Rome (Charles) vs Carthage (Mike)

Mike G and I got in another game of Hannibal:Rome vs Carthage. Last time (my first playing), I was Dr. Lector, this time I got to play the Roman side of things. While I didn't really know what I should be doing, I recognized from the first game that the Carthage side was going to try and get Hannibal and his elephants coming over the Alps. The first turn was a pretty good waste of resources, but I think Mike and I wasted cards equally - both realizing that we were working resources in an area of Gallia that didn't matter much. As the game worked through the first couple turns, I finally realized I wasn't playing a war game. I was playing a game that was similar to Twilight Struggle, in that the game is about the political control of the board. Combat is not entirely unlike a coup or realignment in that it can just be a means to change the political status on the board. At any rate, Mike swung the balance towards him, but I never felt out of the game. In fact going into the last three turns, Mike seemed to feel things were in my favor. I didn't see it the same way. Mike started swaying Italy against me and I struggled to keep things close. Going into the last turn, I needed a 3 area swing to win the game. I got the three areas I needed, but the rest of my hand was 1 op point cards and I couldn't stop Mike from devastating me in Hispania. I think Mike had a good chance to close things out on me earlier in the game and I probably holed up in Rome to long, but it was close and tense most of the game. My only complaint? I didn't win a single combat the entire night - nothing. The cards hated me.