Warrior in the center, and his Aux on his left, with Scipio’s help.  Masinissa’s cavalry and other forces badly damaged a Roman MI, but lost a Carthaginian Aux.  Then Hasdrubal launched a Double Time attack in the center which the Romans Counter Attacked, bringing their HI and Warrior into the fray.  Net result – so-so die rolling by both sides saw 2 damaged Carthaginians and 4 damaged Romans, but no losses.

Spartacus laid an egg for the Carthaginians, ordering only 2 units, one of which was eliminated, and starting a string of unlucky dice rolls for Carthage.  A Roman Leadership attack bagged a Warrior and a LC, and pushed Hasdrubal to the board’s edge, but his HI and an Aux both Rallied, attacked, and eliminated a Roman MI, Aux, and reduced an HI to 1 block.  The Roman now had two 1-block infantry units in his front line but had just drawn a Double Time.  This attack killed an Aux and damaged a HI and a LC.  Then a Carthaginian attack was thwarted by a (just drawn) Roman First Strike, eliminating a Carthaginian Warrior. Next the Romans killed a Carthaginian HI and drove Hasdrubal from the battlefield, putting the Romans up 7-2.  Three ranged fire attacks on the 1-block Roman HI all missed.

I moved a Roman MC to a position where he could exit the map for the final banner.  My frustrated but good-humored opponent attacked my MC with his MC – and rolled 3 red squares, noting that now the dice were now mocking him.  However, as Cavie will report, Game 2 turned the tables. 

 

GomJabbar (Rome) 8 Banners
gotigerssc (Carthage) 4 Banners
The Carthaginians were a little too bold with their LC and paid the price as they melted like butter against the Roman lines (lesson learned). A total of 3 LC units by the end of the match. Fighting took place mostly in the center as I lacked the section cards for my right flank to make a move on that side. Was able to claim three of the four Roman medium units but it came at a heavy price and was too much to overcome. Brad played a great game. 

GomJabbar (Carthage) 3 Banners
gotigerssc (Rome) 8 Banners
A very unexpected result based on the flow of battle. I was able to quickly eliminate the two warrior units in front of my lines and was feeling fairly good about the match until Mago got his heavy out of the woods and wrecked my left flank. Carthage was up 3-2 at that point but I had dwindled Mago's unit down to 1 block. The only units left on my left, the two auxilia, were able to finish them off but Mago went down as well. Fighting moved back to the center where the LC were trying to eliminate a wounded M unit but he held on due to a counter attack on the Rally card, and with help from his friends was able to eliminate two LC units and Masinissa. On a subsequent turn I was able to finish off a 1 figure A unit. 

Thanks to Brad for two fun battles!
 

Attached is the vlog for mine and gotigerssc's Game 1.

As gotigerssc said, we both learned LC melt like butter. And I think, in that second game, I was too reckless with Mago and the heavy infantry with only 1 figure left. I should have pulled them back when I had the chance. That was the first time I have seen 2 leaders fall due to leader casualty checks in 1 game.

Forgot about logs! 

OT2022 Castulo Round 2 Game 1
Rabocudonosor (Romans) – 7 banners
alecrespi (Carthaginians) – 8 banners 
 

OT2022 Castulo Round 2 Game 2

Rabocudonosor (Carthaginians) – 6 banners
alecrespi (Romans) – 8 banners

Multiple log files due to lost connection during the game.

Game 1
Javelinthrower (Rome) 8 Banners
Bangla (Carthage) 5 Banners
This was a long game.  Carthage tried to bring pressure to bear on the Roman left, but the Roman lights did an excellent job on the Warriors to their front and soon had the Carthaginians on the back foot.  A couple of desperate attempts to shore up the centre failed, with the Romans filtering away their battered frontline units and Carthage was in deeper trouble.  At 6-2 it looked like a blowout was coming, but then Masinissa pressed the Roman right and the Carthaginians began picking off the remnants of Roman units.  Carthage got to 5-6 and were chasing more weak victims.  But Roman pressure finally told and the battle was won.  Carthage played badly in the early stages and paid for it.  Javelinthrower was steady throughout, taking no needless chances to win a good game.

Game 2
Bangla (Rome) 8 Banners
Javelinthrower (Carthage) 2 Banners
This was a perfect Roman encounter.  3 Line Commands in the initial draw, 3 x Medium Troops during the game, plus the Spartacus card which rolled well.  The pressure was there from the start and was relentless.  As the Roman centre block neared the Carthaginian baseline Hasdrubal did counter to claim a 2nd banner, but the final three banners were taken in the final turn with the Romans attacking left and right against cavalry on their baseline.  There was nothing Javelinthrower could have done.

Two good, but totally different encounters.  Thanks to Javelinthrower for playing in a decent spirit throughout.

Game 1
Gileforn (Rome) 8
Limburger (Carthage) 6

Game 2
Limburger (Rome) 8
Gileforn (Carthage) 3

In both games Scipio's bold leadership inspired the Romans to victory.

Game 1
Mark McG (Roman) 8 banners
Eric (Carthaginian) 5 banners

Roman powerhouse went up the middle, and the Mago powerhouse came down the flank. Masinissa thought he was a direct force rather than a skirmisher and paid the price!
 
Game 2
Mark McG (Carthaginian) 8 banners
Eric (Roman) 5 banners

Similar opening moves, but the Carthaginian warriors were having none of it. Mago also moved up through the forest, but he had forgotten to how to fight and wasted 2 units that performed heroic misses. Fortunately his Medium infantry brought the swords and balanced out in the end. Masinissa did his best work supporting the Carthaginian line, and the Numidian cavalry only came to to play at the end game.