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February & March 217 B.C.[/color]
February 217 B.C.
General
Muttines, which covers the northern flank of Hannibal’s army, reaches
Mediolanum but the Romans come into battle with fresh troops and the Carthaginian detachment have to fight against nearly 11,000 enemy troops, more than expected.
A brief skirmish takes place that ends with the loss of one cavalry element but a symbolic victory, probably because the Roman troops are without leadership which is a heavy penalty.
It’s followed by another combat against the roman equites unit.
On the other hand the boii army fights against a large Roman army of nearly 19,000 men in
Placentia which was probably trying to free the city unsuccessfully.
This is the situation after these battles in the
Cisalpine Gaul.
Bad weather has returned and it is snowing. The boii’s tribe, tired by the recent battle and lacking supplies, returns to
Mutina. Hannibal will assault
Clastidium because his army is partially supplied and the logistic situation is worsening. It's now or never.
Muttines who has suffered attrition and lost cohesion by the recent fighting, will merge his detachment with
Hannibal army because it is not possible to move towards
Mediolanum as the city is now well defended with 11,000 Romans or more.
Surprising news come from northeastern of Hispania where a Roman army led by
Publius Cornelius Sicpios show up with some 10,500 men.
The ilergetes’ army which is defending
Cissa (Tarraco) performs well and holds the region. It was only a skirmish and the Romans withdrawn when they see they’re outnumbered.
This is the situation in northeastern Hispania after this battle.
The coming on the scene of the Scipios Roman army is a surprise because the Iberian army was expecting to fight against the Roman army defeated by Hasdrubal in the previous turn and instead it have came into a battle against Scipios one that certainly has its base in
Emporiae. Given these facts
Hasdrubal will go northwards in a seek & destroy mission against the “disappeared” Roman army. In fact and as you can see both Roman armies have "disappeared", probably hidden by the terrain. The lack of Carthaginian cavalry in this region prevents to have better detection rates and the enemy can easily hide.
It's been a good turn economically.
In
Gades, southern Hispania, lands a new general:
Himilco Barca. I guess that he is a close relative from the Barca’s family but I don’t know if he's a brother, a cousin, uncle…. I've been trying to find information about him but without luck. Do you know who was he, exactly?
As most leaders have gone with
Hannibal and the armies in Hispania need more leaders, he will join
Mago Barca army. He is not a very competent leader (4-2-2) but he assures a certain level of activation and can be used to move troops and perform well in a garrison task.
General situation.
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March 217 B.C.
Hannibal successfully assaults
Clastidium eliminating the garrison which suffers 9,300 casualties (many of them are taken prisoner).
Hannibal's army is formed by about 30,000 men now, without counting
Mutines’ detachment and the other garrison force in
Taurasia.
This is the situation in
Cisalpine Gaul.
Good weather has arrived and now
Hannibal with 30,000 men will advance towards
Placentia to besiege it. Meanwhile the main Roman force is in the north inside the walls of
Mediolanum but without leadership, in a passive posture. Perhaps it would have been better to besiege this city instead of
Placentia. Sure, Hannibal makes another mistake because
Mediolanum just have only 1 fortification level and he might well have elimintad the Roman troops inside the city in a successful assault (15,000 men inside, maybe more). But he decides to besiege
Placentia instead. Meanwhile boii’s army has fought a weird battle in which the Romans leave behind a supply wagon, which is captured. The Gauls welcome it because it is full of supplies.
In Hispania
Hasdrubal finds the Roman army and defeats it in
Dertosa.
It's a minor skirmish and the Romans withdrawn southwards.
The Carthaginians will chase the Roman army to prevent them from reaching
Saguntum because Romans have retired to the south. Meanwhile
Himilco, who landed in
Gades in the previous turn, is now leading a secondary army in
Carthago Nova formed by about 23,000 men.
Mago Barca is his second in command.
By the way, there is no news about where is Scipios army.
The capture of many prisoners in the assault of
Clastidium allows to sell them and get 200 denarii.
Meanwhile another good event (+1 Engagement Point)
A new leader arrives:
Hasdrubal Calvus a 2 stars general (3-2-3).
He is more a "naval fleet" leader thant a "land" one because he can reduce by 25% the travel time cost of the fleets.
More troops have been recruited.
Replacements for now are going fine and there are enough reserves.
General situation.
Pay attention to the difference of PVs between Romans and Carthaginians (Romans earn 35 PV/turn by only 10/turn the Carthaginians, more than three times). Notice also the number of prisoners - 3,500 - which is what triggered the event to sell slaves (2,500 prisoners to trigger this option). Own casualties amounted to 11,580 men while the Romans have suffered more than twice for a total of 22,560.
What is happening in the game it's like History coming alive again. Although the AI is not as competitive as a human player, it’s indeed challenging enough to surprise the players and have a good fight. The scenario setting is fabulous, great events, some hard decisions, revolts and great leaders to play with…what much more do you need?
I can only say that I'm enjoying it and I hope you are enjoying it too.