Turn 4 – 215 BC – Planning
"Stop showing us plans and kill the Romans!"
Hannibal advises the senate to reinforce Italy. This may be a bit riskier but it is also the quickest way to end this war.
Those fat fucks…
Hannibal could have opted to pull some strings before sending his advice but decided it was not worth the loss of prestige (aka play the senate influence card). All options are currently acceptable, including the reinforcement of Spain which is, given, under threat by Gracchus. If we reinforce Spain, we also have the possibility of reinforcing Italy from there in the future. Overall it is not to bad. Still, the senate needs to learn to trust Hannibros advice. They also skimped on funds for both recruits and commands.
Assholes.
Still recognizing the need for a larger navy, the generals authorize the building of a single squadron. This not only increases the strength of our (pitiful) navy, but also allows us to ferry 5 troops this campaign phase, exactly the number we have stationed in Utica. And seeing that the majority of those troops are Spanish, they are surely itching to kick Gracchus’ ass out of Spain
As such, Himilco, stationed in Carthage, and waiting for his chance at glory has devised a simple reinforcement plan for Spain
Himilco will ferry his army to New Carthage and combine with the forces there. From there he will head to Emporion and lay siege to the city.
To prevent Gracchus from slipping away by sea, the Carthaginian fleet will be placed off shore of Spain. He may still attempt to flee but we will have a chance at interception.
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Once again Hannibal has the toughest decisions to make, and he has been drawing up some plans for his next campaign season
Each plan is designated a color and has an objective.
Green:
Objective: Reinforce Hannibal with the units that were recruited in Pisa last year. All plans incorporate this.
Red
Objective: Plow through Italy and capture Bruttium as fast as possible.
I personally consider Bruttium the most attractive province on the map at the moment, with a great choke point, access to both the province containing Rome, and Apulia Calabria, the potential for a whopping three units per turn, and the ability to reliably evade pitched battles if need be. There are also 2 Roman villas on the way.
This would be accomplished by moving into Latium Campania, possibly destroying he villas, using an extended march option, storming Consentia and then laying siege to Rhegium
The obvious drawback to this is that we leave northern Italy to the Romans. I do not welcome the idea but I do not think it is ‘as bad’ as it may seem (Honestly I don’t think you are meant to hold everything). They would waste time and units taking back the cities which have now grown to almost full militia capacity.
Also it requires the use of an extended march card or risk attrition
(Keep in mind that I am not retaking this pic every time. The recruitment pools are not necessarily what it says when I post this shit)
Orange/
Yellow
Objective: Create a deadlock and force Scipio to fight on the field, or lose out on forming the massive army he has the potential to create
By moving into Umbria Samnium and remaining camped on the field, we could essentially shut down the whole province. It is currently the most dangerous area on the map in respect to pure force size, however its forces are separated. By sitting on the field we make it impossible for Scipio who is sitting in Corfinium, to make use of the troops in Ancona or Asculum. If he wants those troops, he must fight. We also remain the dominant force in northern Italy if we follow this plan
Yellow is a variant in which we capture Luceria before making camp in field. This is simply to gain some momentum (by taking a small objective) and to create a little bit of a stepping stone for the small force in Apulia Calabria.
I like the ‘idea’ behind this plan but it relies on Scipio being stupid, otherwise we just waste our time. He is apparently prone to stupid mistakes
But Im not sure he is this stupid. He already avoided us last year.
Purple
Objective: Kill Scipio
(Note: This should lead through Umbria Samnium so as to avoid the use of an extended march/attrition. I fucked up, it would work the same way though)
This is basically the gambit. Move in and attack Scipio directly. He and his army can not flee from a city battle. If we could pull this off with few losses it would be great. The largest army in Italy dead + one of the better generals owned.
The downside is obviously the fact that we would be storming a city and that could not only cost us a lot of troops, but could, potentially, end in disaster. We don’t exactly have a large troop advantage. It is only a minor city though.
We do have this card to soften up Scipio
Regardless, this is some risky shit (with potential to be game changing I think)
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There are of course other options, but I’m done drawing arrows before hearing some thoughts.
Here is our total force, including the troops in Pisa
Christ, I'm a nerd.