What's So Great About Carthaginians?
Richard Bodley Scott
On the face of it, nothing. They have no super troops, no effective shock troops, no gimmicks. Yet they remain a popular army and reasonably successful in DBM competition play. Let me explain why I like them.
They have the romantic
glamour of the doomed. Their city and culture was destroyed by the Romans at a
time when the Roman Republic was the aggressive enemy of civilization. Yet they
put up far more resistance than any of the Hellenistic kingdoms, and came close
to destroying Roman power completely in the 2nd Punic War.
Their commander-in-chief in
the 2nd Punic War was Hannibal, one of the greatest generals of antiquity.
Although Hannibal rated himself as third after Alexander and Pyrrhos, he was
overly modest. His victories were certainly more impressive than Pyrrhos's, and
his focus was clearer. Although Alexander achieved great conquests, he did so
using the superb Macedonian army created by his father, whereas Hannibal
achieved his successes with an ad-hoc collection of polyglot mercenaries.
The varied nationalities
making up a Carthaginian army make for an interesting and attractive model army
on the table.
Many figure manufacturers
make suitable ranges. In 15mm, I recommend Donnington figures, as they have
perhaps the most varied range in this period.
Although the Carthaginian
army has no super troops, it is a very well balanced force of light and heavy
infantry, light and heavy cavalry, plus elephants. The troops are relatively
cheap in DBM AP, so it is possible to field a larger than average force.
When you are defeated, you
can shrug it off and say "Well, that's another lot of mercenaries I won't
have to pay. Soon recruit some more."
Here follows three 500AP versions of the Carthaginian army at different periods of the 2nd Punic War. They are not intended to be historically exact, but only to give the flavour of the army at each period as applied to a competitive wargames army. I will discuss their virtues and disadvantages. Note that in each case the cavalry wings are organized into an attacking wing containing most of the heavy cavalry, and a defensive wing containing most of the light horse. This corresponds to Hannibal's dispositions and tactics at Cannae, and is generally more effective than two symmetrical wings.
Hannibal at Cannae - 216 BC
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Hannibal at Cannae - 216 BC |
86 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 43 |
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Command 1 |
33.5 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 11.5 |
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C-in-C - Hannibal |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Spanish scutarii |
8 Reg Ax (S) |
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Gallic infantry |
20 Irr Wb (F) |
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Celtiberian scutarii |
4 Irr Wb (F) |
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Balearic slingers |
1 Reg Ps (O) |
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Command 2 |
26 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 9 |
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SG - Hasdrubal |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Gallic cavalry |
6 Irr Cv (O) |
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Spanish long shield cavalry |
3 Reg Cv (O) |
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Spanish round shield cavalry |
1 Reg LH (O) |
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Veteran African spearmen |
8 Reg Sp (S) |
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Spanish caetrati |
4 Reg Ps (S) |
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Balearic slingers |
2 Reg Ps (O) |
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Ligurian infantry |
4 Irr Ax (O) |
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Command 3 |
26.5 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 9 |
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SG - Maharbal |
1 Reg LH (O) |
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Numidian light horse |
8 Irr LH (O) |
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Veteran African spearmen |
8 Reg Sp (S) |
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Numidian javelinmen |
8 Irr Ps (S) |
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Balearic slingers |
3 Irr Ps (O) |
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Ligurian infantry |
4 Irr Ax (O) |
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Baggage |
6 Bg |
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Ditch and palisade for camp |
12 TF |
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The distinctive feature of this version is the large number of warbands (F). Personally, I avoid these like the plague, but Hannibal no doubt did not like to look a gift horse in the mouth. The problem is that although warbands can be deadly against heavy infantry opponents such as spears or blades, warband (F) are too brittle. They tend to die in large numbers, and when they do, the rest of the army becomes demoralised. Moreover, in non-historical confrontations, they are easy meat for enemy knights. In short, don't use them in open competitions.
If you do intend to use warbands (F), you must plan around them. Most important, you must not let them spontaneously advance, at least until they are within charge reach of the enemy infantry. This is easy to prevent with Hannibal controlling their command, as with his C-in-C's PIP he can hold them even on a die score of 1. I would deploy with the warbands four ranks deep in the centre (to prevent holes appearing in the line when the front ranks die) and the cavalry and light horse commands on each wing. I would hold back the warbands, hoping that the enemy could be induced to advance against them, thus increasing the scope for outflanking by the cavalry and African spearmen. Unfortunately, one cannot rely on one's opponent being as cooperative as Caius Terentius Varro.
Alternative options open to those determined to use Gauls would be to deploy them in rough going, or to send them on a flank march.
Hannibal in Southern Italy - 206 BC
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Hannibal in Southern Italy - 206 BC |
72 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 36 |
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Command 1 |
20 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 7 |
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C-in-C - Hannibal |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Gallic cavalry |
6 Irr Cv (O) |
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Spanish long shield cavalry |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Spanish round shield cavalry |
2 Reg LH (O) |
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Spanish scutarii |
8 Reg Ax (S) |
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Balearic slingers |
4 Reg Ps (O) |
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Command 2 |
20 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 7 |
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SG |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Veteran African spearmen |
16 Reg Sp (S) |
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Numidian javelinmen |
6 Irr Ps (S) |
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Command 3 |
19 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 7 |
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SG |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Libyphoenician cavalry |
3 Reg Cv (O) |
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Numidian light horse |
8 Irr LH (O) |
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Ligurian infantry |
7 Irr Ax (O) |
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Baggage |
8 Bg |
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Ditch and palisade for camp |
12 TF |
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Command 4 |
13 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 5 |
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Lucanian Ally General |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Lucanian cavalry |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Lucanian javelinmen |
11 Reg Ax (S) |
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This is more like it. All the Gallic foot have gone home (or been assimilated into other units), and been replaced by Italian allied auxilia (S). This is an army of manoeuvre, best in broken terrain. It is capable of rapid advances and on-table outflanking movements. The Ligurians make an adequate camp guard. The African veterans make a solid force around which the other troops can pivot.
The main weakness, from a competition point of view, is the shortage of troops capable of standing up to knights in the open. However, skillful use of terrain and superior numbers can compensate. This is definitely a viable competition army.
Hannibal in Africa - 202 BC
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Hannibal in Africa - 202 BC |
69 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 34.5 |
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Command 1 |
20 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 7 |
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C-in-C - Hannibal |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Gallic cavalry |
6 Irr Cv (O) |
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Spanish long shield cavalry |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Spanish round shield cavalry |
2 Reg LH (O) |
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Bruttian veterans |
8 Reg Ax (S) |
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Ligurian infantry |
2 Irr Ax (O) |
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Command 2 |
27.5 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 9.5 |
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SG |
1 Reg LH (O) |
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Veteran African spearmen |
8 Reg Sp (S) |
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Other African spearmen |
8 Reg Sp (O) |
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Elephants |
6 Irr El (I) |
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Numidian javelinmen |
6 Irr Ps (S) |
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Balearic slingers |
3 Irr Ps (O) |
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Command 3 |
22 E.Eq. = Demoralised on 8 |
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SG |
1 Reg Cv (O) |
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Libyphoenician cavalry |
3 Reg Cv (O) |
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Numidian light horse |
6 Irr LH (O) |
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Spanish scutarii |
2 Reg Ax (S) |
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Ligurians with axes |
4 Irr Ax (S) |
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Other Ligurian infantry |
6 Irr Ax (O) |
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Baggage |
6 Bg |
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Ditch and palisade for camp |
11 TF |
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This demonstrates an alternative army composition, including a large number of elephants (I). While these are the least effective elephants under the rules, they are still good enough to bring knights out in a sweat. This is therefore another viable competition army. I would normally deploy the elephants well back in reserve with the Numidian javelinmen to support them. They can then be manoeuvred (with some difficulty) to face enemy knights or cavalry. Fortunately the rest of the army is easily manoeuvrable.