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Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sertorius Shines! FoG 2 AAR

After seeing my Spanish army convincingly whipped the first time I put them on the table, I had some nagging doubts.  I suppressed these by working up a Sertorius' Lusitanians list. This ancient Spanish army allows you two Legionaries and an Inspired Commander. Most importantly, you can take your Medium Foot as drilled.

My Lusitanians were facing Klay's Early Carthaginians.  Sertorius proved his worth in the early game with a +2 to my initiative roll.  I won initiative and chose Hilly terrain as it suits my Medium and Light Foot army.  Most of the terrain landed on Klay's side, forcing him into an unorthodox deployment.  His chariots formed on his left wing as that was the only large clearing.  His center was composed of Medium Foot in the brush and Heavy Foot deployed in a narrow clearing.

I was very concerned about the heavy chariots with bow.  I put a unit of cavalry in a single rank so they could evade and a unit of legionaries to stand the chariots up.  To their right, I put scutarii in difficult terrain, where chariots can't operate.  If the legionaries could stand, I'd do a 90 degree turn with the scutarii and take the chariots in the flank.  Of course, that only works if the legionaries stand!
In the early game, Klay sent his cavalry to threatening my flank.  I had no cavalry on my left flank to counter this move so I was sweating.  I sent the bulk of my foot straight at the Carthaginians while taking my other legionaries out of the line to respond to the flanking cavalry.  As I pushed forward, Sertorius  paid dividends with his ability to command a battle line of 6 battlegroups. And I had exactly 6.  On the double, men!
At this point, I charged his skirmishers with mine.  If Klay stood to meet my charge, our melee would block his troops and allow my main battle line to hit him before he cleared the terrain.  If his skirmishers evaded, I'd get 2 turns of missile fire to soften him up before I charged home.  Klay chose to evade one unit of skirmishers but stand with a unit of Balearic slingers.  This cleverly tied up 2 of my skirmishers, where he could walk up medium and heavy troops into combat.  My charge was looking like a mistake.

It was to prove an act of genius as my skirmishers somehow stood firm for 2 full turns of melee against heavy foot, allowing my main line to come up and hit the Carthaginians before they cleared the rough terrain.  That meant the Sacred Band was stuck in the rear.

On the other flank, the chariots were having a hard go. My skirmishers were giving a good account against his chariot bowmen, managing to reduce a unit by a base.  Klay had me overmatched to his front but he could see my forces waiting on the flanks to beat him should he charge.

Sertorius lead from the front and my Spaniards gave a good account of themselves.  They hit and broke a unit of African Spearmen, the Sardinians behind them and finally the traitorous scutarii mercenaries in the Carthaginian 3rd line.  The Sacred Band and the flanking cavalry never got into battle.


With the game slipping away, the chariots make a series of charges.  Our lines hold up and down the line.  When one of the chariots breaks, Carthage hits their army break point.  Sertorius wins!
Key to the game was the terrain, which forced the Carthaginians into an unconventional deployment.  The heroic stand of the caetrati and slingers in the early game allowed me to hit the Carthaginians before they redeployed beyond the rough terrain. After every game, Klay gives a debriefing and today, he agreed the Sertorius' Lusitanians list is a keeper.

26 comments:

  1. Good one Monty, I love the act of genius comment!

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    1. Thanks Marco! I hope we get to see your Ottomans in a FoGN AAR some day!

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  3. Very nice AAR Monty! I do like the Spanish army...but one of my favourite units is the heavy chariot, they are beautiful!
    Best,
    Phil.

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    1. Phil! Yes, heavy chariots are quite beautiful and a terror on the field! I wasn't sure we could stand up to them.

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    2. You did well with them ... for this once!
      Regards,
      Phil.

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    3. :-)

      I'm going to stick with these fellows for a time. Some of my club mates have pointed out that I change up armies too frequently, mastering none of them at all.

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  4. Hi Monty,

    thanks for the report and the pics, the Spanish very beautiful when deployed for battle;

    Cheers

    Gilles

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    1. Good morning, Gilles! We had alot of people stop by our table during the game and the new army did get some nice feedback. And win or lose, I do like to talk about history and the game with the people who stop to look.

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  5. Great battle report Monty. Some really good tactical play which seems to have paid off. Loved it!

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  6. Well those are some very nice looking armies!

    Christopher

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  7. Well, +1 for the ennemies of Rome.

    Congratulations on your win.

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    1. We enemies of Rome should get together, cross the Alps and see what they're up to.

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  8. Great report Monty thanks for sharing. With the right terrain as you say....can be deadly. Nice one.

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    1. Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens when I don't get initiative and I have to fight on a terrainless feature. Yikes!

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    1. Saroe. you're a fellow Minnesotan, welcome! You got me. I thought your comment was funny and EB White or any living editor would have roasted me for my accidental humor.

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  10. Wow, just saw your Sertorius army - brilliant paintjob. Love the combination of legionaries & ancient spanish!
    Simply wonderful!
    Will visit this great blog more often in future!!!
    Regards
    derFigurenschieber

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    1. Thanks, I appreciate it! Hey, I used your basing as inspiration in my Impetus armies. And if I ever paint a HoTT army, well, your stuff is just fantastic and I'd be looking for more inspiration!

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  11. Entertaining AAR and great looking armies. As for your skirmishers' against-the-odds success, sometimes it is easier to stand and fight than it to disengage gracefully.

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    1. Thank you sir! I'll try not to make a practice of letting my skirmishers get smashed by regulars.

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  12. I'm catching up on all your entries these last few weeks, great stuff! The Spanish have turned out great from a modelling/painting viewpoint and its fun to watch them evolve on the battlefield.

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    1. Thanks Iowa! I know what I'm about to say is predictable but the Spanish army is my new favorite. A friend at the club told me that I trade up armies so often that I never master them. Ouch, but true. I'm going to use these over and over. At least, that's the plan and I'm sticking to it this time.

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