I have been following your comments In Spearpoint and SAGA over the desirability of period specific army lists. In keeping with your suggestion that more such lists be made available, I am submitting for your review and approval a very specific army list that I have researched. I would like It to be considered for publication In Spearpoint and SAGA and for consideration as an official NASAMW list. The army list Is the army of Flavius Aetius in Gaul, 424 to 454 A.D.

In 424 A.D. a young man by the name of Flavius Aetius gathered an army of Huns supplied to his by his friend Rugila (or Rua or Ruas), the king of the Huns. Aetius brought this army into Italy In support of the usurper John against the Emperor. By the time Aetius arrived, John was dead and his plot uncovered. Taking advantage of the large army of Huns accompanying him, Aetius extorted out of the Emperor the command of Roman forces in Gaul. At that time, Gaul was only loosely under Roman control. The Visigoths had established an independent kingdom, the British Armoricans were virtually independent in Brittany, so were the Franks along the lower Rhine and the Burgundians along the upper Rhine. Additionally, peasant revolts were common and sometimes quite dangerous. In a long series of campaigns, Aetius used his small Roman forces, the Hun auxiliaries supplied by Rugila, and various foederate he could enlist to reestablish Roman authority in Gaul. He checked Visigothic expansionism, almost destroyed the Burgundians, crushed peasant revolts, and defeated the Salian Franks and turned them into dependable foederates. After Roman control was established, it was tested to Its fullest when Rugila died and Attila killed his way to become king of the Huns. Attila withdrew the Hun troops on which Aetius relied and in 451 A.D. invaded the western Roman empire. Aetius gathered together his small army and tried to gain as many allies as he could. He even managed to bring his long time enemy, the Visigoths, into the alliance. On the Mauric plain, Aetius and Attila met in battle. Though victorious, Aetius did not press the pursuit and the Huns withdrew from Gaul.

I have run my Patrician Romans a number of times and have felt that the list does not do justice to Aetius. While the list is fine for generic coverage of the period covering both eastern and western portions of the Empire, it does not create an adequate "feel* for Aetius' army. I believe that Aetius is different from all of the rest of the Roman generals of the time because of his unique relationship with the king of the Huns. While young, Aetius was sent as a hostage to the Huns. While there he learned the Hun style of fighting and developed close relationships with Rugila and other Hun leaders. Later, Aetius could call upon Rugila to send substantial forren for Aetius' use in his various campaigns within the Empire. While other Roman generals could hire Hun mercenaries, no one other than Aetius could call upon Huns in large numbers nor have as such control over them.

One very interesting aspect of this period is the change in the Roman's cavalry fighting style. Since the earliest days of the Republic, Roman heavy horse had been equipped with light spears, shields, and body armor. flue to the Influence of the Huns, Roman cavalry in this period changed its fighting style to adopt the bow and lance. It is still a matter of debate how this change was Introduced into the Roman army. Some argue that Aetius, who was raised among the Huns, Introduced this new style of fighting when he achieved overall command of Roman forces. Others argue that the change happened more slowly and occurred as Hunt enlisted in Roman units after the breakup of the Hun empire. My personal inclination is to agree with the former interpretation, and the army list is so constructed. However, options have been included in the list to accommodate those who may disagree.

The list is divided into two periods. The early period runs from 424 to 449 A.D. and the later period runs from 450 to 454 A.D. The dividing point in the list is the decision of Attila to turn his attention from the eastern half of the Empire to the West. Before Attila decided to move west, Aetius was on very friendly terms with his and had remarkable access to Hunnic assistance and troops. Also at this time, Aetius' main opponent was the Visigothic kingdom In southwestern Gaul. Upon Attila's decision to move west, Aetius no longer had access to Hun troops as Attila called them all home (as he had done to the eastern Empire as early as 433 A.D.). The threat of the Hun invasion led Aetius' Visigothic enemy to join with the Romans to oppose the threat posed by Attila's Huns. It is thus necessary to divide the list into a period where Aetius has access to Huns, but no Visigoths, and a later period where the Huns are gone but Visigothic allies are available.

FLAVIUS AETIUS AND THE ROMAN ARMY IN GAUL 424 A.D. TO 454 A.D.

Roman C-in-C mounted on horse as HC, L, B, Sh @ 100 points 1 (1)
LabaruMm A standard @ 20 points 0-1
Extra to count labarum as C-in-C's P standard @ 10 points 0-1
Roman Sub-General mounted on horse as HC, L, B, Sh @ 50 points 0-3 (2)
Hun Sub-General mounted on horse as HC, L, B, Sh @ 50 points (E) 1 (3)
Visigothic Ally-General mounted on horse as HC, JLS, Sh @ 75 points. (L) 1
Alan Ally-General mounted on horse as HC or ENC, L, B @ 75 points *1 (4)
C-In-C's Comitatus "Reg. A" HC, L, B, Sh @ 14 points 2-5 (5)
Sub-General's Comitatus *Reg. B" HC, JLS, Sh @ 11 points or LC, JLS, Sh @ 9 points 1-5 per
Extra to upgrade HC Comitatus to HC, L, B, Sh @ 2 points Any (6)
Catafractarii "Reg. C" SHC, L @ 14 points. 0-8 (7)
Equites "Reg. C" HC, JLS, Sh @ 10 points 0-12
Extra to upgrade Equites to HC, L, 8, Sh @ 2 points (L) Any (9)
Equites Illyricani "Reg. D" LC, JLS, Sh @ 7 points. 0-12 (9)
Equites Sagitarii "Reg. D" LC, B, Sh @ 7 points. 0-8 (9)
Extra to upgrade "Reg. D" LC to "Reg. C" Any
Legionarii "Reg. D" 2/3 of each unit MI, JLS, 0, Sh @ 4 points and 1/3 of each unit MI, B, Sh @ 3 points. 0-24 (10)
Auxilia "Reg. D" LMI, JLS, D, Sh @ 4 points. 24-48
Archers integral with Auxilla 'Reg. D" LMI, 8, Sh @ 3 points. 0-24
Archers in all archer units 'Reg. D" LMI, 8, Sh @ 3 points. 0-16
Extra to upgrade "Reg. D" Auxilia to "Reg. C" @ 1 point. Any
Extra to upgrade "Reg. C" Auxilia to "Reg. B" @ 1 point. 0-24
Roman light Infantry "Reg. D" LI, JLS or B, Sh @ 3 points. 0-24
Hun Nobles "Irreg. B" HC, L, B, Sh @ 10 points. (E) 5-11 (11)
Huns "Irreg. C" LC, JLS, B, Sh @ 7 points. (E) 36-96 (11)
Alan Nobles "Irreg. C" HC, L, B @ 7 points. *5-11
Extra to upgrade Alan Nobles to "Irreg. B" @ 1 point. (E) Any (12)
Extra to upgrade Alan Nobles to EHC @ 2 points. Any
Alans "Irreg. C" LC, JLS, B, Sh @ 7 points. *12-24
Extra to upgrade Alans to "Irreg. B" @ 1 point. (E) Any
Armoricans "Irreg. B" HC, JLS, Sh @ 9 points. 0-12 (13)
Burgundians or Saxons "Irreq. C" MI, JLS, Sh @ 3 points. 0-48
Franks "Irreg. C" MI, HTW, Sh 0 3 points 0-96
Franks "Irreg. C" LI, JLS, Sh @ 3 points or B @ 2 points. 0-16
Extra to upgrade Burgundian, Saxon, or Frankish MI to "Irreg. B" 0-1/4
Visigothic buccellarli "Irreg. B" HC, JLS, Sh @ 9 points. (L) 15-17
Visigothic gardingi "Irreg. C" LC, JLS, Sh @ 6 points. (L) 0-24
Visigothic spearmen "Irreg. C" MI, JLS, Sh @ 3 points. (L) *32-72
Visigothic skirmishers "Irreg. C" LI, B or S @ 2 points. (L) 0-24
UP to 15 regular command factors @ 10 points.
UP to 15 irregular command factors @ 25 points.

Troop minimums marked * are required only if any troops of that nationality, other than up to 12 LC, are used. Note that Huns are available and required only in the early period. The visigoths are available only in the later period, but are not mandatory. Regular units may not contain troops of different morale grades. Otherwise, all notes to WRG list 81 that are not contradicted by this list are in effect.

NOTES

(1) In this list the C-in-C is Aetius. His armament is based upon the fact that his own personal fighting style developed during his stay with the Huns. As such, he could be expected to be equipped as a Hun noble. Additionally, Aetius in described as being an excellent archer and being very adept with the *spear.* Also, because of his close relationship with the Hun king, and his unique ability, for a Roman, to befriend the Huns, Aetlus can command Hun units.

(2) 1 personally like to have historical names for as many of my generals as I can discover. If you share a similar Interest, then two of Aetius' most important generals were Litorius, Master of Soldiers In Gaut, and Avitus, Praetorian Prefect of Gaul (Avitus would later be Emperor with the backing of the Visigoths). Even though he was a more minor officer at this time, I like to use Majorian because he would later he Emperor, and was the only truly competent western Emperor after the death of Theodosius 1.

(3) While the standard Patrician Roman army list treats the Hun General as an Ally, I feel that given the very close, and unique, relationship between Aetius and the Huns, rating the Hun General as a Sub-General is more accurate. The Hun General can command only Huns (and Alans, but only if no Alan Ally-General is present), but he need not control all of the Hun units. However, the only two Generale that may command Hun units are the Hun General and Aetius. The Hun General is compulsory during the early period as any Hun contingent would have an overall Hun leader, even though he would be subordinate to Aetius.

(4) The Alans were friendly to Rome during the early period and were used extensively by Aetius, particularly as a counter balance to the Visigoths. However, during the later period, the Alans, and their king Sangiban, had greater sympathy for Attila and the Huns. At Campus Mauricius (Chalons), the Alans were considered unreliable, and quickly fled the field. Therefore, In the late period, the Alan Ally-General is Sangiban who must be rated as unreliable.

(5) Aetius would clearly have trained his comitatus in the Hun method of fighting, In fact, most of the members of his comitatus were probably Hung, either "barbarians" from across the Rhine, or 'civilized" and living In Roman territory. As time went on, non-Hune were probably recruited into the comitatus thus allowing it to continue despite the fact that all Huns had been called home in the later period. However, Aetlus probably imposed a level of discipline that could not be imposed on raw tribesmen and classification an regular is not unreasonable.

(6) It is not clear to what extent or at what speed other elements of to convert the army adopted the new fighting style. Clearly, the first unite would be elite units such as general's comitati. Thus, I leave it up to the individual player to decide on his own Interpretation of events and either change the comitatus' weapons to the new style, or leave them with the older Equites weapons. By the later period, the conversion of the comitati would have been complete and the upgrade would be strongly recommended, but in not required. Several guard unitn were light cavalry, and some comitati were undoubtedly light cavalry of the Illyricant type.

(7) The evidence I have seen leads me to conclude that even at this late date, the catafractarit had not disappeared from the western armies. Such troops were primarily raised from Sarmatians settled within Gaul by the Romans. Such troops were always more popular In the west than in the east. And finally, the Notitia Dignttatum shows catafractarit units still in existence In 420 A.D., right before the start of our period. As far as the clibanarit that were In the old list, the Notitia Dignitatum does show at least one clibanarii unit in the west (in North Africa), however, this troop type was generally more favored in the east than in the west. I have found no evidence to support their presence In Aetius' army. While such troops might have been available in theory, I find that the use of the catafractarii as armored shock troop provides a much more historical feel for this army.

(8) While the new fighting style may have quickly been adopted by the elite comitati, it would undoubtedly have taken more time for such a change to filter down to the ordinary troopers. Thus, the upgrade to the new fighting style is only available during the later period.

(9) By this time, reliable Roman light cavalry was becoming more and more scarce. This led to the large scale reliance on barbarian foederati for the provision of light cavalry. So bad was the situation that by the time of Bellsarus, regular Roman light cavalry had all but disappeared and there in no evidence of their continued existence. While some light cavalry should be available, a better historical feel is obtained from the exclusive use of irregular light cavalry.

(10) I have included Legionarit out of a sense of completeness. I am not convinced that at this time the leginns were even effective enough to be used for any purpose other than garrison duty. The legions liated as field army units were probably left behind in various garrison functions and were not used in open battle. But if you disagree, then I have included the legionarii for your use.

(11) From Aetius' first arrival as a major player on the Roman political scene, his power was derived largely from the fact that he had such a unique access to Hun military power. Until Attila ordered all Huns to leave Roman service, Huns formed the core of Aetius' military power. In fact, when Aetius arrived to aid the usurper John, he came into Italy at the head of a sizeable army that consisted solely of Huns provided to him by king Rugila. Thus, any army of the early period must have a substantial Hun contingent.

(12) During the early period the Alan& were reliable allies of the Romans. However, during the later period, the Alan&' sympathy lay more with the Huns of Attila than with the Romans. They were considered unreliable and were certainly unenthusiastic, thus meriting a lower morale rating in the later period.

(13) At Campus Hauriciua (Chalons), the Armoricans constituted a very small contingent under the direct command of Aetius. Given the few Armoricans available and their lack of Independence at Chalons, I do not feel It Is appropriate to require the purchase of an allied general In order to field the Armoricans.

REFERENCES

Barker, Phil The Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome (WRG, 1981).
Barker, Phil Army Lists, Vol. II (and NASAMW revisions) (WRG)
Bury, J.B. History of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I (Dover 1958).
Gore, Terry The Campaign for Gaul, 451 A.D. (Pallas Armata, 1990).
MacDowall, Simon Wargaming In History: Romans, Goths & Huns (Sterling, 1991).