Optimates Seize the Initiative!

 After an energetic beginning by the Populares, hereinafter Caesarians, as often as not, the Optimates - Pompeians - began to take the fight to their political adversaries. Their first move was to intercept the Caesarian expedition to Africa by bring the bringing the fleet to battle off the southeast Sicilian coast. Ahenobarbus's army defeated near Massilia, it fell back to Narbo.

This seemed to place the Optimates on their mettle. Rather than passively to await Caesar's drive into the Iberian Peninsula, over the following weeks they determined upon taking the initiative themselves on this front. Meanwhile, what was left of the Optimates galley fleet left Sicily and returned to Thapsus, where they were to meet Varus's land force.



From a campaign mechanics point of view events went like this. For each turn, the initiative was determined by a die roll, Red (Populares) versus White (Optimates). The first roll went 6-3 in Red's favour. Now, that same roll determined how much could be activated. All the Caesarian armies and fleets could do something, and did, leading to the battle near Massilia. In their turn, the Optimates could activate three formations only: the retreat from Massilia, the fleet attack at Syracuse, and the move north by Afranius's army.

Then the next roll was exactly reversed 3-6. In Africa, the Pompeians concentrated their army and fleet at Thapsus, to await what the Caesarians would do. In Spain, Ahenobarbus returned to the attack at Massilia, with the galley fleet also leaving Narbo, to arrive off Massilia. Of course, Trebonius's army was awaiting them, but the Pompeians having 'stolen a march', they arrived whilst Caesar's army and the fleet were still at the other end of the gulf of Genoa, at Luca. 

Before resuming the narrative - a further action at Massilia, I have a few comments to make on the game mechanics. I have already described how the initiative and activation rolls work. Instead of separate rolls, I have conflated them into a second roll. I believe someone else came up with this idea. I thought I'd give it a try.

A question was raised concerning replacement of losses. Now, as I want this to be a fairly brisk campaign, attrition will have to be fairly brutal. For the armies, defeat is treated pretty punitively: the victorious army recovers half the SPs lost, allocated according to troop type; the defeated loses the lot. There may be a difficulty when losses are shared among disparate troops types, leaving odd numbers to be divided. In halving, the returned troops are rounded up overall, and may also be among the types, provided the overall count is not exceeded.

Suppose an army loses 1SP from each of a legionary, an auxilia and a mounted unit: 3SP overall. Halving the three, rounded, allows 2SP to be returned. Who gets them? The player decides. 

Some points on battle game mechanics.

Land Battles:

All combats are competitive, high roll 'winning' and forcing the enemy back. 
Rolls are modified by SP value, presence of general with the unit, direct support (velites only).

A roll of 5 or 6 scores a hit upon the opponent. In the battles so far I have allowed 'modified' 5s and 6s to score hits, but that seems too punitive. So henceforth, only 'natural' 5s and 6s reduce SP values.

Only velites (light infantry) can offer direct support, and that to a legionary unit. If giving direct support, it can not 'shoot before contact'. Direct support adds +1 to the legionary combat roll.

Except for velites, the rear unit of two in the same square offers 'indirect' support. It contributes nothing to the combat, but if the lead unit is forced back, it retreats, as it were through the rear unit to the space behind. A following up enemy will engage the second unit in the same square in which the primary combat took place. 

The 'Reserve' zone behind the 3x3 battlefield may accommodate 2 units only. If a third unit is forced back into a Reserve Zone, it is automatically destroyed, and all its SPs lost. The battle is automatically lost at then end of the player turn in which this occurs.

If at the end of a player turn, one side finds at least one of its rear sectors occupied by the enemy, with nothing in front of them, that side must in the next player turn bring one of its own units in front of the enemy, that is to say, between the enemy and the side's Reserve zone. Failure to do so means the army is defeated. Note that that assumes the next player turn will be that of the imperiled side. If the enemy happens, owing to winning the initiative dice roll, to get two moves in a row, then they win and the battle is over. 

Naval battles:

I have just been reading Thucydides's (The Peloponnesian War) account of the Athenian campaign against Syracuse, which featured a number of naval battles. It seems that ships so damaged as to be put out of action were (a) able (potentially) to be withdrawn out of the fight, and (b) recoverable for service fairly shortly.

Roman warships were a deal more heavily built, so, when damaged may not have been so easily repaired. To keep things simple in this campaign, all vessels sunk in action are totally lost; all other SP damage is automatically recovered. In the last Syracuse battle, both sides lost half their galley fleets.

Mark Cordone's galley rules disregard facing. As the ships represent squadrons of possibly dozens of vessels, this makes a deal of sense. However, I'm inclined to see a flanking attack as the 'periplous manoeuvre', much favoured by the Athenians. I daresay the Romans were not averse to taking their chances on such an attack as well. 

So I have added the rule that a galley stand moving into contact upon the flank of an enemy galley stand adds +1 to its combat roll. It also counts a 4, as well as a 5 or 6, for reducing the target's SP by 1. 
Enemy still afloat and forced back after such a strike may retreat towards their own rear, or in the direction whence the attack came, provided they don't exceed the 3-stand limit in each square or Reserve Zone.
Enemy still afloat may also turn to face, after the initial combat has been resolved. That attacker following up adds the +1 for the flank attack only if it strikes a new opponent in the flank. 

Further Operations around Massilia.

Following his defeat in the first month of the Civil War, the Pompeian commander L. Domitius Ahenobarbus fell back upon the sea port of Narbo. There he discovered that Afranius had determined upon seizing the initiative from the Caesarians, to recover Massilia and, Fortuna willing, push on to Rome itself. The fleet also departed Narbo to arrive off Massilia.

At once Ahenobarbus turned his battered army around to try conclusions once more with the Caesarians. For his part, G. Trebonius had been rather resting upon his laurels, and had made no move from Massilia (that is to say, by winning the initiative roll - with a big score, too - the Pompeians got two moves in a row). Nevertheless, news of Ahenobarbus's approach was enough for Trebonius to lead his army out to meet him.

The Armies: 

Populares (Caesarian) - Red:
I  Legionary unit = 2SP
II Auxiliary unit = 2SP
III Legionary unit with Trebonius commanding = 3SP +1SP= 3SP

IV Legionary unit = 2SP 

V Velites (Light infantry unit) in direct support of I Legion = 2SP

VI Equites heavy horse = 2SP
Totals: 14SP plus commander



Optimates (Pompeian) - White:
I x Legionary unit with Ahenobarbus commanding = 3SP +1SP
II x Velites unit in direct support = 2SP
IV and VI  x Legionary units @2SP = 4SP
III x Auxiliary unit = 1SP
V x Equites light horse = 1SP
Totals: 11SP plus commander

Already the consequences of defeat have been made apparent, by the depleted units among the Pompeian array.



The armies chose a battlefield in somewhat hilly country, with both sides lined up with their left wings standing upon rising ground. Both sides also placed their legionaries in the front line. Behind the Caesarian right stood their sole mounted contingent; their weakest Legion prepared to defend from their hill. The Pompeians were inclined, rather riskily to keep their light troops in reserve.
 
Winning an early initiative, the Pompeians advanced, but were at once engaged all along the front. The Caesarian I Legion came hurtling down from its hilltop into the enemy IV Legion, and drove it back with loss almost upon its reserves. Although IV Legion damaged Pompeian VI, the latter managed to hold. 

In the centre, III Legion, with Trebonius in direct command began promisingly by pushing back Ahenobarbus in I Legion. But losses heavy on both sides - heavier still among the Caesarians, when their opponents refused to be hustled into their reserve area.



The tide very soon began to ebb for the Caesarians in the centre, as Ahenobarbus stopped their advance, held, and then began pushing them back, losses mounting all the while. Trebonius himself fell as III Legion disintegrated. Although the Caesarians were holding comfortably on the flanks, they were unable make that final push. The caesarians might yet have recovered to win the day, but the initiative remained firmly in the Pompeian grasp. The Caesarians fell back in defeat.



Now, that was an extraordinary victory, against the odds, by the Pompeians.  Losses were heavy on both sides: 4SP apiece, apart from the loss of Caesar's general. All the caesarian losses came out of the centre; III Legion annihilated, and the velites also taking a loss. As might have been expected, all 4 SP Pompeian SP lost came out of their legionaries. 

As the victorious Pompeians recover half their losses from this battle, their net loss so far has been 2 + 5 = 7 SP from the two battles. The Caesarians lose all four from this, but just 2 from the previous for a net loss of 2SP. But now Caesar has to find a commander for Trebonius's command...

In response to the Pompeian offensive in the Gallia Narbonensis, Caesar has just 3 activations available. Does he concentrate his efforts there, of allow Curio to go ahead at once with the African expedition?

To be continued...