While this scenario is for Ancient Empires rules, it can be easily adapted for just about any set of ancients rules--ED
"This, O my countrymen, is my own peculiar loss, but the fortune and the glory of Rome is safe and untainted so long as you are safe. But if anyone be concerned for my loss of the best of sons, let him show it in revenging him upon the enemy"!
These were the words of Marcus Licinius Crassus to his men as the Parthian host rode before his line of legionnaires with the head of Publius Crassus displayed upon the point of a spear! Crassus had placed himself in a disastrous circumstance brought on by his own foolishness, which now threatened his complete destruction!
Invasion of Parthia
Crassus had invaded Parthia with seven full legions, 4,000 cavalry and as many auxiliary infantry. Crassus was sixty years old when he undertook the enterprise and invaded by way of Mesopotamia rather than taking the recommendation of King Artabazes and accessing Parthia by way of Armenia. The King had promised 16,000 cavalry and 30,000 foot but returned home when Crassus chose to ignore his advice. Enroute, Crassus took the treacherous Arab chief Ariamnes, as his scout. This man would lead the Romans into disaster!
The Parthian King Hyrodes divided his army into two parts to meet the Roman challenge, one he led himself into Armenia, while giving Surena the command opposite Crassus. Surena was but thirty years old and was second only to Hyrodes in the Kingdom. When he met Crassus with 1,000 Cataphracts and 10,000 horse archers, Crassus drew up his army in square.
Each side of this square consisted of twelve cohorts, and what appears to have been a rather equal division of auxiliary infantry and cavalry so that no sector would have want of support. Deeper and deeper Surena drew them into the wasteland with hit and run tactics and skirmishes, never hitting too hard or remaining long enough to feel the might of Roman steel!
The Romans were suffering from lack of water and stopped their "pursuit" to rest at a stream called the Balissus. It was here that Surena revealed the Parthian might! The kettle drums sounded and the rags that Surena had ordered his soldiers to wear were stripped off, revealing the glistening Margianian steel armor of his cataphracts!
Into the Roman ranks they charged with the full force of their lances but were repulsed by a line that held steady! Withdrawing, they began to encompass Crassus on all sides showering the Roman forces at all points. Crassus ordered his light forces to charge the horse archers but they were beaten back by a relentless shower of arrows. In young Publius' sector, the Parthians were most numerous and it was here that Crassus ordered his son forward with eight cohorts of legionnaires, 1,300 horse and at least 500 light archers. The Parthian horse archers merely retired in their face, dashing to and fro releasing their missiles. The Gallic cavalry of Publius was met by the Parthian cataphracts and while fighting gallantly, were cut to pieces. Publius fell severely wounded, and ordered his armor-bearer to kill him rather than face capture.
Losing Heart
With Publius' attack routed, the writing was on the wall. The Roman army was losing heart being faced with an enemy they could not bring to melee. The cataphracts would threaten to charge and the Romans would close ranks, offering a great target to the horse archers who would then race forward and shower the Roman lines with arrows. Only night brought the Romans relief. Crassus attempted a withdrawal under the cover of darkness. Over 4,000 wounded were left behind in camp. Surena was aware of the Roman retreat but opted not to pursue at night. The next morning, all the Romans left behind were slain by the Parthians while Crassus moved to Carrhae with the remnants of his army. Cassius escaped with 500 horse to Syria but Crassus was betrayed and executed on the orders of Surena. In all, Crassus was responsible for 20,000 dead and 10,000 captured!
We know that Crassus invaded Parthia with seven legions, four thousand cavalry, and 4,000 auxiliary infantry. The decisive battle against Surena involved 48 legionary cohorts (five Legions?), probably 2,000 to 3,000 cavalry and from 2,000 to 3,000 auxiliary infantry. We know that Publius Crassus attacked with 1,300 cavalry of which 1,000 were Gallic, eight cohorts and 500 foot archers.
Just what constituted these other forces of Crassus we do not know but as he had marched from the west and then based in Syria, it is probable that many of the auxiliary forces were Asiatic. Players should recognize that this scenario is not intended to be "balanced" as it certainly is not! Rather, it is meant to present the gamer/historian with a historical situation with options available to both sides, in an attempt to simulate the grand tactical situation that fate had handed Crassus and Surena. This scenario is intended for use with Ancient Empires rules.
Army Commander: Marcus Licinius Crassus (Poor)
Sub-Commander: Publius Crassus (Poor)
Major Unit 1& 2: EACH consists of twelve cohorts at 8 figures each and one Major Unit commander. Attached is one Tactical Unit of archers at eight figures and one of javelin armed light infantry at 8 figures.
Major Unit 3: Consists of two Tactical Units of Gallic noble cavalry at 8 figures each and one of Asiatic javelin armed light cavalry. One Major Unit commander.
Sub-Commander: Gaius CASSIUS Longinus (Mediocre)
Major Unit 4 & 5: EACH consists of twelve cohorts at 8 figures each and one Major Unit commander. Attached is one Tactical Unit of archers at eight figures and one of javelin armed light infantry at 8 figures.
Major Unit 6: Consists of three Tactical Units of Asiatic javelin armed light cavalry at 8 figures each. One Major Unit commander.
Army Commander: Surena (Excellent)
Major Unit 1: Two Tactical Units of Cataphracts at 8 figures each. One Major Unit commander (Good).
Major Unit 2-6: EACH consists of four Tactical Units of Horse Archers at 8 figures each and one Major Unit commander<%-3>r. Parthian Horse Archers (Light Cavalry only) are "Elites" for shooting.
Surena may utilize two Sub-Commanders if he wishes whose rating is determined in the normal fashion. Surena dictates what forces each will command. Any Parthian force consisting of one or more Major Units that utilizes "off board movement", m ust be commanded by a Sub-Commander. One Sub-Commander must accompany each "force" in an off board zone. Surena must command on board forces and at least two Major Units must begin on board of which one must be Major Unit 1.
If desired, Parthian units may directly enter the on board area from the off board zone they were in and move up to one half of their Grand Tactical move. They may even move into Tactical Engagement range and engage in Tactical Combat in the same hour! (Note that this is an exception to regular Ancient Empires rule 19.1 which requires off board units to enter during the Manuever Movement Phase of the Hourly Round). In addition, the Parthian does not have to announce the impending arrival of off board units until they are actually arriving on the field! (The Roman scouting was non-existent in this battle. This rule is an exception to rule 19.1 in Ancient Empires and is made to recreate the poor Roman intelligence).The Roman may not utilize off board movement except to leave the board due to having evaded or pursued, morale loss, or in exiting off the board into the Parthian Primary Off Board Zone. Both army commanders may choose certain options from the strategies below which will adjust both the forces involved in the battle, as well as the victory conditions. It is very difficult for the Roman to win the scenario from a military standpoint and so the battle has been drawn up to make each commander utilize economy of force and win based on the formulas listed.
Strategy 1. This strategy is the historical engagement that centers on the attack of Publius Crassus against the Parthians. While militarily it is the least favorable to the Romans, it offers the best plus to "Victory Ratios" outlined below. In this scenario, the Roman player uses only Publius Crassus, Major Unit 1 and Major Unit 3. Victory ratio factor is a "PLUS FOUR" (+4).
Strategy 2.This option includes Publius Crassus and all forces under his command. Major Units 1, 2, and 3. Victory ratio factor is a "PLUS THREE" (+3).
Strategy 3.This option includes ALL of Publius Crassus' forces as well as Cassius and ANY ONE of his three Major Units under his command. Victory ratio factor is a "PLUS TWO" (+2).
Strategy 4.This option includes ALL Roman forces and commanders. Victory ratio factor is a "PLUS ONE" (+1).
The Parthian strategy lies in proper use of economy of force. The Parthian commander may utilize ALL of his forces "on board" without adjusting the Victory ratio factor. For each Major Unit that remains uncommitted to "on board" play, the Parthian subtracts ONE (-1) from the Roman Victory ratio factor. As the Parthian begins with six Major Units of which at least two begin on board, this gives the Parthian four Major Units to contemplate on. If the Roman player chose Strategy 1 and the Parthian player committed only four of his six Major Units, the Roman would receive a plus four (+4) Victory ratio factor minus two (-2) for uncommitted Parthian Major Units netting a plus two (+2) for the Roman player.
As with most armies, strategies and tactics varied from commander to commander. The Parthians would shower their enemies with arrows and retreat or pursue as dictated by circumstance. One favorite tactic was riding in circles round the enemy discharging missiles and riding away when threatened by the enemy.. This tactic is represented in Ancient Empires with the following rules. Unless specifically mentioned, all normal rules found in Ancient Empires apply as normal.
To incorporate the flexibility of the horse archer, allow the horse archer unit (Light Cavalry only) to adopt a "File" formation as shown in the below diagram with the two hundred and twenty-five degree field of fire shown. To shoot, each move stand must have at least part of an enemy move stand within its firing arc. This field of fire is determined at the end of movement as usual. Horse Archer units are not considered "Disordered" while in "File" formation except for melee resolution.
If the charge is initiated from outside this arc, the attack is considered a flank attack as usual. In this case, the horse archers would have to take a morale check and if they elected to evade the attack, minuses' due to flank attack would apply. As long as the horse archer unit is in "Good Order" and the enemy attacks (ie.. charges) from within the horse archer's arc of fire, the horse archer unit is considered to be in "Extended Order" formation for purposes of evading the attack (see Ancient Empires, Evading and Opportunity Charges 9.8). The Tactical Unit can also adopt "Extended Order" while in file and gain the minus two (-2) modifier for being shot at while in extended order. To adopt this formation simply form a file with equal gaps between stands, one behind the other.
Horse archer units that adopt a normal column formation may shoot forward as normal and may shoot straight backwards to the rear at a one hundred and eighty degree angle from their front. In addition, the left most move stand of a tactical unit in column may shoot with a two hundred and twenty-five degree shooting arc, similar to stands that are in "file" formation. Individual move stands of a Tactical unit may never shoot through another move stand of their same unit.
Gamers may wish to employ this "Horse Archer" rule with horse archer units in other armies as well as allowing certain javelin armed cavalry (such as Moors and Numidians) the same option.
Victory is achieved by a ratio of casualties inflicted versus casualties received. The Victory Ratio Factor modifies this further as it determines the ratio of casualties that must be inflicted in order to win. Basically, each side must simply inflict more casualties than they receive in order to "win" the scenario.
This basic ratio works out to a "one to one" ratio with one side inflicting more casualties, therefore winning the battle. If the Roman commander were to choose Strategy 1 giving him a +4 then the 1-1 ratio increases to a 5-1 ratio requiring the Parthian to inflict five times as many casualties as he receives in order to win the scenario! In this same instance, if the Parthian opted not to commit two Major Units "on board" then he would subtract two (-2) from the Romans plus four netting the Roman a plus two or a 3-1 victory ratio (1 + 4 - 2 = 3 to 1 victory ratio). This would mean that the Parthian must inflict casualties in a three to one ratio in order to win the scenario.
The scenario continues until one of the following criteria is met at which time play stops and victory is assessed:
THE SCENARIO
ROMAN ARMY
PARTHIAN ARMY
SET-UP
Players may set up their forces according to the map above. It is recommended to play on an area that is at least six feet wide and eight to twelve feet deep. All Roman forces begin "on board". Parthian forces may be set up either on board or in their Primary Off Board Zone, Area A, or Area C and may move at the rate of one off board area per Hourly Round. A Parthian off board force could move from one off board zone directly to another adjoining zone during Grand Tactical Movement.
STRATEGY OPTIONS
ROMAN ARMY
PARTHIAN ARMY
Normally, Tactical Units of cavalry that adopt 'Attack Column' have a fourty-five degree arc of fire as in the diagram below:
If a horse archer unit is charged by an enemy Tactical Unit(s) while in "File" formation, the attack is NOT considered a 'flank' or 'rear' attack as long as the charge begins from within the horse archer's 'arc of fire' (the previously shown 225 degree arc). If charged from a direction that is within this field of fire, the horse archer unit may opt to "Retire" as usual per Ancient Empires 9.641, IV maintaining his present formation and facing. In this case, simply move the horse archer directly away from the attacking unit(s) up to one half the unit's movement allowance.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
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