Munda
Game 1:
gdnuke (Caesar) 8 banners won and 22 blocks lost
Gonzo (Pompey) 4 banners won and 33 blocks lost
Game 2:
Gonzo (Caesar) 8 banners won and 26 blocks lost
gdnuke (Pompey) 6 banners won and 38 blocks lost
Couple of very good Round 3 games with Joe. I was Caesar first and the game settled into a ranged fire contest as I tried to soften up Pompey's troops sitting on their hills. Only a couple hits over several turns when Labienus used Double Time to attack an AUX and LB almost killing the AUX. Maximus counterattacked and killed the HI on that flank. The next turn an AUX accompanying that HI was also killed. So much for venturing off the hills! The battle again settled into ineffectual ranged fire until Caesar attacked the hills on his flank, doing little damage but forcing Pompey's troops off the edge of the hills. Pedius did the same on his flank the next turn, but Labienus led an attack to successfully retake the hills and scatter Pedius' MCs. Maximus used a Double Time to attack Pompey's center right, which now lacked leadership support, killing an AUX. It was looking tough for Pompey with "vanilla" cards and poor dice, but momentum often shifts in these games!
Caesar got aggressive with Order Medium Troops looking to pick off light troops Pompey had on his baseline, but these Lights gave better than they got, doing big damage to Caesar's units on their battle back. In Pompey's turn, Labienus used Inspired Right Leadership to finish off Pedius and the MC he was stacked with. Caesar charged up the hills on his flank but only did middling damage. One of Pompey's AUX eliminated one of Caesar's HIs on a 3 for 3 battle back. A 4-0 game had become a 4-3 game! Caesar used Clash of Shields to kill an AUX and make it 5-3, but Labienus and his 1 block MC attacked a 2 block MC and eliminated it. 5-4. In his next two turns Caesar used Order Light Troops twice and missile fire eliminated a Pompeian MC in the center hills and Labienus and his MC to end the game 8-4.
In game 2 the first several turns saw Pompey's troops realigning themselves on the hills and Caesar dividing his center troops to reinforce both flanks. Caesar was especially careful to maximize his leaders' support for his units. Pompey tried to do the same, and to get his leaders to "seam" hexes to use Leadership section cards. Around Turn 7, the ranged fire battle commenced in earnest, but with few hits mostly weakening Pompey's right flank LB and AUX units. Caesar used a Double Time in his Turn 10 to attack the hills on his flank. Joe made better use of Caesar's leadership than I did with Pompey's and he started to grind down Pompey's left flank. Pompey tried to draw Caesar's attention to the other flank and succeeded for a couple turns. (Pompey had to use a few Right section cards and get some he could use against Caesar's attack.) It was Turn 14 when Caesar finally killed a Pompeian AUX for the game's first banner. More followed quickly! Pompey sent his full-strength MC on a Mounted Charge against Caesar and his MI, but Caesar is too much and used a First Strike to eliminate the MC in one roll. By the end of the next turn it was 4-0 and Pompey's left had lost all its light units and the MC. The Legions would fight now!
Pompey used a Line Command to open the fight but lost 3 HI blocks to a great battle back after inflicting just one block loss. Caesar counterattacked and joined the fight on the front line. His unit killed the weakened HI for a 5-0 lead but his bonus CC failed to hit a 1 block MI. The battle back took 2 blocks from Caesar's MI. On Pompey's turn, Pompey joined the front line and his troops killed Caesar on a 2LC and eliminated the MI with him. More fighting and bonus CC killed a Caesarian AUX and another MI. It was now 5-4, but there were still 2 Caesarian HI on the right flank facing Pompey. They killed the formerly lucky MI to make the score 6-4. Pompey's troops there made a desperate attack on the HIs hoping to defeat them before Pedius could bring his leadership to bear on that flank. He destroyed both of them in one lucky turn to even the score at 6-6, but Caesar's troops were all at 3 blocks or more while Pompey's were more worn down. Caesar's MCs destroyed a 1 block AUX for a 7-6 lead and when Labienus' MC failed to run down the light troops in front of him, Maximus countered with a Double Time to surround and destroy the MC to end this game 8-6.
These games were fun and well-played. In the end, a lucky strike on Caesar himself gave me a lucky 2-game result against Joe, who I think outplayed me overall. You improve your game playing better players, so I am counting on improving.
