The voting:
Option | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Don't cross river -- advance to guard legion's flank | 3 | |
| Cross the river | 1 | |
| Cross the river, advance obliquely left | 2 | |
| Cross river, attack SK, set up for next turn attack on LC | 2 |
My thoughts:
Good voter turnout, but no clear consensus. That makes it hard for me, because then I have to make judgement calls which satisfy no one. But here goes:
Moving defensively with intention of staying on the Roman side of the river seems to be playing into Pyrrhus's hand. Because of the empty Roman flank, time is on the Epirote's side. I'd rather keep up the pressure by threatening to do to Pyrrhus's flank what he himself did to the Roman right.
One person advocated using Falco and then Laevinus for a 1-2 activation of the RC, allowing an attack the LC this turn. I like that course of action, although it's possible the RC could suffer a reverse even with superiority, given that they'll have 2 TQ hits (river, moving twice) by the time they attack.
The majority want to cross the river, but within that faction there's a 50-50 split on whether to advance more or less straight ahead and pick off the isolated SK, or whether to head left, around the flank of the Epirote LC.
Advancing left opens a potential danger spot -- Philocles can attack the flank of the Roman legions -- without really adding to the threat to the LC (since the Romans are attack superior even without a flank attack). It also places Falco out of range of Laevinus, meaning that Falco will get no more guaranteed Line Commands.
I think Falco's upcoming attack is too important to leave to chance, so I vote for picking off the SK, making a bare plurality in the "cross the river" faction. I figure a rout point is a rout point, the Roman infantry flank remains protected, and the Epirote LC still better watch out.
Looking ahead, Falco moves so that Laevinus, during his own activation, can (just) keep Falco, Magnus, Cassius, and Rebilus all within his command range, thus guaranteeing their ability to issue Line Commands.
The Epirote SK unit is surrounded (by units and ZOCs), which gives it some extra Reaction Fire possibilities, all of which hit. However, this prevents a foolish pursuit which would cause a unit to advance out of the protection of the line.
The diagram shows the situation at the conclusion of advance after combat.
The RC on the far Roman flank turns slightly, preventing any flank attacks in a single Epirote activation.
The Rout Point score is now Romans 35 (limit: 185), Epirotes 2 (limit: 120).
This was yet another two-part vote, so let's move on to the next activation.