This is the new reprint of Alexander Deluxe, which is described as expanded  and is part of GMT’s Great Battles of History series.

As discussed recently, I have pared down my boardgame collection to mainly just series games and so this will sit with SPQR, giving a lot of battles for just one set of rules.

Alexander alone gives us 19 Battles in total. Each have their own maps and the weighty box comes in with 5½ counter-sheets.

I’m hoping there are some smaller battles in that mix for our face-to-face games, though the system is rated 7 out of 9 (high) for solitaire suitability. I note that when using the ‘Simple Battles’ alternative rulebook, some scenario times are almost cut in half, so I think most of this is going to be playable for me.

The expanded part of this second printing is the Tyrant module, featuring 10 battles between Carthage and Syracuse for control of Sicily 480 - 276 BC.

Expect to see this hitting the table soon!

The latest release (2024) in the Epic line from Warlord Games - Hannibal. This package covers the 2nd Punic War and sees the Hail Caesar rule book being given a specific Epic / Punic edition, which includes a goodly number of scenarios, many of them intended for the 6x4 table.

There are two starter army boxes or the big battle box which has over 3000 figures in it and is the equivalent of two armies, plus some more. 

It will of course need to take its turn in the painting queue, but keep an eye on the ‘Trebbia Project’ tab in the menu on the left to see progress being made.

Whilst this is not a Trebbia based text, a quick browse in the shop suggested that it would be a good compliment to my plans for both board and figure games.

Zama, as a major battle in this era, is of itself very interesting and the book discussion on things like weapons, tactics, organisation and the action reports, will translate to the other Punic battles anyway.

I’m sure the book will give me a better appreciation and understanding of the things that matter and should be reflected in a wargame, as well as just being an enjoyable read.

The artwork will also be a help when I come to paint and organise the Epic troops, The front cover gives a good impression of how the Roman Hastati should look.

If you click on the cover page to enlarge it, you will notice that two shields on the Carthaginian side have been struck by pilum, which have done their thing of then bending down and causing drag on the shield - nice artistic touch.

Below - the opening set-up for the Bagradas Plains scenario (replay below)

This SPQR (GMT) scenario is recommended as a ‘beginners’ scenario ….. it will certainly need some skill on the part of the Roman player to pull a win from the situation.

Background - The Romans have been fairly successful fighting the Carthaginians on land and the Roman Consul, Regulus, is pretty keen to have one big engagement that will knock Carthage out of the war.

However, the Carthaginians have secured the service of Spartan’s Xanthipuss and he re-organises the Carthaginian army to a more acceptable level of training.

The set-up immediately invites concern for any Roman player …. they are desperately short of cavalry to protect the wings. Their Alae cavalry are elsewhere, so the few remaining Roman cavalry are outnumbered 8:1.

In addition, the Roman line is initially facing 100 elephants and behind them is a wall of African infantry Phalanx. Historically, the Carthaginian cavalry swept the Roman cavalry away, exposing Roman flanks, while the elephants and phalanx frontal assault shattered the Roman legions.

In my last play, I was finding it difficult, once the lines became mixed, to determine which of the Alae cohorts belonged to the Hastati group and which belonged to the Principes.

While scrolling through posts at Consimworld, I found a most helpful entry. The poster suggested that the Principes should set up on their flip side. The flip side carries a white bar, instantly signifying which units are Hastati and which are Principes.

In the simple version of Great Battles of History, the flip side of the counter is not used in the same way as the original full rules use them. Rather they use the flip side to show which units are not in command when their formation is activated.

This of course is an equally useful administrative function, so now I just use a game marker to show which units are out of command. The single effect of being out of command is that a unit cannot enter or leave an enemy Zone of Control.

The Carthaginian cavalry superiority and the resulting threat to the Roman flanks is certainly a problem for the Romans in this scenario. My solution was to pull the Principes out towards the flanks to meet the cavalry threat, while leaving the Velites and Hastati to deal with the elephant assault.

It turned out that the Romans had done enough to protect their flanks from the cavalry threat, but their front line was ravaged by the elephants.

Though taking heavy casualties, the Romans have withstood the initial Carthaginian assault.

The elephants break off the attack and retire. The main line of Phalanx and Celts have to open up to allow the beasts to pass through.

The Romans used this lull to re-organise their army. The battered Hastati fall back and the fresh Principes move up into the front line position. They refuse their flanks as a defence against the threat of Carthaginian cavalry. I very much like the way that this system is allowing proper tactics and army management.

In the Photograph, you can see that the Carthaginian main line has moved forward, ready to engage the Romans. In their rear are the remnants of the elephant corps (for want of a better expression!). The cavalry on the Carthaginian left are well ordered and positioned, ready to support the attack, but on their right, the cavalry wing and light infantry under Hasdrubal have become a little awkwardly placed - they need to sort themselves out!

The dark blue double hex long counters in the Carthaginian line are the North African Phalanx units, the single hex green units are the Celt warriors. The Phalanx blocks are hard hitters, getting a combat bonus for size and generally their Troop Quality factor equals or betters those of the Roman line - though they can be a little awkward to manoeuvre.

And so here we are, at what is essentially Phase II of the battle. The Romans are more than halfway to their breaking point, but I feel that the fresh Principes, now in the front line will not be an easy walkover for the Carthaginians - I am in the middle of this and the outcome is not certain, or at least the Roman side still feel like there is a fight to be had - good!

But, as the Carthaginian attack resumes, the Roman player gets an immediate sense of doom! The African Phalanx units carve into the Roman line, I am shocked at the effectiveness of the attack, though the Phalanx were repeatedly rolling good dice scores ….. but, it was not all going the way of the Carthaginians. On their right, the Celt infantry were taking significant losses and a gap opened in the centre, which the Romans took full advantage of, pouring through and enveloping the phalanx line.

It is a moment of crisis for both sides. The Romans teeter on their breaking point, can they push the Carthaginians over the edge before their own army falls apart?

The Carthaginians attack the Roman right with their cavalry, hoping to quickly bring the Romans to their knees, but their Phalanx units are starting to lose cohesion. The first unit is lost. Loss of these two hex Phalanx counters give double break points, each adding 14 points to the Carthaginian break score.

A second Phalanx is marked with 6 hits, 7 will destroy it, which would take the Carthaginians within 2 break points of losing the game, but the Romans just don’t have the time left to make this happen. It is tight, but they lose two more of their own units, pushing them beyond their own break point (125).

It is all over. Carthage wins, but it is so close.

If just looking at the map, it would be hard to pick a winner, but the break points tell their own tale. The high losses that the Romans suffered on their initial engagement with the elephants, made a comeback difficult, but there was enough hope to make the struggle worthwhile.

The Triarii (final Roman line of defence) have restrictions as to when they can be released and as it happens, those conditions were met in the last turn, so who knows what might of happened if these fresh troops had had a couple of turns to try and turn the tide.

There were three key moments in the game. (1) The initial elephant charge caused carnage in the Roman front rank, though the ‘nellies’ themselves suffered heavy losses (2) the Celts dissolved with surprising speed, leaving a large gap in the Carthaginian centre (3) the final tussle between the Phalanx units and the Roman Principes JUST tipped in favour of the Carthaginians ….. but on another day - who knows! 

I must say, this was a brilliant game, the best that I have played in a while, it really drew me in. It went over the four hour mark for play and you definitely need a pair of tweezers to manage the loss markers that all of the units start to carry around in this tightly packed battlefield.

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These are ‘Epic’ scale figures from Warlord Games. Having selected Trebbia as a first scenario, I have started building bases specifically for that game.

These are the Roman forces, but they are not based to the standard method advocated by Warlord Games, I am trying something that I hope will visually enhance the army.

At the moment, these units are on temporary bases (60mm) and will get moved to 80mm bases as each unit gets painted. It will be easier to break the temporary bond from a plastic base than it will a MDF base.