The (Unofficial) Great Battles of History
Battles for Sicily, 340-310 BC
Another module for Deluxe Alexander, covering the battles for Sicily before the 1st Punic War. GMT is now providing maps for the scenario set-ups. Wonder where they got that idea from?
You certainly get a large number of scenarios for your money. There also appear to be more historical notes than usual.
One battle (Crimissos River) was previewed in C3i #8 and is analyzed below. The new module version has been modified non-trivially from the magazine version, so the analysis below is probably irrelevant now. I leave it in for whatever interest it might have because leaving it in is easier than taking it out.
The included battles are:
This scenario is decked out for Simple GBoH play, but this analysis is based on using the standard rules.
Balance: 60% Greeks
Attraction: A small Greek army ambushes a large Carthaginian force split by a river, which can only be crossed at a small ford. Can the Greeks wipe out the vanguard before the main body arrives?
Carthaginian Advantages: Numbers, withdrawal level, main force TQ
Greek Advantages: Enemy formation, weather, initiative, command range
It's not obvious from the diagram, but all the Carthaginian units are in column formation. They're facing south, not east! Also, I've clipped the image down a little bit -- the top Carthaginian line actually extends back for a few more units. As it turns out, they don't matter much, anyway.
The historical notes say Timoleon began the fighting by attacking with his cavalry. Given that he's rated pretty well, you think he'd have known enough not to deploy peltasts in their way. Another deployment boo-boo: setting up on a hill. Every infantry unit moving forward to attack is going to take a TQ hit as soon as it moves down the slope. Timoleon must not have read the rules.
Nevertheless, following the historical course and attacking with the cavalry is a good opening. Checking the Clash of Spears chart, note that you don't want HC attacking chariots -- column 3 is pretty bad even with superiority. I suggest using the LC to attack the Chariots, and use the two HC to knock off the two enemy HCs before they can get out of column formation.
You might like to maximize the damage you do by advancing Timoleon and all those hoplites, but under the standard rules you can only move him first if you trump yourself. I don't recommend it. Leadership is mediocre here (Greek initiatives: 5, 4, 3; Carthaginian: 5, 4, 4), so Trump and Momentum rolls are truly "Do you feel lucky?" opportunities.
TQ levels are also mediocre. Remember that column formation reduces the TQ a further two hits -- most of the Carthaginian Medium Infantry are sporting `2' TQ until they get into line! Attacking two MIs with a single unit (or three with one double-sized hoplite) is only moderately risky, as the Pre-Shock TQ checks will blow them away 60% of the time without harm to the attacker. Attack superiority should mop up any survivors.
The fords in the north are important, since they're the only way the main body can help the advance force. Both sides have their initiative '4' leaders there, so may the best die-roller win. If the Greeks get the nod, a hoplite adjacent to the ford can effectively block a crossing. (If you're really hot to do this, Deinarchus can move north and has just enough command range to give orders to the Greek Allied hoplites.)
The main part of the battlefield sees the Greeks frantically trying to eliminate units before Hasdrubal can get organized. It's easy for the Greek to rout units (the doubled Carthaginian line and low TQ often causing a chain reaction of routs), but it's harder to follow up and eliminate the routed units unless the dice are kind enough to give the Greeks a few consecutive activations.
Although Hasdrubal's army is mostly dross, his units can still do a lot of damage once they're out of column, as the Greek TQ levels are about on par with the Carthaginian's. And even successful combats will add a few TQ hits on the hoplites and disrupt their line, leaving the MI, HC, or even the chariots some opportunities to slip in on the flanks. Given the Rout Point levels (Carthage's is almost 50% larger) you can afford to sacrifice some units. Especially if you're losing TQ `4' MI (=4 RPs) and he's losing TQ `6' hoplites (=12 RPs).
I found this a pretty interesting scenario, but hard to rate for balance. This is the kind of situation where either player can win, but whoever wins is likely to win big.
Clarifications: