Some Roman Battles

I played around some more with Dominion of the Spear (DotS). In both scenarios, I used the standard army lists in DotS and played the games straight.

Battle of Cannae

I decided to pit Polybian Romans vs. Hannibal's Carthaginian army.

Setup

• Carthaginians (top) - battle line (L to R): armored elephants, armored spears, cavalry; reserve (L to R): cavalry, spears (I used a LI counter to distinguish the unit from the armored spears)
• Romans - battle line (L to R): 2 elite armored legionaries, cavalry; reserve: auxiliaries

Elephants at Cannae? Let's call it a what-if scenario.

The Battle

The Romans rout Hannibal's elephants (L) and cavalry (R).

Hannibal brings up his cavalry, which sacrifice themselves to destroy the Roman cavalry.

But the legions are too strong for the Carthaginian spears.

Rome rewrites history and sends Hannibal packing!

Battle of Carrhae

That was quick. I have enough time for another. How about Crassus' Marian Romans vs. the Parthians?

Setup

• Parthians (top) - battle line (L to R): 3 horse archers (I don't have LC so I used LI counters); reserve (L to R): spears, elite armored cataphracts
• Romans - battle line (L to R): 2 armored legionaries, 1 ferocious Gallic cavalry; reserve: armored legionaries.

The Battle

The Parthian horse archers wipe out 2 legions! But the Gallic horse routs the other horse archers.

The reserve legion moves up and stymies the horse archers while the Gallic horse ride over the cataphracts!

But the horse archers wipe out the remaining legion. The Gallic horse get revenge, but then decide to retire from the battle.

Much like the real Carrhae, Rome's legions are no match for horse archers!

A DotS Box Set

I am planning a small box set specifically for DotS. It will have 2 armies, the rules, a small board, and dice.

I plan to make counters specifically for DotS, with enough counters to cover any troop type. No more using LI as LC! For now, I'm using a couple spare armies from my MicroBattle set.

Another addition to the box is some terrain, as shown here.

There are no terrain rules in DotS but I think I can come up with something simple. Favorable terrain could give a defense bonus, akin to armor. As far as setup, I think I can use the rules from the 3x3 Portable Wargame as delineated in the first Portable Wargame Compendium.