Three Ages of Rome - week 4

 An interesting week in the campaign with the first example of civil war in game 1.

Game 1 - Insurgent Rome vs Imperial Rome. Insurgent Win

 

This week a force was dispatched by the Emperor to crush my army as it marched back victorious from Dacia. I left some Roman units behind and so was able to expand the size of my force with some cheaper Dacian units.    

Praetorians holding a hill 

The Romans went for a defensive position centered around a hill with a reserve of Auxilia in the centre. I looked to flank them with cavalry while putting pressure on the centre with veteran legionnaires.  

My cavalry were badly mauled by some archers and the opposing Auxilia, meaning I had to do it the hard way and attack up the hill against the emperors legions. Having veteran units proved decisive and so the enemy was pushed back and retreated from the field.   

The net closes on the emperors troops

Game 2 - Rome vs Sassanids. Roman win

I did nt see much of this game but it was over fairly quickly. The Romans adopted a chequerboard looking to get multiple units against each attacker. They began fairly defensive using terrain to anchor the flanks against a Sassanid attack. 

They then advanced steadily to push the Persians back. The Cataphracts were unkillable, but the single elephant was disappointing, perhaps we need to double up on those. In the end Sassanid morale broke.   

Game 3- Rome vs Gauls. Game continues

This was a messy affair with both sides having commands approaching from different directions and no clear battles lines. In this first part the Gauls began by overrunning a village before being pushed back.

Two fairly separate combats then emerged in the east and west of the field. The fight continues next week. 

 

Three Ages of Rome - week 3

 This week we has two new battles and the continuation of the Roman attack on a Gallic town and to new games.   

Game 1 - Gallic attack, classic 25mm. Roman Win

Having previously escaped across the river the Gauls are back to attack a Roman frontier town. The Romans start with 2 units in the town and the rest marching on from the west. The Gallic commands arrive randomly from the north, south and east.

The dice conspired to ensure that the bulk of the Gallic force arrived from the south, with just the cavalry attacking form the east. This caused congestion for the Gauls and enabled the Roman to focus their defence in one direction. 

The Gauls launched a series of attacks against the town but were unable to break through, partly as failed attacks caused disruption for subsequent units. So the Romans held on for the win.  

Game 2 - Roman attack, 28mm. Roman Win

Having lost their previous battle the Dacians were pushed back towards a major town. There aim was to prevent the Romans breaking through to the town and keep their force in the field. The Dacians were aided by plentiful woods and hills to defend.

The Romans launched their main attack against the Dacian left and centre looking to break a couple of commands whilst holding off the rest of the Dacian forces.  

Attacking uphill the veteran Legionaries were able to push back and break the Dacian cavalry. They also managed to break a few other units in the centre, causing the Dacians morale to break. Rather than risking their regional capital the Dacians sued for peace. 

 

Game 3 - completion of the Roman attack. 20mm. Roman Win

This game was continued from the previous week. Both armies started badly damaged meaning they were taking command-level morale tests most turns and slowly seeing their will seap away.

 In a tense finish both armies had to take army morale tests. Anything but a 6 for the Gauls and a 1 for the Romans would mean a Gallic win. Against the odds that's what happened to hand the Romans a slightly unlikely win. It was a costly one though with about 1/3 of the army routed.     

 

Three Ages of Rome - week 2

This weeks games were influence by last weeks. In the first the Celts are seeking to retreat across a river to safety following their unsuccessful raid last week - the Romans seek to stop them. The the second Rome is launching a punitive raid against a Dacian village, with the later reinforced. The third is similar but with the Celts having grater reinforcements as they sacked the Roman town last time. I played Romans vs the Dacians.

Game 1 - Celts vs Romans; river escape. Gallic Win

The Romans began with one command behind the river and two marching to intercept the columns of Celts trying to escape. 2 points for each Celtic massed unit escaping / killed and 1 for each skirmisher.

The Celts plan was to engage the Romans with their massed units whilst the faster moving skirmishers and adaptable pushed hard to make it across the river and escape.    

This proved a successful tactic with the smaller Roman force unable to cover enough ground and prevent sufficient escapees to offset the loses. Gallic win. 

Game 2 - Romans vs Dacian; village raid. Roman win

The Dacians split their forces either side of the village. The Romans focused on the west side of the village looking to attack with the Legions / Archers and hold the east flank with Auxilia.

The Roman plan proved effective with the Roman archers chasing off their Dacian opposite numbers and then damaging the Sarmatian cavalry while the Legions assaulted the village. The Dacians looked to hook around the east flank but the Auxilia delayed them enough for the Romans to rout one command and force them to withdraw.   

   

Game 3 - Romans vs Celts, village raid. No result yet 

The Romans spread across the field looking to put pressure on the Gauls at multiple points. The larger Celtic army deployed in multiple lines to absorb the attack with their Raw troops in the second rank.

Both sides took damage as the Romans advanced and pressed the Gauls back against the village. After an evenings play neither side had a decisive advantage and so it was agreed to play on the next week.

  

Battle of Holowczyn - 1708

This weekend I did the first of an occasional series of Great North War games. The battle featured the Swedes attacking well emplaced Russians led by the 26 year old Charles the XII. The Swedes achieved a tactical surprise by fording a river in the dark and attacking the flank of the position before reinforcements could arrive. 

Our game began with the Swedes lead units across the river and the Russian cavalry 3-6 moves away. The unit quality was random generated which resulted in mostly Veteran Swedes vs mostly Raw Russians. 

Saxon's subbing for Russians

Swedish flank attack

Long shot from the Swedes end

The game opened with the Swedes attacking quickly to try to get into combat and minimise the shooting phases. This worked pretty well with three of the 4 units getting stuck in within a few turns.

The Russians fell back before the advancing Swedes, with most of their 1st Brigade routed before the cavalry had arrived. The 2nd brigade also began to buckle and so it was clear the Russians had to withdraw to avoid destruction.     

So a fun game but maybe unbalanced by the large discrepancy in the troop quality.