A Very Uneven Clash of Spears!

 Heiro the Syracusan Encounters a Roman Patrol Occupying the Sacred Temple Ruins of the Paliaci.

The Ruined Temple of the Paliaci on the Palagonian Plain. (Along with some Clash paraphernalia!)

In my latest learning game of Clash of Spears, just over 500 points of Republican Romans faced up to 550 points of Syracusans lead by Heiro the Hero of Syracuse.

The Roman patrol, led by Titus Arellius, which had stumbled across the ruined temple of the Paliaci in the Palagonian Plain, consisted of 6 Velites, shielded skirmish specialists, 8 Hastati and 6 Principes.

Having been alerted by local shepherds of the Roman presence, Heiro set out with a force consisting of 6 Psiloi, 6 Archers, 8 Peltasts, and two groups of Hoplites, 6 unarmoured Citizen Hoplites and 6 Veterans clad in the full Hoplite panoply. 

Titus and his outnumbered forces watch as the Syracusans advance inexorably towards them.

Although Heiro had the advantage of numbers, in his haste to eject the detested Romans from the temple ruins, he neglected to add any other commanders to his warband and, consequently, was always going to have difficulty activating all of his units while Titus, on the other hand, would have sufficient Action Points to go around.

Heiro sends his Psiloi scurrying off to engage the Roman Velites occupying the Temple Ruins.

The brave Psiloi, shieldless and exposed dash, to evict the invader from the sacred ground.

 

The Psiloi advance and stop short of the Romans before making a Throw move, causing two casualties, in spite of the cover provided by the ruins.

The Velites gain two fatigue points from the attack and stall, making them unable to react to the Psiloi.

With the Romans stalled, the Psiloi take the opportunity to use their third action to launch another throw attack. Even the +1 Save from missiles can't prevent another Velite becoming a casualty and their Fatigue is beginning to become a serious problem.

At the end of Turn 1, the Roman Principes and Hastati are advancing, using their Drilled Trait to get a full 4 inch move while being in Close Order. The Syracusan Peltasts are advancing on the right flank with the Archers in support, while the Hoplites advance to support the Psiloi at the Temple Ruins. However, Heiro's lack of Command Points has caused the Citizen Hoplites to get left behind and Heiro is now beyond Command Range of the Psiloi!

During Turn 2, Heiro advances to stay in Command Range and the Syracusan Archers bring down two of the Roman Hastati. The Peltasts use their Skirmish Specialist Trait to fall back before the advancing Hastati.

In turn 3, the Roman Principes charge into the Syracusan Veteran Hoplites; the Hoplites Wall of Spears Trait gives them the opportunity to strike first with half of their men.

The combat is inconclusive and the Romans fall back.

The Romans try a second attack while they are still fresh.

The Hoplites get the upper hand, causing three casualties and the Roman's Fatigue rockets out of control!

Catastrophe for the Romans as their Fatigue rises to 7 and the final two Principes bite the dust!

With his elite troops wiped out, Titus decides the time has come to leave the battlefield to the enemy.

In total, the Romans lost 11 casualties compared to the Syracusan's single Psiloi lost in the fire fight at the Temple.

The obvious conclusion to this game of Clash, is that I need to paint up some more Romans! I currently have half a dozen Cretan Archers on the paint bench, so they should be joining Titus Arellius fairly soon. As far as I can tell, I pretty much applied everything rules wise that I should have done; I might have missed a Reaction Test during the scuffle for the Temple and I need to look up what happens when two units are fighting over a piece of terrain, but apart from that, I think I've managed to get my head round some the intricacies of Clash of Spears!