'We need a victory!' (A Clash of Spears campaign battle report)

Roman "ghosts" hold the hill against Carrthage's finest.

Malchus stalked his way back to his tent, Bostar at his side. “Dammit, man,” he growled, “The men looked like crap at drill today.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Bostar agreed. There wasn’t much else he could say. The soldiers had lost their will to fight. Their exercise was listless. Lack of food, plunder, and success was taking its toll.

“Time to motivate them,“ Malchus went on. “Erect six crosses in the center of camp. Don’t say anything about them, just let the men see them, and wonder.”

“As you command,” Bostar replied. Inwardly he groaned. The sight of those dreaded implements of torture would not improve the morale situation.

Malchus raised his voice. “And get me another damned seer! After the fiasco with the last one, the men have gotten spooked. We need good omens.”

And better results, Bostar thought, but he was careful to keep that thought to himself as well. Winning was the only thing that would truly raise the men's spirits.

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Brett and I met to play another campaign game for Clash of Spears. This would be my fourth game of the turn, and I desperately sought a victory for Rasap and his acolyte Malchus. We rolled up the "This is my land!" scenario, which is basically just a contest over two central objectives.

We decided on easy deployment, set up our troops, and the battle commenced!

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After the initial, tentative advances, this was the situation at the beginning of turn 2. 

Across the field, Malchus could barely make out the shapes of enemy soldiers. They looked ghostly in the distant haze, and he wondered what his men would be facing. Hopefully not more of those damned Greeks! 

As the ranks closed, he could make out their uniforms and crests. Romans! Rasap was truly smiling on him today.

Malchus directs the javelin men and spearmen on the left flank.

On the right, the Punic citizens and more spearmen hold formation. Little do the citizens know this will be their last battle...

"Onward!" Malchus bellowed at his spearmen as he pushed them forward to the objective. So far, the battle plan was holding. On the left a strong advance by his javelin men and spearmen held the objective. And on the right, the combined formations of more spearmen and the useless citizens made a strong push toward the second objective.

Yes, Malchus thought to himself, that was it! The citizens had a chance to redeem themselves in his eyes, and so far they were making the most of it.

Libyans hold the left objective.

Libyans hold the right objective.

Malchus and Bostar survey the field.

Malchus squinted as he tried to ascertain the positions of all his units. The bright sun glinted fiercely off helmets and spearpoints, and he could feel Rasap's favor upon him. He could taste victory!

The pinpoints of light faded as a cloud scudded across the sky, obstructing the sun. Malchus hoped that wasn't a bad omen...

Javelinmen score four hits on the formed-up hastati, but only two die.

On the right, the Punic citizens charge headlong into the velites, who fail their reaction check and take the brunt of the charge.

On his right, Malchus could make out the Punic citizens as they stormed up a small rise to engage the Roman velites. They would succeed in making a name for themselves or die trying. Despite their best efforts, only one enemy combatant fell, though the foe was driven back.

Malchus's pride turned to fury as the citizens were in turn charged by the Roman elite hastati.

The hastati make short work of the Punic citizens. They would not achieve glory in their final combat.

In their turn, the Libyan spearmen charged headlong into the hastati, raining blow after blow upon them. Alas, it was to little effect as the Romans were able to parry or deflect almost all of them.

The spearmen score multiple hits on the Romans, but to very little effect.

Malchus had no more time to spare for the fight on the right hill. All his attention was now taken up by the fierce battle in front of him. His javalineers threw volley after volley into the enemy spearmen, who seemed impervious to the missiles.

Malchus orders his men to launch another wave of javelins at the enemy.

Meanwhile, his vaunted spearmen broke formation as the enemy rained spears down upon them. That made them vulnerable...

The Libyans suffer hits and lose their close order.

Back on the right, Bostar, who had been left behind by the wild advance of the Carthaginian troops, watched helplessly as the spearmen, now unsupported, launched a last-ditch charge into the hastati. By Baal, they were magnificent! The wretched Romans didn't have a chance in Hades of standing up to their fury. 

But, as the dust settled Hanno could see the foe regroup, and take the fight to the spearmen. Bostar wept bitter tears as he saw the heroic warriors fall one by one until the unit was gone.

The spearmen "all-out attack," scoring four hits on the Romans and wiping out the unit.

But they, in turn, suffer attacks from the Roman commander and the velites, breaking their formation and destroying them.

On the left flank, Malchus looked on in disbelief as his spearmen were routed there as well. The hastati were fearsome and seemingly unstoppable. They were swarmed by the javelin men and themselves wiped out.

But, as his fortune faded with the dying light, Malchus's last remaining unit was in turn attacked and defeated by the enemy.

Malchus fell back, collecting Bostar and returning to camp with the weary and battered survivors of this encounter.

The javelineers wipe out the fatigued hastati, before being eliminated themselves.

That night at the camp, Malchus lay in his bed, staring at the tent's ceiling. Try as he might, he could not shake the feeling that Rasap had abandoned him. What other explanation was there? Certainly, his men had fought hard enough to win, with one notable exception. He and his commanders had led them ably and made the right choices.

Malchus was tired, and needed rest. In the morning, refreshed and renewed, he would face the issues head-on and start to fix the problems. He had already made contact with the leader of a Numidian cavalry troop, and perhaps he could persuade them to join his force, if he played down their lack of success. 

But to make room in the camp and be able to feed and pay the Numidians, something, or more properly, someone, several someones in fact, had to go. Malchus had made that decision earlier in the day. As the dying moans from the crucified citizens filled the camp, Malchus rolled over, and slept.

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After four games in the first campaign turn, and four losses, it really is time to self-evaluate. It is clear that there is something about the “game” of Clash that I am missing. Whether it is troop selection, tactics or something else, I don’t know. 

For Clash, I have purposefully chosen forces that I enjoy reading about and modeling. Maybe not selecting my faction based on troop availability and traits, but rather on what I thought would be fun, was a mistake. But the truth is I am a modeler/painter/amateur historian first and a gamer second, and always have been. That’s not going to change.

Maybe it is the mechanics behind the tactical decisions that I need to concentrate one. Again, I usually order my troops to do what “feels’ right or seems reasonable for soldiers in their position to do. Perhaps I should pay more attention to the math behind the tactical options. But, again, I play to the rule of cool. As Gimli says in the movie version of LotR, “Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?” Go big, or go home, usually in a box.

I am not a “super gamer,” but I usually do a bit better than average at games. So, something needs to change in order for me to succeed. But at the same time, I do absolutely realize that I need to have fun while playing the game, win or lose. Winning games that I don’t enjoy for whatever reason is not a solution.

For turn two, I’ll start by adjusting my troop selection. The Carthage warband that I selected suffers from a distinct lack of missile weapons. That will be remedied with the addition of Numidian cavalry and the expulsion of Punic citizen infantry. What other changes I make will depend on the final tally of assets and resources available to me in the campaign.

The first game of turn two is, to me, a must-win. The campaign is structured so that the advantages gained by winning to the first battle of the turn are very difficult to replicate by winning succeeding battles. And, the more battles you fight, while there are diminished chances for gain, also potentially incur further losses. So, getting off on the right foot in a turn is crucial to success.

Will Malchus succeed in his quest for glory? Will Bostar one day see his boss Malchus himself on a cross? Only time will tell. On to turn two!

‘Til next time!