Hail Caesar! Game 2 - Battle at the Winding River.
Hello again everyone! Graham and I met up at the Sentry Box once again. Again we played 300 points or so of Imperial Romans VS Ancient Britons. This time I designed the lay of the land using a mixture of mostly Graham's wonderful homemade terrain and a couple of my own items. This time we followed the supplement rule book's army lists and made our army lists using proper limitations.
Following their humiliating defeat General Getafix and Chief Bagotrix decided to try their hand at chasing out some Roman's occupying Brtion land, so they recruited as many loyal Briton's as they possibly could. After gathering an impressive force of soldiers the Briton's warband split into two divisions and their forces ended up looking like this:
Brtion Forces
General Getafix Infantry Division
Medium Warband with Swords and Javelins x5
Medium Fanatic Warband with Swords and Javelins x1
Skirmishers with slings x2
Skirmishers with bows x1
Commander Bagotrix Cavalry Division
British Light Chariots with Spears and Javelins x2
Light Cavalry armed with javelins x 1
Light Cavalry (Small Unit) with javelins x1
Splitting up their divisions into two types, the Briton's advanced on the Roman settlement. But before they could reach their enemy's territory they'd first have to cross a winding river, and then do battle with the Roman Forces lead by General Marcus Incontinentus and Commander Loosius Hemroidus
Roman Forces
General Marcus Incontinentus Division 1
Legionaries with Pilum x5
Light Archers (skirmishers) x1
General Upgraded to leadership 9
Loosius Hemroidus Division 2
Legionaries with Pilum x1
Auxiliary troops with spears x1
Auxiliary Medium Archers x1
Auxiliary Medium Cavalry with spears and Javelins x1
The armies formed up! Romans started the battle with the first turn!
The Romans, having heard news of the advancing Celtic armies formed up quickly, with the majority of their heavy infantry and single unit of medium archers sitting spanning out to face their side of the river. A unit of Auxiliary Cavalry and light archers were placed on the flank near the settlement to protect the flank while Auxiliary spearmen were placed on the road behind the lines. The Roman army moved forward slowly towards the river, but orders were given to the medium archer unit to make a full advance ahead of the army towards one side of the bridge.
The celts arrived on the scene. General Getafix had placed his warbands in the centre of the field and had them spread right out across it. Slingers screened the advancing ranks while a unit of bowmen held the centre of the road. He even planted a warband unit in the river(note that this river is considered rough ground in our game). As the skirmishers and celts moved forward, another warband arrived from the rear, following the Roman road just behind the skirmishing archers.
Bagotrix had split his forces, having learned to only keep the smaller units of Cavalry farther away, as they would still tend to get their orders despite the distance (or so he thought!). He had one small unit arrive behind the hill on the far point away from his side, while his chariots and other cavalry arrived on the celtic right flank. Bagotrix and Getafix had one single plan: To have the warbands rush up and meet the Roman's head on, while the cavalry division on the far right would sneak through the woods, cross the river and then deal devastating rear assaults on the Roman battle lines whilst they were engaged with the Celtic warbands at the river. Setting up this initial plan was difficult, though as Bagotrix, just like the last battle, once again failed miserably at giving orders. Getafix was advancing on his lonesome once again!
The Roman legions advanced and lined themselves up with the medium archer unit that had sprinted ahead of everyone. On the far right roman flank, the auxiliary archers and cavalry made their way to the edge of the farmland. The celts continued to bring their forces towards the river, with Bagotrix's units actually making some headway and were able to move up on both flanks. A few slingers got close enough to start hurling rocks at the romans across the river!
The roman forces kept their forces in line, moving slightly into a more supportive position, but the Auxiliary units in the rear failed to obey their orders and they stay put, causing the flustered commander Hemroidus to lose giving orders to the rest of his division of auxiliaries. The archers shot back at the slingers.
Bagotrix was able to get his Cavalry and Chariots rolling and they advanced somehwat. Getagix had his skirmishers continue forth with the unit of celtic archers taking the bridge! Brave little group of men, them! The slingers that had earlier shot at the enemy roman archers made way for the crazy Fanatics that were barrelling down the field towards the enemy lines. Getafix made some errors on the rest of his orders, so the rest of his line stayed put while the Fanatics ran towards certain death!
The roman lines continued to move into a position where the legions could support one another from the front and rear. Their cavalry edged out of the fields but the rest of the auxiliary continued to fail to follow orders! However, the archers shot a very good round of arrows and drove the group of fanatics back! The arrows were many and the Fanatics had no choice but to avoid the hail of arrows! This would not deter them, as the Fanatics on their next turn continued to rush forward and back to the edge of the river. The celtic cavalry on their right flank mostly moved forward, but Bagotrix was having problems moving one of his chariot units along and the small cavalry unit on the left flank sat around and did not receive any orders... The Fanatics edged closer as the celtic bowmen and slingers were pelting the romans from afar. Some decent damage was dealt by these celtic slingers and bowmen but nothing worthy of causing any units to quit the field.
The Romans continued to hold their position in the next turn with only their flanks advancing slightly. The Auxiliary in the back of the roman line simply would not budge and all orders given to them were basically moot. There'd be some serious beatings to be dealt out later by the Romans!
The Celtic line advanced further, keeping in a solid line among most of the warbands, but Getafix had some of his warbands hang out in the rear for reserve and support. The Fanatics forded the river and ended up stepping out on the other side of it. Very close to the Roman lines! The archers on the bridge and the slingers on both sides of the fields threw and fired ballistic items of all sorts at their foe, but only the Roman medium archers took any causalities. Yet, they were hardly shaken and hardly stirred. As for Bagotrix cavalry... they basically did a whole lot of nothing and failed to listen to any orders at all. Bagotrix lack of command was continuing on from the last Roman Battle!!
Seeing the Fanatics dreadfully close, the Roman General Marcus Incontinentius ordered two of his legions forward. Once directly charged the Fanatics that sat at the edge of the river bank while another supported from the rear. The skirmishing archers and medium archers shot at what they could, doing some damage to the nearby enemy Celtic skirmishers. The Fanatics were able to hold their ground in the fight and neither side ran off. This was the start of the fighting and it was heating up quite nicely!!!
Getafix, seeing that his fanatics were fully committed orders his slingers to the side and has his warband units marched up even closer to the Romans. Soon all of them are going to be in water! As you can see by the wounds, a lot of shooting and causalities were going on between both side's ranged weapon users. Getafix orders his slingers into the river to support the Fanatics, while another warband marched up behind them, ready to charge in if needed.
Bagotrix hasn't made much headway at this point, and it seems he can hardly get his cavalry to move at all. The right celtic flank's small unit of cavalry still remain in place while his chariots have only just moved to the side of the rear of the hill...
In this round of fighting you can clearly see how well the Fanatics were fighting. With being shaken, and everything.. it's a wonder that they even lasted as long as they did.
In the next Briton and Roman turn, you can see that the Roman's have by now re-positioned in a way that allows the first frontal unit to be the fighting unit, and then another behind it ready to support. This is what the Roman's were waiting for - the Briton's to wade into the river and get caught up in it. And they fell right for this trap! The celts for the most part are all now in the river, except for the far left unit that rides up the hill. Tons of Javelins are launched at the Romans but their better equipment keeps them well protected. The Roman Auxiliary in the far back continues to fail to respond to orders and the Fanatics with their slinger support are driven off back across the river. The Romans, however, decide to restrain from pursuit and hold their ground, though the unit fighting the Fanatics became Shook right up. They weren't going to charge anything anytime soon without a proper rally...
Not good! The Cavalry flank was able to take one Warband out in one foul swoop! The charge caused the whole warband to break after the fighting! Fortunately for the Britons, the rest of the line held....Both sides were taking some losses however and now a cavalry threat was there waiting to cross the river and roll up the entire battle line....
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| Great View from the Roman side of things! Charge those damn Briton's!!!! |
As you can see above, the Briton's needed to do something to bide their time from the oncoming flank attacks that the Roman Auxiliary cavalry would inflict. . . This is where Bagotrix FINALLY got his cavalry on the far left to do something... they closed into formation and charged the Roman Cavalry. The Roman Cavalry turned to face the Briton light cavalry. Such a desperate charge, but something had to be done!
The skirmishers on the Briton side continued to try to inflict damage where they could but little was done. Bagotrix's right flank cavalry STILL refused to move... and Getafix was going to need a fix soon... his entire battle line left of the bridge had given ground to the Romans along with their supports, and the Romans had followed in! This was not looking good for the Briton's at all!
On the far right flank, Getafix had his one warband fall back alongside his shaken Fanatic unit. He reckoned that perhaps the last unit that had yet to see fighting could be used if in a pinch, and decided to keep them away from the Romans.
The Roman turn came, and they did well in the fighting once again. They continued to push the Briton's back, but were not yet able to break the Briton's. Heavy casualties on both sides were inflicted, but each time it was the Roman's who had the upper hand, thanks not only to their superior gear , but their much better coordinated supports.
The Romans were able to defeat the Light Cavalry this turn as well. The distraction the Briton's had made would do little to stop the Romans, however. The slingers on the bridge were also driven off!
The Britons tried in vain to fight back on their turn, but the Romans defeated them on their left flank and caused two units to break! The surviving unit with its support continued to give ground.. but thanks to a sweeping charge, the Romans continued to clash into the Britons... all this was happening while the right Briton flank continued to just sit there , baffled at what to do. All the skirmishers could do was try to pop some shots into the Roman legionaries and hope they ran off, but despite the wounds the Fanatics had inflicted, their ballistics did not do a single thing.
The Roman Auxiliary FINALLY get a move in... via blunder! The Commander Loosius Hemroidus stormed off back towards his Auxiliary to yell at them, but in the process, they veered to their right and stumbled off in the direction that they were being ordered to go in. . . They moved once the entire game!
The Roman General also took the bridge this turn in order to survey the damage his legions had done. It was going very well for this Legion and Marcus Incontinentus was no doubt very proud of his aggressive defence of the Roman settlement. The Romans had broken the last of the remaining Briton's that were still in combat whilst reforming some of their units, and in the Briton's next turn, Getafix's division was fully broken and the surviving Fanatics and Briton Warband sucessfully under Getafix's retire order retreated the field. Some of the skirmishers stayed behind to lay a few more shots on the Roman's left but there was no damage done whatsoever. All that remained was Bagotrix and his two units of Chariots and one unit of Light Cavalry, which all decided to listen to him this turn and turn to face the Romans that had crossed the river... Always the perfect time to start listening to your commander's orders! Just like the last game!
The Roman's quickly form into a battleline thanks to excellent commanding and great orders given. They have little difficulty moving around the field and, despite being shaken and wounded, are able to follow their orders right down to the wire. The Cavalry gathered together on the far side of the river, and prepared to ford it. On the other side of the Roman lines, the Roman archers started to ford the river and started shooting at the remaining skirmishers.
The other Chariot unit and Light cavalry fail their orders.. as expected.
In the next Roman turn, the Romans surround the Chariot and they all throw their javelins and pilum at the chariot... the combined damage and attacks cause the Chariot to flee for good. On the other side of the battle, the Archers get some excellent shots in on the other chariot unit, and it too retreats off the field! Only Bagotrix and one unit of Light cavalry remain visible. Despite being able to have the units return from the edge of the board, Bagotrix decides it is best to simply give up, as he is now too distant from both units to get any successful order out...
And so, under the successful command of General Marcus Incontinentus and Commander Loosius Hemroidus, the Romans were able to use both the Winding River and their superior equipment and training to easily outdo the Briton's village assault! With Getafix's death, Bagotrix has gone into hiding and it is doubtful if he shall ever return!
This was a great game, and we played through it a lot faster. We only spent about 4.5 - 5 hours this go round versus the nearly seven hours we played in the last game! I'd like to stress how humiliating a defeat this was for the Briton's . . they only broke one Roman unit, and it wasn't until the end of the game that this happened. That and the unit they broke was already shaken... I do not feel personally that the Roman's are over powered whatsoever, as the Briton warbands were able to for the most part, deal nearly as many wounds as their Roman foes. It was simply the lack of following orders on the second division and once again poor use of Terrain on my own part. My plan was to get to the river, ford it, and have my superior amount of Cavalry take out or out manoeuvre any rearguard and then flank or rear charge the enemy while engaged with my Warbands. However, the Roman Cavalry was deployed well , with little to stop it save the light cavalry unit that was meant to harass enemies , and the Fanatic unit , being Frenzied and all, ran ahead of everything and just basically got itself cut into pieces until it was too shaken to act or even charge or use its fanatic morale save bonus. We both had a much better grasp on the rules this time as well... I just have to work on my tactics!
The Romans played nearly perfectly. Their superior Commander with the better leadership and the units supporting each other with the river and other units protecting their flanks helped them greatly. Little in the way of skirmishing was needed. The funniest bit was the Auxiliary that refused to budge, and only moved through a blunder roll. They were supposed to be guarding the rear from any chariots or cavalry that made its way around the woods.. but neither the Roman Spear Auxiliary and Bagotrix' division got any movement done.. . .
In our next game, I will be playing as the Imperial Romans, and Graham will be the Britons. Hopefully I will become the better tactician this go round as I'll most likely upgrade my General to leadership 9. There were many times that Bagotrix or Getafix rolled a 9, or needed an 8 in a distance roll... Well. We shall see.
Until next game, thanks for reading!
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