Our first Field of Glory battle in which all the terrain selected actually made it onto the table! The clash between the Carthaginan and Gallic armies took place in limited open space surrounded by enclosed fields, plantations and a village. The terrain had little impact during the battle, but significantly influenced the deployment of the Gallic army which was made up exclusively of heavy impact foot, superior cavalry and some supporting lights. The Gauls turned up in huge numbers and had the aid of Gaesati mercenaries which were deployed in the front line. The Gallic mass was a daunting sight for the Carthaginians who were led by Hannibal with troops drawn from the Hannibal in Africa list; African spear (some veterans), Celtiberians, Spanish and Bruttian foot, the famous Balearic slingers and Numidians, and of course, War Elephants.

Please note: There are a number of stand in figures used for the Gauls, especially for the cavalry, and the Carthaginians are undergoing a re-base.

The Carthaginian skirmishers advanced quickly on the Gallic lines, but even the well aimed bullets of the Balearic slingers are ineffective against the large Gallic formations. The Numidian light horse in the distance move towards the exposed Gallic left flank.

The skirmishers withdraw to allow the main battlelines to engage whilst the Bruttian veterans (MF Armoured Superior) enter the enclosed field on the right of the Carthaginian centre with the intention of chasing off the Gallic light troops, and threatening the flank of the advancing Gaesati mercenaries. The Gallic centre rushes forward eager to attack the main Carthaginian battleline of African spearmen, Celtiberians, and War Elephants. The Carthaginian left flank positions itself to defend the centre of their battleline and to prevent the Gauls from deploying their second line.

The Carthaginian cavalry, and supporting Spanish, are charged by the best of the Gallic cavalry, led by their commander in chief. There was a great deal of confusion about whether or not the Gallic foot had contacted the Spanish cavalry in a legal flank charge. Also, in retrospect the Gallic commanders unit should have stepped forward onto the Carthaginian Gallic horse (unengaged to the right).

Re: Flank charge. The contacting base didn’t start it’s move behind the flank of the Spanish cavalry, but some of the other bases in the unit did – those that ended up contacting the Spanish foot. Also, the Gallic foot wheeled before it’s charge, which it wouldn’t have been able to do as the closest point started within 1 MU. Confused? We were, so we opted for ruling a non-flank charge. A tricky one for the forum.

The centres advance to within charge range. The Bruttians in the foreground have chased off the Gallic light troops, which force the Numidian light horse to retire after the famous light horse have successfully fragmented a unit of Gallic cavalry and drawn out another unit of cavalry towards their position – the Numidians are definitely worth their weight in gold!

On the Carthaginian left the Spanish cavalry have fragmented and lost a base, but the Spanish foot fragment the Gallic heavy foot after an appalling cohesion test.

The Gallic commander in chief deserts his cavalry to bolster the fragmented foot, but the foot fail another test and rout towards the second line hotly pursed by the Spanish who slay the Gallic commander in the confusion of the rout! The Gallic horse lose heart when they see their beloved commander fall and become disrupted! They are now also badly outnumbered.

In the centre the War Elephants prove to be decisive after one impact and melee phase. The African spear have expanded in the melee phase after having deployed in depth to charge the Gaesati line. Hannibal attempts to bolster the Celtiberians who are fragmented and casualty markers indicate the loss of bases amongst the Gaesati units (8 bases each). A unit of War Elephants and veteran African spear have broken a unit of Gaesati who are pursued, and will be destroyed at the end of this phase, by the enraged beasts.

On the Carthaginian right flank the Bruttians face off against a unit of Gallic cavalry – kindly represented by some loaned Greeks, so not lance armed, but Protected, Superior, Light Spear, Swordsmen. The veteran African spear look forward to wheeling towards the exposed flank of the Gaesati centre – surely not a good thing for the ferocious mercenaries.

Sadly, this is where the game had to end. The advantage lies slightly with the Carthaginians, and in a tournament this would have been a marginal victory, scoring 4 points to 2. However, anything could have happened with two Carthaginian units already fragmented and fighting for their lives. The Gauls have a lot of reinforcements in their second line and the Carthaginian centre needs to continue to press it’s advantage. Can the Celitberians and elephants hold on long enough for the veteran African spear to arrive?

The routing Gallic foot in the foreground are almost certainly going to cause some problems for the units in their path. I’m glad we didn’t have to try and work that one out, but I suspect that even with a one base shift they will still end up breaking through the second line of Gallic troops and the Gaesati unit fighting on the right of the Gallic centre.

In the distance the Numidian light horse keep two units of cavalry and all the Gallic light troops occupied.

Twas a jolly fine game, and the Gauls are a force to be reckoned with in FoG 2.0.