Great Roman Civil War
Caesar’s Last Battle Munda 45 BC

Pompeian vs Caesarian

Scenario Note: This scenario may require two or more C & C sets since the fight was the largest and last battle of Caesar’s Great Roman Civil War. The Pompeians took station by the town of Munda, lying at the top of a virtual mountain in southern Spain for the final showdown of the campaign.

Historical Background:
“Next day as Caesar was preparing to set out with the army, notice was sent him by his spies, that Pompey had been in order of battle ever since midnight. Upon this intelligence he ordered the standard to be raised. Pompey had taken this resolution in consequence of his letter to the inhabitants of Ursao, who were his firm adherents, in which he told them that Caesar refused to come down into the plain, because his army consisted mostly of new-levied troops. This had greatly confirmed the city in its allegiance. Thus relying on this opinion, he thought that he could effect the whole, for he was defended by the nature of his situation, and by the position for defense of the town, where he had his camp: for, as we observed before, this country is full of hills which run in a continued chain, without any plains intervening. “ 29 “But we must by no means omit to mention an accident which happened about this time. The two camps were divided from one another by a plain about five miles in extent, so that Pompey, in consequence of the town's elevated position, and the nature of the country, enjoyed a double defense. Across this valley ran a rivulet, which rendered the approach to the mountain extremely difficult, because it formed a deep morass on the right. Caesar had no doubt that the enemy would descend into the plain and come to a battle, when he saw them in array. This appeared evident to all; the rather because the plain would give their cavalry full room to act, and the day was so serene and clear that the gods seemed to have sent it on purpose to favor the engagement. Our men rejoiced at the favorable opportunity: some however were not altogether exempt from fear when they considered that their all was at stake, with the uncertainty of what might be their fate an hour after. He advanced however to the field of battle, fully persuaded that the enemy would do the same; but they durst not venture above a mile from the town, being determined to shelter themselves under its walls. Our men still continued before them in order of battle; but although the equality of the ground sometimes tempted them to come and dispute the victory, they nevertheless still kept their post on the mountain, in the neighborhood of the town. We doubled our speed to reach the rivulet, without their stirring from the place where they stood. “ 30” Their army consisted of thirteen legions; the cavalry was drawn up upon the wings, with six thousand light-armed infantry and about the same number of auxiliaries. We had only eighty heavy-armed cohorts, and eight thousand horse. When we reached the extremity of the plain, the real seat of disadvantage, the enemy were awaiting us above, so that it would have been exceedingly dangerous to proceed. When Caesar perceived this, he pointed out the locality, lest any disagreeable occurrence should result from the temerity of his troops. The army murmured greatly, as if they had been kept back from a certain victory, when this was told them. The delay, however, served to enliven the enemy, thinking that Caesar's troops shrank from an encounter through fear: they therefore had the boldness to advance a little way, yet without quitting the advantage of their post, the approach to which was extremely dangerous. The tenth legion, as usual, was on the right, the third and fifth on the left, with the auxiliary troops and cavalry. The battle began with a shout. “ 31” But though our men were superior to the enemy in courage, the latter nevertheless defended themselves so well by the advantage of the higher ground, and the shouts were so loud, and the discharge of darts on both sides so great, that we almost began to despair of victory. For the first onset and shout, by which an enemy is most apt to be dismayed, were pretty equal in the present encounter. All fought with equal valor; the place was covered with arrows and darts, and great numbers of the enemy fell. We have already observed that the tenth legion was on the right, which, though not considerable for the number of men, was nevertheless formidable for its courage; and so pressed the enemy on that side that they were obliged to draw a legion from the right wing to reinforce the left, lest we should come upon their flank; but they fought so bravely that the reinforcement could not find an opportunity of entering the ranks. Upon this motion, our cavalry on the left fell upon Pompey's right wing. Meanwhile the clashing of armor mingled with the shouts of combatants, and the groans of the dying and the wounded, terrified the new-raised soldiers. On this occasion, as Ennius says, "they fought hand to hand, foot to foot, and shield to shield;" but though the enemy fought with the utmost vigor, they were obliged to give ground, and retire toward the town. The battle was fought on the feast of Bacchus, and the Pompeians were entirely routed and put to flight; insomuch that not a man could have escaped, had they not sheltered themselves in the place whence they advanced to the charge. The enemy lost on this occasion upward of thirty thousand men, and among the rest Labienus and Attius Varus, whose funeral obsequies were performed upon the field of battle. They had likewise three thousand Roman knights killed, partly Italian, partly provincial. About a thousand were slain on our side, partly foot, partly horse; and five hundred wounded. We gained thirteen eagles, and several standards, and emblems of authority, and made seventeen officers prisoners. Such was the issue of this action.” (From The Spanish War an account believed to have been written by a supporter of Caesar who participated in the campaign)

War Council

Caesarian Army
Leader: Caesar
6 Cards (one card is “Line Command” the other five are picked randomly)
Move First

Pompeian Army
Leader: Gnaeus Pompey
5 cards

Victory:
Caesarian Player: 12 Banners, but the first Pompeian Light unit eliminated, regardless of type doesn’t count towards the 12.
Pompeian Player: 10 Banners, but the first Caesarian Light unit eliminated, regardless of type doesn’t count towards the 10, and if Caesar is eliminated 2 Banners are scored in lieu of the usual 1 Banner.

Scenario Special Rules:
Command Rules:
The “Marian” Command Card Deck
Historical Note: Combat in the 1st Century BC between Roman Legions was somewhat different than the wars between civilized states in the 3rd Century BC. There was less
room for combined arms tactics and maneuver, and battles probably tended to be more of the nature of hand to hand full bore slugfests.
This particular scenario utilizes a different Command Card Deck than the original C & C Ancients Deck. Eight (8) Cards are removed from the original deck leaving 52 Cards for scenario play. This new deck is called the “Marian Deck” and it is named after Caesar’s uncle Gaius Marius who reorganized the Roman Legions in roughly 105-103BC (several years before Caesar was born) to meet the challenges of the Germanic Tribal invasions that threatened the Roman Republic of the time.
The following eight cards are removed before play and put aside to create the Marian Deck:
X4 “Order Light troops”, x1 “I Am Spartacus”, x2 “Move-Fire-Move”, x1 “Mounted Charge”---note that one Mounted Charge” card is still retained in the deck.
Leader Command, Caesar, Pompey& Rally Special Rules:
Caesar can cancel both a retreat and a sword hit if present with the unit receiving such hits. All other Leaders may cancel a retreat or a sword hit if present with the unit.
Units on both sides involved in close combat with the support of a Leader may only count one helmet hit amongst those rolled to inflict a hit on an opposing unit, unless Caesar is the supporting leader---then up to two helmet hits may be counted.
King Bogus, Caesar’s Mauretanian ally may only support cavalry and light Caesarian units involved in close combat and battle-back. He may not support Caesarian Legionary units.
Caesar when moving & ordered by himself without an attached unit normally may move up to four hexes instead of the regular three hexes for Leaders in the rulebook.
Units and the Rally Card: No unit can be rallied to beyond six blocks or its strength at the start of the game whichever is less. If a Player rolls “swords” when attempting to rally he may freely chose which unit gets a block back.

Roman Legionary Infantry Rules:
The following types of infantry units in the game on BOTH sides are assumed to be Roman Legionaries: Heavy Infantry, and Medium Infantry. ALL of these units are considered to be Roman Legionary Infantry. The combatants in this era of civil war often recruited non-citizens from different areas of the Roman Republican Empire into their Legions and as a result the quality of such forces varied widely.

Roman Pilum:
Each Roman Legionary Infantry unit starts with a Pilum Marker. The Pilum is a one-time use weapon that is generally fired right before a Roman Legionary unit attacks in close-combat or is itself attacked by the enemy in close-combat. Once the pilum is fired (or lost see below) –the Pilum marker is removed from the Roman unit to indicate that the pilum has been expended and the unit may not throw Pilum for the rest of the battle.
Just before a Roman unit with pilum is attacked or is itself attacked by the enemy for the very first time in the battle in close-combat it throws its pilum—roll one die and apply normal hits for swords, color, or a Flag/retreat hit Afterwards remove the Pilum marker.
The act of throwing the pilum is not considered to be part of the Close-Combat—so any result of the pilum throw is resolved before the Close-combat. If two Roman Legionary Infantry units that have not thrown pilum yet engage the attacker resolves his pilum throw first. An attached Leader may use his special ability to cancel a “swords” hit that was inflicted via a pilum hit (see special Command rules) on the unit he is stacked with.
Roman units, adjacent to the enemy, that have not expended their Pilum may also be ordered to throw Pilum if the card “Darken the Sky” is played by their commanding player. The Player picks one adjacent enemy unit and throws two dice –apply the results just as one would before close combat—and remove the Pilum Marker.
Roman Relief Moves & Cohort Maneuvers:
Adjacent and on the same side Roman Legionary Infantry, instead of moving, may switch places in a “Relief/Cohort Maneuver”. Relief/Cohort Maneuvers may only be conducted through the play of Section cards ONLY. Instead of ordering one unit via a section card, the controlling Player may order a pair of adjacent Legionary Infantry units to switch hexes—at least one of the units switching places must not be adjacent to an enemy unit. A unit that switched places via the Relief/Cohort Maneuver into a hex adjacent to the enemy may close combat in the same player-turn.

Pompeian Army Special Rules:
Roman Trained Pompeian Auxillia Legions: These units have normal capabilities, and may also engage in Roman Relief Moves & Cohort Maneuver with each other and Pompeian Legionary units.
Pompeian initial off-map units and withdrawal from the map:
a) Initial off-map units: The initial four off-map Pompeian units (x2 Medium Infantry & x2 Auxillia) may enter the map in any vacant hex between I3 to I11 (inclusive) in lieu of the Pompeian Player issuing an order to a unit in that section (where the off-map unit entered) via a section card. The entry consumes the unit’s entire move for that Pompeian Player-turn—the newly entered unit can engage in combat on the turn of entry from its entry hex.
b) Pompeian exit from the map Pompeian units and/or Leaders located on the map from I3 to I11 (inclusive) may voluntarily exit the map in lieu of the Pompeian Player issuing an order to a unit/leader in that section via a section card. Once Pompeian units or Leaders exit they may never return to play.

Special Terrain Rules:
Level 1 & Level 2 Hill Tiles: The map now, in effect, has contour lines of hexes showing different elevations. Basically there are three Terrain elevations in the scenario: Level 0: which includes all clear, bog, river, and broken terrain on the map. Level 1: which includes all Level 1 Hills, and Level 2 which includes all Level 2 Hills. Note: The Camp/Rampart tiles are assumed to all be at Level 2 in this scenario since they represent
the Pompeian camp/city defenses at the top of the mountain upon which Munda is situated.
Elevation effect on close-combat and battle-back: If a unit is close-combating or battling-back against a unit at a higher elevation (or level) the “normal” maximum dice that unit may use is two (2). If a unit is close-combating or battling-back against a unit at a lower elevation (or level) the “normal” maximum dice that unit may use is three (3). If both units are on the same level and there is no other terrain considerations the units would use their standard dice as dictated by the rulebook and these scenario rules.
Elevation effect on Line of Sight and Missile Fire: Units firing missiles from a lower level to a target on a higher level have a maximum range of two hexes—the three hex range for light archers and light slingers in this situation may not be utilized.
Line of Sight: A Line of sight is blocked if the line passes through any hexes whose elevation is higher than both the spotting unit and its target. A Line of Sight is also blocked if it passes through two or more hexes of the same elevation and one of the hexes in the line of sight is lower than the two hexes at the same elevation. Example: a unit in H1 cannot see a unit in I4 and vice versa on the Munda map.
Bog Terrain Rules: Units retreating or evading into a bog hex cease their retreat/evade in the hex and lose one extra block. Units entering a bog hex with a normal move must cease movement and may not close-combat or fire missiles that player-turn. Otherwise treat a bog as broken terrain for all other purposes.

Outflanking---This is an easy way of introducing facing and flanks to the game with little fuss—it can be retrofitted to other scenarios where appropriate:
A unit is said to be “Outflanked” if it is surrounded in all six adjacent hexes by either enemy units, or hexes adjacent to an enemy unit. The presence of friendly units or impassable terrain does not negate an “Outflanked” situation in any way. Units on the board edges (and not surrounded by six adjacent hexes) cannot be “Outflanked”.
Effects of being Outflanked: “Outflanked” units when battling back roll only half the normal number of dice they would be normally entitled to rounded up—to a maximum of only two dice—“Outflanked” units when battling back never hit on helmet rolls even if supported by a leader. A unit’s “Outflanked” situation is judged at the instant it battles back.
Caesarian Army Special Rules:
Caesarian Veteran Initiative:
Up to Two Caesarian Heavy Infantry units per Caesarian Player-turn that are ordered by an “Order Heavy Troops” card may move two hexes and close combat at their option.
Caesarian Light Moorish Cavalry:
All Caesarian Light Cavalry are assumed to be elite troops supplied by Caesar’s ally King Bogus. These units hit on swords in both close-combat and battle-back.