Battle of Dertosa

Mike came around this morning and we had another game of Commands and Colors Ancients. I let him choose the scenario and the side, so he decided to be Carthaginian and chose Dertosa as the scenario. I thought it was a bit of a strange choice - the Carthaginians looked quite outgunned, especially in the centre, but had a cavalry advantage on the wings.

The first turn

I dragged some pretty generic cards out of the pile, and decided that I would concentrate on winning the battle on my left centre. I would refuse my right flank as it faced the elephants and heavy infantry. I was expecting this to be the main area of attack.

As it worked out, Mike's left hardly moved all game, as he tried to pin my centre but suffered from his auxilia being outgunned by the Roman medium infantry, and some poor dice rolls when his light cavalry tried to get around my flank.

End game

In the end I won quite comfortably, collecting 6 victory banners by taking out light and auxiliary units - and one very unlucky heavy infantry unit. I had no cavalry left at the end of the game, but it didn't matter - Mike had lost his centre.

We talked about the level of abstraction at the end of the game and how when you gather two units to attack together with some sort of advantage it can all be undone if you roll a flag with your first attack and force your opponent to retreat before your second unit gets a shot.

Aside from that, it was an enjoyable and quick game, and I'm certainly keen to play more regularly, although Mike needs to find a way to fit it into his hectic schedule.

Nate