Pyrrhus in Italy (Dominion Style)

I was getting a little tired of the 36 battles so I decided to do something different with Dominion of the Spear (DotS). I previously ran a Pyrrhus in Italy campaign using MicroBattle. Let's see how he does with DotS.

Notes:

• I used the Epirus Pyrrhus and Tullian Roman lists as the basis for the armies but added allied spears to both for 14 point armies. Otherwise, Pyrrhus was a little thin.
• I used the Tullians because the Polybian list has elite legions. I'm not sure that quite applies to Rome yet.
• I used the terrain generation rules from the 3 x 3 Portable Wargame. I haven't totally figured out how terrain will affect the battles. For Heraclea, I rolled a river but I ignored it. Then I rolled no terrain for the second battle. So it was a moot point.

Heraclea

King Pyrrhus lands in Italy and advances to Heraclea to confront a Roman army threatening the Greek colonies.

Here are the initial dispositions.

• Rome (red) - armored legions on flanks with new recruits in center. Javelins (using LI counter but counts as Melee Infantry), cavalry, and Italian allied spears in reserve.
• Pyrrhus - From L to R, elephants, archers, and Pyrrhus with his elite cavalry. Phalanx and Greek allies in reserve

The new legionaries charge Pyrrhus's archers and wipe them out. Meanwhile, there is a brutal melee between Pyrrhus's elephants and one of the veteran legions. In the end, both are rendered hors de combat.

Pyrrhus leads his cavalry against the veteran legion (R). HIs charge breaks the legion, but his cavalry is blown. Meanwhile, the Greek allies hold off a charge by the Roman cavalry.

Pyrrhus sends his phalanx against the Roman recruits in the center. Pyrrhus is confident. But the recruits put up stiff resistance. They finally break, but the phalanx is spent.

Pyrrhus realizes that he cannot win the day. He calls retreat.

Note that I did not eliminate Pyrrhus even though his unit was destroyed. I'd like to think that he would at least stick around for the rest of the battle. The counter is just there for window dressing, however.

The Pyrrhic army withdraw back towards the Greek city-state of Tarentum.

Tarentum
The Romans pursue Pyrrhus back to Tarentum. Just outside the city, Pyrrhus makes a stand.

Same army compositions as Heraclea. I made a roll to see if either side lost points but both passed.

This time Pyrrhus puts his phalanx in the front. The battle starts off well when Pyrrhus leads his cavalry in a charge that rides over a legion. But his elephants fare poorly against the armored legion on the other flank.

Pyrrhus's archers fill in the gap left by the elephants. The legion blocks the archers' hail of arrows on its shields. Then the legion charges and routs the archers.

But the charge leaves the legion disordered. Pyrrhus's Greek allies pounce, and drive off the legion. On the right, their is a brutal cavalry scrum, knocking both sides out of the action.

Pyrrhus is wounded in the fray so he retires from the field.

I rolled to see what would happen to Pyrrhus. I rolled a 1, which I would normally interpret as death. But he's the star of the show. Instead, I decided he was gravely wounded and could not remain with the army. That's why you don't see his counter in the next picture.

His infantry holds out. But the Roman javelins (R) come up to the phalanx's flank and pepper it. This forces the phalanx to retire.

Pyrrhus's army retreats into Tarentum. The Tarentines, however, have little interest in sustaining a siege. Faced with the city elders' grumblings, Pyrrhus decides to leave the Greek colonists to their fate. He packs his army into his fleet and sails away.

Finis

Campaign Notes

I chose to repeat Pyrrhus's adventures in Italy, a campaign I originally completed using my MicroBattle rules. Using DotS, I was able to complete the campaign in one morning.

I had planned to play Pyrrhus's Sicily campaign using MicroBattle, but put that on hold after discovering DotS. Now I think I will run the Sicily campaign using DotS.