Desired scans : Rank and File supplements Harpoon 3 & 4 supplements Force on Force supplements Hind Commander At Close Quarters War and Conquest Modern Spearhead
Justin Lee
October 19th in military history:
202 BC – Second Punic War: At the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage. 439 – The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa. 1466 – The Thirteen Years' War ends with the Second Treaty of Thorn. 1649 – New Ross town, County Wexford, Ireland, surrenders to Oliver Cromwell. 1781 – At Yorktown, Virginia, representatives of British commander Lord Cornwallis handed over Cornwallis' sword and formally surrendered to George Washington and the comte de Rochambeau. 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Ulm. Thirty thousand prisoners are captured and 10,000 casualties inflicted on the losers. 1812 – Napoleon Bonaparte retreats from Moscow. 1813 – The Battle of Leipzig concludes, giving Napoleon Bonaparte one of his worst defeats. 1864 – Battle of Cedar Creek: Union Army under Philip Sheridan destroys a Confederate Army under Jubal Early. 1864 – St. Albans Raid: Confederate raiders launch an attack on Saint Albans, Vermont from Canada. 1914 – The First Battle of Ypres begins. 1921 – Portuguese Prime Minister António Granjo and other politicians are murdered in a Lisbon coup. 1943 – The cargo vessel Sinfra is attacked by Allied aircraft at Souda Bay, Crete, and sunk. Two thousand ninety-eight Italian prisoners of war drown with it. 1944 – United States forces land in the Philippines. 1950 – The People's Liberation Army takes control of the town of Chamdo. 1950 – The People's Republic of China joins the Korean War by sending thousands of troops across the Yalu River to fight United Nations forces. 1976 – Battle of Aishiya in Lebanon. 1987 – The United States Navy conducts Operation Nimble Archer, an attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.
Jeremiah Wright
It is 2,219 years since the Battle of Zama, the deciding engagement in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). A Roman army led by Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (Scipio), with crucial support from Numidian leader Masinissa, defeated a Carthaginian force led by the commander Hannibal, despite Hannibal possessing numerical superiority. This was because many in his army were recent conscripts, and the vaunted Numidian cavalry which Hannibal had employed with great success in Italy had by then switched sides to the Romans. Scipio had conceived of a strategy to confuse and defeat Hannibal's war elephants, and then his force routed the Carthaginian infantry, thanks in part to superior Roman cavalry. Defeated on their home ground, the Carthaginian ruling elite sued for peace and accepted humiliating terms.
At the beginning of the War in 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal had boldly crossed the Alps and attacked into Italy, sweeping Roman armies aside. In the wake of these triumphs, he marched south looting the country and attempting to force Rome's allies to defect to Carthage's side. Stunned and in crisis from these defeats, the Romans avoided battle with Hannibal's army, instead raiding the Carthaginian supply lines and practicing attritional warfare. Rome soon proved unhappy with these methods and but an invasion was routed at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC.
Following his victory, Hannibal spent the next several years attempting to build an alliance in Italy against Rome. As the war on the peninsula descended into a stalemate, Roman troops, led by Scipio Africanus, began having success in Iberia and captured large swaths of Carthaginian territory in the region. In 204 BC, after fourteen years of war, Roman troops landed in North Africa with the goal of directly attacking Carthage.
Gabriel Cruz
Led by Scipio, the Romans succeeded in defeating Carthaginian forces led by Hasdrubal Gisco and their Numidian allies commanded by Syphax at Utica and Great Plains (203 BC). With their situation precarious, the Carthaginian leadership sued for peace with Scipio. This offer was accepted by the Romans who offered moderate terms. While the treaty was being debated in Rome, those Carthaginians who favored continuing the war had Hannibal recalled from Italy.
During this same period, Carthaginian forces captured a Roman supply fleet in the Gulf of Tunes. This success, along with the return of Hannibal and his veterans from Italy, led to change of heart on the part of the Carthaginian senate. Emboldened, they elected to continue the conflict and Hannibal set about enlarging his army. Marching out with a total force of around 40,000 men and 80 elephants, Hannibal encountered Scipio near Zama Regia. Forming his men in three lines, Hannibal placed his mercenaries in first line, his new recruits and levies in the second, and his Italian veterans in the third. These men were supported by the elephants to the front and Numidian and Carthaginian cavalry on the flanks.
To counter Hannibal's army, Scipio deployed his 35,100 men in a similar formation consisting of three lines. The right wing was held by Numidian cavalry, led by Masinissa, while Laelius' Roman horsemen were placed on the left flank. Aware that Hannibal's elephants could be devastating on the attack, Scipio devised a new way to counter them. Though tough and strong, the elephants could not turn when they charged. Using this knowledge, he formed his infantry in separate units with gaps in between. These were filled with velites (light troops) which could move to allow the elephants to pass through. It was his goal to allow the elephants to charge through these gaps thus minimizing the damage they could inflict.
Joshua Cruz
As anticipated, Hannibal opened the battle by ordering his elephants to charge the Roman lines. Moving forward, they were engaged by the Roman velites who drew them through the gaps in the Roman lines and out of the battle. In addition, Scipio's cavalry blew large horns to frighten the elephants. With Hannibal's elephants neutralized, he reorganized his infantry in a traditional formation and sent forward his cavalry. Attacking on both wings, the Roman and Numidian horsemen overwhelmed their opposition and pursued them from the field. Though displeased by his cavalry's departure, Scipio began advancing his infantry.
This was met by an advance from Hannibal. While Hannibal's mercenaries defeated the first Roman assaults, his men slowly began to be pushed back by Scipio's troops. As the first line gave way, Hannibal would not allow it to pass back through the other lines. Instead, these men moved to the wings of the second line. Pressing forward, Hannibal struck with this force and a bloody fight ensued. Ultimately defeated, the Carthaginians fell back to the flanks of the third line. Extending his line to avoid being outflanked, Scipio pressed the attack against Hannibal's best troops. With the battle surging back and forth, the Roman cavalry rallied and returned to the field. Charging the rear of Hannibal's position, the cavalry caused his lines to break. Pinned between two forces, the Carthaginians were routed from the field.
Exact casualties are not known. Some sources claim that Hannibal's casualties numbered 20,000 killed and 20,000 taken prisoner, while the Romans lost around 2,500 and 4,000 wounded. Regardless of casualties, the defeat at Zama led to Carthage renewing its calls for peace. These were accepted by Rome, however the terms were harsher than those offered a year earlier. In addition to losing the majority of its empire, a substantial war indemnity was imposed and Carthage was effectively destroyed as a power.
Owen Ortiz
Zama is a defintive kind of Classical battle, fought in a sandpit between relatively even armies, where only the calibre of the troops and the quality of the general made the difference. Who wouldn't want to step into the sandals of Hannibal and Scipio?
The current community project is for a Garrison, Milita, or Second-Line-type unit
Christian Williams
I think I'm starting to get into Historical Mini's, certainly not learning how to play, but to collect and paint.
Whats a good place to look at some sets to buy for the U.S civil war?
James Young
>Whats a good place to look at some sets to buy for the U.S civil war? If you want cheap and plentiful, there's a pile of 1:72 plastics you can choose from With metal there's a great range in 15mm via Old Glory, and 28mm with Foundry There are several 40mm ranges too If you're looking specifically to paint up some nice models for collection and display, then those Foundry ones would be a good choice
