Polemos SPQR Battle

I played a little game of Polemos SPQR to test out my new terrain - new cloth, new roads.  I'll let the pictures tell the story, then pick out a few points of interest at the end:

I'm missing a start-of-battle shot, but this is the position on turn 3 I think:  The Roman Cavalry are in trouble in the centre (left of picture) having been flung back down the central hill by the Britons' skirmishers.  The Roman Cavalry on the right are in trouble too - the Britons' Light Horse have attacked the Roman Cavalry in the process of crossing the stream and are coming out on top.  The Roman II Legion advances towards the stream in the centre of the shot.

Meanwhile, the Romans' IX Legion and Numidian cavalry attempt to outflank the Britons' right flank. But surely the Britons will react to this obvious move?

The Britons repeat what has worked well on their left flank - charge the Romans as they are disordered by crossing the stream.  The Britons' leader takes control of the charge personally leading a small force of light horse into the attack and forcing the Romans back.  The Roman cavalry in the centre have resumed the attack.

But the Roman cavalry on the right are in worsening trouble, some having been routed already and the remainder becoming increasingly disordered under the onslaught of the Britons' horse. Notice the development of the Romans' flank attack though...

Two cohorts of legionaries in desperate trouble as the Britons' war leader leads his mounted followers.  However, whilst so occupied, who is commanding the British force?  Disaster!  The warriors on the Britons' left, seemingly engrossed by the battles to their front, have been caught in the flank by the Numidians!!  The remainder of the II Legion are in a sharp combat with the opposing tribesmen on the hill.  The Roman general has led his cavalry unit to success in the centre, whilst the other unit of cavalry has been defeated by the Britons.

The same position from a differnet angle.  You can see on the extreme right that the Britons' light horsemen are reforming, having seen off the Roman cavalry on that wing.

The Britons' left has now been destroyed by Roman cavalry and the IX Legion.  The combination of II Legion and Numidian cavalry has defeated the Britons in the centre too.  At this point, the Britons' morale collapsed, giving victory to the Romans.

Comments:
A hard-fought contest, with the Britons and their slightly weaker forces coming close to pulling off an unlikley victory, but unfortunately the rules penalize the command abilities of leaders involved in close combat heavily, so although the Britons' leader led his cavalry to personal victory, he was unable to command his army effectively and the Romans, with a more decentralized structure, were able to continue their outflanking move which ultimately brought success.