1.  Raid!

Late Romans vs Goths

The scenario for this battle report can be reached by clicking here.

Late Romans from Gripping Beast courtesy of Justin Curtis of the London Gamers

Raid!

The After Action Report from the playtest of the first scenario of Christopher TenWolde's Late Romans vs Goths campaign

Introduction

At the Roman fort of Lootundburnus, the headquarters of Tribunus Lucius Limitus, the Tribune basks in the glow of victory!

“What a day!  By Isis’ teats, when I saw all that Gothic infantry and cavalry march up out of nowhere in front of the fort, I thought we were going to see our ancestors sooner than we thought!  But, a bit of proper fire from the archers, a good stand by my cavalry – what ho, Gaius, how’s the arm? – and then a sally with my legion – excellent form Marcus! – and it all ended up for the best!  Couldn’t otherwise, really.”

The Tribune sat down contentedly, awaiting praise.  Unfortunately, his celebration was slightly marred by the fact no one seemed able to determine where exactly Flavius Floppus had disappeared to after the utter rout of his force (an incident not mentioned by any in the fort), Gaius Gallopus was barely awake, being heavily sedated with juice of the poppy to keep the pain from his wounded arm from overwhelming him, and the Frankish chieftain Friendorfoeix seemed not to be listening at all!  Jupiter!  Was that a Roman girl on his lap!  And he could at least use a cup for his wine!  The oak-solid old legion commander Marcus Manlius offered scant praise.  “The day ended well enough, Tribunus, but we’ve plenty of men – and horses! – to replace, and the men who are on the living side of things will go lighter in the belly for want of beef for months to come.  You would be wise to report to the Magister Equitum and let him know the Goths are on the prowl.”

“Yes, yes, Marcus, you are right, of course, but … I need time to write a proper letter.  Who is that bellowing at the gate at this time of night?”  And so Marcus Manlius goes to welcome an unlooked for ally …

Meanwhile … at the camp of the Gothic chieftain Grabdabag, fires burn brightly and men busy themselves with feasting on their stolen beef!

“Ah, that was a shame we couldn’t get through those Roman cavalry and get our hands on the town, but we have ourselves some good beef here for the effort!  Saltalic and Bigboix, you made me proud today!  We sent off those Romans in grand style, and most of us … well, lots of us, at any rate … made it back to fight another day – with full bellies!”

Saltalic was busy nodding and chewing, his two best skills after fighting and stealing, but Bigboix threw down a bone and shouted “Well enough!  But what about your sister’s boys, eh?  I never saw a worse lot!  Oh, I didn’t expect Notsobad to do anything much, but I thought his cousin Muchtubad was made of better stuff!  He went arse-end-up faster than a Greek!  Ha!  Well, we’re better rid of them, I say!”

“I agree!  Oh, my sister will make them pay!  And next time, we’ll meet up with another chieftain or two and make a serious throw for the pot.  Now, where did Notsobad and Muchtubad go off to, anyway?  Anybody seen them?”

And so the plot thickens for Scenario Two: Ambush!

Summary

The first game of this scenario ended in a Roman victory, 4 VP’s to 2 VP’s for the Goths, and was a see-saw affair that spread out over ten turns. 

The Romans scored 1 VP for holding the Border Fort, 2 VP’s for keeping the Village Plunder safe, and 1 VP for the overall battlefield victory. 

The Goths managed 2 VP’s for capturing both Herds, but at one point it looked like they would break the Romans and move on to plunder the town, so the game was far from a foregone affair.

The Setup

The table was laid out according to the guidelines in the scenario, which made for a small battlefield. 

The Romans were deployed with their legion detachment in the Border Fort, and deployed one False Leader in each of the two hamlets, hoping both to bluff a bit on setup and to get some intelligence of the approaching Goths. 

The Goths spread their forces out evenly: Bigboix’s warband and a False Leader were on the west, going straight for Boviniusbum, Muchtubad’s warband and the other False Leader were on the east, going straight for Gallomud, while Notsobad’s reluctant warriors were sent to screen the fort in the center, with Saltalic’s cavalry behind them in reserve.

Turn One

None of the Roman reinforcements arrived, and the Goths moved straight forward according to plan. 

Everyone was spotted and deployed, except for the Roman False Leader in Gallomud, who was ordered to Retreat behind the village. 

Notsobad’s boys made the mistake of pressing too far forward, and into Roman archery range, and a roll of “boxcars” later one of his lead units was routed, another shaken, and one unit of skirmishers to the rear was shaken from being routed through.

Turn Two

The Roman Auxiliary Force (a mixed force of poor infantry and good cavalry) arrived this turn, cavalry in the lead, marching straight for Boviniusbum. 

The Goths pressed on towards the hamlets, and Saltalic moved towards the west, ordered to Attack the new Roman force. 

Notsobad, however, could not be issued new orders, and had his already shaken lead unit eliminated through archery, and was unable to rally his shaken skirmishers.  By this time, the Romans had his measure, and discounted the force throughout the rest of the battle.

Turn Three

The Frankish Foederati arrived this turn, heading for Gallomud. 

The Goths sent archers into Gallomud and captured the Herd, deploying their battleline to the west of the town, opposite the Franks. 

In the center, Notsobad sat outside archery range, and the garrison sat inside the fort, the threat of their archery causing the Goths to bunch up their attack around Boviniusbum. 

At that hamlet, the Goths also sent in their pair of archers to capture the Herd, but archery fire from the auxiliary archers (another “boxcar”!) routed one of them away!  Half of Saltalic’s cavalry charged, the veteran Optimates in the lead, against the Roman auxiliary cavalry, with mixed results: one Roman base pushed back, one Gothic base pushed back, and one stuck in place.  The Goth warbands, however, split up and moved both to oppose the Roman auxiliary infantry and to flank the Roman cavalry.  This is the beginning of what will prove to be a very confusing battle. 

The remaining Roman False Leader continued its Retreat towards Lootundburnus – but I don’t think anyone was fooled.

Turn Four

No more Roman reinforcements! 

Near Boviniusbum, although the Roman auxiliary cavalry is initially successful except against the Optimates, they are flanked by the Gothic infantry while locked in melee, and all the Roman cavalry routs off the board.  The Roman levy auxiliary infantry starts looking very lonely, as Goth warbands move around the hamlet to threaten it and the uncommitted Goth cavalry moves up.  Their archers, however, continue to get lucky, weakening one the Goth infantry units. 

Near Gallomud, the Franks charge the Goth battleline, and end up locked in melee for its entire length, except on the flank where the overlapping Nobles rout a Goth warband.  On both flanks, the Goths direct an archer unit to start leading the Herds back to safety. 

In the center, all remains quiet, except that Notsobad is wounded by an archer while riding the front lines!  No luck at all for that fellow …

Turn Five

The Roman cavalry arrive, and deploy to the west of Lootundburnus, trying to counter the Gothic advance there. 

The Roman auxiliary levies near Boviniusbum, are charged, but (“snake eyes”) stand!  This is the beginning of a lucky series of rolls that keeps that doomed command on the field much longer than anyone would have thought. 

Saltalic begins massing his cavalry, half of it still fresh, to oppose the newly arrived Romans. 

To the east, the Franks slowly erode the Gothic position, routing another warband and moving into position to flank the others next turn.  Seeing the writing on the wall, Muchtubad starts to retreat towards Notsobad with his remaining archer unit.

Turn Six

On the left flank, the amazing stand of the Roman auxiliary infantry continues, though they are pushed back and shaken. 

On the right flank, the Franks flank and crush the remaining Gothic warbands, leaving them in sole possession of the field around Gallomud, except for a solitary archer unit fleeing towards Notsobad’s position. 

East of Boviniusbum, the massed cavalry of the Goths and Romans meet.  Roman luck holds, and the levy auxiliary cavalry hold the line, while the fresh Roman heavy cavalry drives back the worn Optimates and even wins on the flank despite being overlapped.  The success of the Roman levy cavalry to delay the fresh Gothic cavalry, and the matching of the fresh Roman heavy cavalry versus the worn Gothic cavalry, will prove to be the key to the battle.

Turn Seven

The Roman levies continue to stand, with one lone infantry base remaining, and three cavalry bases still holding up the Gothic cavalry. 

The Roman heavy cavalry rout their remaining opposition, and place themselves in position to flank the other Gothic cavalry.  The remaining two units of Bigboix’s uncommitted infantry face them, eager to dispatch more Roman cavalry, but the Roman fort garrison sallies out and faces them, leaving the fort and Notsobad’s forces to the tender mercies of the advancing Franks. 

Things start to look very bad indeed for the Goths, who two turns ago were hinting at plundering Lootundburnus!

Turn Eight

The last of the Roman auxiliary infantry is eliminated, thus entirely eradicating that force, but its cavalry and infantry had delayed and weakened much stronger Gothic forces, allowing the Roman cavalry and legion to come into play. 

The Roman auxiliary cavalry is pushed back and partly routed, but the heavy cavalry flanks the remaining Goths and begins to drive them from the field.  Likewise, the legion advances on Bigboix’s infantry, and the Franks menace Notsobad. 

The Goths begin a withdrawal.

Turns Nine and Ten

Before the end, half of Saltalic’s cavalry and all save two units of Bigboix’s infantry are driven in rout from the field, although Notsobad actually manages to withdraw in what passes for good order. 

Gaius Gallopus, the victorious Roman cavalry commander, was dealt a serious wound on the last turn of the game!

Comments

1.  Both of us thought that we could have made more imaginative use of our False Leader bases, but they served the Romans better than the Goths.

2.  There seems to be little the Romans can do if the Goths want to grab both Herds, barring the early intervention of the cavalry force, however doing so spread them a bit thin.  In retrospect, the Goth player would have sent Notsobad to grab some cattle and massed everything else on one wing.

3.  The random nature of the Roman arrivals promises to make each game a little different!  There seems to be good replay value, especially with the game so small and easy to set up.

4.  Melee is more dangerous than it looks!  Instigated by a charge with immediate melee, and then followed by another round of melee the next turn before any Leader Points can be used, there is little the leaders can do except hope for the best and prepare for the worst.  Once shields are locked, good morale or lucky rolls can keep a line locked for two to three turns, however.  Overall, we liked the combat system – a mixture of fluid and stable outcomes, a mixture of hands-off and possible leader intervention.  Even average forces, however, are usually only good for one go – if they are matched against fresh opponents they are hard pressed to stand.  Has anyone ever considered a way to get strength points back?  Perhaps a 1 SP winner bonus?

5.  We both felt that the Gothic forces were a bit too easy to control, although critical Leader Point rolls were ones and two often enough.  I am considering making “irregular” forces have only the commander’s Comitatus command “under his direct command”, with all other commands considered either “not under direct command” and/or “allied”.  The same would go for Roman Foederati.  There seems room to play with this, and with Command Spans, that could be interesting.

6.  After carefully setting up the game in centimeters, we proceeded to use inches for play!  This resulted in a much more free-wheeling game than otherwise, which makes me think the table in centimeters would have been too large.  Just food for thought.

Christopher TenWolde