Hannibal

[SemperJase]

So I'm watching the Discovery channel and a documentary of Hannibal is on. Seems the man was a tactical genius but perhaps not a strategic one. His hesitance to follow up on an overwhelming victoryled to Rome's eventual triumph.

Anyone use these types of figures or historical battles in your campaigns?

 

[SemperJase]

How is this for an idea. In a sea battle launch clay pots filled with poisonous snakes onto the deck of your opponent. The opponent's fleet panics and you win the day.

True story. The Romans lost a battle that way.

 

[jgbrowning]

How is this for an idea. In a sea battle launch clay pots filled with poisonous snakes onto the deck of your opponent. The opponent's fleet panics and you win the day.

True story. The Romans lost a battle that way.

this was my favorite of hannibals tricks..


joe b.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I don't know, but I am looking forward to the movie

Actually, I recall hearing that Lee did a similar thing after the Bull Runs.

I think good commanders come to care about their men a lot, and can become pretty conservative about how they use them. Plus information was always hard to come by.

I don't tend to do campaigns in or around war times, but I would say that a character would be pretty interesting.

My favorite ancient generals are Belisarius and Narses. They're a little late or a little early depending on how you look at it, but man did they rock.

I think people analagous to Narses or Metternich have shown up in every game I've ever run. Even if the PCs weren't aware of it.

 

[Eben]

Originally posted by SemperJase:
His hesitance to follow up on an overwhelming victoryled to Rome's eventual triumph.

Not quite true in my opinion. Hannibal always said the war would never be over so long as the Carthagians haden't sacked Rome. (Though I bet he said it a thad more eloquently.)
In his Italian campaign, Hannibal had huge supply problems. Furthermore: by this time Rome ruled the seas, so there was no way Carthagian ships could supply Hannibal from overseas. And a total lack of siege equipment (you try crossing the Alps with catapults!) made a siege of Rome totally absurd. After Cannae, some in his army wanted to press on to Rome, but what are you gonne do: throw rocks at the city walls?
The tradegedy was that Hannibal didn't get the support from the city he needed. He was even called back, to Carthage (or: Quart Haddasht: New City)to deal with an insurretion. This meant he lost his veteran allies from the Italian campaign on which much of his strategy relied. When he had to face Scipio at Zama he had these replaced with new troops, who broke to early in the battle.

In my opinion Hannibal was a military genius, lacking strategical support.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

This reminds me of the far side cartoon where you saw a bunch of soldiers in kangaroo pouches crossing the mountains with a caption that read "Hannibal's First Attempt."