Bellicosus Takes On Italy

I begin my Twelve Foes of Rome campaign that I mentioned last week. First up are the Samnites, but I decided to take on two foes instead of one. We get the start of the Roman conquest of Italy. How will it go?

I decided to add a little character to the battles. The Roman generals will come from the fictional Bellicosus family. Will they earn glory or will they go down in defeat?

The Etruscan War

War breaks out between Rome and the Etruscans to the north. Bellicosus is given command.

Bellicosus (red) commands cavalry, 2 legions (armored, denoted by silver markers), javelins (count as spears), and allied Latin spears. The Etruscans have 3 spears (one armored), archers, and cavalry.

The Roman cavalry charges and routs some spears (left). On the other flank, the Etruscan armored spears chase away the javelins.

The Roman cavalry continue their winning ways. On the right, Bellicosus rallies a repulsed legion.

A legion advances in the center but gets cut down by the archers on the hill.

The other legion breaks the Etruscan right.

It then flanks the archers.

Defeated, the Etruscans sue for peace.

The Samnite War

With the Etruscans pacified, Rome turns its attentions on the pesky Samnites. The Senate sends Bellicosus to deal with them.

Bellicosus leads cavalry, 2 legions (armored), javelins (count as spears), and some Latin allies. The Samnites have 2 fierce spears (one in the woods), cavalry, and 2 spears in reserve.

The two sides make contact in the center and left. Bellicosus's forces sweep away the Samnites.

Then his javelins take out the fierce spears in the woods.

But the javelins get lost in the woods and cannot make a flanking attack. They rolled a 1 so I interpreted that as getting lost.

Meanwhile, the cavalry gets repulsed by the Samnite spears, but Bellicosus rallies them.

The Roman cavalry charges again and rides over the spears.

Bellicosus conquers the Samnites.

GAME NOTES

Bellicosus is off to an auspicious start as he eliminates two rivals in Italy.

Next up, Pyrrhus!