Wargaming Argentoratum at correct ground scale is possible, and gives a large battle with the Romans fielding about 750 points and the Germans about 1,500. Army rosters for Vis Bellica can be constructed from the second book of army lists and the numbers given above. Below, however, you will find OB for both sides scaled down to 500 points a side. This no longer represents a historically proportionate battle, but does provide a good evening’s game. The numbers given are the number of bases of each troop type from the appropriate army lists. Romans SubGeneral Leader 1: 2 x Elite Legionaries; 2 x Veteran Auxilia Leader 2: 2 x Cataphracts, 2 x Light Cavalry Leader 3: 2 x Legionaries Leader 4: 3 x Auxilia Leader 5: 2 x Auxiliary Bow, 1 x Light Artillery 2 False Leader Bases Defeat Condition: Big Man Down on Julian (the SubGeneral) Germans SubGeneral Leader 1: 2 x Noble Cavalry Leader 2: 3 x Veteran Warriors Leader 3: 4 x Warriors Leader 4: 5 x Tribal Levy (OO Levy MI) Leader 5: 5 x Tribal Levy (OO Levy MI) 2 False Leader Bases Defeat Condition: All Gone (18 bases) For start positions, see Map 1. the Romans lined up with a front line consisting of, from left to right, five cohorts of auxilia, 2 cohorts of veteran auxilia (the Cornuti and Bracchiatii), the cataphracts, and most of the light horse. Behind them was another line consisting of, again from left to right, one cohort of auxilia, the normal legions, the elite legion, two cohorts of veteran auxilia (the Batavi and Regii), and the rest of the light cavalry. The Germans should form a rough line opposite the Romans with Chnodomar commanding the noble dismounted cavalry on their left, and Serapio commanding on their right. The Romans can still be deployed historically if using scaled down armies. From left to right bases should be placed: Front Line: Auxiliary Bow, Auxilia, Auxilia, Auxilia, Cataphracts, Light Cavalry, Light Cavalry. Back Line: Auxiliary Bow, Legionaries, Legionaries, Elite Legionaries, Elite Legionaries, Veteran Auxilia, Veteran Auxilia. On Hill: Artillery. Terrain and Special Rules The Roman base line should be the crest of the low hill which they have just marched down. Both sides should have one flank (the Roman left and the German right) anchored on thick woods counting as Difficult terrain in Vis Bellica. The Germans have some kind of light works running about a quarter of the way up the battlefield from their baseline on their right. Ways to Re-fight the Battle Players can start from the initial positions detailed above and see if their game follows the course of history. Alternatively they can deploy troops as usual using Leader bases, and see if they can do better than their historical counterparts. The Germans would then be allowed to use their light works for an attempted ambush: seeing if they can lure the Romans far enough forward for an assault from the woods on their flank. Solo wargamers should re-fight the battle from the Roman viewpoint: with the Germans programmed with Attack or Forward orders. Background and Battle The rules, Vis Bellica, for which this scenarios was designed is reviewed in the Reviewing Stand in this issue. - ED Back to Table of Contents -- Courier # 90 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com