We have a battle played between Epirotes and Republican Rome. The Epirotes were led by Justin, supported by Roland and Sander, Rome was led by Alex, supported by Abe, Joost and Erik.
After a series of aggressive conquests by Rome, the inhabitants of Tarentum felt itself threatened by the ever-advancing Roman armies, an emissary was sent to Epirus to ask for support in the fight against Rome against payment of a large amount of gold. The prospect of winning prestige and gold was too good to pass up, the intrepid Epirote King Justinnus of Epirus decided to accept the proposal. A large army was gathered and Epirote and Macedonian infantry, accompanied by multiple Thessalian, Macedonian and Epirote cavalry and several elephants were transferred to Italy. Here they were reinforced with cavalry and infantry from Tarentum and an additional Division (Magna Graecia Hoplites) from other Italian Greek cities and so they went to battle.
The heroic reputation of Justinnus caused anxiety in Rome and the new consul Marcus Lusanius Alexii received the orders to gather an army and stop Justinnus of Epirus.
On the Roman right flank Abesius Butterius Vino was posted, he was ordered to move around the flank. Cornelius Lusanius Alexii (the brother of...) got a Division next to that, next to him Gaius Joostinius and on the other flank a Division was placed under the command of Ahenobarbus Dolamtius Erikus, it was his job to hold the flank and part of the Centre and keep them busy until Abesius Butterius Vino would move around the other flank.
The Epirotes placed the troops from Tarentum on their left flank under Rolandotopolous, next to him were two divisions of Macedonian and Epirote phalanxes led by Justinnus of Epirus and the Epirote and the Macedonian heavy cavalry also under the Kings personal command. On the right flank were the Magna Graecia Hoplites of Sandercibiades. Both flanks were to circle around the Roman flank while the heavy cavalry would also try to create an opening in the centre. The elephants were placed on both extreme flanks.
The first turn was for Rome, Abesius Butterius Vino moved forward, Alexii and Joostinius moved forward slowly in the Centre. Erikus decided not to move his troops, first he wanted to see which side the enemy would move to.
The Tarentine troops of Rolandotopolous also moved forward slowly with the exception of "Gustav" the elephant, still weary from the long sea journey the animal ran away and left the battlefield (a blunder). In the Centre the troops of Justinnus moved forward and the Hoplites of Sandercibiades also moved forward across the green grass plains.
Abesius Butterius Vino now completely lost control of his cavalry, part ran off and the others moved gently towards the rear (also a blunder), this while his maniples moved forward. Alexii and Joostinius moved slowly forward and Erikus also decided to move forward now but not in the direction of the troops of Sandercibiades but towards the troops of Justinnus himself.
Fresh carrots could not lure Gustav towards the battlefield and the elephant remained absent, while the two armies approached each other.
After much effort and a lot of carrots, finally Gustav once again entered the battlefield, the Tarantine infantry now stood face to face with the infantry of Abesius Butterius Vino, who had drawn up in "difficult terrain", Rolandotopolous held off, he knew his troops could not maintain the Phalanx in this uneven terrain and decided to await the onslaught of the Romans. Justinnus broke up the line of Phalanxes in the Centre, half of his phalanxes moved towards Alexii and the other half moved in the direction of Joostinius. The cavalry moved forward between these phalanxes, ready to cause chaos in the centre.
Abesius Butterius Vino had his cavalry sent into the Centre and sent his triarii towards the Tarantine and Thessalian cavalry. Alexii brought his troops further forward and his Velites opened fire on the Epirote phalanx of Justinnus. Erikus was moving as fast as possible towards the Centre, here he wanted to support Joostinius against Justinnus's attacks before Sandercibiades Hoplites would be able to finalize their encirclement, if he was fast enough they would be able to break Justinnus before Sandercibiades could arrive. Speed and the will of the gods would decide the outcome of this battle.
The troops of Sanercibiades enjoyed the wonderful surroundings and decided to take a rest only his elephant named "Ferdinand" moved forward. Justinnus rushed at the head of the Macedonian and Epirote Cavalry towards the Roman lines, a unit Equites and a unit of Hestati were within reach. The Epirotes adopted a Wedge formation, the Xystons were brought forward and they smashed into the Roman lines, the Roman Equites were not prepared for the violence of this attack and man and rider went down. The Hestati also could not hold back this violent attack, a moment of doubt turned into panic and the Roman troops ran, far they did not come, the Roman forces were trampled underneath the Epirote Hooves, the supporting Principles pulled back in shock.
The first attack was an Epirote success, two Roman units were permanently disabled. Justinnus's infantry was now divided, a part was moving towards the infantry of Alexii, the other part pulled back from the sight of the Roman might under Joostinius and Erikus.
Alexii pulled his troops together and formed a block against the Cavalry of Justinnus, the movement, however, was less fluent than he had hoped, the flank of the Division of Alexii was fully open for the troops of Justinnus. Abesius Butterius Vino moved his troops further forward and he was now ready to attack the Tarantines of Rolandotopolous. The divisions of Joostinius and Erikus together moved after the retreating troops of Justinnus in the centre, this made the gap between Erikus and Sandercibiades even larger.
Justinnus moved his cavalry to the right, here they could threaten the rear of the Division of Joostinius, and Justinnus then wanted the troops of Alexii to be rolled up from the flank. Two Epirote phalanxes moved towards the flank of Alexii, the sarissas were brought down and they moved forward like a well-oiled machine, just not a very fast machine, the flank could not be reached. Sandercibiades troops once again enjoyed the scenery and did not move, again only Ferdinand the elephant moved on that flank, but not far though. The other Phalanxes of Justinnus also moved forward in the direction of the troops of the Roman Joostinius, Hestati threw their Pila and they managed to drive a phalanx back, a second phalanx made contact with the Roman hestati. The long sarissas turned out to be extremely deadly weapons, the Hestati tried to move in-between the Epirote wall of spear points in vain, they could not stand up to this deadly steamroller, the entire unit was overrun, the supporting unit of Princlipes was also severely damaged. The Hestati unit was completely eradicated, the pinclipes pulled back "shaken". Fear broke out among the Romans, they wondered if they would be able to cope with these destructive Epirote troops. A Triarii unit did better, they managed to slow down a phalanx but that phalanx was far from broken and continued the fight.
Rolandotopolous charged with his Tarentine infantry towards the Roman maniples from Abesius Butterius Vino, despite the uneven ground and regardless of the loss of the benefit of the Phalanx they pressed the attack, the roman Pila did not inflict to many casualties. The divisions met and while both suffered many casualties, neither gained the upper hand.
Alexii's troops marched forward and multiple Roman units now turned towards the phalanxes of Justinnus, the Romans threw their Pila and an Epirote phalanx broke, a second phalanx remained and became entangled with the troops of Alexii. In this fight the Epirotes again inflicted heavy casualties on the Romans but the troops from Alexii held their ground. Joostinius launched another attack, this time led by none other than the consul Marcus Lusanius Alexii himself together with Gaius Joostinius. Joostinius cut his way through the forest of spear points, he finally managed to get close to the Epirote phalangists, and a sudden surge forward from the Epirote phalanx closed the hole that Joostinius had created. Joostinius moved slowly backwards but he was struck in his side, followed by a second and a third cut, bloodied he managed to pull backward until his troops could pull him in and protect him. Heavily wounded, he moved to the rear where he insisted to remain with his troops and he inspired them with his bravery and guidance. The consul was also driven back slowly, the phalanxes proved a tough nut to crack. To make matters worse, the Epirote Cavalry also approached and these threatened the rear of Joostinius's troops that were already fighting so hard. All Joostinius had to protect the rear of his lines from the Epirote cavalry were his skirmishers and already weakened unit of Hestati. Erikus moved further forward but could not reach the Epirotes.
Abesius Butterius Vino pressed the attack on Rolandotopolous that fought back embittered. Roman velites threw their javelins in the direction of Gustav (the elephant) and this poor animal was hit, the pain and the confusion caused overall panic and Gustav stampeded, completely uncontrollable he rammed himself into the side of a Tarantine phalanx that managed to resist and fought back against the terrified Gustav. The Triarii were cut off by a unit of Thessalian Cavalry.
Alexii split up his division, one part continued the combat with the phalanx from Justinnus, the other part followed the Cavalry from Justinnus that had broken through the roman lines, Joostinius also brought his troops forward and thereby they managed to surround the Epirote cavalry and the Eprirote King himself. Joostinius was able to move these troops in the direction of Justinnus, because of the troops of Erikus that had now arrived and threw themselves onto the Epirote phalanxes of Justinnus. Erikus had managed to completely outmanoeuvre the division of Sandercibiades and because of this move the Romans could unleash an overwhelming force onto the Epirote phalanxes and slowly the Epirote phalanxes were driven back. All over the battlefield bloody fights had erupted, with exception of the division of Sandercibiades, these troops made a backward move but they were now so far removed that they could only look upon the fight from far away.
The cavalry from Justinnus was surrounded by Roman Skirmishers that killed many horsemen from a distance, they were then charged by heavy infantry from Joostinius and Alexii, a unit of cavalry (Equites) also rammed itself into the Epirote cavalry. The Epirotes could not withstand all these attacks and a unit of Epirote cavalry broke.
Erikus also drove his troops forward, the Phalanxes of Justinnus were now attacked from all sides, many a Hoplite went down, and a full Epirote Division was broken. Tarantine and Thessalian cavalry attacked the Roman infantry from Abesius Butterius Vino in the flank but this unit held and the cavalry was driven back. Alexii also drove the other Epirote phalanx from Justinnus back.
A bloody fight broke the last Epirote Cavalry in the Centre and Rome began to gain the upper hand, Joostinius and Erikus renewed their attack and granted the Epirotes no rest in the Centre where the remaining phalanxes were attacked from all sides killing Epirotes by the hundreds.
Bewildered and bloodied Justinnus looked around, there was nothing to be gained from continuing the fight. The Sarissa's were raised, a signal that the Phalanx surrendered, it would cost a number of Epirotes their lives before the Romans understood this custom. The Epirote army moved back slowly, they had not been able to break the Roman army. Beset by the pursuing Romans that kept up the pressure they eventually managed to reach the safety of Tarentum, here, plans were made to start a new campaign. It was also here that Justinnus of Epirus received a new emissary, he came from Sicily with the request to support them there against the all-conquering forces of Carthage, and Justinnus began to dream of a new adventure full of glory and conquest.
