Catenwolde's Late Roman Scenarios 1:
Grabdabag Goes to Lootundburnus
A Gothic raid scenario
CONTENT
Introduction
The Setting
DOWNLOADS
Roman Forces
This scenario, by Christopher TenWolde, originally appeared on the Vis Bellica Yahoo Group.
A battle report from the playtest of this scenario can be reached by clicking here.
Late Romans from Gripping Beast courtesy of Justin Curtis of the London Gamers
This is the first scenario in a mini-campaign recreating a barbarian incursion into the Western Empire during the 4th Century AD. The campaign itself is modeled on the excellent scenario guide to be found in the current playtest version of James Manto’s “Legion and Empire” rules, but has been modified for use with Vis Bellica. The unit scale as defined in Vis Bellica has been approximately halved due to the scale of the game, so that unit bases represent approximately 400-500 infantry or 150-200 cavalry.
Should the Romans prove victorious, the next scenario will be “Ambush!” with the reinforced Romans attacking a larger barbarian column, while if the barbarians win, the next scenario will be “Rescue the Outpost!” with a Roman column rushing to confront an attacking barbarian host.
The Setting
The commander of the local border fort at Lootundburnus, the Tribune Lucius Limitus, had heard rumors of a foray by the Gothic chieftain Grabdabag. Having dispatched his cavalry on a scouting mission, and notified the neighboring auxiliary and Frankish foederati forces to be on the alert, he was rather dismayed this morning to find Grabdabag had appeared right on his front doorstep! Messengers have galloped off to his scattered forces, but who knows if they will arrive in time to save his hamlets, herds, and (Great Caesar’s Ghost!) his own life!
Meanwhile, Grabdabag was having problems of his own. What had started out as a nice little raid turned complicated when the warriors led by his brother-in-law, Notsobad, had proved less than eager to actually attack the Roman fort. Although he had bellowed and threatened them in most impressive fashion, he had the distinct feeling that they would run home to his sister (who was even scarier, Grabdabag thought) at the first sign of serious fighting. Relatives! Well, better to get in quick and get out even quicker, before the Romans could march more troops down those blasted roads of theirs.
The Table
The border fort itself (which counts as Medium Works) sits square in the middle of the table, connected by good roads to the village of Lootundburnus to the south, and the hamlets of Boviniusbum and Gallomud to the southeast and southwest. Both of these hamlets are home to large cattle herds (and not much else). The terrain is largely flat and well cultivated, but a few small hills hide Lootundburnus from view until one nears the border fort. This is important, as Grabdabag knows there’s a village back there somewhere, but he’s not quite sure where! He only gets to “spot” the village when he either attacks or bypasses the fort, or bypasses one of the hamlets.
The barbarians enter from the north (don’t they always?), and the table should be wide enough that they can do some scouting on turn one, go straight for the fort on turn two, and be able to reach the hamlets on turn three. By that time, Roman reinforcements should have started to arrive. The table should also be wide enough that it takes one turn for the Roman reinforcements to reach either the village or the two hamlets. The table should be long enough that it takes two turns to travel from the fort to either of the hamlets, and the hamlets should not sit on the table edges.
Deployment
The Romans begin with only the border fort garrison on the table, although they may also deploy one or both of their false leader bases on the table if they wish.
Their other three commands will enter from the south edge of the board (as indicated in the Order of Battle) on a random basis. Roll a d6 for each command at the beginning of every turn; if the resulting number is equal to or less than the current turn number, the command arrives that turn. If the Roman player has kept one or both of his false leader bases off table, he may enter them at any time, without needing to roll, at any point along the southern edge of the table.
The barbarians start the game with all forces, including their two false leader bases, deployed along the northern table edge.
To the winner goes the spoils! In this case, the spoils determine the winner. The border fort, the two cattle herds, and the loot in the town are all worth Victory Points to whoever holds them at the end of the game.
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Being Sole Occupant of the Border Fort: 1 VP
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Each Cattle Herd Safe / Stolen: 1 VP
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Plunder from Lootundburnus: 1-3 VP’s
The cattle will wander around with whichever unit last contacted them and then stopped movement for the turn (to gather them all up), but will run 1” away if that unit has to fight. Units cannot kill the cattle! That’s just too much good food to waste.
Pillaging the town only takes one unit, but that unit is immediately Disordered when it starts pillaging. The unit must be Rallied for it to stop pillaging, and only then will the looters discover how many of the 1-3 VP’s they have received.
Christopher TenWolde