Yes, it was a surprise for Plautius in the midst of his AD 43
campaign to have a run in with Patrician Romans – but nevertheless
here we go!
Despite being theoretically more aggressive, Plautius took on the
role as defender, due to a low initial die roll, with an unhappy
Aetius having to not only invade but also deploy first as it happened!
The terrain was fairly open, particularly on the EIR side, with only
one feature within Plautius' deployment area, a low gentle hill on
the centre left. Aetius had a little more to work with; a large
difficult hill right in the Patrician centre and a marsh on the
centre left, with a road that ran laterally over the hill and across
his whole deployment area. Weather played no role in the battle.
Aetius deployed first, placing his Roman command on the right,
partially out on the flat and the rest on the hill. At the far end he
placed a ditch and bank TF covering the frontage of five Auxilia(I)
elements. Behind these were Auxilia Palatina and psiloi in column.
Further towards the centre, astride the difficult hill, were 8
Legionarii, supported by Bw(O). On the Patrician centre left, between
the craggy hill and the marsh, was the Foederati command under Aetius
himself, consisting of a double line of Wb(S), with Irr Kn(F)
directly to their rear. A strong group of Equites Illyricani, Reg LH
(O), was placed on the far left, beyond the marsh. The army reserve
was placed behind the marsh in line. This was the 3rd command,
consisting of Clibinarii Reg Cv(S), Equites (O) and Sagitarrii (F).
They were astride the road as it curved behind the marsh, and were
well placed to react to any enemy move, or so it was hoped. Aetius
was reasonably pleased with how the army looked, as it had scope to
roll forward with open ground to its front, or sit tight and await
developments.
Plautius then marched onto the field, deploying two large commands.
The first, under his own aegis, faced off the ethnic Patrician Roman
command on the EIR left and centre. It consisted of the Legio
XXI `Rapax', 6 elements of Bd(O), with Auxilia (S) to their front and
psiloi to the rear. A small group of British Symmacharaii, Wb(F),
were at the far left of the Roman line. In the centre, also part of
Plautius' command, were more Ax(S), three carriage ballista Art(F)
and, of all things, an elephant based with a camel El(I). Three
Praetorian elements Bd(S), were in reserve. The second EIR command
deployed further to the right, facing the Foederati under Aetius.
This force also consisted of Bd(O), the Legio VI `Ferrata", with Ax
(S) to the front and archers in support. On the right wing of this
command were the Roman cavalry, equites and light horse. More
Praetorians were in reserve. A strong fortified camp was placed at
the rear centre of the EIR deployment area.
Aetius surveyed the field and looked for the third enemy command. He
had been informed that Plautius had Sarmatian allies with him, but
they were nowhere to be seen. A number of possibilities ran through
Aetius' mind: had the Sarmatians embarked on a risky flank march
(unlikely considering their `no show' in the previous game!); were
they engaged on a shortened flank attack (which raised the
possibility that Plautius may be a brilliant CIC); were they a
delayed command; or had Plautius used a concealed command stratagem
and placed them behind the hill on the EIR left?
Due to these considerations, the game opened with Aetius choosing to
sit tight and see what his opponent was up to. His Ax(I) stayed
behind their TF, the Legionarii waited on the hill and the Foederati
were held by Aetius and told to stay calm until he could divine the
enemy's intentions!
Plautius therefore made the first move, moving both commands forward,
with the intention of shooting up anything he could with his carriage
ballista, protected by a line of Ax(S).
Both flanks of the EIR line presented Aetius with some interesting
possibilities. The Symmacharaii were a little exposed on the far
left, while the Patrician cavalry could threaten the EIR light horse
on the far right, particularly with the Patrician 3rd command (all
mounted) swinging around the marsh and throwing their weight into the
combat. The Sarmatians were still unsighted but Aetius decided that
to sit and wait to be shot at was the coward's way and ordered the
general advance! The Ax(I) left their field defences, the legionarii
moved down off the difficult hill and the Foederati foot and horse
all rolled forward. The Patrician 3rd command was put into column and
pushed around the marsh to the left of the advance, to support the 4
elements of Equites Illyricani in driving off the enemy horse and
threatening the right flank of Plautius.
A number of fascinating developments now took place virtually
simultaneously. The Sarmatian allied command now revealed itself! A
concealed command stratagem had been used by Plautius and they now
appeared behind the hill on the EIR left, well-placed to extend the
line of infantry trudging forward and threaten the mixed bag of
psiloi, Ax(I) and Palatina to their front. Alarm bells were ringing
for Aetius (knights quick killing Ax and all that) until the PIP
roll - when Rasparagnus, the Sarmatian client king, rolled a 1!!
Plautius tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his dismay and chagrin at the
unreliability of his Sarmatian ally, and muttered unprintable things
about Rasparagnus' parentage! The EIR advance continued, but
Plautius was clearly unsettled by the possibility that the Sarmatians
might sit out the battle or, even worse, change sides!! All he could
do was to move the Sarmatians to the crest of the hill and hope to
activate them later.
Aetius now seized his chance and pushed all his commands forward. His
Foederati warband came under fire from the carriage ballista, with a
number of elements being pushed back. On the Patrician far left the
cavalry melee was sharp and decisive, with the Equites Illyricani
cutting down a number of enemy light horse and establishing a
dominant stance on this part of the field. The 3rd Patrician command
had force marched and was well placed to help drive off the remaining
light horse and then threaten the exposed right flank of the enemy
line. A little further towards the centre, Plautius pushed his elite
auxilia forward and contacted the warband before the Foederati
knights could pass through the foot and hit them instead. The
carriage ballista continued to punch away at the warband to their
front, and despite some exceptionally high dice rolling, could not
destroy any enemy elements, only pushing them back and delaying the
brutal charge of the Germanic foot. Further across to the EIR centre
and left the clash of legions took place as EIR Bd, Ax and Wb slammed
into the Patrician heavy foot backed by archers. The Symmacharaii had
immediate success, taking out a Patrician Bd element and the
supporting Bw, leaving Aetius to now, in turn, cast a nervous glance
at his own exposed right flank.
Plautius, keeping his nerve, had declared his intention to activate
the Sarmatians, dedicating precious PIPs to the task, and he was
rewarded in the next bound when Rasparagnus threw a six and was
galvanised into action! Over the hill poured the Sarmatian lancers,
not yet able to smash into the Patrician light troops to their front,
but clearly telegraphing that intention. Plautius was about to
forgive all Sarmatian indiscretions if they could sweep away the
covering force that Aetius was using to guard his right, then turn
and roll up the line of Patrician legionaries now heavily engaged to
their front. Aetius had no reserves on that sector of the field,
except for the Cv(S) general of that command. Desperate times when
the general has to be thrown into the fray!!
Aetius now realised the battle had reached a crucial point – he was
in a favourable position on his left with strong mounted forces,
including Clibinarii, about to smash into the right flank of the
enemy. However, the situation was reversed on his right, with British
warband punching gaps in his line of legionarii and the Sarmatians
poised to strike. A brilliant stroke was called for, Aetius doubling
the PIP score of his right wing command. The extra moves allowed the
Palatina to form up in double line to meet the oncoming Sarmatians,
while the inferior auxilia were moved out wider to present
Rasparagnus with exposed flank problems of his own. The Legionarii
redoubled their efforts against the EIR foot, and the general of that
command threw himself at the warband that had penetrated the line
looking to cause more damage. A psiloi element was thrown in on the
flank to pin the British once the general had made contact, resulting
in the destruction of the feral Symmacharaii and the stabilising of
the battle line of the Patrician legions. In the centre Aetius pushed
forward again, and was rewarded when virtually the whole line of
elite auxilia facing the Foederati warband was wiped out by the
superior Germans. Warband and Germanic knights now crashed into Ax(S)
and the elephant in the centre, the carriage ballista finally having
to pull back towards the Praetorian reserve.
The battle now reached a crescendo, with heavy foot engaged all along
the line and both armies having problems on their right flanks. The
Foederati again earned their pay when they began to take out Bd
elements on the EIR right. Both the warband and the Kn(F) were now
heavily engaged, including taking on the elephant in the enemy
centre. The extra cavalry Aetius had thrown into the contest on his
left now told, as the EIR cavalry wing collapsed under the weight of
the heavier Patrician horse. Plautius looked on with consternation as
his right wing became first disheartened, and then quickly broke! He
desperately tried to halt as many groups of legionarii and
Praetorians as he could, the remnants of the command making for the
rear! Plautius was clearly banking on old Rasparagnus to make the
difference on his left before the army collapsed altogether. To his
credit, the unpredictable ally commander threw everything at the
Patricians to his front, but despite taking out several Ax, found
himself enveloped by more auxilia and psiloi, who were darting in
amongst the combatants and hitting the exposed flanks of Sarmatian
lancers as they battled the Palatina, courtesy of a second brilliant
stroke by Aetius, doubling the PIPs for his right wing command one
last time!
The final act was played out when the flanked Sarmatian elements were
quickly eliminated by the Patrician light troops, the elephant fell
in the centre, accompanied by a guttural roar from the Germans,
Foederati horse began streaming through the disintegrating enemy line
heading for those cursed carriage ballista, and the Sarmatian command
snapped and broke.
Plautius, cursing warband, Kn(F) and Rasparagnus, in no particular
order, admitted defeat. A really enjoyable game that pitted two
brilliant generals and two strong armies together, with some
interesting variations – concealed command, unreliable allies and
heaps of combat. The two brilliant stokes from Aetius made a real
impact on the threatened flank.
Interesting point – all regular elements in both armies were
identifiable as distinct units ie. legion insignia, shield design,
command elements etc. They just had much more flexibility to move as
individual elements once the fighting got tough!
Looking forward to the next game – we will try two Successor armies
using the new lists. Report will follow.
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