In the Footsteps of Pyrrhus

[Karvon]

This is another series of semi-historical battles between the army of Pyrrhus of Epirus and his enemies.

1. Skirmish with Macedonia.

Army marched into Macedonian territory and encountered the enemy in the hills along the border. Two ridges with higher ground formed a valley of sorts on the farside of the field and a small woods and nearby village presented an obstacle on the far left at the foot of the hills.

We initially deployed our phalanx supported by a few hopolites and Italian foot along the slopes of a small hill in our center with our horse and elephant on our left and our lights screening our front. The Macedonians had a much larger contingent of pikes and medium foot, but a smaller number of horse than us. They deployed about a little off to their right on and near the ridge there.

We decided to try a flanking move to our left around the woods and village with our horse supported by our lights and elephant. Our own heavy foot would march to our right to secure a good jumping off point on the hills there.

To make a long story short, the Macedonians responded very aggressively to our flanking move, shifting their entire phalanx and supporting troops to block and attempt to destroy our mounted and initially ignoring our heavy foot altogether.

Thus, our foot advanced on the right and secured a good position, but our mounted got a bit mauled. We lost our elephant and a couple of our horse, seeing off some of their lights and one of their horse in the process. Our lights safely redeployed to cover our right wing and our surviving horse rode around the rear of the enemy and rejoined out foot covering the right. The Macedonians slowly regrouped and cautiously advanced on us, but the day ended before further losses were suffered on either side.

Final Score: Pyrric 7 Macedonians 22.

[Karvon]

The second in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career; this time vs the Greeks.

2. The Greek Incursion

Following our standoff with the Macedonians, we decided to test our mettle against our Greek neighbors. The Greeks responded to our incursion with a force deployed on rather featureless plain along the banks of river. A couple of large rough patches fell on each flank of the Greek side, which provided some security. A small rough patch on our right offered a little of the same to us.

We deployed our phalanx supported by some hopolites and Italian foot in the center with our horse divided on each flank. Our lights formed a screen across our front. With the river securing the enemy right, we expected we would have to work around their left with our horse supported by our lights and medium foot to clear the rough on that side, while our phalanx engaged the center.

The Greeks deployed more to their right against the river with some medium foot holding the rough on that flank and their front screened by lights. A token cavalry force covered their left.

We sent our light supported by our cavalry forward to chase off their opposing screen and deal with their cavalry. This drew their line forward as they used their heavier foot to drive off our horse and lights. Our right wing saw off their opposing lights and horse fairly quickly and began a rather slow and long ride around the rough patch covering their left. The phalanx veered left and engaged his foot that had sallied forward against our lights and horse. Despite pretty strong odds we did not achieve any immediate breakthroughs and a slow grinding slog began. Our Italian foot which we'd dispatched to support our horse's wider flanking move was countered by some of his heavy and medium foot and another grinding fight got underway at poor odds for us.

Our left wing horse worked it's way around the engaged infantry battle and began to launch some flanking attacks which weakened, but failed to break the Greeks. Some of our pike pushed through the line, failing to break their foes and got flanked. Thus, the center battle became rather jumbled with both sides suffering some disruptions and fragmentations, and eventual breaks.

On our right, our medium foot fought valiantly, but were finally ground down by the heavier and a little more numerous Greeks. They did perform valuable service though as the kept these units out of and away from the main clash in the center.

Our horse riding round the rough finally descended upon the enemy rear in the center, and, despite a couple of last minute rallies by the Greeks, saw off enough of them to finally break the Greek's morale and send them fleeing from the field.

Final Score: Pyrric 66 Greek 54

[Karvon]

The third in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career; this time vs the Western Greeks.

3. Into Southern Italy

Western Greeks opposed to our entrance into Southern Italy met us along the banks of stream. Several hills overlooked the right flank of this and a number of woods and rough patches scattered on and around these made that sector unattractive to us. We concentrated our forces on our far left, leading with our lights and cavalry followed up by our heavy foot. The Greeks formed up more in the center, anchoring their left on the hills and woods on their left, screened by their lights and with some horse covering their right.

We advanced aggressively on our left swinging wider with our lights and horse after crossing the stream. Our heavy foot followed up more slowly and we left a couple of horse to screen our right. The Greeks shifted their lights along the stream bank to slow our crossing and counter our own lights. Their heavy foot wheeled and marched along the banks to contain our advance. We refused our right, using some of our hoplites, while the phalangites pushed on clear of the stream and wheeled right to face to oncoming Greek hoplites.

On our far left, the Greeks lights and mounted put up a stiff fight and even with our elephant pitching in, it took a bit longer than I'd hoped to clear them away. Thus, while eventually successful, my horse were delayed in regrouping and turning the enemy right.

Our pikes punched into the Greek hoplites, who likewise proved very tough, shrugging off repeated losses and only grudgingly giving ground. Worse, a couple of pikes, faltered in these head-to-head fights. One we managed to rally with a general, but the other collapsed and we had to plug the hole with a reserve pike. Our own hoplites covering our right hung on for awhile, but got outflanked and collapsed. Our covering horse delayed and drew off some of the victorious hoplites, preventing an immediate flanking of the phalanx.

At this point, our elephant and lancers returned from their pursuit and fell upon the exposed flanks and rear of the Greek phalanx. Despite this setback, the Greeks fought on valiantly, rallying and ignoring successive breaks of neighboring hoplites. More of our cavalry returned from pursuit on our left and we threw them into the rear of the Greeks and that finally tipped the scales to the point of collapse and the survivors streamed off the field.

Final Score: Pyrric 65 Western Greek 49

[Karvon]

The fourth in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career; this time vs the Apulians.

4. Clash in the Foothills.

As our army marched into the southern foothills of Italy, we were confronted by an Apulian force determined to block our advance. A long ridge ran across the center with large woods beyond on the right. The ridge was very broken up by rough ground as well as a couple of small woods. Scattered woods lay in both our left and right sectors. Given the large number of medium foot the Apulians had, we were not overly confident in our chances here. Our scouts reported a rather massive force, so we deployed a bit cautiously. We initially placed our phalanx in the center with our horse divided evenly covering each flank screened by our lights. Our hoplites we hid in the woods on our right, planning to bring them out once things got underway.

As our scouts advanced, we were confronted with a wall of their foot spanning the field with their cavalry covering each flank and their front screened by lights. A bit overawed by their numbers, we decided to push to our left where it looked more open. Our lights and horse gradually cleared a path, but while we started our phalanx left, we initially delayed shifting our hoplites to support them and as the Apulians aggressively advanced all along the front, our infantry ended up divided and outnumbered.

To avoid getting flanked by the sea of medium foot, our phalanx formed squares and the Apulians probed around them, but avoided engaging them. Alas, our hoplites could not escape in that manner and were surrounded and eventually ground down.

Combined with losses of some of our lights and horse just before sundown, our army had enough and fled the field.

Final Score: Apulians 49 Pyrric 17.

[Karvon]

The fifth in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career; and another round vs the Apulians.

5. Return to the Apulian hills.

After a winter spent raising and training replacements, our army marched into the hills to avenge ourselves on the Apulians. We met their army along the banks of a stream running between a series of low ridges; . Our left was walled off by a large wood running up to the stream. A medium-sized hill on our left looked down on the woods and the stream, and on the open fields beyond. A rather long slope commanded the center of the Apulian side looking down on the stream and running off to our right. A couple of smaller woods lay a bit beyond the open fields across the stream bordering the far left edge. Several patches of rough ground were on and behind the central hill.

We massed our forces on the hill on our left. Most of our light foot screened the far left, supported by a few of our light horse and backed up by some of our cavalry and our elephant. Our phalanx formed up in a deep column, led by our pikes and followed up by our hoplites. The other half of our cavalry screened the right flank of the phalanx with a couple of light foot thown out in front. We expected the Apulians to mass along the central slope and off to our right and perhaps cover their right with their horse or some of their foot refused in the rough ground. And, that is indeed about how things began.

We pushed our screening lights and cavalry forward quickly on our left to secure the stream crossing and drive off a few opposing lights and horse. The phalanx rumbled forward, echeloning left to sweep wide of the central ridge. Our right wing cavalry and lights demonstrated short of the stream to keep back some of his skirmishers initially as the phalanx forded the stream.

The Apulians dispatched a several of their foot to secure the woods on the far left while the rest of their foot began shifting right along and behind the central ridge a couple of their horse forded the stream on their far left and galloped along it to threaten our right flank.

After a bit of a skirmish, we drove and dispatched most of the opposing lights and horse blocking our advance on our left. Some of our horse swept around the far woods in pursuit and drew the attention of his medium foot, distracting them from our lights, who, in turn, fell upon a couple of the mediums around the woods and rather quickly shot them to pieces.

Our phalanx safely crossed the stream behind them, well clear of the central hill, and some elements moved up to tackle the mediums lingering around the woods, while others wheeled to face off against the oncoming foot along the slopes of the central hill. The pikes took the lead, with the hoplites following up and covering the flanks. Our right wing horse and lights pulled back and fell in behind the phalanx, crossing the stream to cover the rear from his approaching horse and foot.

Our lights and horse swept away the shot-up mediums on the far left and our pikes flanked another on the edges of the woods and our token supporting medium finished it off. A couple more of his foot yet remained in the woods, but were a bit scattered from chasing our lights and horse.

The Apulians massed their infantry and came down the hill to engulf our phalanx with their superior numbers. A couple forded the stream and probed towards our right flank supporting their horse. A general clash developed between our pikes and his foot. We pushed forward our elephant and lancers to cover gaps as our pikes and hoplites slowly got ganged up on by the Apulian mediums. We punched a hole or two in his line, but our own flanks opened a place or two in the process, and one of our pikes got disrupted and one of our lancers got surrounded, but both survived and fought on.

We redeployed most of our lights to skirmish with his horse moving against our rear, supported by some of our horse. Our hoplites chased off some of his horse and our skirmishers and horse tied up the others, keeping them off the flanks of our engaged phalanx.

Several of the routed Apulian foot rallied after fleeing only a short distance, but our elephant and pikes finally saw off enough of the remaining enemy mediums and they gave up and fled for the safety of the higher hills.

Final Score: Pyrric - 44 Apulian - 8

[Karvon]

The sixth in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career facing Western Greeks.

6. Fighting in Magna Graecia.

After defeating the Apulians, we advanced towards the coastal plains of Magna Graecia, but were confronted by one of the local city states on the edge of the hills.

A very long, massive, steep ridge ran along the left center from short of the far edge to about the center. A large forest lay beyond that, blocking off the far left corner. A long strip of rough ran along the right edge from about the center to short of the right corner sector to the foot of a medium sized gentle hill. A pond lay to the left of this hill and at the foot of another medium-sized gentle hill in about the center of the far edge. A small marsh and neighboring rough patch fell just short of the center on our right. In short, it was a bit of a narrow field, where we would not likely be able to maximize our advantage in mounted and the left side was certainly out of play given the massive advantage the Greeks would likely have in medium and light foot.

So, we decided to deploy well to the right and push forward in echelon as quickly as possible past the marsh and rough and hopefully draw the Greeks to fight us on the plains below the steep massive dominating the left. We placed our phalanx in the center, with the bulk of our horse on our right, screened by our lights. We deployed a couple of our cavalry on our left to hopefully slow down enemy efforts to flank us.

The Greeks deployed well off to the left, as expected. They had a large number of medium foot screened by light foot up on the ridge and a fair number of hoplites anchored against it on the plains below. They had a few horse and lights screening their more open left.

We pushed forward as planned on the right, and the Greeks responded by advancing quickly on their right and wheeling left to envelop us. Despite having a fairly strong advantage in numbers and quality over the opposing Greek mounted and lights, they proved quite stubborn, and it took us a lot longer than expected to dispatch them. This delayed our mounted getting into action against the enemy infantry. The Greeks advanced very aggressively against our phalanx with his more numerous hoplites and medium foot.

He had a large number of light screening his advancing mediums on a flanking move. These very effectively shot up my smaller light screen and rather than trying to drive them off with my small cavalry force, I tried to retreat to safety behind my phalanx. Unfortunately, he kept pace with me and quickly destroyed my horse with his skirmishing before I could escape. I turned my hoplites and medium foot to face off his flanking effort, but again, the skirmishers did some devasting damage which weakened several units before his mediums engaged.

Our main lines engaged, but our pikes failed to do much damage and even when we did, the Greeks seemed to just shrug it off. This was most annoying in the case of a couple of his raw units which heroically held up far longer than normal. With his superior numbers, one of our pikes eventually got flanked and disrupted, but managed to hold on an hour to two.

Our horse finally got back and around the enemy left, but he threw one of his light horse into us and that tied us up for a few hours, again Greek fortitude despite losing repeatedly and finally breaking off, rather than routing. We chased him off with one of our light horse and rode hard towards our faltering rear line of hoplites.

Our hoplites and mediums collapsed under the combination of the skirmishers firing and the superior number of Greek mediums. This opened up the flanks of our struggling phalanx even further, and the closest pikes were soon flanked and collapsed.

Our army had enough and fled the field.

Final Score: Pyrric 30 W. Greek 58

[Karvon]

The seventh in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career facing Western Greeks.

7. Battling on in Magna Gaecia

After replenishing our forces with new drafts from home and hiring more mercenaries, our army advanced more cautiously, avoiding the rough hills and forests as we marched along a river. A local Greek force marched out to block our progress, and battle was joined on a mostly featureless plain. One or two small copse of trees and a couple of small villages were the only features of note aside from the river walling off our left.

We deployed well to our right, with our horse massed on our flank and the phalanx just to the left. Our lights formed up to screen our advance

The Greeks deployed more to their right, resting their flank on the river. A large body of hoplites formed up in their center with a division of medium foot on their left, supported by their horse. Their front was screened by lights.

Our basic plan was to advance wide right then wheel to the left and defeat them in detail, starting with their mounted and mediums. The Greeks promptly began wheeling left to counter, and extended with their mediums and mounted in an effort to block our envelopment led by our horse.

We slowed down our mounted wing and let our phalanx catch up, while continuing to shift right to avoid his wheeling troops. Our lights shot up some of his mounted and one of his mediums. Our horse drove off most of his horse, but most were blocked by his thin line of mediums from advancing further.

Our pikes supported by hoplites smashed into his medium line, and the rest of the phalanx wheeled to face his oncoming hoplite horde. We blew up his mediums fairly quickly and his hoplites didn't fair too well against our phalanx either, though that was a bit more drawn out.

While we did lose some of our overzealous horse to flanking attacks, the victorious pikes wheeled and flanked his hoplite line. One of our lancers took the end of the line in flank and set off a domino of breaking hoplites, which led to a panic, and the Greeks streamed off the field.

Final Score: Pyrric 44 - West Greeks 13

[Karvon]

The 8th in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career facing Syracusians.

8. The Invasion of Sicily.

Following our victories in Magnae Graecia, our army crossed over into Sicily. The Syracusians took exception to our presence and their army met us in the hills north of the city.

A deep stream divided the field, with a series of hills running along both banks. In about the center, on our side of the stream, rose a steep, rough ridge. We decided this would serve as the anchor for attack. We occupy the ridge with our medium foot and send our phalanx and horse, led by our lights, across the stream to the left of that and turn the enemy right.

The Syracusians had deployed more to the center on the opposing hills, but quickly reacted to our opening moves. They shifted their own horse and lights to their far right in an effort to block our crossing, while their own foot slowly shifted right. It soon became clear they were going to try to storm the central ridge with their heavy foot in an attempt to uses superior numbers to overwhelm us. We detached a few of our own hoplites from the rear of the phalanx, and pushed them up to the top of the ridge to fill in the line.

On our left, with our elephant and lancers leading the way, we were able to overcome the opposing Syracusian cavalry after a bit of a fight, despite them being uphill from us. Our pikes crossing in support helped finish them off and dealt with a couple of medium foot which tried to aid their cavalry. We sent most of our horse after the fleeing Syracusians as the terrain was rather rugged and didn't give us a quick path to enveloping the enemy right. Our pikes wheeled right and marched clear the hills overlooking the stream and support our beleaguered line atop the steep central hill.

The assault on the central hill proved to be the undoing of the Syracusian army. All of their troops were disordered on the steep slopes and simply had almost no chance of breaking through with a frontal assault. Several waves surged up, only to be bloodily repulsed. With numerous units fragmented and disrupted, we counter-attacked in conjunction with our flanking pikes and saw off enough to finally break the Syracusian morale.

Final Score: Pyrrhic 47 Syracusian 7

[Karvon]

The 9th in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career facing Syracusians.

9. At the Gates of Syracuse.

After our last victory over Syracuse, our army pressed on, hoping to exploit the win and finish off the survivors once and for all. We found the enemy regrouped on a wide plain with a stream running through it. We decided to attack in echelon on our left as it was slightly more open. Our advance was led by our lights, supported by our horse and elephant. The phalanx would advance in support on the right.

The Syracusians deployed their foot in the center with horse covering both flanks and light screening their line. However, parked to the rear were a pair of heavy siege engines which were to prove a major factor as the day unfolded.

As we advanced to our left, the Syracusians shifted and wheeled in response. As we moved our horse up to support our lights, they came under long ranged fire from the siege engines and several quickly disrupted. We swung our lone elephant wider left to avoid this fire, and that delayed it getting into position to support the skirmisher and horse battle that broke out. Our horse caught a some of his skirmishers, but they refused to buckle and held us up for a few hours. Some of our disrupted horse, failing to catch evaders, got shot to pieces between his skirmishers and stone throwers, blunting our assault considerably. We overcame his horse and ours pursued off into the distance and out of action.

Our phalanx crossed the stream and wheeled right to confront his oncoming hoplites supported by a few medium foot. We dropped off a couple of our own hoplites to cover our right flank and rear. We surged into contact, but his hoplites held firm vs our pikes for the most part, though we did push back one block. A grinding melee ensued, and progress continued to be marginal at best. We lost some straight up fights with our hoplites covering the flank, and they buckled. He shifted some horse around our engaged right flank, driving off some skirmishers who failed to dent him at all.

On our left, our horse managed to sweep wide and assault the hated stone throwers, but got driven off before they could be destroyed. Our pikes ganged up on a single hoplite, and still it held on, though we finally see off another. Our disrupted hoplites folded, exposing the flanks of the neighboring spear. His horse plowed in and the pikes promptly collapsed and our army streamed off the field.

Final Score Pyrric 34 Syracusian 61

[Karvon]

The 10th in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career, facing Syracusians again.

10. At the Foot of Mt. Etna.

With our army brought back up to strength with a fresh draft of replacement from home, supplemented by some local mercenaries, we marched south to face the Syracusians once more. Emboldened by the recent success, the Syracusians marched north and met us along the banks of a stream in a narrow pass at the foot of Mt. Etna along the coast.

We interspersed our phalanx with our horse and elephant, screened by our lights. Our plan was pretty simple; we would push forward quickly across the stream with our horse and lights, so that our phalanx could cross uncontested to face the enemy foot. The Syracusians, naturally, sought to prevent this, and sent their own lights forward, hoping to delay us, while their own foot followed up behind with their horse in reserve.

Closely supported by our horse, our lights quickly drove the enemy skirmishers back through their supporters, and our horse pinned down his line as our phalanx crossed the stream. We were careful to leave room and gaps for our own horse to retire, should the Syracusians seek to engage them with their foot. With his lights driven off, we shifted our own to our left to support our horse, as he shifted his cavalry reserve to his right to cover the flank of his foot. He attacked our horse with his foot, driving them off, but unbalancing his line. Our pikes pounced on his extended units, disrupting them and driving them back. A general infantry melee ensued across the center as our foot came to grasps. With the narrow space, our pikes gave us a significant advantage and quickly disrupted a number of his opposing hoplites.

On our left, our lights saw off an attempt by his light horse to flank us, and our horse, supported by some of our pike and spear, dispatched an opposing medium foot and drove back his screening horse. Our reserve spear and medium foot following up, turned the right flank of the engaged infantry line.

In the center, our pikes, with an assist from our elephant in a timely flanking attack, finally punched through, and following spear flanked still resisting hoplites. The collapse of the enemy center caused the rest of the army to turn tail and flee for home.

Final Score: Pyrric 43 Syracuse 6

[Karvon]

The 11th in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career, facing the Carthaginians.

11. On the plains of Eastern Sicily.

With our domination of Syracuse, we marched east to face the Carthaginians controlling the eastern end of the island. They met us on an open plain. We deployed our phalanx in the center, with cavalry divisions on both flanks. We placed our elephant on the left supporting our horse and screened them with our lights. Our plan was to attack on our left and delay on our right.

The Carthaginians deployed in a similar manner; a mixed body of foot formed their center with horse on both wings, supported by a few lights.

On our left, our lights, closely supported by our horse and elephant, quickly drove back or dispatched the opposing enemy horse and our phalanx rumbled forward and wheeled to face the enemy foot.

On our right, our horse engaged the opposing horse, but despite having lancers, failed to initially drive off any of his horse and got bogged down in a prolonged melee.

Our infantry engaged, and our pikes failed to have much initial success, which resulted in a more grinding combat unfolding. His spears, warbands and mediums fought valiantly, and some of our mercenaries suddenly lost heart and gave way in the center, creating a major hole in our line. Fortunately, our pike holding our right end drove off its attackers and was able to form square, which kept several enemy units at bay temporarily.

On our far right, our horse got mobbed by enemy foot, which piled on to the cavalry melee. Our commander managed to escape with one horse, which tied up a few enemy trying to track it down for the rest of the battle.

Our lights, who had retired from the left once the horse were engaged, shifted to our right flank and saw off some enemy light, after a bit of a fight, and then finished off a battered horse which threatened the end of our line.

In the center infantry melee, our pikes finally overpowered several of the African spear, who fought to the last man, and the Carthaginians lost heart and fled the field.

Final Score: Pyrrhic - 49 Carthaginians - 22



-

[Karvon]

The 12th in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career, facing the Carthaginians.

12. In the foothills of Eastern Sicily

Our victorious army pressed on after the defeated Carthaginians and found they had rallied and awaited us across a stream, yet again, on the edge of some foothills. The stream ran across the center of the field. A series of hills and ridges ran along the right edge, interspersed with woods of various shapes and sizes. A steep hill lay on our left flank along the edge short of the center, looking down on the stream. A couple of small rough patches lay beyond that along the left edge.

Wishing to maximize our advantage in mounted and heavy foot, we deployed in column on our far left. Our lights led the way with the aim of quickly securing the steep hill and a crossing of the stream. Our horse followed closely behind, supported by our elephant and a single medium foot. Our phalanx advanced in deep 2 wide column in echelon following our horse.

The Carthaginians initially deployed more to the center and left, seeking to take advantage of the woods and hills, where their medium foot would prove more decisive. Their horse formed up on their right flank and their light screened their front. Their entire force wheeled and shifted right in response to our deployment and opening moves.

We easily secured the left hill and pushed on across the stream with our lights and horse, followed up by our elephant and foot. Carthaginian light horse raced over to slow us down, but we fairly quickly drove them off and chased a few down with our own light horse. The Carthaginian cavalry moved up, but these we likewise scattered, as they didn't like facing our lancers.

Our phalanx crossed the stream and wheeled right to face the oncoming Carthaginian foot, anchoring our right flank on the stream. A prolonged infantry slugfest ensued. We disrupted and pushed back a couple of units and suffered the same. One pike block got flanked as a result and broke fairly quickly, and another got flanked but managed to hold on and then recover. The Carthaginians, however, were generally taking pretty heavy losses, and though holding on grimly, were getting steadily ground down. We closed up gaps in our line with reserves and moved to flank as we punched holes in their line.

Meanwhile, our horse, supported by lights and elephant, chased off or destroyed most of the Carthaginian horse. And though we took some heavy losses ourselves amongst our own horse, their disappearance disheartened the rest of the army, and the Carthaginians fled the field.

Final Score: Pyrrhic 55 Carthaginians 29.

[Karvon]

The 13th in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career, facing the Romans.

13. Return to Italy

With our subjugation of Sicily complete with the defeat of the Carthaginians, we returned to Italy and found ourselves confronted by Romans in some rough hill country.

We deployed our phalanx on a central hill in our deployment area, with a mounted command on each wing. The Romans deployed on a plateau facing us, which had a large amount of rough securing their left. This they secured with some of their Italian allies while the rest of the legions slowly advanced towards us.

We attempted a flanking move on our left with our lights and mounted command, but that didn't go very well; the Romans very effectively countered with velites closely supported by their token horse and some legions. Most of these either got trapped and destroyed or chased off the field. The lone survivor lingered in the Roman rear and tied up a couple of Triarri.

As the sun began to set, the Romans eventually rolled down from their hills with their victorious right wing and marched up to our position. Their left was refused along the hill and rough area.

The Romans attempted an assault on the hill, but that didn't go too well for them overall; they lost one legion fairly quickly and another disrupted and fell back. We did lose one pike which disrupted then broke, but we closed the gap with reserves.

Darkness fell, and both sides withdrew to their camps to lick their wounds.

Final Score: Romans 30 Pyrrhic 19

[Karvon]

The 14th in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career, facing the Romans again.

14. Battle among the hills vs Rome.

Regrouping after our last poor outing, we marched to face the Romans and found them on a field of scattered hills. In the far left corner several steep hills dominated the ground, looking down on a couple of small woods. A gentle hill rose in the Roman center overlooking a small hamlet. In the far right corner, another village lay next to a bit of rough ground that masked the Roman center. A medium-sized woods nestled in the extreme right corner, further obstructing that area of the field. A medium-sized gentle hill lay in about the center of the field. To the far right of that, some rough ran along the edge, narrowing the open ground a little. In our near right sector, a fair=sized gentle hill sat, with a large rough patch filling the space to its right out to the edge. In our center sector, a fair-sized gentle ridge ran back towards our edge opposite the central hill.

Eyeing the ground, we were pretty certain the Romans would be able to reach and anchor on the central hill before us. We opted to deploy our phalanx on our extreme right with our mounted on each wing and our lights screening the front.

The Romans deployed fairly conventionally in the center, with their heavy foot backed by a few mediums and cavalry, screened by their light foot. They began to wheel towards us as they focused on the central hill.

We echeloned right, well away from the central hill; I had no intention of trying to drive Roman heavy foot directly off such a position. Our mounted swung wide on both flanks, driving off opposing lights and slowly working their way around the main body of Roman foot. A couple of our Italian foot followed up our sweep on the right to support our horse and stayed far enough out to avoid getting tangled up with opposing Roman heavy foot.

The Romans wheeled to their left and formed up their heavy foot along the slopes of the central hill, facing my phalanx which had wheeled left to form a line on the plains below. He detached a couple of Triarri to refuse his left and face off vs my Italians and horse hovering there. His lights moved to the rear and skirmished with my horse advancing on his rear. Eyeing that threat, he decided to come down and attempt to tackle my phalanx before my cavalry got too much closer. He had an overall advantage, as about half my heavy foot were just hoplites or raw pike, and his foot were all better armored and had better morale. We had a slight edge in numbers, with a couple of units in reserve. We stood for the assault, as I worried about pikes pushing forward and then getting flanked, and I wanted more time for my flanking forces to arrive.

The Romans attacked all along the line and didn't fare too well; we didn't suffer any disruptions or pushbacks and one of his units disrupted. The Roman line was a little uneven in portions, and we were able to gang up on 1 or 2 of his units. In rather short order, several of his units were disrupted and then fragmented, but the gods then smiled, and the fragmented units both survived a subsequent hour of fighting, then both rallied. It was a very grim contest.

Meanwhile, we flanked his Triarri holding down his left, but they stubbornly held on and even fragmented one of my Italians. A neighboring legionaire attacked one of our blocking horse and ended chasing it for a couple of turns out of the battle. On our left, one of raw pikes turned away from a veteran legion and drew it a way from the fight, weakening his center more.

And then the cavalry arrived; several of my horse finally reached the rear of his main infantry line and finished off his center with their charge. With that, the Romans finally had enough.

Final Score: Pyrrhic 56 - Romans 23

[Karvon]

The 15th, and final, battle in our series of semi-historical matches of Pyrrhus' career, facing the Romans.


15. The Meeting on the Plains.

The Romans bravely came out to oppose us on a vast plain. A few small hamlets were scattered around the perimeter, as were some tiny rough patches. A medium-sized strip of woods lay along our right edge, short of the center.

We initially deployed our phalanx in the center, between two hamlets, screened by our lights, with our horse divided on each flank. We placed Italian foot in each hamlet to help secure our flanks.

The Romans deployed in the center in with a lot of heavy foot, supported by a few medium, screened by velites, with horse on each flank.

We sent our horse wide on each flank to threaten envelopment. Our foot we echeloned to our right. Our flanking moves drew off the Roman horse and some of their foot, while the bulk of their infantry wheeled left to counter our shift to the right.

Our right wing horse, supported by our lights, destroyed his opposing horse and lights and hared off after the survivors. Our left wing horse had more mixed results; we saw off his horse, but lost one to his supporting foot. Our others, engaged in a bit of cat-and-mouse as they attempted to work their way around his blocking foot to rejoin the main engagement.

Meanwhile, the main infantry lines clashed in the center. The Romans had the advantage in armor and morale, but we had an edge in numbers and mass. In addition, if we held out long enough, we were counting on our returning cavalry to turn the tide decisively with attacks on the engaged enemy flanks and rear. We survived the dangerous initial impact fairly intact and begin working to flank with our superior numbers. The Romans had some reserves though, so this was a slow process, as both expanded out. As the melee wore on, we lost one pike due to a cataclysmic double-drop, but the rest held up, we plugged the hole with our reserves, and the Roman numbers continued to dwindle - and they survived multiple CTs, much to our chagrin. Inevitably, their losses led to some disruptions and fragmentations, but even then, they managed to rally some of their troops, staving off their collapse.

Our long missing cavalry arrived on the scene, but some the surviving velites just barely managed to skirmish one to death before we could charge in. We did have two that charged home though and that shattered more of the Roman center. In addition, one cavalry, detailed to pursue fleeing Romans, caught up to and saw off the Roman commander who'd just managed to rally a routed veteran legion. With that, the Romans gave up and fled the field after their leader.

Final Score: Pyrrhic 60 - Romans 40

[Karvon]

The Conclusion

Despite his final triumph over Rome, domestic issues forced Pyrrhus to leave Italy and return home to deal with those, ending dreams of further Italian expansion.

Our final record: 10 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws.

It was an interesting experience and thanks to all those opponents who picked up the open challenges, even when the match-ups might not have seemed so inviting.

Regards,

Karvon