Rome vs Carthage

 

A few says ago, Bob Black visited with the aim of employing my 54mm Punic War figures in a Command and Colors Ancients battle.  The figures were laid out on the table and quite impressive they look, Rome on the right, Carthage on the left:

A view from the opposite direction:

The Carthaginian army consisted of a significant number of Spanish infantry and cavalry, African heavy infantry, Numidian light infantry and cavalry, as well as several units of Gallic warbands and cavalry. They also had an elephant (which neither of had worked out how to use).

Carthage began the action with Numidian light cavalry and skirmishers moving quickly forward to engage the Roman first line:

The left flank:

The right flank:

Bob's plan to ride down my skirmish line was largely ineffective as Roman heavy cavalry crushes the Numidian light horse and then ploughs into some Spanish light infantry.

Over on the opposite flank more Carthaginian cavalry join the fray.  Here the Numidians do better, supported by some medium mercenary cavalry, which moments later are destroyed on Roman spears.

The same fate befalls the Numidians on the right flank as Roman cavalry pushe them back.

Some of the Roman skirmishers do fall, but the Spanish light are destroyed.

In another wave, Numidian light infantry shower Roman auxiliary archers with javelins, but with little effect.  However the lightly clad Numidians suffer from Roman arrows. 

The Numidian cavalry on the right rush forward again and are met by Roman cavalry.  This tussle would go on for much of the battle, with the Numidians slowly pushed back.

Having resisted the Carthaginian skirmisher's attack it was the turn of the Romans to harry their enemy.  The Romans were more successful causing a lot of damage to their opposite numbers.

The battle swung back and forth in the centre as waves of skirmishers fight it out, however, Roman medium infantry move up in large numbers and sweep the lighter enemy away

Roman infantry pushing into the centre:

Bob, decides that it is time to unleash his Gallic warbands:

...... and having carefully studied the rules, launches his elephant, with great success.  Roman medium infantry are scattered as the beast ploughs forward:

On the other flank Bob's Spanish heavy cavalry charge into the Roman horse causing mayhem.

The Roman heavy cavalry is destroyed:

But these attacks are not enough to stem the tide of retreating Carthaginians.  Most of Bob's cavalry and the bulk of his light troops flee the field cause a rout (brought on by lunch being ready).  Bob concedes victory with a score of 9 - 4 to the Romans.

This was a great game.  The rules are excellent, although we did get a few things wrong, which might have changed the outcome a bit.  

Till next time.

HaT Carthaginian Afican Heavy Infantry

 The latest and the last  last contribution to my 54mm ancient armies for the time being, are these rather splendid African infantry from HaT.  

It took me a long time to find these figures as they are long out of production.  Eventually, I located some in Italy, which were a reasonable price, although the postage price was somewhat eye watering.

This latest batch completes my Carthaginian army, which will take to the field when Bob Black visits tomorrow:

Punic War Italians

 Last night I finished off the other half of the box of HaT Italian infantry.  

I also managed to acquire two boxes of Italeri Republican Roman infantry, which when painted will complete my Roman army.  They are in the process of being cleaned up and primed for painting.

The Story So Far............

 I thought that I would set out on the table my collection of Roman/Carthaginian figures as they would be for a Command and Colors game.  Just about enough for a number of the scenarios:

With just a few more figures to go I am almost ready for the first game.

Punic Wars Italian Cavalry

 Coming to the end of the production line now.  This latest batch are HaT 1/32 scale aliied Italian cavalry.  

They were a joy to paint using a mix of Speed and Acrylic paints:

I shall soon be in a position to display the two complete armies with a Command Colors Ancient wargame.

54mm Punic Wars Velites and Elephant

 Another batch of figures are completed.  A set of HaT Republican Roman Velites (light infantry) as well as a Carthaginian war elephant and crew.

The Velites wear the classic wolf skins and carry javelins and swords:

The Carthaginian War Elephant has a crew of three, a driver, a soldier with a long pike and a standard bearer.  The set makes up into a nice model; however, it is quite small, probably closer to 1/35 scale, maybe even 1/48.  That said it looks OK and I am sure that it will blend in on the wargames table:

I am currently working on some Italian allied cavalry.  After that, I have some imperial roman infantry to paint.

More Wofun Fun

I continue to play around wit shading for the edges. Next up are some Carthaginian elephants. In this case I have used a light grey brown (Humbrol 72) for the edges.  I think this works quite well and is less stark than the black:

 

Wofun Punic War Armies

 A couple of months ago I bought a Wofun starter set that provided two small Punic War armies.  I have had mixed feelings about these figures and so I put them away for a bit.  Now, with a little more time on my hands, I thought that I would take another look. The two things that I do not like about these figures, which are neatly painted and look quite nice, are the bases and the clear plastic edges.  The edges are paticularly obvious with the 18mm figures, at around 3mm thick - much greater than the more traditional paper figures.

Here is a unit set out.  The clear/white edges are quite pronounced.  Also, the dark edges of the base do not help either:

After some deliberation I decided to paint in the edges of the figures and paint the bases to match my 'sand' playing area:

I think I prefer the painted samples and this is likely to be the way ahead, although it will be a bit of a chore doing two armies worth!

Punic Wars - Wofun Style

I have always wanted to have a go at some ancient battles, particularly the Punic Wars.  The problem is that, with all of my other interests, I have never been able to put together a painted army.  I had seen Wofun figures on other blogs, so I thought I would take a look.

I have opted for the 18mm version of the Punic Wars starter set.  It consists of the two armies, Roman and Carthaginian.  Setting up, took a couple of hours as each group of figures needs to be eased out of the Perspex sheet and then attached by clipping in to an MDF base, which is pre-coloured. So seting up is quick and easy, although I managed to break a few figures with my fat fingers.

This is what they look like; the Romans:

And the Carthaginians:

Overall the set does provide two reasonable armies, however, at 18mm I find it quite hard to work out what the figures are and I have written a description on the underside of the bases. This may prove a problem in a game.  I do not like the white outline created by the Perspex and I may paint all the edges in black.

The jury is out.