The Commander surveyed his surroundings and liked what he saw. His column was moving briskly, having arisen early and the spirits of the legionnaires were high. The wagons of the supply train were moving at a slow, but steady pace and the auxiliary were holding their formation. If this were not a supply train that might not be the case as the auxiliary had not had the time to train that his legionnaires had. No matter, they were essential on a resupplying mission into Germania. If German skirmishers were to nip at his shirttails he could dispatch sections of them to deal with these barbarians while not dissipating his core or legionnaires or his veteran legionnaires. The veterans had been with him for years now. They could be counted on although he wished he had more of them. The regulars counted twice the number of veterans and had already displayed courage while marching to meet up with the supply column. He was sure of them as long as they were led by their centurions. The general looked out and saw a gap between the treeline in the distance. The trail was little better than a cow path but better still than no path. With the wagons even a trail was better than nothing. A few hours to the gap and they would clear the open area bordering the forests on both sides of the road. He knew he would feel better once through the gap. His second in command had the horse under his control. They were strange allies, these German "citizens"; still he was glad that he had a true Roman general as his sub- commander. It was his duty to see to the cavalry and ensure they didn't walk into a trap. With horse in front of the column and to the rear he was always on the move, but wasn't that what a sub-commander was accustomed to. He smiled as he thought of himself at that young age. Yes, he had done the same thing. Well, there was time for his second to learn, just as he had, if he kept his eyes focused on the enemy and his head attached to his head. They were passing a hut but the inhabitants were nowhere to be found. His auxiliary had already grabbed what was available - there was no stopping that sort of thing out here on the frontier. The commander, once they were past the frontier borders didn't even concern himself with that sort of thing: why should he? The creaking of the wheels was continuous and the clanking of the soldiers would have made a lively tune if they had not been marching for most of the morning. "Commander, some movement in the brush to the front and to the right; but way off in the distance. General Titus is taking the advance guard and seeing what is up front." As expected, they had seen some movement for days now but it would come to nothing. The orders were given, General Titus would go forward but the rest of the Roman soldiers would continue on the path and move. If they came forward the Auxiliary would deploy but there was time for that. The Commander looked up at the sun. It was 9:30. His movements would not be halted by some German warriors who were probably lost. His men would continue to move, their supplies were vital. The Commander saw to his front his sub-general, General Titus, with his one group of cavalry. They were well armed with spear and shield and some even carried javelins. These were also veteran cavalry, although the Commander did not believe veteran cavalry were in the same class as the veteran rating he gave to his legionnaires. Ah, the word had been passed to the rearguard cavalry to join the advanced guard. Now why was that? Titus would not have ordered this unless there was a reason. The commander thought of going to the forefront of the formation but that was stupid. The mass of soldiers needed him here, especially without rearguard support and Titus could be relied on to continue the progress. It seemed to him that there was more than a little activity to his front and right. More than one formation off to his front right, that was sure. Trumpets blaring! The commander looked up and the sun was beginning to shine brightly. Looked to be another hot summer's day. No matter, he could see the battlefield now. So, there would be a battle – and right on this ground. He could not see what was in front of Titus who was on the trail to his front but did see the warbands running up at him over open ground to his right. The first warband looked as though it was veering to hit the front of his column. No, it has swerved and looks as though it will hit the middle of the column. It looks like another warband is moving to take its place. All together it looks like six warbands. But the Auxiliaries have deployed in line with their bows. Next to them are the Allied Legionaries and to their left and a bit to the rear, the Roman Regular Legionaries. Because they have moved off the road the rearguard has to shift it's movement and will take some of the road. Those rearward veteran cavalry are already disordered. The Commander set his jaw and thought that his initial thoughts were correct, some veteran formation! This will delay their movement to help Titus but it can not be helped. No fighting yet but this will be a fine day for Rome! The Commander continued to move the column along so that the head of the road is straddled by the veteran legionaries. The Commander sees more warriors than he believed the woods could hold but he is not deterred and believes providence has shined on him. After all, had the German hordes not been so impatient they would have had him in a vice. Now they will crash against his legionaries like waves against the rocks. Titus! He is charging just over the hill. He will await the news of Titus' cavalry's fate; either way he is prepared . . . and if Titus is defeated and does not fall with his unit - Titus will wish that he had. The Commander sits astride his horse and observes the first warband with their javelins, shields and unearthly yells close with the Auxiliary Legionaries. The unit has been already put on the defensive and their pilum are at the ready . . . and cast. That took some of their impetuous charge out of them. Many a German widow with that throw. Now the swords unsheathed . . . very much a near thing. These Germans do not seem to run. The left section of the line is thinning and what is that Centurion doing? Oh, he has an arrow in his neck. We seem to be giving in on the left. Orders are being shouted above the din of battle. Now the Germans are edging backwards, their charge broken. They seem wary to go forward but and well they should. They have lost many men . . . but we have also lost some soldiers. More of the same and we will be in real trouble. The next twenty minutes should tell the tale. Other groups of barbarians continue to close with the line of Roman soldiers. To the front two more groups of warbands emerge from the woods while up ahead the commander only hears the clash of battle from the cavalry. The wagons have gone as far as they can go. Any more movement and they will be outside of the blocks of infantrymen guarding their way and easy prey to the barbarians. Everyone is in their defensive formations. The Commander sees several groups of warbands charge all at once. In the center and still disordered the first warband is charging the Auxiliary Legionaries. Almost directly in back of them they are followed up by another warband. If those soldiers can hold out they can toss them right in their faces and blunt the next attack. With the center secured the remaining attacks may peter out. On the left of the line the Roman Regulars await an oncoming warband and on the far right the Auxiliaries with their bows are already shooting at the oncoming warbands. Well, news at last. Here comes Titus from over the hill, and he is leading his cavalry. No! There is Titus but the cavalry are not Roman, they are pursuing barbarians on their little ponys. Where is the cavalry? Well, he will not throw away the remaining cavalry. They will be use to take the warbands in the flank. The commander sends the necessary orders to see this is done. Attacks The attacks are at hand. The Auxiliary Legionaries need to stand firm and bounce these Germans right into their brethren. The pilum are thrown . . . there and there men have gone down. Now brace for the impact! A whole section is being cut to ribbons. We move back and few feet and then retake the ground. This is taking too long! Why are the enemy not running? We are wavering ourselves! The commander sees the unit commander gather the remaining men together to present a coherent mass. The German warband has died to the man. They eye the oncoming fresh warband and wonder will they be up to the task with their depleted ranks as thinned as they are. The warbands see their comrades die and the blood curling cries grow louder and louder. On their (the warbands) right a warband leaps to combat with the Regular Legionaries. Both are fighting frantically but they are locked in combat. On their (the warbands) left another warbands meets the bowmen. Some of the bowmen start to run and others are cut down. Those remaining are short work for the warband and arms, limbs and heads are all cut off by the jubilant German warriors. The Commander eyes his right with disgust. Those bowmen weren't worth the rations they were drawing. They hardly stood and in the face of a charge ran like sheep. His regulars were holding, but they had to win in order to relieve the stress on the line. It is unfortunate that his Auxiliary legionaries were so handy in their work. If only there were some survivors to mess up the oncoming enemy formation. But there was a way, still, of turning the tide. The cavalry was in position to charge the flank of the enemy! That would stop them and cause them to panic and they would disappear as fast as they appeared. The Commander saw Titus kicking his horse and he furiously raceing for the Roman formation. Part of him wanted to close him out of the formation and leave him to his fate with the Germans pursuing him but he was a Roman Commander and perhaps Titus was still of some use, if only as a shield . . . or scapegoat. The Commander looks at the carnage all about him. Should he join the Roman regulars in their battle with the warband or wait. No he will let them do their handiwork and trust that they will speedily put an end to their entanglement. Yet still they fight on. vWhat was that?? A loud yell, almost deafening! The middle of the warband has assaulted the legionaries and they are caving in. They are enveloped on each end with their reduced numbers. The rest are running. The commander can see it as it effect the regulars. Now he is sure he has made the better choice. The regulars are shaken and will be surrounded in a few minutes. The German cavalry has charged his veteran legionaries. But they are repulsed. That will show them what real legionaries can do. But the Germans are bringing up more cavalry and now what was once distant warband formations are now pressing up against the veterans. "Titus, attach yourself to the veterans" The commander hopes he can be in position to lead the rest of the cavalry on the flank attack if they are successful. The rearguard cavalry charges the flank of the warband. This is the end! The cavarly has caused a few of the warband to perish but has not caused them to run. What worthless souls these German "citizens" are! Aftermath With the line demolished and the regular legionaries surrounded they were able to hold out for a mere 15 minutes. What was left of the horse was worked over by a warband as it turned and few got away. The veterans held for a while longer but the second cavalry charge carried them away and Titus died impaled by a spear while up against a wagon. The wagons were taken by frenzied warbands and the Commander tried a last ditch charge with his bodyguard to cut his way out but it was blunted by cavalry and he was cut down and his head carried on a pole for the German chieftains to their enjoyment. Commentary This is the rendition of the game that I had fought at Havoc in 1999. My thanks to the participants: Eric Paperman, Ken Roberts, Ben Keene, Adam Rogers and Mark Dowdy. Four of them played the German parts and one played the Roman. I had played this scenario out many times before and was prepared to play two games during the timeframe that I had been scheduled. The reason for this is that the Roman generally lost by turn 4 or 5. In fact the Roman has never won this scenario. I was amazed that the Roman was able to hold out for so long! He held out for 9 turns. The reason for this was the manner in which we placed German forces on the board. Each player had a number of German units and each one was rolled individually. Essentially you had to roll the turn number or less to enter a unit. Given average rolling 1 or 2 units would arrive on turn one. The Germans had 6 units arrive on turn one and 3 more on turn 2. That dictated how far the Roman was able to travel and he was not sandwiched in between the warbands. Once that happens the warbands only have to decide how to divide up the loot. I tried a different format than I have in past years due to a few observations I have found to be true at conventions. First, too many times there are too many troops on the table. This leads to no manoeuvre room. I am not the first person to see one solid line of figures on the table on one side and the other side has the same. In short, you are fighting the person directly in front of you. All this shows is that the gamesmaster has a lot of figures (not a bad thing, except it usually doesn't make for a good game). The other observation I made is that most people want to win. Yeah, I know you're not like that, but you're the exception. Trust me, most people want to win, even in a convention game that they are just learning the rules. Why not give them what they want. It can be done and a good game be made out of it. No, it doesn't have to be a Crecy or Agincourt. The Roman player was told from the start he was probably going to lose and was good about the whole thing. Still, he had alternatives. He did not have to take the road. He could have deployed at the farm and fought a standoff battle there. While taking the main road he played a good game and had a lot of decisions that the others did not have to deal with come his way. Finally, while it may not seem apparent from the text he was not that far from giving the Germans a more taxing time in the game. He was unfortunate in his elimination of the warband so that it did not disrupt the charge of the follow-on warband. He also had horrid luck on his flank charge but that could have dissipated one formation and cause morale checks in others. As a point of note: Titus charged with two cavalry elements against two German cavalry elements and eliminated one but they tested and became frenzied. On the heels of that the German followed with another two cavalry elements who were fed into the melee and Titus' command disintegrated with only his command stand surviving.. All in all everyone was able to participate, learn the game and enjoy it. Back to Saga #75 Table of Contents Back to Saga List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Terry Gore This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com