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Today we have a battle report for a game that is still W.I.P. It is another Historical set, and I am using paper templates for now.....



The Roman forces faced a humiliating defeat at the Caudine Forks in 316 BC. Despite this defeat, the Samnites were the ones to be unsettled. The Romans were incensed to fight on to regain their honor. However, the prospect of continuing the war took time and the “Caudine Pax” took hold. Despite an official peace, the war still boiled around the edges.

In 315 BC the war started in earnest again. He war raged on until 304 BCE. During this time, the Roman army evolved from the Phalanx formation into the Manipular Army of the Triplex Acies. There were any number of battles and skirmishes between the two sides and their allies. Besides local Italian tribes and city-states, the Etruscans also became embroiled in the war between 312-308 BCE. It was a Pan-Italian conflict. The winner would be poised to control northern and central Italy.

The battle here is to represent one of the many forgotten or ill-documented battles between the Samnites and Romans during this timeframe.

The Forces
I will be using some standard armies from the Triplex Acies and Samnite lists. These exact lists are found in the Sample Armies section of the book. This was a small scale action and we will be playing on the edges of Samnium. The two armies met as the Romans were maneuvering to besiege a Samnite city, and the Samnites have gotten the drop on them.

Romans
2 Hastati
1 Principe
1 Drilled Hoplite
1 Skirmisher

Samnites
2 Drilled Infantry- PIla
2 Warband Infantry
2 Velites

Both sides have 38 points.

Deployment
This battle will be on a 6x4 board with each corner having the difficult terrain famous in Samnium. It will be using the Attack at Dawn complication. The set-up will be a Surprise Assault mission with the Samnites acting as the attackers.

The Romans deployed in the center in marching column. The vanguard were the skirmishers followed by the Hastati, then the Principes, and the Triarri in the rearguard. They were all in loose formation for the march. Suddenly, warning cries went up from the lead officers. The Samnites had been sighted in the dim, early morning light.




The way had been blocked by experienced Samnite drilled infantry, supported by Velites in the difficult terrain. On the right flank appeared the Samnite warband, Drilled, and the second Samnite warband. On the opposite flank a unit of Samnite Velites appeared to threaten any stragglers.



The Samnites want to keep the Romans penned in, while the Romans wish to punch through and off the board. Let’s see what happens.

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2018/05/battle-report-conquest-rome-in-italy.html