The Barbarian Horde Part I: Choosing and Designing and Army
The Barbarian Horde Part II: Who are the Dacians?

Wargaming with the Dacians has proven to be an unexpected pleasure. Teeming hordes of naked (or at least shirtless) barbarians has proven to be quite fun both to play with and against. This article will spell out details on how to get the most of your warbands, using the Dacian army as the example.

The main strength of the horde is just that…it is extraordinarily numerous. Besides that, the fanatics and warbands have a remote control aspect to them which greatly saves on the numbers of orders needed. The weaknesses are that the more civilized, coordinated armies can tempt your warbands into precipitous attacks, plus the warbands are easily defeated by the superior training, drill, and weapons systems of the civilized armies. Clearly, the strategic goal is to use your numbers and ferocity to your advantage, to swarm and overwhelm the otherwise superior enemy forces. But how?

Unit Comparision

To give an idea what you are up against, here are some numbers. A four stand unit of Dacian Warbands (loose order), charges and is charged by a four stand unit of Roman Legionaries.

Dacian combat total: +2 Fanatic, +2 Frenzied, +1 Various, +2 Charge (average)= .7

Multiply by the number of stands able to fight, and the grand total is 2.1, a good number!

Roman combat total: +3 Pilum, +2 Enemy Unarmored, +1 more figures per stand, +2 Charge (average)= 8.

Multiplied by the number of stands able to fight, the Romans score is 3.2. The Romans can expect to win unless the Dacians score +3 or higher on the random dice roll off. Even then they can expect only to tie. In direct, head to head confrontations with civilized heavy infantry, the loose order, unarmoured Dacians have only a hitter’s chance of winning the opening round.

Against cavalry it is even a worse situation. Enemy heavy cavalry can charge home from well out of the foot warband’s allowable charge range, nearly always count as shielded, force a morale check before impact, and can easily retreat out of danger should their dice go south. Enemy light cavalry is similarly effective, being able to shower the unarmoured warbands with missiles, as well as deliberately draw out charges that have no chance of succeeding, creating disorder and leaving the exposed warbands easy meat for any nearby unit.

In the second round of fighting with any unit, the Warbands will lose their fanatic and frenzied status, reverting to just Various armed, loose order, unarmoured, Warrior morale infantry. The loss of combat power is enormous, and you should expect your warbands to melt away if they do not manage to push back and disorder the enemy.

The point of this is to understand that your first wave will almost never succeed. Weak points in the enemy line may fold, and there can be the occasional fluke, but essentially, the initial units will not be around at the end of game. This is the fundamental fact that the Barbarian player must come to grips with in order to make a winning strategy.

The Barbarian Advantage

Despite that, the relative costs of the units in question are not close. In the above example, the four stand unit of Roman Legion costs 28 points, but the Dacians cost a mere 12—less than half. This has two implications, one is that the Dacian player can cover over double the table width of the Romans, plus the Dacian player can have more depth (and probably both simultaneously if the army is well designed). Both of these must be utilized in order to defeat the overwhelming advantage up front. These are the methods to be utilized

1) Maximize the number of units. This is the most important thing. Large numbers of units mean that there is a larger army break point, and you will certainly be losing units.

2) Loose order warbands are often better than close order warbands. Close order barbarians are fine, but being in close order is not necessarily the formation you want your barbarians in.

3) Utilize your list options. In the case of the Dacians, they have two factors that set them apart from all other foot barbarian lists. The first is the option for very high quality Sarmatian allies. The other is their startling number of archer stands. This allows the Dacians to be a multi-dimensional force.

4) It will be necessary to attack in waves at any point you wish to break, unless you choose to use higher than warband quality troops. (The Sarmatians in the case of the Dacian list).

5) Use the typical Barbarian stratagems of Ambush and Flank march regardless of the specific list you choose. Mix them up as much as possible to keep your opponent from properly lining up against you.

Maximizing the number of units is really part of army design, but it is critical. You are looking for an army break point of eleven to sixteen or so. You will need this large number to prevent outright defeats, as well as sustain an assault in which it is easily possible to lose five or six units in a single cataclysmic turn. Your units are not that durable, so your army must be. As a bonus, the Fanatic status of the warbands gives a nice morale level to start. You will need to keep a general near your point of attack, plus a sacred standard if you can get one. This is not to keep your units in the fight when they are losing stands. This is to keep other units from fleeing for seeing friendly units ripped apart and run down by Romans.

Foot Barbarians really are playing for the long term, and are trying to wear down and pick apart the enemy over time. The opening series of attacks are simply not chaotic enough of an environment to get a victory, and it is in the later attacks that success is most likely. The excess of units not only makes it easier to absorb losses, but also gives you a large number of units to counter punch with. The worst mistake I ever made with the Dacians was to base them six stands to a unit. I didn’t have enough of a foundation to the army, and the army break point was too low, and the units too ponderous. Never use four stands where two will do either!

Loose Order Warbands are really great. They are the cheapest shock infantry in the game, move more quickly than close order infantry, and as fast as fully armoured cavalry. Their hitting power is equal to their close ordered brethren, although they do take casualties much less readily. Loose order foot barbarians are well at home in light delaying terrain such as woods. Although they are slowed, they are not disordered. On a dense battlefield, they can use strategic movement all the way up to the point where they emerge from the woods, which is quite frequently within the charge range of the enemy troops. This translates into whole sections of your army being able to advance at good speed, and then charge home with the cost of zero orders. Although this will not be an intricate or elaborate assault, it is still coming and the enemy must use orders to prepare to meet it, while you are devoting all of your orders to another part of the battlefield.

To gain the advantage of strategic movement, you need to place as much terrain as possible which blocks line of sight, and then your troops will be able to advance themselves behind its cover, plus using the best possible base speed.

The List Options of the Dacians are Sarmatian Lancers and archers. Archers are by far the cheapest units going, costing just 8 points for four stands of loose order, bow armed, infantry. They are very useful for weakening the enemy holed up in a strong defensive position, chasing off enemy skirmish cavalry, and are able to inflict damage far out of proportion to their points cost. These troops seem very well suited for dealing with the typical responses to a foot barbarian horde style army. The Sarmatians are on the opposite end of the spectrum, costing an uncharacteristic fourteen points a stand (for the more numerous Noble cavalry), but are an element of high quality that forces the opponent adjust his game plan. They have also proven to be excellent at dealing with open terrain.

Importantly, the inexpensive nature of the Dacian open order warbands allows for a wide latitude in army design, as there are enough points left over to purchase varying degrees of both options simultaneously, if desired.

Attacking in waves is the name of the game in the center of the battlefield. With very little terrain and no unprotected flanks to work with, the center of most armies is a daunting prospect for foot barbarians. But, with proper tactics and some luck, the center can be the best place to launch the initial attack!

Since we now understand that a well ordered unit of Romans, or other civilized infantry, will decisively defeat a warband, it is clear that the first attackers can be best expected to cause casualties, and even more critically—disorder. Although ideally the disorder will come from being pushed back in combat by warbands, moving into rough terrain, being struck in the flank by a warband, or else casualties from skirmishers and archers, the centre does not often offer up such opportunities. However fanatics can make their own disorder if you have the guts.

Using the above example of a four stand Roman Legion unit, we now oppose it not only with a four stand unit of warbands, but also a two stand unit of Falxers, and a four stand unit of skirmishers, armed with javelin and shield.

The skirmishers approach first, their primary function is to charge and defeat any Roman skirmish infantry defending the Legion. After this, any hits they can score are important. They really only need one. They are likely to be forced to retreat by a Roman advance order, and this is fine. If the Romans sit passively, perhaps in Locked Shield formation, then subjecting them to a several turn javelin barrage is more than acceptable, as you wait for your flank charges to get into position.

At some point, either the Romans will act, or it will be judged an appropriate time to launch the attack in the center, either with the intention of winning there (if the Roman player has no reserves nearby), or just to draw away orders from a contested flank. At this point the two stand unit of Fanatic Falxers will be unleashed onto the Legion. The Falxers will score a 1.6 average result. With some decent luck, you can score two casualties on the Romans the first turn, and one or two on the second. The Legion will likely wipe out a stand on the first turn, and has a very good chance of destroying the unit entirely on the second. Even if it doesn’t, there is a statistical certainty of the destruction of the Falxers on the third round. The Roman unit will be depleted, hopefully by a full stand (which usually requires a javelin casualty from the skirmishers), plus is disordered from defeating the Falxers in hand to hand combat.

If the Warband, long held in check four to six inches behind the Falxers can pass their morale check for seeing a friendly unit destroyed, they are now in perfect placement to charge and destroy the weakened Roman unit. Against a weakened and disordered Roman unit, the fresh Warband has an entirely different outlook. Here are the new combat numbers:

Dacians +2 Fanatic, +2 Frenzy, +2 charge (average), +1 Various, +1 superior order = .8

Multiplied by the three eligible stands to fight, is a total of 2.4. A good number

Romans: +3 Pilum, +2 charge (average), +1 more figures per stand, +2 Enemy Unarmoured = .8

Multipled by the front stands the Roman player now has only a 1.6 combat total. Clearly the situation has reversed itself, and with luck, the Romans will be defeated and given a fragmented marker. Once this happens, it is all over.

Trading a unit for a unit seems like a risky strategy, but if the Roman player has an army breakpoint of six or seven, and the Dacians have a break point of twelve or fourteen, then this is a clearly viable strategy to win, even directly in the center of the enemy’s main strength.

The points values of this example are also similar. 24 for three Dacian units, and 28 for the Roman unit.

Typical Barbarian Stratagems

Barbarians, well knowing that they are not the match of Roman forces, even at three to one odds, would seek to use the terrain to their best advantage. Ambush is a tricky thing however. You will lose troops, possibly even whole stands to attrition, plus you actually have a rather poor chance to either causing a morale failure or even making contact! The goal of ambushers is not so much to impact the enemy line, but to force him to commit his skirmish troops to clearing each and every piece of terrain. Also, the advance placement of ambushes is very important to preventing early strategic moves, effectively pinning the enemy on the other side of the table. They can give a tremendous positional advantage, plus draw off skirmish infantry, but are unlikely to have decisive impact by themselves.

To maximize your ambushers, place them facing East/West on the battlefield, instead of directly at the enemy. The idea here is to crash into an unwary unit’s flank as they come too close to a ravine.

For the Dacians, they have the option to place loose order archers into ambush. This tactic has the great bonus of being able to repel Skirmish Cavalry from a "beaten zone", but given their status as untrained warriors, they have no special bonus on the attrition roll, as do fanatics.

Flank marches are a much more reliable maneuver for restricting the enemy movement. If the enemy rushes to attack, he will have success, but runs the risk of being caught committed when the flank marchers arrive. Flank marchers also have destructive results on players who seek to use the table corner as a "fortress", as the flank marchers will arrive from one of his "walls". Ideally, the timing of the flank march will catch at least one unit both exposed and pinned. Flank marches are the ultimate utility against players who seek to use the table edge as a piece of terrain.

Use of reserves is also handy if your horde is so massive as to not be useful on the tabletop. This also allows a strategic second wave to be brought up as the initial units are defeated or lose their impetus. Note that holding units in reserve is a great shock for a highly aggressive player, but against a very defensive player you may miss those units as they must travel the length of the board to get into the action.

Scouting Options

Another bonus of the barbarian horde type armies is the amazing scouting total they typically generate. You will often have one or even two options to choose from. They all have their virtues to them, but there are a few that seem to work exceptionally well with the foot horde.

1. +1 on any attrition die rolls. This one I really like. All units in ambush or on flank march are now much more secure against stragglers or deserters. If you are running all warbands in those positions, this option ensures no maneuver breaking morale check. If you are using a large amount of off table-deployment, then this option is nearly indispensable. Note that this option naturally favors players who like to fight along the table’s edges, and also helps combat other players with the same tendency.
2. My other favored option is the extra four inch forward deployment. This shortens the distance to the enemy, gives space to deploy your successive waves correctly, and really sets up a posture of aggression. If you prefer attacking up the middle, in the center of the table, then this option is probably your best bet.
3. Subtracting one from your flank march roll is useful for players who like to play fast games. Being able to comfortably risk bringing on flank marchers a turn early is primarily of use if you plan to blitz the enemy, and suspect he wants to try the same. It can be helpful if you wish to flank march a lot of foot, as well, but not overly so.
4. Terrain placement of choice. This one is clearly most useful for deploying large numbers of units in ambush as near and as soon as possible to the enemy. This has been my default pick most games I have played, and I am coming round to considering it not as useful as the others, although using it to finish up a line of trees really helps move up your horde. Additionally, it really helps to be able to place a forest on top of the hill in the middle of the enemy’s deployment zone.

Barbarian Chess

At this point, all the main elements of winning with barbarian foot hordes should be apparent. Now to put it all together.

Although many barbarian foot armies are constructed with two generals (to maximize the numbers of units), you will be advancing and attacking all over the board in most games.

Using your extreme frontage, you should be able to expand out to the very edges of the board in some capacity or other, forcing the enemy to either meet you in an extended fashion or else bottle up in a corner of the table.

If he chooses to spread out, and meet you frontally, then you can employ a series of unit to unit match ups intended to weaken and disorder his line. You will create gaps between his units that some of your smaller warbands can exploit. Ambushes will slow down his advance, and with luck, cause disorder. Either way, his line will no longer be "neat". The procedure given above for breaking the center of the line can be attempted with a single general being able to control roughly 3 such attacks at one time (consecutive "recover" orders will be necessary). His best troops will require three or even four of your own units to defeat in such a brawl, with your main goal being to give him no rest, no chance to recover from a disorder, and constant pressure without relent. If the enemy retreats to a more defensive posture, you should take a few turns getting around to all points on his line, and give your flank marchers time to have decent success at coming on. Missile fire, skirmish engagement, and light cavalry use will keep both players entertained while this is happening. If you have archers and skirmishers in numbers, then they can be just as useful in wearing down an opponent while you wait for the flank marchers. Remember that you actually play out the charge phase before the flank marchers are brought on (or even rolled for!). This means that no matter how much he stalls, the more he tries to use the tables edge to fend off the horde, the worse he makes it for the units at the end of the line. If he insists on playing on the very table’s edge, then someone will get flanked!

In either case, after your first attack is broken up, there will be spots of success here and there. If the enemy loses a combat somewhere, (such as light troops pressed into line duty), or doesn’t have enough loose order troops to properly cover the terrain features, then this is where your second line goes. In fact, your second line could easily go in everywhere, but try to reinforce your success. Your main goals are to gain flank attacks, pull troops out of a better position to deal with a new threat (like an exposed flank), and to chase away or engage enemy generals. Chasing the enemy generals away is often all your foot warbands can accomplish, but if the general is forced to issue double orders to his front line troops—this is often enough. Tying him up for a critical turn or two can be the difference in a battle, as your warbands surge on the temporarily leaderless enemy.

You are trying to make the battle as intense and confusing as possible. Ordered battle plans are never the barbarian’s strong suit, and the less the battle resembles this, the more likely you are of coming out of top. You can exchange a unit for a unit, sometimes as many as three units to break that key point in the line. Just so you still have a warband in position to pounce on any sign of weakness. Remember that often you have roughly a twenty or thirty percent chance of a combat going your way. Your warbands will create holes for you somewhere, but you don’t know where until it happens. Being able to exploit the damage is the key to winning.

It is important to always keep a unit or so of warbands in a reserve, per flank. These can be vital to deal with any break through cavalry, shock troops, or better than average planned enemy maneuvers. These can be quite small, two stands or so. They don’t need to be large, they just need to be there. Skirmish cavalry is also very useful for this function late in the game, although often late in the game I don’t really have any skirmish cavalry left! Stands with the general can work for this as well, although you will find that you will need your orders this late in the battle.

Conclusion

Overall, I found the Dacians to be more than I expected. Interesting history, change of pace in models to paint, and a wholly different gaming philosophy. The lessons that I have learned from playing the Dacians have carried over into how I design and play with my Greeks as well. Foot barbarians always have that "puncher’s chance", and tend to generate extremely fun and intense games. My next stop is clearly a Roman army to act as historical opponents for these crazed mountain dwellers.

The Barbarian Horde Part I: Choosing and Designing and Army
The Barbarian Horde Part II: Who are the Dacians?
The Barbarian Horde Part III: Wargaming the Horde