Iacta alea est ...
49BC. Rome is in turmoil. Armed mobs rule the streets. The First Triumvirate, overseers of the last days of the Roman Republic, has disintegrated. The Senate and the people have two options: on the one hand is the overweening ego and ambition but limited military vision of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus -- Pompey the Great; on the other hand is one if history's greatest and most schemingly ambitious political and military figures, the conqueror of Gaul, Caius Julius Caesar. In Italy, at the edge of the Rubicon River, word of the stalemate has reached Caesar and his XIII Legion. He intones for posterity: "Iacta alea est" ... the die is cast.
PharsalusThessalyAugust 9 48BC |
The great, set-piece battle of the Civil Wars is one of the most famous battles of the ancient world. With both armies virtually wedged between a river and rocky heights, Pompey not only outnumbers Caesar in legions, but his cavalry is far superior to the small mounted force Caesar can bring to bear. Both opponents have several crack legions, but Pompey is forced to use legions of dubious loyalty. Can Caesar use his superiority in experience and command skills to nullify Pompey's cavalry and numerical superiority, or has Pompey finally figured out a way to beat his Julian rival? |
Dyrrhachium-LesnikiaIllyria48BC |
Caesar and Pompey have both come to Illyria to settle their differences, each trying to besiege the other. Towers, ramparts, and lines of circumvallation and contravallation dot the rocky Illyrian coast, as both armies try to go one up on the other. Pompey has the troops, he has the position, he has the cavalry ... and, in general, he has the upper hand. Can Caesar fight off Pompey's naval assault? Can he surprise Pompey with a daring night raid to retake his camp? One of the most unusual scenarios and battles in the system. |
ThapsusAfrica46BC |
In this, the last elephant battle of the ancient world, the Senatorial army is now led by Mettelus Scipio. His army is big, and he has over 60 elephants ... but both are virtually untrained. Scipio does have one thing going for him though: a second army of almost 40,000 men, under King Juba of Numidia. And Lucius Afranius is behind Caesar! Can the Numidians break through Caesar's rear guard? Or will Julius smash the raw conscripts of Scipio in time to fight off the threat from behind? |
RuspinaAfrica46BC |
Caesar leads a small army of 30 cohorts, with minimal cavalry support, inland in North Africa in search of supplies to sustain his African venture. What they find is Titus Labienus with almost 10,000 Numidian cavalry, and perhaps double that in infantry support, both using a new method of fighting that threatens to engulf Caesar in a repeat of Crassius's disastrous defeat at Carrhae just a few years earlier. A great solitaire test! |
MundaSpain45BC |
The end of the Civil Wars is near, but the battlefield has shifted to Spain. Gnaeus Pompeius has gathered the biggest army of the war, some 13 legions, and massed it on top of a formidable ridge. Caesar has only eight legions, but they're his best. The biggest and possibly the best battle of the war. |
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TIME SCALE | 20 minutes per turn |
MAP SCALE | 70 yards per hex |
UNIT SCALE | 100 men per size point |
NUMBER OF PLAYERS | One to four |
Dictator exp.:
"Dictator introduces two key battles from the fading years of the Roman Republic, when Rome was faced with three major outside threats -- the Numidians under King Jugurtha; the Germanic invasion of the Cimbri, Teutons, and Ambrones; and the threat from the east of King Mithridates of Pontus -- and wracked with civil wars and the conflict for power between the two leading men at the turn of the century -- Gaius Marius and L. Cornelius Sulla -- all leading to the brutal dictatorship of Sulla. The outside threats led quickly to the establishment of the army as a political power base; the day of the military dictator was at hand, and the Republic was entering its death throes."
Jugurtha exp.:
"Jugurtha allows players to simulate the two key battles of the Jugurthine War (112-105 BC), in which Rome expanded to take virtually all of North Africa, destroying, in the process, the once-proud kingdom of Numidia ... Jugurtha also gives gamers something they rarely see in ancient world battles: guerrilla warfare. Here's a rare chance to test your on-field maneuver capabilities. In addition, the Numidian forces are rather different from anything else we've seen: almost entirely light in nature, they rely on speed and mobility more than anything else."
Battles:
The Muthul River - 109 BC
Cirta - 106 BC
Expansion module for the Great Battles of History (GBoH) series game Caesar: The Civil Wars. SPQR is required to use historical units for The Muthul River scenario.
Veni Vidi Vici exp.:
Expansion module for the GBoH (Great Battles of History) series game Caesar: The Civil Wars. Portrays the battles of Nicopolis, 48BC, and Zela, 47BC. Requires the parent game and the Dictator expansion module.
Expands: