[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Pollster1.

Eventually the Romans cleaned out his backfield in Spain, crossed over into Africa, and threatened Carthage itself, which meant that his family was rehabilitated (there was a lot of political infighting in Carthage among the 'noble' families, same as went on in Rome) and he was recalled for the city's defense, his army evacuated by sea, and ushered into battle. He lost.

Hannibal stayed in Italy for sixteen years without being able to take one walled city. I've never seen it discussed, but his loss of so many of his elephants during the crossing of the Alps (and remember, he also brought them over, ultimately, from Africa, and crossed the Rhone before he reached the Alps) probably helped him in his ability to stay put. Elephants eat a lot. And methods to cope with the ancient world's "tanks" were well-developed, such that the last use of them in a large battle was Thapsus, which broke the back of the Pompeian faction in that phase of the civil war.

Imagine, Hannibal and his army managed to live off the land for sixteen years, with but a little resupply by sea -- but in Italy, where such a thing is obviously not that difficult. The Romans kept him out of southern Italy by using a scorched-Earth approach to create a barrier, and alas they never went back to fix it (no one has to the current day).

Cannae was an outlier, despite the hero worship that has gone on -- it was due more to the stupidity of the Roman field leadership and a couple of lucky breaks for Hannibal than it had to do with some kind of genius.

There ya go -- have at it! Hell, let's make this week a double-topic ping to the Digest list. This should be good!

[Monkey Face]

Interesting.

Thanks! :o]

[justa-hairyape]

Elephant troops work good against the Mongols. Just conquered India to acquire some and am getting ready for an 11 army Mongol force that may slip down the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Everything was going great until the Georgians attacked with over 10 armies of front line troops. Do not know where they got the money. Playing as Kingdom of Jerusalem. My ally is Armenia. They defeated the Turks and Byzantians. The Georgians have now paid the price of attacking and lost 4 cities. Some epic battles where one battalion of elephants played a key role. Now have two front line armies ready for Mongol forces. Both with two elephant battalions. Only Halberds and Javelins are effective against the elephants. And of course trebuchets and catapults. The speed of the Elephants is a killer. Oh well. Lots of fun while the real world falls apart. Lol.

[SteveH]

i am curious about the scorched earth policy usage by the Romans in South Italy. Where was that (if anyone knows)? TIA...

[dsc]

“The Romans kept him out of southern Italy by using a scorched-Earth approach to create a barrier, and alas they never went back to fix it (no one has to the current day).”

Interesting. What are the signs? No villages? Fallow fields?

[colorado tanker]

After Saddam seized Kuwait I sketched out my plan on a napkin over lunch. It was a double envelopment.

Of course, everyone knows about the strong left flank Schwartzkopf threw at Saddam.

Later, I found out his original plan was indeed a double envelopment with a Marine amphibious assault forming the right flank. Late in the game, however, they figured out they just didn't need the hazards of an amphibious landing to crush Saddam's army like a bunch of grapes.