Celtiberians – “They died with obstinate resolution”

The Battle of Great Plains or Campi Magni in 203 BCE was a disaster for Carthage, ultimately resulting in Hannibal being recalled from Italy to safe the day and finding his master in Scipio Africanus at Zama a year later (cf. Goldsworthy, 2003, 294-298).

At the first charge of the Roman cavalry both Carthaginian cavalry and infantry at the wings were driven from their ground, leaving exposed the centre formed by Celtiberian mercenaries. But it was here, faced with their imminent demise,  that they made a name for themselves and allowed the Carthaginian and Numidian commanders Hasdrubal and Syphax to escape:

The Celtiberian line, though stripped of the support of both the wings, stood their ground; for neither did any hope of safety by flight present itself, as they were ignorant of the country, nor could they expect pardon from Scipio, against whom, though he had deserved well both of them and their nation, they had come into Africa to fight for hire. [9] Surrounded, therefore, on all sides by the enemy, they died with obstinate resolution, falling one upon another; and, while the attention of all was turned upon them, Syphax and Hasdrubal gained a considerable space of time to effect their escape (Liv. 30.8-9).

This was not a singular event, quite the opposite: Diodorus Siculus explains that “the Celtiberians advanced far in fame and were subdued by the Romans with difficulty and only after they had faced them in battle over a long period” (Diod. 5.33.1). And indeed they were one of the last to be overcome by the Romans after 200 years of upheavals and conflict on the Iberian peninsular (for campaigns in the 2nd century BCE see Quesada, 2006b).

But who were the Celtiberians? How did their panoply look like and how did they fight? I shall give  an overview of the historical background of these fierce warriors, tactical considerations when using them in Field of Glory and finally some thoughts about sculpting and painting of my – now sadly OOP – Corvus Belli Celtiberians.

Iberian Scutati – “Esteemed to be the most warlike barbarians that now are.”

Ancient Iberia and Carthage had a long-standing relationship. May it be trading relations, cultural exchange or military support.  Even more so when Carthage expanded into Iberian territory in the aftermath of the First Punic war to establish a permanent presence and exploit its riches and man power for the dawning conflict with Rome.

The Carthaginians relied heavily on foreign contingents in their armies, with Iberian troops being no exception. They supplied both lightly armed and medium infantry and formed a major element of a great many Carthaginian armies throughout the ages.

In this post I will focus on my mix of Xyston and Corvus Belli Iberian medium infantry, commonly known as Scutati, named aptly after their oval shield, the scutum or its greek equivalent thureos. A historical introduction will be followed by some tactical considerations with regard to using them in Field of Glory. Finally the sculpting and painting of the miniatures will be expounded on.

Numidian Light Cavalry – the extended arm of the Carthaginian army

Hannibal’s Numidian cavalry was famed for its performance in battle, but also very apt in small-scale operations. During the battle of Cannae their conduct made victory for Hannibal possible, yet at Zama them changing sides helped along with his demise.

A Later Carthaginian army is unthinkable without them and in many rule systems they are an obligatory element of the army list. I decided to use Corvus Belli for my Numidian contingent and can say I don’t regret it.

I shall give  an overview of the historical background of these fabled riders, tactical considerations when using them in Field of Glory and finally some thoughts about sculpting and painting of the Corvus Belli miniatures.

 

Liby-Phoenician Spearmen – The backbone of any Carthaginian army

My Hannibal in Spain project is almost finished, but so far I only posted a rough overview and my army list.

In a series of articles I will now introduce the different units of my Carthaginian army, complete with pictures of the painted models and some notes about their usage in Field of Glory.

Field of Glory army project – Hannibal in Spain

While I started out with a Warhammer third edition box and later moved on to Confrontation, I only really came back into the hobby in 2010 with historical wargaming in 15mm scale. A long standing favourite of mine was the period of the Second Punic war with extraordinary characters like Scipio Africanus and Hannibal Barcas, so I decided to acquire a Later Carthaginian army consisting mainly of Corvus Belli and Xyston miniatures (there are some Old Glory in there, too, but I decided to replace them sooner or later). Field of Glory seemed to be what people play and compatibility to DBx based games was a plus.