Ilustration from 'Life in Celtic Times' by Dover Publications, Inc.

A joint Kampfgruppe and Carmel Historical Miniature Gamers meeting was held on July 27, with Sylvain Durand, Rob Storbick, David van Hoose and Al Wolfe all present. Rob hosted us at his home in Carmel, IN, with Sylvain putting on the event using his 25mm Carthaginians and Romans. We used Classical Hack, second edition, rules by Phil Viverito.

The battle was set during the 2nd Punic Wars, with the Carthaginians facing a large Roman army. The Romans had three Roman and three Latin legions that were deployed in their traditional way. The Velites were in front as skirmishers, followed by a line of six Hastati, then a line of six Principes, and lastly, a line of three Triarii.

The Carthaginians had a typical army with a line of skirmishers, a double line of Celts, and a last line with two Phalanxes of 40 figures on the flanks and Celtiberians in the middle. Each army had their cavalry on their flanks, the Carthaginians also had elephants on each flank (one unit on their left and two on their right).

Actual playing time was about five hours, with Sylvain and Al commanding the Carthaginians and Rob and David the Romans. Sylvain had played the first edition of Classic Hack, while the rest of us were new to the system.

At the start of the game, the Carthaginians smashed the Roman Cavalry on the Carthaginian right flank using their elephants, but as it turned out, the Romans learn their lesson very quickly. The Carthaginians also used their two elephants really well on their left flank by throwing them on two Roman Heavy Cavalry units. Unfortunately for the Carthaginians, the Romans rolled a 1-1 that saved their flank.

After a couple of turns of skirmisher fighting in the center, the Celt Infantry rushed to the Roman left. They were able to shake the Legion, and then a Phalanx was able to break the Roman Line, but at a very high cost. The Celtiberians were able to hold the Roman Legions in the center until the Romans decided to attach their general (David) into a melee. He was killed and all of his legion ran from the battlefield.

Seeing their flank being beaten, the Romans decided to counter attack on their right flank. It turned into a blood bath for the Carthaginians. With the phalanx routing, the fresh Roman troops had no problems pushing the Phalanx.

At the end, both sides decided to call it a draw. Each player pushed back the opponent's flank, but lost half of their infantry and a lot of cavalry.

What We Learned

• The morale test when you see a unit rout makes the game harder for the Carthaginians, as the Gauls have to be careful.
• The risk to a commander is awesome because a full roman legion left when their commander was killed (the whole center was gone).
• The light infantry is very efficient against elephants and is actually the only good way to deal with them. This is historical.

Tactical suggestions from Sylvan Durand

• If you have a lot of elephants, put them behind some Spanish light infantry. The light infantry will get rid of the Velites, then you can send the elephants on the Romans. This is a very good way to open the Roman line.
• Gauls cannot do much versus Romans. The Celtiberians can do as well as the Phalanxes, but you don't have enough. The Carthaginians cannot win with the infantry. They have to use their cavalry to turn the Romans or use the elephants to smash their infantry.
• Attaching leaders should only be used in desperate situation. They can die easily and take the all their units with them.
• The break off rule makes the Celt units really weak. You need a lot of them in order to do anything.
• Slingers are not good on the battlefield.
• Romans need to use the break off rule (which makes them fight historical) if they want to win the game.
• The Triarii are very good unit, but you have only one per legion. I think it is wise to keep one on each flank to protect the army.

In conclusion, we all had a lot of fun playing Classical Hack. It is an easy game to learn, where luck is not a major factor, but good tactics are. Sylvain is hosting this event again as part of HMAG at GameFest Indy, Nov. 22 24.