We (The Society of "Other-Maine" Miniature Enthusiasts) ran a game of AW at our last meeting.

The Romans were trying to get a bridge across a major river in Gaul. They sent a Legio and supporting auxiliaries (one unit each of heavy archers, Cretan archers, Balearic slingers, German cavalry, and Gaulish cavalry, the latter being something of a loyalty concern for the Roman CO) across the river in three "lifts" at three-turn intervals to secure the area on the far bank where the other end of the bridge would be, which was some 2' upstream from the beach where the Romans had to land.

Of course, the Gauls were present in the woods on the other side, in 3 groups. A small "observation" group (3 warbands, a cavalry unit, and a unit of slingers) were at the beach area. Two other groups, totaling 11 warbands, 2 cavalry units, 2 units of archers and one of slingers, were off-board until called by the observation group.

The Roman got ashore all right, but lost their heavy archers and 2 cohorts of legionaries to the Gauls when they finally penetrated the woods en route to the bridge site, the Gauls having managed to get all the off-board folks going to the beach area in decent shape (i.e., nobody got lost en route). Gaulish losses were less than one warband in this exchange, as the Romans were in a very disjointed advance at this point (trying to wheel their entire army by the left while clearing the woods). After this bloody nose, the Roman C-in-C decided to retreat back to the beach and call in reinforcements, thus ending our little fracas.

We found that the Gaulish C-in-C's biggest problem was keeping his troops in good order & formation while out of charge reach of the Romans until sufficient force could be mustered to make the initial Gaulish frenzied charge worthwhile. The Roman C-in-C said his biggest problem was maintaining decent formation during the wheel maneuver while still maintaining some semblance of all-round security.

All of this was quite realistic from what we know of the period, and made for a very entertaining and enjoyable experience. This was our first time with the rules, but it won't be our last.

One question that seems more specific to Marian-era Romans than most others: If we have more than one Legio on the board, with a C-in-C and a general for each Legio, we don't have enough commands to advance the line with each Legio moving as a whole. The command structure for a Legio makes breaking it into two or more parts a bit odd as well. What do you suggest as a solution?

[Ed. I would opt to use the optional Advanced Signals Rule. This allows you to have a general in the front rank giving his units all a single order each turn.]