Battle of the Metaurus, The - Northern Italy, 207 BC

How Hannibal Lost the War...

As people think over the actions of Hannibal in the 2nd Punic War, many great battles come to mind…Cannae, Zama, Trebia, Lake Trasimene…

Yet, Creasy chose The Metaurus as the decisive battle for the entire war. How can that be? Hannibal was not even there!

But his brother was there, in command of an army sent to reinforce Hannibal and give him the strength and stamina to finish off the Romans. By this time (207 BCE), the Romans were mostly avoiding head-to-head battles with Hannibal, and he mostly lacked the cavalry strength to force them to fight where he wanted them to. When the Romans intercepted messengers Hasdrubal sent to alert Hannibal to his arrival, they realized how critical it was to keep the brothers from joining together, and rushed an overwhelming force to surprise and destroy the new army. And won.

Now, see if you can change or maintain the history.

The Romans have numbers and overall troop quality on their side. Hasdrubal has a wide range of troops, from crack heavy infantry and light cavalry from Africa to poor quality Celtic levies. And, they have the superior position. The game calls on both players to “do better” than their historical counterparts. Richard Berg’s design emphasizes morale and the importance of getting troops to execute the right commands.

The Battle of the Metaurus includes:

One 11” x 17” mounted game-map

200 die-cut mounted counters

8 page Rules Booklet

Part of the TPS "Decisive Battles" series. That means straightforward rules, key insights into the history behind the game, and designs aimed at one-session conclusions and high replay value.