After seventeen long years of conflict the First Punic War comes to a head off the coast of Sicily. The carthaginians have been caught unawares, sailing hevily laden and without any marines as the roman squadron appears on the horizon.
Forming a double line the punic fleet points their prows to the foe
A carthaginian quadrireme is rammed on the side and loses three damage
Another one falls also to the romans, that after ramming jump onboard and take the vessel
The romans move against the left flank while keeping the rest of the enemy fleet at bay
Despite their early sucesses the romans are set on fire by enemy ballistas and will lose some crew and structure points while trying to put out the blazes
A carthaginian galley manages to break the oars of a quadrireme but to little gain, the legionnaries jump ship and launch an assault
Taking their chance, the romans ram the enemy on the side whenever their can
Taking the crippled vessels in a boarding action
As their first line engages the enemy, the rest of the punics sail to their embattled left flank
But the lack of marines starts to show as the men of Rome sweep the decks clear
Hanno's impressive flagship stands as a floating castle, but is soon surrounded by roman galleys and wittled down bit by bit
Having defeated the first line consul Catulus and his ships sail against the rest
However the punic player has finally managed to get a hang of the rules, and starts ramming the romans
Even sinking a galley with a well placed blow
Despite these late gains time has run out, and the carthaginians retreat from the battle leaving Sicily in the hand sof the Republic
Four punics captured or sunk for only one roman
A lovely game with superb ships, Cathaginians will come back!
ReplyDeleteWell, we may see some second punic war action next year actually
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