Sertorius and Pompey: the Conclusion

A view from Sertorius' centre as his legions push forward against their wavering Pompeian foes.

On Sertorius' right, my victorious Spanish continue to press forward. The Roman cavalry reserve falls back in the face of superior numbers. However, their continued presence will stop me swinging into the centre.

Patchy fighting continues on the other wing. Most attention is now concentrated on the final act of the legionary combat in the centre of the field.

Taken from the left rear of the Sertorians, the photo above shows one of the main decision points: the leftmost of his three legions is being put under extra pressure by Pompeians who have been able to swing in this direction after seeing off the Celtiberians who were supposed to keep them occupied. The Helmet of Ares, also known as cheap Greek tourist tat, looks on impassively. We use it as an initiative marker.

The centre.

Another view of the centre. Pompey's legions are really starting to crack.

And the rout begins. The Pompeian legion facing a combination of Sertorians and Spanish finally breaks.

It's not all bad news for Pompey, though, as his Italian auxiliaries destroy a unit of Spanish foot and break through towards the ridge line facing them - you can see them advancing at the top of the photo above. A second unit of Spanish fails its morale on seeing its friends rout.

Unfortunately for Pompey, though, the victorious Spanish towards the centre are able to exploit and put even more pressure on the next legion in the line.

Pompey throws in almost all of his remaining third line reserves.

It's looking grim for the Pompeian centre...

A low level shot shows the mounting casualties.

This is the only point of true hope for Pompey - a couple of cohorts from his rightmost legion are able to help out their compatriots. But they just can't do the damage needed.

Pompey's lines are becoming ragged as exhaustion sets in.

Two more of Pompey's legions reach the critical point and run for it, and the rest of the army retires. The leftmost Sertorian legion could only have taken two more hits, and one of the others only had eight left, so it was all very close indeed. However, Sertorian quality told in the end, as was indeed Sertorius' (Larry's) intention from the outset. It can be a bit of a grind this legion on legion thing, but it sure is brutal!