After his victory at Pharsalus, Caesar returned to Africa to finish off the Pompeian forces there, commanded by his old subordinate Labienus. He had considerable difficulty landing all his troops due to a storm, but eventually got most of them ashore and set up camp near Ruspina. He took his troops out to forage, only to be surprised by Labienus with a large army about 3 miles from his camp. Labienus used an unusual formation with Light cavalry and Javelin-armed skirmishers mixed together forming the front rank. The Romans fought a desperate rearguard action in three stages.

1. The Numidian light cavalry surrounded the Romans in spite of the efforts of Caesar's heavily outnumbered cavalry. The legionaries suffered because they pursued the fleeing cavalry, leaving them vulnerable to the javelin men.

2. Caesar managed to stop his men pursuing, then turned his defensive circle into two lines facing opposite directions, their flanks covered by the cavalry. He charged simultaneously in both directions, driving off the enemy skirmishers and allowing him to retire to a nearby hill.

3. At this point, the Numidians were reinforced and returned to the attack. Caesar's exhausted troops were routed and fled towards their camp. They were only saved by the lucky wounding of both Labienus and Petreius during the pursuit.

Caesar himself says that they 'retired in good order'. Other accounts mention that Caesar lost as much as a third of his army in this battle, and it seems to have been a pretty close run thing.

The scale used was about 600 men per element for Infantry, 400 for cavalry, except that I gave Caesar two cavalry elements (should only be one) so he could have one on each wing, and there were only 120 archers, but they were important for the battle, so he gets one element of Psiloi.

Army point totals are not very important, but were about 220 for the Romans, 340 for the Numidians. The battle was fought with 25mm figures on an 8'x6' table.

Two things determined the scale used - the number of figures I had available, and the requirement length of the Roman lines needed to be about half the table width.

The Romans are deployed in a valley (which they more or less fill) with long ridges on either side, running for about half the length of the table. Behind them is an isolated hill running across the valley and about half its width. The Numidians are deployed in a much longer line stretching onto the surrounding hills. The hills are not rough ground, but have areas of brush and rocks on them. A map is attached.

It is important that this battle be fought on a large table to give plenty of room for outflanking (8' x 6' if using 25mm). It should be fought lengthways along the table, with the Romans initially about 900p from one end. The isolated hill should be about 900p behind them, and the table edge about 900p behind that. The Roman line should cover about half the width of the table, and the two front lines should be about 400p apart at the start. The Numidians move first.

The Romans win by exiting from the table edge behind them (1800p away) without being demoralised. Note that neither side has any baggage on table.

(There are special rules for the command structure of the Romans - see below)

FRONT LINE

Sub-general 1 x Reg Bd(O) (Raw)

Raw Legionaries 11 x Reg Bd(O)

Archers 1 x Reg Ps(O)

Cavalry 2 x Reg Cv(O)

REAR LINE

CinC Caesar 1 x Reg Bd(O) (Vet)

Veteran Legionaries 5 x Reg Bd(O)

Raw Legionaries 6 x Reg Bd(O)

(Treated as 1 command for demoralisation. 26.5 EE, Demoralisation 9)

Front Line 9 x Irr Ps(S), 8 x Irr Lh(O)

Second Line 11 x Irr Ps(S), 10 x Irr Ps(O)

CinC Labienus 1 x Reg Cv(O)

Elite cavalry 3 x Reg Cv(O)

Left wing cavalry 5 x Irr Lh(O)

Right wing cavalry 5 x Irr Lh(O)

Total of 37 EE - demoralisation level 12.5

Sub-general 1 x Irr Ax(I)

Third Line 19 x Irr Ax(I)

Total of 20 EE - demoralisation level 7

Reinforcements - Roll less than turn number on 3d6 to enter

Petreius 1 x Reg Cv(O)

Elite Cavalry 3 x Reg Cv(O)

Elite Infantry 4 x Reg Ax(O)

Total of 8 EE - demoralisation level 3

Note to DBM tacticians - the mixed Lh/Ps formation used by Labienus at this battle does NOT work well under DBM. In the real battle, the Lh fled, leaving the pursuing legionaries vulnerable to missile fire from the Psiloi. In DBM the Ps flee, leaving the Lh to be killed by the legionaries under the 'quadruple death' rule.

1. Caesar's troops have a CinC and a sub-general but are considered a single command for purposes of demoralisation. There are 26.5 Element Equivalents, so the demoralisation level is 9.

2. 6 elements of legionaries are Veterans. These cost +1AP. They may change between Bd(O) and Ax(S) by single element moves, with the same restrictions as for mounting and dismounting.

3. The other 18 elements are Raw. These cost -1 AP. They will pursue impetuously if their close combat opponents break off, flee, recoil or are destroyed, but are otherwise not impetuous.

4. During the real battle, Caesar issued an order to stop the Raw Troops following up. To reflect this, Caesar may at any time issue an order to the Raw troops which will stop them pursuing, but by doing so he gives up the sub-general's PIP dice for the rest of the game (this reflects the fact that the officers would have to keep a closer eye on the men). He may then use only his own PIP dice for all his troops; the sub-general's element still gets its +1 in combat, but has no other function.

5. The archers (Ps(O)) may support Blades or Cavalry (NOT normally an option for Marian Romans, but the archers played a very prominent role in the original battle).

6. Troops of a type not explicitly allowed to do so may interpenetrate by single element moves, with the elements remaining in contact. Such a move may only include one 180 degree turn. It costs an extra PIP if either of the elements is Irregular or Inferior.

7. Any element quadrupled in combat is destroyed.

Special rules 3 and 4 and 5 are to reflect the performance of the troops in the real battle.

Special rule 6 is a 'house rule' which I am play-testing

Special rule 7 is essential to balance the game. Without it, the battle is a walkover for the Numidians. In reality, however, Caesar did manage to escape with his army still a fighting force. With this rule, the battle becomes desperately close.

The arrival of Petreius is important not so much for his troops, as for the extra PIP dice which it gives the Numidians.

The hills do not count as rough going, but give a combat advantage if upslope