what kind of war strategies did Hannibal Barca use?

Answer 1

E_FN_W gave you a very good answer on the general background of Hannibal. I guess the only thing to add is that according to Hans Delbruck and other historians, the reason why Hannibal looked invincible in battle from a tactical/strategical perspective is the creation of "echelon tactics". The very basic idea is that reserves were employed at certain key points and key moments, something no one really used before because the general usually fought in the front line and not from the back, as Hannibal and his nemesis Scipio the African did.

Before the Punic Wars, infantry was usually deployed in the phalanx formation, with many, many rows of which the 1st to 3rd rows fought while rows 4 to16 or even to 32 just supported the pushing around. If you think about it, having more than 4 or 6 rows is a waste of men, but before echelon tactics, generals still had to commit to a deep phalanx because of the shock and psychological effects for the front rows (specially if you fought with citizen armies). And since you had deployed all your men for combat, the general had to fight in the front for maximum leadership support.

With Hannibal there were two important developments to warfare:

1) Hannibal trained more than just battle-hardened veterans, he trained one of the first professional armies in the world. If you have good training, you don't expect to have 16 or 32 rows of men behind you, you know that as long as you have basic support, you can stand your ground. That fact helped to free up men who would otherwise be just in the back of the phalanx.

2) Hannibal stayed in the back and used the extra men from not employing a deep phalanx to create a RESERVE of men, which could support critical points at critical times. Moreover, Hannibal knew when and where to commit these men and had the actual tactical command to order those troops to deploy. If the general is in the middle of the battle, he has no intelligence or capability to order any movement and it is better to just commit your entire force from trhe start. And of course, troops that have not engaged the enemy are far easier to command than those who are already fighting.

This advantage helped Hannibal score victories no one could envision before because no one employed reserves. Whether supporting the center like at the Transimene Lake or even in Zama or helping the flanking and sorrounding movement in Cannae, reserve tactics are the real start of the general as a strategist in the middle of battle.

Answer 2

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RE:
what kind of war strategies did Hannibal Barca use?

Answer 3

So how is that you know something about Hannibal, but you don't know the simple fact that he lived nearly two millenium before the Americas were discovered by the western world, making the classification of African-American impossible? He was a Carthaginian, and a pissed off one at that. Edit: And if you are really asking whether Hannibal was black, the answer to that is no as well. Carthage was settled by Phoenicians, and the Phoenicians were a semitic people, and thus not black.

Answer 4

Some of the reasons Hannibal was a great war leader:

1. Was both a very able and experienced general with much experience in spain.

2. Had studied Roman tactics and methods and knew his enemy

3. His army contained some very good cavalry as opposed to the Roman weak cavalry arm

4. his spanish and punic infantry was good quality

5.He could recruit large numbers of gallic tribesmen from north italy to make good early losses

6. a number of roman allies went over to carthage allowing him to re supply and providing men and funds.

7.roman command structure wasnt great, there leaders were not proffesional and not always very experienced leading to errors like lake trasemain and cannae

The big reason was that the Roman command structure was obsolete.

It was all leadership. Hannibal was simply the more capable leader. Look at his victories. Trebbia, Trasemino, Cannae. They were all basically well laid out ambushes that the Romans stubbornly walked into because of arguments in strategy among the leadership.

The Romans had two generals for each army that took command on alternating days and usually it came down to an argument between the conservative generals, who wanted to make Hannibal chase them all over the place and wear himself out, and the rash generals who wanted to attack all the time. Thus one day the Romans would evade and the next day they'd attack.

No general in history has ever repeated his feat of ambushing and annihilating an entire army as he did at Lake Trasimene. No general in history has ever matched his dispaly of tactical perfection as he employed at Cannae, until possibly Napoleon at Austerlitz. But he had his marshals, great generals on their own. Yes, the Romans were foolish to substitute so much flexibility for power, but Hannibal's dispositions were perfectly executed. The manner in which he sustained his army so ably for so many years without being substantially reinforced is proof enough of his level of greatness. These issues, of course, are always debatable.

The Romans troops who faced Hannibal were not the professionals under Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar in later times, but they were trained from youth for war and were every bit as well drilled and capable as Hannibal's mercenaries. A Roman army was never composed of entirely conscripts. There were always battle-hardened veterans mixed in. Remeber, Rome had just been fighting the Cisalpine Gauls the previous few years before Hannibal's arrival. The 2nd Punic War showed how, in the long run, landowning patriots will beat mercenaries who are only loyal to their paymasters.

Answer 5

It just simple as that huh? well just like other strategic i see. Lure and ambush them. Like trapping a mice. Simple but Effective. But still to win a battle we need to sharpened our concentration to maximum so we can find the key point to score a victory. Plan ahead are smart but situation always change so fight smart are best thing we can do during
crucial time.After all war reality and imagination are two different thing after all.

Answer 6

Dogs that barca real loud to scare enemy.