Manlii v Julii Game 24

Game 24 – Roman Era 6: Middle Empire

Middle Imperial Roman (Gordon 209 pts) v Pictish (Alec 200 pts)

Major defence 209 CE (ADLG Std, 5-July-2023).

Battlefield Effects: None

The Plan (penned in advance of the battle)

This is a Major defence of Rome against the Picts, so there is 1 point up for grabs by the Romans and three for the Picts. I was happy to let Gordon take up the Romans at 209 points in order to give me the chance of turning this era around as Gordon is one point up.

The Picts exemplify the “hairy barbarian” at Rome’s door more than any other having limited combat staying power and even worse command, but the Pictish army is not without its strengths as it has plenty of light chariots and light horse to deploy. To that end I am going to try and get a balanced battlefield with a mixture of terrain and open areas so that they can operate.

I will have two flank commands with the best commanders, and split the chariots and light horse between them where hopefully they can run rings around the Romans. In the centre I will field the best infantry, the Attacotti, which I will try to hold back until such time as the Romans are forced to divert resources to the flank sectors. When the time is right they will hopefully come forward to win the day.

That’s the plan!

The Battle

In accordance with my plan I selected Plains terrain, the battlefield ended as below, as usual I am deployed on the left hand side of the pictures. Two plantations, one field, one good hill, a road and a coastal area running along my right-hand side.

As defender Gordon started deploying first, placing two large mixed light and heavy cavalry commands on each flank totalling seven units each and six Roman heavy infantry with three light infantry in the centre, all led by Brilliant commanders, along with an ambush in the plantation on his side. 

In accordance with my plan I matched him with my mixed mounted/infantry commands on each flank (four light horse, two light chariots and four medium infantry impetuous each) and seven medium impetuous infantry and two light infantry bowmen in the centre, including the four elite Attacotti. I couldn't match the Roman command though, but I placed my best commanders (Competent) on the flanks leaving an Ordinary general to command the centre.

As Gordon held one of his units back, a unit of medium swordsmen auxilia, I did the same with one of my central command infantry, placing it in front of my camp.

Deployment ended as follows:

So ready for the off, as the invader I went first - advancing generally all across the field. I determined that as Gordon had maxed out on cavalry leaving his centre a tad weak in numbers, there was no point in following my plan of holding my centre back. I got decent command rolls so moved forward as fast as possible. 

Turn one shooting was fairly ineffective but I did manage to score the first hit of the game on Gordon's extreme left flank light horse.

The position at the end of my first turn was as follows:

In Gordon's turn he charged my light horse on my right wing - against his Sarmatian catafractarii (heavy cavalry impact) I evaded, against his light horse I stood. Elsewhere Gordon advanced cautiously along the line, on his extreme right he moved one of his heavy cavalry up in line with his light horse archers, probably feeling they were a bit overmatched.

In the shooting phase I scored a hit against a unit of Gordon's Sarmatians with my chariots, In the melee phase Gordon scored a hit against a unit of my light horse. The shooting hit against the catafractarii was particularly galling for Gordon, it's always annoying to have your main army strike force disordered by shooting before they get into combat.

The position at the end of Gordon's first turn was as follows:

In my turn I charged in on my left wing to close with his light horse and one unit of heavies with my light horse and chariots - we each obtained one disorder against the other. In the centre I charged with my right wing infantry to clear away some skirmishers and advanced with the left wing, slightly falling behind the right wing infantry.

On my right my command roll wasn't the best, all I could do was expand my light horse so the melee was two on two however I lost both combats, losing one unit completely.

The one bright spot on that side was that I scored another shooting hit with my chariots on Gordon's already disordered Sarmatian catafractarii!

The position at the end of my second turn was as follows:

In Gordon's turn he obviously decided that now was the time to commit:

• In the centre he charged in with the five legionary/auxilia heavy swordsmen against the three medium swordsmen of mine that were slightly advanced, trading in the advantage that heavy swordsmen get when standing to receive a charge, for the chance to get two overlaps unfortunately for him my dice decided to be lucky just as his didn't! The result was one dead legionary unit and two severely mauled.

• On his right he went in with his heavy cavalry against my medium swordsmen - unfortunately again with poor results, additionally the ongoing cavalry fight saw one of his light horse go under.

• On his left he charged my infantry and chariots. As his catafractarii were already severely damaged I decided to stand. Generals were thrown in by both sides, but the results were inconclusive, I did lose another light horse though.

The position at the end of Gordon's second turn was as follows:

On my turn the Roman right and centre began to collapse. On my left I managed to get a chariot onto the flank of a Roman heavy cavalry unit that was already disordered and on a successful combat it began to roll up the Roman line, resulting in two dead Roman heavy cavalry units and disordering a third, whilst in the centre another legionary unit went under.

At the end of the turn Gordon threw in the towel.

The position at the end of my third turn, and the last turn of the game was as follows:

So, my pre-game plan wasn't followed exactly this time largely because Gordon deployed far more mounted troops than I was expecting, largely neutralising any advantage I may have expected on the flanks. 

The price Gordon paid for matching me in the number of mounted on the flanks was that this left the Romans very thin on the ground in the centre, and with almost no reserves to speak of. This enabled me to launch my planned overwhelming attack in the centre from the getgo instead of having to wait.

Gordon's impatience in charging my infantry with his main infantry line, rather than waiting for my attack, robbed him of the advantage of negating my impetuous charge bonus which I fear just speeded up the Roman collapse, admittedly this was because of the luck of the dice.

Gordon's comments

 Pre-Game

I let the Picts invade this time. There will be a lot of light horse, light chariots and medium swordsmen. To counter this I choose a large number of heavy cavalry and light horse, with a solid but not very big legionary and auxilia command of armoured swordsmen. If they can hold the first charge the armour will be important.

Pictish command points are low, so three Brilliant generals for the Romans will be very useful, if only to rally the troops.

As the enemy are impetuous I need to stymie their charge and then roll high. I have to manoeuvre to maximise this effect, which is likely to be difficult given the anticipated size of the Pictish army.

As the defender I have some options and anticipate my two strong cavalry flanks slowing his army’s advance and beating his lighter cavalry.

I believe my cavalry will also be at an advantage in melee against his swordsmen. I will regret that misunderstanding of the rules!

 

The game

The terrain wasn’t too bad. On my right it did break up my line, but there was still space to deploy my right flank cavalry. I put the infantry in the centre, but will hold then back a bit as no need to rush into combat with the swordsmen. Plenty of space on my left flank for the cavalry and a nice hill to deploy on.

Alec deployed as expected but with mixed flank commands. As noted in the pre-battle section, the mix of Pictish swordsmen and light cavalry and chariots wasn’t a concern as I thought my cavalry had an advantage. I should have been more cautious!

Rather than sit on the defensive I thought both my cavalry flanks had a good chance of breaking his flanks and encircling the infantry centre and/or taking his camp. So, I will advance on both flanks and slowly advance my infantry to protect the cavalry’s flanks.

Long story short:

1.      My right flank was torn apart as I committed against the infantry rather than pin them and focus on his light horse and chariots.

2.      My left flank was held up by hard fighting light horse and chariots, and the magnificent breakthrough never happened.

3.      Seeking a temporary advantage while locally outnumbering some of his infantry I charged five legions into three swordsmen. The legions got shredded. Rolling “1”s rarely helps win combat.

 

Post-Game

An interesting and quick game. Which was fun in its own way. I conceded because I was clearly broken in practice even if not quite in units lost.

Alec’s plan clearly worked and in the centre I had no real reserve to deal with breakthroughs. But, even allowing for the furious charge of his swordsmen I lost so quickly in the centre with unlucky dice. I handled my right cavalry flank poorly (I must reread the bloody rules!). I think I just got unlucky on my left.

How to have won? Probably stick to my original plan to defend. My right flank was a bit vulnerable, so still think I had to move forward there. But, I could have sat on the hill on my left and held the infantry back for longer in the centre. More legions and fewer cavalry might have made a difference, but given my plan to overwhelm his flanks I think I chose the right balance. Just got a bit too keen to take the battle to him. 

Result

Pictish win - minus three Prestige Points to the Julii