Russ won initiative and chose the terrain - agricultural - so we started laying fields and vineyards around the table (most of it appeared to be on my side).
On my side (from left to right) I had the Spanish large shield cavalry, 2BG of Iberian Scutari then 2BG of Celtiberian scutarii with the remaining BG of Iberian scutarii on the extreme right. In front of these were 2BG of caetrati and 1BG of slingers and 2BG of light horse.
Russ faced these with 1BG of Gallic cavalry, 1BG of Gallic foot, 2BG of African spears and 1BG of Scutari and 1BG of Spanish cavalry (the traitors!). These were screened by 1BG of javelinme, 1BG of slingers and 2BG of light horse.
My plan was cunning and involved considerable thought on my part - it basically involved rushing everyone into combat as soon as possible. As the majority of my foot were Impact Foot and I outnumbered his skirmishers, this seemed the rational strategy.
As the troops were arrayed on the table it was clear that the Spanish made up for in numbers what the Carthaginians had in quality. They seemed to stretch the width of the table! The Spanish skirmishers outnumbered the Carthaginian by 12 bases - enough to cause Hannibal a headache.
The Carthaginians - with skirmishers and light horse
in front
The Spanish (with more out of shot) with a veritable host of skirmishers
Russ moved first and moved his skirmishers formward to engage - together with his light horse and cavalry on my right flank. I countered this by simply moving everyone forward to engage (and hoping to quickly swamp his skirmish line).
As soon as the lines were close enough the missiles flew prior to a general skirmish charge. My javelins (by dint of having 4 dice to 3) had the ability to inflict a cohesion test on the slingers opposing them - and dropped them to Disrupted and they lost a base as well! An encouraging start. Then my skirmishers charged.
Russ' light horse evaded the onrushing caetrati (javelinmen) but the other BG stayed to take on the Spanish light horse. Unfortunately for Russ, the caetrati contacted this remaining BG - meaning Russ was fighting 1BG against 2BG (never a good place to be).
Similarly his skirmishers - although fighting 2BG to 2BG - were overlapped and one was fighting against 2BG - so the Spanish aimed to make the numbers count before his other foot got into range. Much stabbing and throwing occurred.
The skirmishers clash - Carthage looks outnumbered!
The slingers went Fragmented in the melee phase - causing Russ to join a commander to them to stop them disintegrating completely. The Spanish smelled blood and continued to pound away at the line.
The Carthaginian slingers are Fragmented - tapas and sangria all round!
The Numidian Light Horse were somehow surviving despite taking lots of hits (passing a cohesion test and death roll - grrrrr!) and Russ quickly threw his other Light Horse in to balance the conflict. Alas, they lost the Impact and themselves fell to Disrupted. His cavalry therefore stepped up to save their bretheren. In turn I rushed up a BG of Iberian scutarii to keep the battle balanced. It was becoming a free-for-all!
Looking bad for the Carthaginian skirmishers! The slingers are Fragmented,
the Light Horse are Disrupted and the Iberians are close by.
Russ then charged one BG of light horse with his cavalry - so my light' evaded. The Scutarii were close enough to take on the cavalry and moved up to fill the gap. In turn his own scutarii were moved up to exploit any gaps should the opportunity present itself. Meanwhile I did my best to polish off his Light Horse and slingers.
My light horse evade through the Iberians who move through the field to plug the gap.
On the wider battlefield the ominous sound of heavily armoured African spearment could be heard. Russ had spent his points beefing up these bad boys and I pretty much had to avoid them at all costs. I moved my cavalry up on the left flank and aimed to swamp his Gauls with a horde of Iberians (leaving the Celtiberians to test themselves against the African foot).
Look at those African spearmen - Armoured beasties. Avoid!
Back on the right flank it was all kicking off. The Gallic cavalry hit my Iberians (while my Light Horse round around the outside to try and get behind them). Russ' Light Horse continued to hold their own against my light horse and caetrati - but some more Iberians were moving up to add their weight to the battle.
It all kicks off on my right flank!
In the middle a number of melees ensued. The slingers were still Fragmented but the Javelinmen fared worse. They were mauled by 2BG of slingers and caetrati and (on losing cohesion and 2 bases) were badly smashed and Autobroke on losing another base. The slingers had also lost 2 bases and were looking ropey considering that the BG's facing them had yet to lose a base.
The javelinmen Break - leaving the caetrati free to pepper the African spears.
The Light Horse finally fail a Death Roll! Meanwhile the commander tries to bolster the slingers
Russ' light horse finally lost a base - his Scutarii were now in close support though. Meanwhile my Iberians were holding their own against the cavalry (8 bases vs 4) - causing them to go Disrupted and taking a base off them. Another BG had also stepped up to support the caetrati. Clearly the numerical superiority of the Spanish was paying off.
More bad news for Carthage - his cavalry lose a base and go Disrupted as the Iberians swarm into them.
We made a mistake or two here. Russ' light horse and cavalry could both have broken off (and potentially lived to fight another day). In the excitement we both forgot - and it may have been crucial.
As it was, they stayed in the fight.
In the centre, the caetrati rushed forward to throw javelins at the African Spears (at -1 for armour). This was pretty ineffectual as I couldn't get the slingers in to support (as Russ' own slingers were somehow still in the fight). His commander had bolstered them to Disrupted. Russ therefore decided to charge the caetrati with his African spears and my Iberians with his Gauls.
The heavy Carthaginians charge forward...
The caetrati sensibly decided to evade, running behind the Celtiberians - their job done for the time being (having eliminated the opposing javelinmen). The African spears just missed the Iberians, but the Gauls didn't and ploughed straight in. Unfortunately for Russ, once again he found one of his BG facing 2BG of mine. In addition, his Gallic cavalry also charged my Iberian Scutarii.
The charge managed to get the Iberians Disrupted and also caused them to lose a base (the first casualties of the day for the Spanish). However, my heavy cavalry moved up to support them (overlapping the Gallic cavalry) who had already lost a base in the impact (as had the Gallic foot).
The Gauls pile in - giving and taking casualties in the process
The action then got fast and furious. My light horse attracted the attention of Russ' light horse (stopping them turning into the Carthaginian cavalry) while the scutari battered the aforementioned cavalry. In the middle Russ' slingers dropped back to Fragmented (fighting 8 dice with just 2). My Disrupted Iberians lost another base but made their cohesion test - but took the Gallic cavalry down to 2 bases.
The Carthaginian slingers face impossible odds - as the Celtiberians step up to the plate.
The Iberians take bases of the Gallic cavalry and foot - but take casualties themselves.
Finally the Cartho slingers gave up and Broke - leaving my slingers clear to shoot at the rebel Scutari and the caetrati to throw javelins at the African spears. Russ made all his cohesion tests for the break (curse you, Hannibal!) but all down the line were blue markers and missing bases - the Spanish numbers were telling.
In addition, Russ' Light Horse (the ones who were fighting) also lost a base and Autobroke - leading to an interesting 'before and after' shot!
Before...
After.
The Carthaginian skirmish line had been annihilated without the Spanish losing a base - proof of the power of numbers! The Spanish skirmishers now aimed to get a shot in before the African spears got to grips with the Celtiberians.
Even worse for the Carthos, the rebel Spanish cavalry also Fragmented in facing the Iberians. This meant that Russ was close to losing 4BG without reply. Also his Gauls also went Disrupted after losing another base and his Gallic cavalry were 1 base away from an Autobreak.
The Gauls take a whupping!
The final straw was the loss of his Spanish cavalry. They were threatened by my light horse but the scutari did the damage and took enough bases off for an Autobreak. At this Russ decided to shake hands to give the Spanish a major victory.
Results
Carthaginian losses - 1BG of slingers, 1BG of javelinmen, 1BG of Light Horse, 1BG of Spanish cavalry plus 2 BG Disrupted.
Spanish losses - 1BG Disrupted.
Men of the Match
For the Spanish, it was probably the Iberian scutari on the right flank. Taking out the rebel Spanish cavalry meant that the flank belonged to the Spanish. But an honourable mention for the caetrati who killed the Numidian javelinmen without losing a base.
For the Carthaginians it had to be the light horse - holding up 2BG of caetrati and light horse for a considerable time and often unsupported.
Reflections
We had a quick discussion after the game. Russ was right to say that the ability of his cavalry / light horse to break off could have allowed his scutari to get stuck in and certainly saved his cavalry from being ground down by my Iberians. This may have given his African spears time to get into the Celtiberians - with a ++ at melee would have made it tough for the Spanish.
The dice made a big difference - Russ failed a number of cohesion tests which is unusual with Hannibal on the field and also failed to inflict much damage (mainly because of the numbers they faced).
However, the key was that as I managed to avoid contact with his best units, the Spanish got their licks in elsewhere where they could make the numbers count (getting 2BG into 1BG certainly seemed to make the difference). Certainly his Gallic foot and cavalry were in deep trouble and with both flanks owned by the Spanish, it was likely that Hannibal may have experienced his own Cannae as the Spanish would have surrounded the African spears and rebel Scutari.
But I'm delighted with the Spanish. I thought I was going to be battered but they proved themselves a very tough adversary. Bringing huge numbers to bear (albeit almost all units are Average) meant that the skirmish battle was one-sided - and that Russ was in trouble well before his best troops were able to make their presence felt.
Russ is getting frustrated with his Carthaginians. They are a flexible army but this is their main weakness - its hard to get the best from them and find the right balance of forces. I think he'll prefer his Indians which look a very tough proposition!