Figured I ought to update ya'll on my SPQR 5.0 Campaign, it is alot harder than 3.2, and I cannot wait for 6.0.

Last time I left off I had just taken Lilybaeum with 1st Legion under the Command of Aulus Scipio.
After that Mesinna came under heavy and concentrated attack by the Greek Army, I forget the names of their Generals but they had alot of stars.
4 Greek Armies total, Mesinna was besieged by two of them, the other two were attempting to push the Carthaginians out of Agrigentum.
Aulus swiftly marches North of Agrigentum, and then Southwards to engage both Greek and Carthaginian Forces in a massively pitched battle.
A Carthaginian Army, complete with War Elephants squared off against 2 Greek Armies with massive Phalanx formations and hundreds of Spartans. Aulus did not gain a total count of the forces.
1st Legion hid in a nearby Forest as Aulus Scouted the ground personally, the Greek and Carthaginians ignored Aulus and proceeded to bash each other.
Aulus Smiled asthe Carthaginian Elephants roared through the proud ranks of the Spartans.
1st Cohort and 2nd Cohort then formed up outside the forest, In an Column of Advance with the Skirmisher Cohort on the right Flank.
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Small aside here, 1st Cohort consists of 4 Hastati, 2 Principes and 2 Triarii, 2nd Cohort is 4 Hastati and 1 Slinger.
Skirmisher Cohort is 3 units of Velites, in the rear of the advance was the Cavalry Squadron of 3 Equites.
]
]
Column of Advance is a formation I put together while playing as the French in Napoleonic Total War (I can't help it! I must use modern tactics!)
The Hastati of 1st Cohort were in standard formation, 6 Ranks deep, the Principes centered behind them and the Triarii on either side of the Principes.
2nd Cohort was in Marching Column formation behind them.

The Battle line of the Greeks and Carthaginians was long, with Carthage's Right flank refused and stubbornly holding the Greek advance. The Spartans had managed to kill the Elephants but at great cost, their units weren't even half their standard strength.
All 3 Generals were engaged with their bodyguards, and archers were seeking weaknesses in the lines of armor to exploit.

The moment was ripe, Aulus ordered his Legion directly down the middle, they would slam into both battlelines from the Greek Right and Carthaginian Left, and continue forward, pushing and shoving deep into the battle, and then the Hastati would halt and wait while the Principes and Triarii opened up into a Fighting Square inside the enemy formations, 2nd Cohort would prevent them from being swarmed in the rear and the Velites and Slingers would wait outside the conflict until the Enemy turned their backs and then unleash their deadly fury.

The Tactics barely worked, Several Greek and Carthaginian units broke and ran, giving 1st Cohort barely enough time to form into the square before they came back and attacked.
The situation quickly turned grim as the Greeks and Carthaginians threatened to swamp 1st Legion's Infantry. The Velites and Slingers hurled their missiles with great precision upon the rear of the Greek forces. Who broke and ran again, this time to be run down by the Equites.
Aulus himself galloped into the center of the Square, giving heart to the men and strengthening the line with his presence, the Carthaginians nearly broke through the Triarii, but Aulus' Guard charged and repaired the breach in the line.
The Equites finished off the routing Greeks, then charged headlong into the Rear of their Army.
At the sudden shock the entire Greek Army routed, to immediately be chased down by the Equites.
As this happened Aulus pivoted 2nd Cohort around to his left flank, taking up the positions of the former Greek army and keeping the entire Carthaginian line engaged.
The Velites and Slingers ran out of things to throw, and quickly retired back away from the fighting.
Aulus rode up and down his line, sealing breaches and giving heart to the Legionnaires.
The Carthaginians were exhausted, shaken, and ready to break, but they still had the upper hand, 1st Legion was small compared to most Armies, and while the Carthaginians couldn't redeploy they could wear 1st down by sheer weight of numbers.
Aulus knew this, he had to find some was to break the pressure, his line was being pushed back.
Swiftly he sent a rider to the Skirmisher Battalion, ordering them to prepare to charge into the Carthaginian rear.
He sent another rider to order the Equites back to support his line.
Swiftly he looked around, the field was strewn with bodies, wounded and dying were everywhere. Greek and Carthaginian banners lay broken and twisted where whole units were ridden down and slaughtered.
The battle was nearing the end.
One Equites unit returned, the others far out of reach of the battle and continously harrassing the Greek force as it retreated.
Aulus sent them to the left flank, the Velites to the right, if this didn't break the Carthaginians, nothing would.
His personal banner waved and the two forces charged into the Carthaginians who finally broke, and the slaughter was terrifying.

Aulus glanced at the report.
Over 400 Romans were dead, many more would not fight again, his Cohorts were decimated, but Mesinna was still under siege.
Agrigentum was ripe for the taking, barely any Carthaginians were defending it... but that would have to come another day.
Swiflty he order his men to camp, they would need the rest.


Several days later 1st Legion, battered and tired, marched onto the fields outside Mesinna where 3,000 Greek Soldiers held their rigid Phalanx.
1st Cohort formed in line of Battle, the Principes and Triarii in reserve as 2nd Cohort from en echelon to their right.
The advance towards the Greek phalanx was swift, and they were forced to bend to engage the echelon of 2nd Cohort.
At the moment the full Equites Squadron leapt out of hiding and slammed into the Greek Left, routing them and allowing 2nd Cohort to move swiftly around and envelope the rest of the Greek line.
the Equites continued the pursuit, and the Velites and Slingers merrily joined in, slaughtering the fleeing armoured hoplites and swordsmen.
The battle was swift, far swifter than the previous one, and 2,000 Greeks died on the field, with 500 more killed in the retreat to Syracusae.
But Aulus was not satisfied.
With 100 fewer Romans Aulus besieged Syracusae, and several months later the City fell as his men stormed the walls and slaughtered the defenders. 200 Romans died, and Aulus was forced back to the mainland to reconstitute his Legion.
But Virtually all of Sicily was Roman, the Carthaginians could no longer sustain a force, and the Greek Army was broken, so broken that the Brutii were able to forge a foothold in Greece.
Aulus returned to Sicily and sacked Agrigentum, then on the orders of the Senate he boarded a fleet and took Isle of Sardinia from Carthage.
Garrisons were sent, and then the Senate ordered that Segesta would be taken by the Scipii.
The House of Julii was in disfavour with the senate, they had repeatedly failed to take the Gaulic cities of Northern Italy.
With the Economic advances, 2nd Legion was created under Flavius Scipio, a confident Commander but inexperienced in war. Aulus Scipio landed on the Northern side of Segesta, and in two months the city was his.
A Brilliant victory.
The Julii were so embarassed they used their remaining influence in the Senate to order the House of Scipii to take Massilia, deep in Gaul Territory.
They were hoping that Aulus would go, that he would go and die in battle and the Scipii to be shamed.
But Flavius was in attendance at the Capitol when the order came in, and without approval he comandeered a fleet and boarded his legion, leaving his Cavalry Squadron behind and sacking Massilia in 6 Months, long before Aulus even recieved his marching orders.




This is where my Campaign stands, Sicily is mine, Sardinia is mine, and I now have two provinces in Gaulic Territory.

Woot! Just a little more money and I can support a 3rd Legion.