Battle of Gela wrap up and some Marengo Napoleonics

Battle of Gela ended disastrously for me on Wednesday. This puts my win-loss record in Great Battles of History to 0-2 when I play the side that SHOULD have won.

Though I started the day in a position to possibly pull off a win I knew that my forces were terribly weakened on the right and may not be able to mount the counter attack I needed for at least a couple more turns. On the left I had already had my flank folded and things were looking grim. You can read the first report here:

http://hudsonshideout.blogspot.com/2013/08/great-battles-of-alexander-battle-of_21.html

So when the game started up again I had to deal with the reorganization of my left flank and healing up my right flank and getting things ready to try and destroy some of his phalanxes. If I could get 2 kills that may give me enough points to force his Greek army to withdraw.

Unfortunately his elite leader had other ideas. He went first and continued to press on the left. When my turn came around I failed every rally roll but one and essentially gave him free points for every unit of mine I unwillingly destroyed. The Carthaginians were close to routing.

With my points low and my forces too beat up to mount a counter attack the Greeks picked off my isolated units on the left and my army reached its breaking point. Another tough loss for me in the game system.

The Battle of Marengo

After this we decided to play a lighter game and picked the 1975 classic Napoleon at War quad game by SPI. We chose the battle of Marengo. I played the French of course and my opponent took the Austrians. This game had some special rules like half movement for the French on turn one and a special French counterattack on turn 9+ starting for 3 turns.

I wasn't sure how the battle exactly went so I focused on forming defensive lines along the streams and rivers. I knew I had to maintain the ability to strike and get Marengo back near the end of the game to win.

As the battle ebbed and flowed my opponent craftily evaded the brunt of my counter attack in a masterful retreat move and I really did not inflict too many casualties on him. So it came to the last turn of the game and in a last ditch counter attack I forced him to retreat from Marengo and retook the city for a win. It was a close game that came down to one die roll. Even for 1975 sometimes the older games still provide some tense moments.