From: Darren Percival Subject: [consim-l] AAR : Hannibal Rome v Carthage (long) Greetings, The following AAR is from a semi-final of the Hannibal Rome v Carthage Tournament I have been running. Side selection is a simple bid for Rome with high bid removing an equivalent number of Political Control (PC) Markers. Other abbreviations are "Battle Cards" (BC) and Combat units (CU) with one combat unit = one strength point In the following commentary only turns 3 and 9 are recorded "card by card" in the other turns only the highlights are recorded. So if it appears that not all the action is shown that is correct, with the missing action likely to be in the form of playing cards for political control markers. Bids were +2, +1 with the Roman player removing a PC marker in the heart of Italy and one from Sicily. Turn 1 Rome gains control of Idubeda (in Spain) Carthage gains control of Gallia Cisalpnia (Italy) Rome uses diplomacy to gain control of Gallia Cisalpnia (Italy) Hannibal crosses the alps (2CU attrition but doesn't lose any elephants) and attacks Scipio Hannibal has the advantage in BC 13-12 but the elephant charge is not successful. In the ensuring battle Scipico falls for the old Double Envelopment and the Roman army is wiped out. Carthage regains control of Gallia Cisalpina Victory Check: 10-8 Rome Turn 2 Marcellus and Fabius are appointed Consuls with Longus as Proconsul Rome consuls Carthage (no Carthaginian troops may leave Africa) Rome gains 4CU of "allied auxiliaries" in Rome to bring the Consular army to 9CU. Longus sails to Idubeda Hasdrubal promptly attacks Longus with a 5 BC advantage (11 - 6) (I think Carthage won this with Rome losing only 1 or 2 CU) Longus marches into Baetica Hannibal plays for Baleric slingers Victory Check: 9 - 9 Turn 3: Marcellus is appointed Proconsul with Longus and Fabius appointed as consuls Carthage plays Syracuse allies with Carthage Longus the plays "Traitor in city" to lay siege to Gades and gains control of the city Hannibal then "Charms Italy" Rome plays for markers to replace those lost in Italy Carthage gains troops Longus moves in Baetica (laying the groundwork so he can gain control of the province) Hasdrubal attacks Longus in Beatica with the BC count at 13-6 in his favour and it is only the presence of 3 Reserve cards in his hand that allows him to win the battle. Both sides play for political control markers Carthage plays Traitor in Tarentum (gaining control of the city) Rome plays Numidia revolts removing Western Numidia Victory Check: 9 - 8 Carthage Turn 4: Marcellus appointed proconsul Paulus and Flamininus appointed as Consuls Carthage starts by playing Mutins Numidians Rome plays for markers in Western Numidia (gaining control) Rome plays mercs desert with Carthage losing 4CU across the board (but none with Hannibal) Rome plays messenger intercepted stealing one of the Carthaginian cards Carthage plays "I have come to Italy not to fight Italians but ..." and gains control of Apulia Rome plays diplomacy to take control of Apulia back Carthage goes campaigning with Hanno ending up in Western Numidia and using his special ability to remove a Roman PC marker Rome plays Celteberia revolts (Spain) Carthage plays markers to gain control of Western Numidia and Apulia Rome plays for markers Victory Check: 10 - 7 Carthage Turn 5 Marcellus remains proconsul Fabius and Pauls are appointed as consuls and take command in Rome Marcellus attacks Hasdrubal in Baetica. Marcellus is down one card at 13-14 but wins the marathon battle (12 rounds of combat). Carthage loses 5 CU (a large portion of the troops in Spain). Carthage plays attrition on the troops in Rome causing the loss of 2CU (leaving only 6CU) where as Hannibal has 10CU Rome recruits the troops straight back Carthage is undaunted by the stack and moves Hannibal into attack. Fabius who is in command uses his special ability to retreat before combat (Retreat 1-5 on d6) Rome then goes campaigning with Fabius running to Abulia. Marcellus chases Hasdrubal who fails his retreat roll and faces battle with a 4 card deficiency (12-8). Marcellus wins the battle with a Double Envelopment and kills Hasdrubal and his last 3 combat units. Carthage activate Hannibal and goes after Fabius in Italy. The elephant charge again does no damage leaving Hannibal with a 3 BC advantage (at 16-13). The battle goes 10 rounds Rome losing 3 battle and 3 retreat casualties plus 1 extra for opponents PC marker. (Total 7). Rome takes the province of Orospeda (Spain) leaving the city of New Carthage with unsieged. Carthage gains control of Lucania (Italy) Carthage gains "African reinforcements" (two addition elephant CU in the city of Carthage) Carthage finds a siege train lying on the side of the road allowing Hannibal to pick it up with Rome in his sights (This negates the -1 penalty for Carthaginian siege attempts) Victory Check: 9 - 9 Turn 6 Marcellus remains proconsul Flamius and Pauls are consuls in Rome Scipio Africanus (affectionately known as "Skippy") decides to arrive in the city of Gades (Spain) Note that Carthage with the loss of Baetica receive only 1CU reinforcement for Spain this turn. and that the Hanno consuls Carthage card has expired. Rome moves Skippy into Celteberia (Spain). Carthage moves and marshals troops in Africa Hannibal attacks "Rome" with a one card advantage (16-15). Apparently he forgot the 2 bonus cards for the local militia. However he succeeds with the elephant charge. He then plays Spy in enemy camp to examine half of the 13 remaining battlecards. The battle lasts for 13 rounds and is victorious but Rome only loses 1 battle and 1 retreat casualty. Hannibal lays siege to Rome and rolls a 4 (-1) for 1 siege point and 1 casualty Rome decides that this is not all that great and counterattacks with a 3 card deficiency (down 13- 16) but manages to win forcing Hannibal to retreat. In the retreat Hannibal loses one of his precious elephants and the siege train. Hannibal returns the compliment by attacking Rome again and winning inflicting 3 more casuties on Rome. Rome lays siege to New Carthage Victory Check: 10 - 8 Rome Turn 7 Marcellus remains proconsul Fabius and Flaminiuus are Consuls Carthage decides to sail the recently recuperated Hasdrubal from Carthage to New Carthage taking 8CU of infantry and 2CU of elephants. He lands on the beaches of New Carthage and attacks Skippy. The elephant charge only just misses and he attacks at a 1 card disadvantage (13-14). However Skippy has a bad day and loses. Rolling bad on the retreat table Skippy loses 7 of his 8CU. Note Had Hasdrubal lost all of the Carthaginian troops would have been destroyed as you cannot retreat back to the sea. Both sides play for PC markers Carthage activates Hasdrubal again and goes for Skippy who has just taken command of Marcellus force. Result Hasdrubal is down two cards at 14-16. Hasdrubal wins the battle again causing 1 battle and 3 retreat casualties, plus 1 for opponent PC marker in the retreat path. Both sides play from more markers Hannibul takes Lucania (Italy) Rome plays diplomacy in Western Numidia (Africa)and gains control Rome plays diplomacy in Lucania (Italy) and gains control Carthage gains two PC markers in Samnium (Italy) Rome plays Numidia revolts and removes markers in Eastern Numidia (Africa) Victory Check: 10 - 7 Rome Turn 8 Fabius is appointed proconsul Varros and Flaminius are Consols Skippy lays siege to New Carthage Hasdrubal runs to New Carthage in an attempt to lift the siege with a 4 card advantage in battle at 15 -11 (Note Rome played elephant fright -2BC Carthage, Carthage played Ally deserts -1BC Rome +1BC Carthage). Skippy wins the battle on a Double envelopment (after using Marharbal's Cavalry). Carthage loses 1 battle and 4 retreat casualties. Rome plays mercs desert forcing attrition rolls on the Carthaginian generals. Skippy attacks Hasdrubal (next to New Carthage) and forfeits his accumulated siege point. The battle is even at 10BC each when the elephants fail to have an affect. However Carthage is victorious and Skippy is killed in the ensuring retreat. Hannibal lays siege to Napoli Victory Check: 9 - 9 Turn 9 (Final) Note Should none of the automatic victory conditions be met then the player controlling more provinces will win (a 9 all draw in provinces is a Carthaginian victory) Fabius is proconsul Varro and Nero are Consuls Rome still controls two of the provinces in Spain (but has no troops there) Hannibal is in Italy with 12 PC markers out of the 28 possible (controlling 3 provinces) Rome has control of Western Numida (3 of 5 markers) and also has 2 PC markers in the province of Carthaginia (in Africa) Hannibal takes Napoli (As the province of Campania is made up of only 2 walled cities it is uncontrolled now) Victory Check is 9-8 Carthage Nero sails to Carthaginia (in Africa) Carthage revolts Western Numidia (Africa) Victory Check is 9-7 Carthage Rome plays markers to regain control of Western Numidia Victory Check is 9-8 Carthage Carthage plays diplomacy to gain control of Western Numidia Victory Check is 10-7 Carthage Nero lays siege to the city of Carthage (1 siege point) Carthage doesn't like this and commits Hanno with 2 combat units to battle. Due to overwhelming popular support (allies) Carthage is 3 cards up in the battles at 10-7. After several rounds of combat Nero successfully withdraws from battle. Rome then moves to Carthage and lays siege again (Hanno retreats into the city) Carthage plays pestilence on Nero at Carthage reducing the roman force to only 2 CU and you need 3 to actively lay siege to a city. Varro attacks Hannibal in Samnium leaving troops in key provinces. Rome goes into the battle 2 cards down at (13 -15). Hannibil wins in the 11th round of Combat with a Double Envelopment causing 2 battle and 4 retreat casualties. Hannibil then mops up the exposed troops left by Varro (overrun) and moves down to Lucinia ready to take control there. Nero then runs to Western Numidia in an effort to take control Hannibil takes control of Luciani (Africa) Victory Check is 11-6 Carthage Rome takes control of Western Numidia Victory Check is 10-7 Carthage Carthage plays the final card of the game and Celteberia revolts The Victor is Carthage at 10 - 6 With the final tally as Rome controlled Baetica Corsica Western Numidia Sicily Latium Errurua Carthage controlled Carthage Carhthaginia Eastern Numidia Syracuse Lucania Galli Cisalpinina Samnium Apulia Orospeda Idubeda Uncontrolled Campania Celtiberia Looking back this was one of the hardest fought games in the tournament. With only one other game going longer, that being a 2nd round match that was decided by the last card played. If you got this far thanks for reading - I hope that you enjoyed the report and with luck we may get an AAR from the Grand final in the next couple of weeks. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Regs, .....Darren..... ================================================= "If a maintenance programmer can't quote entire Monty Python movies from memory, he or she has no business being a programmer." - From How to write Unmaintainable Code ================================================= From: Darren Percival Subject: [consim-l] Another AAR : Hannibal Rome v Carthage (long) Greetings, As a follow up to the previous AAR. Here is a record of the Grand Final of the Hannibal Rome v Carthage (TAHGC) tournament I have been running. The tournament was an 8 player single elimination style with players randomly allocated to their first game (no seeding). Choice of sides was done by secret bid for control of Rome. The high bid took control of Rome and removed a number of Political Control (PC) markers equal to their bid. In this report I was able to record the individual cards played and have noted what the cards were used for. Other abbreviations used are Battle Cards (BC) and Combat Units (CU) with 1 strength point = 1CU. Bids were +1 and 0 (a fairly conservative option by both players as neither were overly concerned about which side they were to control). Turn 1 Hannibal force marches towards the alps Rome plays hostile tribes on Hannibal (loses 1CU) Hannibal crosses the alps into Cisalpania ( loses 1CU crossing the alps) Rome plays mercenaries desert. Hannibal is the only general affected and makes the roll to avoid losing any troops Carthage plays "Hannibal charms Italy" and Hannibal moves down into Samnium (Italy) removing 4 of the roman PC markers there. Rome plays for PC markers placing 2 in Samnium (to regain control) and 1 in Cisalpania Carthage plays siege train giving it to Hannibal Rome plays for a PC marker Carthage plays Treachery in City and lays siege to Neapolis (allows two rolls on siege table) DR of 2 and 3 for a total of 1CU lost and 1 siege point accrued. Rome decides to activate Scipio (in Rome) and marches to attack Hannibal BC count is 12 - 11 to Rome before the elephant charge which is successful so the final count is an 11 - 10 advantage to Carthage. The combat goes 4 rounds before Hannibal wins. Rome loses 1 Battle casualty and 2 Retreat casualties (total 3CU). Carthage decides to play for PC markers and places 2 in Cisalpinia gaining control. Rome places a marker in Idubeda Carthage plays Sicilia revolts Rome places a single marker in Sicilia (not enough to regain control unfortunately) Hannibal rolls badly on the winter attrition table (DR6 for a 2e result) Victory Check is 8 - 8 (with Sicilia and Idubeda uncontrolled) Turn 2 Longus is made proconsul Marcellus and Paulus are appointed Consuls Rome placed all of its reinforcements at Capu so the appointment of Marcellus and Paulus gives them a stack of 10 CU to command. Longus still hasn't moved. Hannibal in Italy has 5CU (only 1 Elephant) The appointment of Marcellus as Consul is a bit of luck for Rome as he is one of the best generals available to oppose Hannibal. Carthage goes first and plays Traitor in Tarentum allowing Hannibal to march to Tarentum and gain control of the city without a fight. Rome plays major campaign and moves Longus into southern Italy in an attempt to subjugate the pro Carthage tribe (Bruttiums). He is successful in accruing a single subjugation point. Meanwhile Marcellus marches to Tarentum eager to give battle. Hannibal accepts battle at a 5 card disadvantage (Rome 15 - 10 in BC). The elephant charge is a disaster with Carthage rolling a '1' resulting in a loss of one of the Carthage BC. Rome proceeds to wear down Hannibal over 7 rounds of Combat eventually winning. With a DR of 6 for battle casualties (CCU) and Hannibal needing to los a further 3CU in the retreat his army is destroyed and Hannibal captured and executed. A major victory for Rome so early in the game. Carthage then plays PC markers in Idubeda (Spain) Rome plays PC markers in Sicilia to regain control Carthage plays PC markers in Idubeda (Spain) to gain control Marcellus then force marches to the top of Samnium (Italy) just short of entering Cisalpinia Hasdrubal marches (with 4CU) to the lone roman PC marker in Idubeda (Spain) Marcellus marches into Cisalpinia leaving garrison troops behind so that he can gain control of the province. Carthage plays for PC markers Rome plays for PC markers (gains control of Cisalpinia) Carthage plays for PC markers Rome play reinforcements for Longus (+2CU) Carthage play "Cato counsels Rome" (Rome may not invade Africa until the strategy deck is reshuffled) Rome activates Longus to subjugate DR1 so loses 1CU Winter Attrition on Longus causes a loss of 1CU Victory Check 10 - 8 Rome. Turn 3 Marcellus is appointed Proconsul Fabius and Flaminius are appointed consul Rome has 10CU with Fabius and Flaminius subjugating the Bruttiums With a further 10CU in Cisalpinia with Marcellus Carthage has 7CU with Hasdrubal in Idubeda and a further 6 CU with Hanno in Carthage Carthage goes first again and plays "Macedonia allies with Carthage". They gain a -1 naval movement modifier and cause Rome to lose the Celteberia (spain) revolts card. Rome decides that this is not quite fair :) and plays Messenger intercepted allowing them to steal a Minor Campaign card from the Carthage player Carthage moves Margo to New Carthage with 5 troops (total DR modifier is -6 so he cant fail) Rome activates Flaminius to subjugate the Bruttiums and rolls a 2. No loss but no more subjugation points. Carthage moves Hanno to Hasdrubal to give him a stack of 10CU Rome tries to subjugate the tribe again and rolls a 1 for no points and a 1CU loss. Carthage plays for markers (2PC) Rome plays for markers (1PC) Carthage plays for markers (1PC) Rome plays for markers (1PC) Carthage moves Hasdrubal up to the alps but does not cross them. Rome plays Minor campaign activating Marcellus to subjugate the Boli (in Cisalpinia) rolling a 2 for no effect. Flaminius in souther Italy finally gets it right and rolls a 4 to increase the subjugation marker from 1 to 2 on the Bruttiums. Rome with the last card plays for a PC marker. Winter Attrition Marcellus -2CU, Flaminius -1CU Victory Check 10 - 8 Rome. Turn 4 Marcellus is proconsul Varro and Fabius are appointer consul Carthage goes first and plays Hostile tribes on Marcellus (DR of 6) for a loss of 2CU Rome activates Varro to subjugate the Bruttiums DR of 2 for no effect. The roman player observes that this tribe is a pain in the backside and that he should change dice :) Carthage uses native guides to allow Hasdrubal to cross the alps. Unfortunately his DR of 5 (+1 Alps, -3 native guides) still means that he loses 2CU (now with total of 9). He continues to march to an isolated outpost of roman troops (2CU left as a roadblock by the roman player). Marcellus fails to intercept Hasdrubal meaning that Carthage will get an easy victory. The battle is a forgone conclusion (12-2 advantage in BC) but the battle casualty roll results in a loss of 1CU to Hasdrubal. Rome plays reinforcements for Marcellus (back to 10CU) Carthage plays reinforcements for Hasdrubal (10CU) Rome plays epidemic on Hasdrubal (DR5) means a loss of 3CU Carthage plays markers gaining control of Cisalpanina Rome plays minor campaign activating Varro who sails with 6CU to Spain. Fabius finally subjugates the pesky Bruttiums with a DR4. (an there is much rejoicing by the roman player) Carthage activates Hasdrubal and attacks Marcellus. Carthage has 12 BC (7CU +3 Hasdrubal, +1 Allies, +1 in Friendly tribe) to Rome 15 (10CU, +3 Marcellus, +2 Allies). Carthage plays spy in enemy camp allowing him to examine half the Roman Battle Cards. Rome wins in the 8th round of combat and there are 2 Battle casualties and 3 Retreat casualties for Carthage (total 5CU) At this point with 4 cards left to play in the turn Carthage conceded the game believing that he could not win. Hasdrubal was in Italy with 2CU, Hanno was in Carthage with 2CU, and there were 2CU in New Carthage on their own. Carthage controlled all of Africa, All of Spain and Cisalpinia (3 markers out of 5, two or which were the friendly tribes). Rome had Marcellus in Cisalpinia with 8CU, Fabius in souther Italy with 5CU and Varro in Baetica with 6CU. Rome controlled all of the remaining provinces (Italy, Corsica/Sardinia, Sicily and Syracuse) The strategy deck was exhausted requiring a reshuffle which would have negated the effects of the Cato counsels Rome card. Victory Check was 9 -9 at this stage. Although I would have likes to see the game continue I could empathize with the Cartage player as the remaining cards for the turn did not allow him to active Hasdrubal, while Rome still had the ability to activate Marcellus for what you would expect to be a roman victory and hence the destruction of Carthaginian forces in Italy. Cisalpinina was expected to fall to Roman control (leaving the Victory Check 10-8) and Varro was about to convert some markers in Baetica. Baetica was not expected to fall this turn but Carthage would be required to respond to the threat during the turn allowing Rome to marshal its forces during Turn 5 in preparation of the arrival of Scipio Africanus on turn 6. Barring major amounts of luck or some large mistakes (or both) on behalf of the Roman player it was agreed by those resent that Carthage could prolong the game but would not prevail. Again if you got this far into the message thanks for reading and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Regs,