Having defeated Afranius's army at Narbo, with the death of the leader of the Pompeian effort in Spain, Caesar was at last able to pursue his planned advance into the Iberian Peninsula itself. Local informers reporting the presence of the Pompeian army assembling at Ilerda - well off the main coast road - Caesar took his army thither. There, he found the enemy, drawn up behind a river - a tributary of the Ebro.
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| The battle on the Pompeian right: driving off the |Caesarian horse. |
Caesar's Army, less detachments, comprised:
Right Front: I Auxiliary = 2SP
Right Rear: II Auxiliary = 2SP
Centre Front: IX Legion 2SP + Caesar in command
Centre Rear: Velites 1SP - in direct support of IX Legion
Left Front: Heavy Cavalry = 2SP
Left Rear: XI Legion = 3SP
Totals: 6 units; 12SP
The recent defeat at Narbo had elevated Sextus Pompey to the command of his father's cause in Spain, but had left him with an army rather weakened. By placing his available forces behind a river, and somewhat protected by woodland on his left, Sextus hoped at least to equalise his chances. Actually, the relative weakness lay more in the lack of reserves, rather than the disparity of force in the upcoming action.
Sextus Pompey's Army comprised:
Right Front: II Legion = 2SP
Right Rear: Velites in direct support: 1SP
Centre Front: Light Cavalry = 2SP
Centre Rear: VIII Legion = 2SP with S. Pompey in command
Left Front: II Auxiliary = 2SP
Left Rear: I Auxiliary = 1SP
Totals: 6 units, 10SP
That was it: Caesar's hurry (a plot device, this) left X and XII Legions - 5SP between them - somewhere back along the road from Narbo. Sextus Pompey had available all he could muster. There was no more to be had. This battle the Pompeians simply had to win.
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| Battle in the centre. Light horse attacking IX Legion |
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Standoff in the centre. Caesar's legion has taken
some hurt.
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Nevertheless, this was to be the hardest fought and bloodiest battle of the whole campaign so far, the outcome resting upon the edge of a gladius - or maybe under the foot of a heedless legionary.
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Battle on the right. Pompeian Auxilia barely holding
against their opposing counterparts |
As the Caesarians drew up for their attack over the river, the Pompeians seized the initiative, attacking from the open ground on the right and centre. The Light horse attack was, unsurprisingly, repulsed by Caesar's Legion, though not without cost. The Pompeian right was more successful, and drove back from the river bank the Caesarian heavy horse. Following up, they encountered XI Legion, and were promptly stopped with heavy loss.
(Note: I see that I have shown XI legion with 2SP - a mistake: it should be 3SP)
In response, the Caesarians countered on the flanks. The activation rolls having been 3-2 in favour of the Pompeians limited both sides' initiatives: The Pompiean push on the right and the one-two attacks in the centre; and the Caesarian mounted counter-attack against the enemy right, and the Auxiliary attack upon the woods.
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Following up, the Caesarians receive a mauling from
the defenders, but are giving as good as they are taking
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The Caesarian horse defeated again. They were to
prove ineffectual all day. |
The attack on the woods proved a costly affair for both sides. Though inflicting some hurt upon the defenders, I Auxiliary were themselves mauled by the determined defence. Their initial attack drove the Pompeian front line clear out of the woods into the reserve area behind. Following up, the Caesarians encountered the weaker, second line. Fighting magnificently, the Pompeian I Auxiliary drove out their counterparts, from the wood, back across the stream. But the effort had wrecked the Pompeian I Auxiliary unit for good. The Pompeians were fortunate that the Caesarians were unable with their second line to seize the momentarily vacant woodland.
On the right, the Caesarian attack was equally unsuccessful. The horsemen were repulsed again. (The 6-2 dice were the next turn's activation rolls - a very good one for the Pompeians!)
It appears from the pictures hereabouts that I omitted some significant events. Caesar continued pressing as much as he could on the flanks, with considerable success. On the left, the Pompeians were driven back across the river. On the right, the Pompeian II Auxiliary were beaten down and destroyed, though they held long enough that, once again, the Caesarians were unable immediately to exploit their success. Pompey was able to slide his Legion into the woodland to cover the open flank. But that left only the light horse to cover the centre. The situation was become parlous for the Pompeians.
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Having reached the woods, Pompey at once launched a cross-river attack against the apparently weak front line of Caesarian auxiliaries. The odds seemed to offer a winning proposition: the wargames dice goddess, Bellona Hexahedra, ruled otherwise. The 1-6 roll tells the story: Sextus Pompey was roundly and bloodily repulsed.
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Sextus Pompey chances his arm upon a
battle winning attack - and takes a drubbing. |
Nor did matters go any better on the Ponpeian left. Hoping for a miracle, the Pompeians attacked on the right, and met with an equally brusque reception. The remnants of II Legion perished in the stream.
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| Destruction of II Legion |
If matters were going badly on the flanks, events in the centre bade fair to turn the battle. Observing the bank opposite to be defended by light horse only, Caesar determined upon a final, battle-winning push. This would have been an even more winning a proposition than Pompey's woodland counter attack. The fickleness of fate once more made mockery of Man's machinations. The attack foundered under the enemy javelins, IX Legions were routed. Here I had to clad Caesar in a certain amount of plot armour. In the scramble for safety, he was knocked down and trodden on. For a moment his life was despaired of, but he emerged from the wreckage of IX Legion somewhat dishevelled and worse for wear, but otherwise uninjured. I rolled a D6 for him with the score to represent the level of injury. It rolled a '1'.
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Both sides forced to regroup their forces. Caesar
gets trampled in the dirt when IX Legion routs, but
survives - more or less uninjured. |
So the battle continued. XI Legion slid across to cover the vulnerable centre - the velites having survived the rout, whilst the horse now took over the Caesarian left.
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| Sextus repulses attack upon woodland position |
The to-and-fro battle of the woodlands carried on, Pompey himself leading the repulse of the enemy auxiliaries.
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| XI Legion force their way across the river |
In the centre, however, XI Legion, with the support of the velites, forced their way across the stream, unhorsing many of the defending light horse. To their left, the horse finally dispersed the II Legion, and followed up to inflict losses upon the supporting light infantry.
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| Caesarian horse destroyed in attempting the same... |
That final drive might have settled the matter, but for the failure of the Caesarina heavy horse to clear the riverbank. The light infantry put the horsemen finally to flight. Having beaten back the enemy light horse, however, XI Legion were able to strike the flank of the Pompeian light infantry. Though the latter swung left to face them, they could not withstand the weight of the Legion. Now, the whole of the Pompeian centre and left having been driven away from the riverbank, and more than half the army destroyed, there could be no retrieving this battle.
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Final victory: XI Legion routs what remains of the
Pompeian right wing. |
Nor, withal, was there to be any chance of retrieving the campaign in Spain. Losses were very heavy on both sides, but the Pompeians lost four units completely destroyed; the Caesarians two only.
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Very little remains of the Pompeian army! Bit the Caesarians
know they have been in a fight to the death. |
Here's the 'butcher's bill':
Caesarian losses: Right Front: I Auxiliary -1SP
Right Rear: II Auxiliary -1SP
Centre Front: IX Legion -2SP destroyed, and Caesar slightly injured
Centre Rear: Velites no loss
Left Front: Heavy Cavalry -2SP destroyed
Left Rear: XI Legion -1SP
Totals: 7SP lost, 2 units destroyed. 2SP returned to the army (1 Auxiliary, 1 to XI Legion)
Net loss 5SP.
Army left with 12SP, and still in being.
Pompeian losses:
Right Front: II Legion -2SP destroyed
Right Rear: Velites -1SP destroyed
Centre Front: Light Cavalry no loss
Centre Rear: VIII Legion -1SP with S. Pompey in command
Left Front: II Auxiliary -2SP destroyed
Left Rear: I Auxiliary -1SP destroyed
Totals: 7SP lost, 4 units destroyed. 1SP only returned to the army (VIII Legion).
Net loss 6SP
Army left with 4SP.
Four Strength Points only, the Pompeians in Spain had remaining. That was far less than half this army had begun with. Clearly there was nothing left for the remnants but to surrender to Caesar's mercy.
This battle was a fine climax to Caesar's campaign to bring Spain under his sway: very heavy losses to both sides, and a fluctuating fortunes. The plot armour for Caesar was really just to minimise the likelihood of his demise, whilst keeping some chinks of vulnerability. A '6' on the 'fate' roll would have occasioned his removal from the campaign...
But if Pompey's fortunes in Spain have met with disaster, what has been happening in Africa? The Pompeians there have a very fair chance of maintaining yet the fires of the Pompeian cause...
To be continued...
