Thracians vs Samnites

 An interesting game between two armies that never actually met on the field of battle- but were both from the same time frame. Ross' Thracians came out to take on my Samnites. Both armies are made up of predominantly Light Infantry or Light Heavy Infantry.  Ross' Thracians have a lot more cavalry- I had two units for the Samnites- he had four for the Thracians. His Thracian Cavalry also have the ability to mix in Light Infantry , which slows the cavalry but gives a crucial +2 dice in melee.

My best troops- Linen Legion

Battle lines moving up.

The Samnite general Pontius Telesinus stood silently, watching the strange horde forming up opposite his army. His officers standing respectfully behind him as he contemplated this new enemy.  Pontius could not understand why these foreigners had come to central Italy and the Samnite lands. Unhistorical match-ups just confused him. 

"What are they called?' he asked again totally perplexed.

'Er..Thracians, my Lord' came the answer.

'Thracians? What on earth are they doing here?' he mused. "They certainly look very pretty,' he said watching the many coloured cloaks and unusual shield patterns. "But can they fight??"

Sadly for the Samnites he was to find out that they could...

The table- Thracians on the right, the good guys ( my Samnites) on the left.

My Samnites- the close order troops at the top of the picture are Greek mercenary hoplits fighting for the Thracians. The army lists allows for this- but they are poor quality and the general is rated poor as no self- respecting half decent Greek general would fight for the Thracians!

Thracian cavalry on their right, swinging onto the Samnite left  flank.

Thracian cavalry with Light Infantry support

This game was very close fought as the armies were similar in troop type- in the end the Thracians took the victory - their superior cavalry winning for them!