Heraclea-ish

Thus begins my Pyrrhus campaign.

The Campaign

I'm just planning to do a 3-game mini campaign based on Pyrrhus's battles in Italy against the Romans. Although I may do a side excursion against the Carthaginians.

I'm calling the battles Heraclea, Asculum, and Beneventum, but the terrain will be random.

The Forces

I based the armies on the DBA v1 lists, dividing the forces in half.

• Pyrrhus: 1 cavalry, 3 heavy infantry (1 is inferior Italian allies), 1 light infantry, and 1 unit of elephants
• The Romans: 1 cavalry, 4 heavy infantry (1 is inferior Italian allies), and 1 light infantry

Set Up

I used my "Big Battles" box, complete with cover.

Big Battles may be a misnomer. My battles occur on a 5 x 7 inch battlefield. I call them big battles because the scenario represents a full-sized battle. Therefore, each base represents thousands of troops.

The omens are not propitious. The dark cat god messes with the tools of fortune.

I'm missing a picture of the initial set up so I will describe it.

• Pyrrhus: Light infantry and elephants on the left. heavy infantry on some hills in the center, and cavalry with Pyrrhus himself on the right.
• Romans: Cavalry on Pyrrhus's left, heavy infantry in the center, and light infantry in a village on the right flank.

The Battle

Pyrrhus plans to wait for the Romans (red) to come to him, but he gets impatient and sends his elephants and cavalry to harass the flanks. The elephants drive off the Roman horse but Pyrrhus's cavalry is disrupted by missile fire from the Roman's light infantry.

The elephants crash into the Roman legionaries. Surprisingly, the legion drives back the elephants with losses.

An unexpected result given that the elephants had an extreme advantage. The cursed dice strike!

Shortly thereafter, the elephants attack the Roman cavalry. This time, the cavalry routs the elephants!

Another extremely unexpected result. Again, the dice gods punish Pyrrhus.

Meanwhile, Pyrrhus pushes forward his heavy infantry, but the Romans drive them back to the hill.

Inflicting severe losses.

The Romans trap and annihilate Pyrrhus's cavalry. Pyrrhus just manages to escape.

I don't have a purple leader counter so I just assumed that Pyrrhus was with the cavalry. When the cavalry died, I used a yellow marker to indicate the infantry unit he joined.

I did not use a Roman leader figure. I assumed that the Roman was an average leader and did not play a significant role.

With pressure from the front and the flanks caving in, Pyrrhus's Italian allies flee.

Realizing the day is lost, Pyrrhus sounds retreat.

A decisive victory for Rome!

Aftermath and Analysis.

This sets up the next battle of the campaign. Because of the decisive nature of Pyrrhus's defeat, I don't think it makes sense for him to advance to Asculum. I think the next battle will be outside Tarentum!

The dice gods really had it out for Pyrrhus. I expected more from the elephants, but they twice lost when they needed a 2+ on a D6 to win the melee. Ouch!