Roman Civil Wars - The Munda Campaign - Pompey Defense

30 turns, Fog of War on, vs. the AI

 

The Situation

Julius Caesar is making his bid for ultimate power, vying to become Rome's first dictator and bring an end to the Roman Republic, the most enlightened and advanced Western civilization of all time.

Pompey, Caesar's greatest threat and former ally, has been defeated at Greece at the Battle of Pharsalus. Fleeing to Egypt, he was assassinated by the traitorous minions of Egyptian King Ptolemy XIII; it now lies with me, Gnaeus Pompeius, and my younger brother Sextus Pompeius the sons of Pompey to avenge our father's death and preserve the Republic.

Caesar has chased us across the Mediterranean to the southern plains of Spain, near the fortified city of Munda. His legions have emerged from the mountains and our first task is to delay him at the river to our south for as long as possible. We must bleed his troops and make him pay for every step north he takes; the river crossings must be held if at all practicable.

I have arrayed my ranged troops to cover the legionaries holding the crossings; the longer I can keep them within range but on the other side of the river, the greater the damage to them will be. I know Caesar has a strong cavalry force with him; I will need to keep my own cavalry in reserve to counter him.

 

To Battle!

As expected, the Caesarean cavalry is the first to arrive on the field, sniffing about my left flank for a potential crossing spot ... finding none, they begin to move west.

My main body of legionnaires and my Numidian cavalry and light infantry remain fixed in place higher up on the hill until later turns or the bridges are forced. Until then, Caesar brings his forces farther on to the field by turn 7. My archers and slingers continue to take a toll on the milling cavalry and advancing light infantry, and Caesarean bowmen appear and disappear at the edges of my vision (FOW is on). Light infantry has arrived to contest the west bridge; usually poorly trained, armed with a javelin and only lightly armored if at all, these troops alone will not be enough to force the bridgehead from my legionnaires ... but they can be well-used fodder when applied correctly. Unfortunately, the 4th Legion has just appeared and is moving towards the west bridge. In another 3 or 4 turns we should have a good idea of their intentions but I don't think they will be to meet at the center of the bridge and hoist a cup of wine in honor of Bacchus.

At the east bridge, a more formidable force of cavalry has appeared on the other side of the river, but they will also fare poorly against my lines of heavy infantry guarding the far bank. If I was Caesar, I would group my archers to rain arrows down on the legionaries on the far bank as I move my heavy infantry in to engage them ... we'll see what he does.

A cavalry charge down the east bridge was repulsed, and replaced with a cohort of velites (light infantry).

As the 4th Legion approaches the west bridge, velites make a tentative move across the bridge, and one unit has decided the movement cost to try the river itself is worthwhile. That won't last long if they try it in bits and pieces.

To the east, velites and Gallic cavalry continue their haphazard approach; my archers have taken a toll, however ... many of their units are disrupted see highlighted units below. I have spread my few legionnaires out in case of a river crossing near the bridge; I will contract if the bridge is forced en masse ... if both of those options are tried at the same time, the river will be lost.

A second legion - the 5th - approaches the west bridge. The odds of a heroic stand at the river drop precipitously. Massed bowmen begin to pepper my archers and the defenders of the west bridge in advance of the arrival of the legions.

Archers have driven my pickets off the north bank in my center; it seems obvious now Caesar's main thrust is coming at the west bridge.

Smelling blood in the water, two of my cohorts have charged weakened units of velites, but by doing so have lost their advantage on the other side of the bridge. In better news, a Gallic cavalry unit has routed and left the field.

The center force of my infantry on the hillside has been released at last ... as it moves downhill the troops at my bridgeheads work to hold Caesar's forces at bay.

My cavalry is released as well ... if I can use them to hunt down the velites leaking across my center, they will have earned their keep today.

Attrition begins to take a toll as units on both sides start to rout; both of the legionnaire cohorts that charged across the bridges have now routed. Thankfully, units have begun arriving on the lines to fill their spots.

My cavalry and heavy infantry have arrived just in time; I have smashed three cohorts of velites that made it across the river and the infantry has made it to the east bridge in time to reinforce it just as its original legionnaires began to take abhorrent losses. I have detached three cohorts of infantry to reinforce the west bridge; two of the original three cohorts of heavy infantry there have been ground down to less than 10 men each by the combined efforts of the two Caesarean legions, but not before taking their toll on the attackers. Can the reinforcements arrive in time to save the bridge?

My men can see the end of a long day of battle on the horizon ... with only 6 more turns to go, we still hold both bridges. The 4th Legion is fought out and seems content to lick its wounds ... will the 5th Legion assail the lone cohort guarding the island of the west bridge before help arrives? The frantic dash to reinforce that unit continues.

The siege towers, ready to assault Munda, await the opening of the west bridge on turn 27 ... but with just three turns to go, I think they will be disappointed. At the east bridge, the heavy infantry has solidified our hold on that bank.

With two turns to go, the 5th Legion presses hard for the west bridge and a pair of cavalry units charge prepared positions on the east. But reinforcements have arrived ... the bridges should be able to hold for two more turns.

Last turn ... the Roman cavalry that charged last turn lost 50% of their effective strength facing a bristling wall of more than 350 spears ... so they will hold. At the west bridge, my single remaining legionnaire cohort from the original bridge guard has fought a cohort of the famed 5th Legion to a standstill; it has gone from 140 men down to 76 and is almost combat ineffective. My bowmen continue to pepper that unit with defilade fire right down its left flank.

The day draws to a close; the butcher's bill calls this match a draw ... but my father's troops have held Caesar's superior force from crossing the river and he has not taken any objectives. Truly, luck and indecisiveness have played a part in what I would call a strategic victory, but we have meted out some level of revenge and as tomorrow dawns and we begin the second battle against Caesar and his hordes, and he will know we have come to fight. Our Numidian "allies" are fresh, having never been released to fight in the battle of the bridges ... tomorrow they shall not have it as easy.

 

Afterthoughts

 The AI was willing to push through holes in my lines such as the mostly defenseless center, but only tentatively ... it set its sights on the bridges and I was lucky that it never really took its eyes off of them. It rarely stacked its deadly legionnaires in the most effective way, instead using them piecemeal, which definitely bought me a few turns. Tentatively sending forces across bridges piecemeal is never a recipe for victory (hello, Ambrose Burnside). Were I to play this over again, I would make sure, every turn, that my cohorts on the bridges were held fast by the "Hold" command; their reckless charges down the bridges, unordered, led to their destruction, well-trained men I could ill afford to lose.

 

AAR written by: John Thompson, Staff Writer