This game simulates the battle between the Carthaginian army of Hanba’al (Hannibal)
and the combined Roman Consular armies commanded by Tiberius Sempronius Longus, near
the confluence of the Trebbia and Po rivers in northern Italy on 18 December 218BCE.
As well as enabling the battle to be replayed as it happened, the game is designed
to explore “what-if” questions, such as:
- What if Sempronius had taken more time to prepare and deploy his troops for the battle,
ensuring their morale was as high as it could be?
- What if Sempronius had just left a screening force on the east bank of the Trebbia,
then moved to cross the river upstream, to seize the higher ground south of the battlefield
(near where Mago’s light forces were concealed)?
- What if Sempronius had refused to rise to the bait (as his wounded, fellow-Consul,
Publius Cornelius Scipio counselled), merely forming up his army on the east side
of the Trebbia and forcing Hanba’al to make the next move?
The game focuses especially on the morale and manoeuvrability aspects of the opposing
forces - while the mix of troop types that gave Hanba’al’s army the advantage in
manoeuvrability is fixed, the players can adjust the morale levels of the various
components of the opposing armies, to see how things might have turned out differently.
The game is designed for 2 players.
Time Scale: 20 minutes per turn
Ground Scale: ~150x150 metres (~165x165 yards) per hex
Unit Scale: 1 leader or 2,000 infantry or 1,000 cavalry or 15 elephants
