Gallic War Battle 2 bis

Gallic War Battle 2 bis:

Again, I reloaded this scenario for reasons I cannot quite remember!  Something must have been bugging me...I think it was the built-up area rules.  In this game, the garrison is limited to a single base, which I think is a more natural way of reading the rules, but on the other hand, limits a city's effective garrison to 500-1000 troops...

Incidentally, this is what the campaign map looks like at this point:

Anyway, all the scenario details and forces are the same as for the previous battle - please see here for details.

The Set-Up:

No change to the previous set-up, with the Allobroges defending the high ground and the settlement, the Helvetii  approaching from the bottom

The Battle:

The Helvetii have the same plan as before, but this time their cavalry (right) seem to be a bit more enthusiastic in getting forward than their foot warriors (left)

Again, the Allobroges advance with their left into the woods to threaten the right of the Helvetii

The Helvetic foot warriors assault the hill and the city whilst their horsemen attempt to force the gap between the hills (right)

Again, the advancing Helvetii get their foothold on a spur of the hill, just outside the city's walls...

The Allobroges' warriors are pushed back by the Helvetic Horse, but retain their order

The Allobroges and Helvetii begin to clash in the woods to the right

The combat is indecisive, but the Allobroges' youths move around the Helvetii's flank (right)

The Helvetii cannot get into the city in the face of the city's shieldmaidens spears and spiteful taunts

Not until the second charge anyway, and the Helvetii take the city

Meanwhile the Helvetii have been losing heavily in the woods; their remaining warriors try to delay the Allobroges' attack through the woods

The Helvetii's horsemen try again to break through the centre

Allobrogian horsemen advance to try and restore the situation; although since the foot warriors have just destroyed the centre cavalry group, did it really need it?!?

A wider view: the city has fallen and the Helvetii are moving through it, but the Allobrogian centre has held

Whilst the pressure increases on the the Helvetii's Right in the woods...

The Helvetii move up some reserves into the woods to try and restore the situation

However, the the leading Allobroges' warriors quickly resume their attack (centre)!

The Helvetii's mounted attack has failed (left) and are under increasing pressure on the right

The Allobroges' surge forward through the woods again!

Reinforced with foot warriors (left), the Helvetii charge again in the centre; more Helvetii warriors have pushed through the city and are now attacking around the back (top-left)...

The Allobroges' chieftain tries to restore the situation...

More pressure on the Helvetii right, which has been more-or-less pushed out of the woods now

Game Notes: At this point, the Helvetii's Right and Centre collapsed simultaneously, so despite having taken the settlement, the Helvetii rout to the rear and the Allobroges have saved their territory from the German-backed Helvetii.
A good game this, full of incident.  The Allobroges won against the odds, and despite the early loss of the city, because the Helvetii really struggled to deploy their full strength, were defeated in detail on the Right and lost the 50:50 encounter in the centre.  I don't think there were any major problems with the game although I am still not quite sure about the rules' intention regarding the size of forces occupying built-up areas.

What is more worrying is that I have had this campaign 'on the radar' for over six years now!  It was interesting reading back: I thought that the campaign engine would be a problem, which wasn't the case really when I gave it a proper look; what has been a problem is that I have never committed to a single ruleset in the way I had for Napoleonics (Polemos General de Division & Marechal d'Empire) and for the English Civil War (Polemos English Civil War).  So because I have doubts in my general gaming about Ancients' rulesets, that has led to much procrastination about the rules for my campaign: I think I have played nearly a dozen "test games" in one form or another without decisively starting the real thing!  I wish I could say I have now solved this problem, but it is absolutely not the case...

Figures again by Baccus 6mm and buildings by Timecast.