Historical Background: The Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage began in 218 BC. In the winter of that year Hannibal crossed the Alps and invaded Italy with a large army. The first major engagement came near the Trebbia River where a Roman army confronted the invaders. The battle was a disaster for the Romans. Hannibal encircled them with the help of a surprise attack on the Roman rear led by his brother Mago. The Roman army broke and routed across the river with heavy casualties. Hannibal would smash another Roman army two years later at the battle of Cannae. In the end, however, he would be forced to return to Carthage to defend his homeland. There, at the battle of Zama, he was defeated and the Romans won the war.

Battle 1: The Carthaginian skirmishers controlled the middle of the battlefield, backed up by the elephants.  The Romans were reluctant to commit enough forces to move them out of the way.  This lack of initiative stalled the Roman attack.  On the flanks the cavalry engaged.  Hannibal led the Carthaginian cavalry to a quick victory on his side of the battlefield.  Sempronius rode over to try and stop the rout but he was killed, making the situation much worse.  On the other side the Numidians made the mistake of getting too close to Caius Varro and his cavalry.  Varro charged home and beat the Numidians, but to exploit this victory he needed fresh troops.  The Romans failed to follow up on this local success.  While they were debating what to do next Mago suddenly rode in behind them and attacked.  This sent the Romans into a panic and galvanized them into action at last.  They attacked aggressively in the center and managed to organize enough of their reserves to stop Mago and stabilize the flank.  But nothing could stop Hannibal and his cavalry, which, supported by infantry, was demolishing everything in its path.  The Romans were beaten.

Rules

The Armies: The battle can be played with plastic 1/72 scale figures. There are many sets of Roman and Carthaginian figures available. Check out the Plastic Soldier Review to see all the possibilities. Figures should be mounted two per base, cavalry bases are 1.5" square, infantry bases are .75" x 1.5". Mounted commanders are based singly on .75" x 1.5" bases. All units were six bases in size - 3 bases in the front rank, three in the rear rank. Elephants should be mounted on individual bases and are treated as units with a single base. Here are some paper soldiers you can print and use.

Romans (all units 6 bases) Left Wing Commander: Caius Varro 2 units Cavalry (Italian Allies) Center Commander: Sempronius (Overall Commander) 15 units Infantry (Roman & Allies) 3 units Skirmishers Right Wing Commander: Servillius 3 units Cavalry (Roman)

Carthaginians (all units 6 bases except elephants) Left Wing Commander: Hannibal (Overall Commander) 4 units Cavalry (Carthaginian) 2 units Infantry (Carthaginian) 2 Elephants Center Commander: Marharbal 4 units Skirmishers 7 units Infantry (Spanish & Gallic) Right Wing 1 Commander 4 units Light Cavalry (Numidian) 2 units Infantry (Carthaginian) 2 Elephants Surprise Attack Force Commander: Mago 2 units Light Cavalry (Numidian) 1 unit Skirmishers

The Board: The terrain was flat and a 7.5' X 5' foot table was used.

Deployment: The armies deploy as shown on the map. The armies begin at least 18" inches apart. Mago's Surprise Attack Force starts off the table.

Sequence of Play:
1. Roman Move
2. Roman Shoot
3. Carthaginian Move
4. Carthaginian Shoot
5. Charge into Melee
6. Melee

Movement: All foot units and elephants move 6". Commanders and cavalry move 12." A unit can not move closer than 1" from the enemy except during charges.

Move & Charge

Infantry	6"
Cavalry & Commanders	12"

Surprise Attack Force: A small force of Carthaginians under the command of Mago was concealed behind the Romans and attacked their rear. This attack force starts the battle off the table, and the Romans should not know about it. Any time starting on Turn 2 the Carthaginians may move the force onto the table during the Carthaginian Move. The Force may enter from the table edge anywhere within 12" of the Roman left corner of the table.

Shooting: Only skirmishers and light cavalry are allowed to shoot. Eligible units may only fire at targets in front of them, they can not fire to the side or rear. Roll 1D6 for each base that shoots. Every 6 rolled is a hit and one base is removed from the targeted unit. Exception: it takes two hits on the same turn to remove an elephant. If any part of a unit is in range the entire unit may fire. Units that are engaged in melee may not fire, and may not be targeted.

Shooting Table

Unit	Range	Hit #
Skirmishers	6"	6
Light Cavalry	6"	6

Charge into Melee: Both sides may charge into melee. This is the only way to get into melee. Foot units and elephants may charge up to 6," cavalry may charge 12". Units may only charge if they can reach an enemy unit.

Melee: Each side rolls 1D6 for each base in the fight. Elephants roll three dice per elephant base. The Melee table shows the number needed to score hits. Remove one enemy base for every hit (it takes two hits on the same turn to remove an elephant base). Both sides roll simultaneously. If both units still have bases left they remain engaged and fight again next turn. If a unit is attacked on the flank or rear it may only fight with two bases during the first turn of melee. On subsequent rounds of melee all the bases may fight.

Melee

Weapon	Hit #
Cavalry	5-6
Infantry & Skirmishers	6
Light Cavalry	6
Commanders	4-6
Elephants (roll 3 dice)	4-6
Any vs. Skirmishers	4-6

Last Stand: If a unit is reduced to one base this last base is removed immediately. This rule does not apply to elephants

Commanders: Commanders may not be targeted individually. If they are attached to a unit they count as an extra base in melee (but not shooting). Hannibal counts as two extra bases in melee. If the unit they are attached to fights in melee or is completely eliminated by shooting roll 1D6. If the roll is a 6 then the commander is eliminated.

Melee Weapon Hit # Cavalry 5-6 Infantry & Skirmishers 6 Light Cavalry 6 Commanders 4-6 Elephants (roll 3 dice) 4-6 Any vs. Skirmishers 4-6

Shooting Table Unit Range  Hit # Skirmishers 6" 6 Light Cavalry 6" 6

Move & Charge Infantry & Elephants 6" Cavalry & Commanders 12"

Resources

• "Battle of Trebbia - 218 BC" by Sally Baxter, Warhammer Ancient Battles scenario, Wargames Journal
• "The Battle of Trebbia" by Daniel Burkley, DBA scenario, Battlefields Vol. 1 Issue 4, also available at the Fanaticus web site