30 ancient games in 30 days - games 26 to 30 (final games)

Introduction

Games 26 to 30 in the 30 games in 30 days using my own rule son a 40cmx40cm table with 15mm figures.  Replaying some historical battles based on some Bill Banks Ancients user written scenarios.  Details can be found at this introductory blog post: https://shaun-wargaming-minis.blogspot.com/2023/12/introduction-to-30-games-in-30-days.html

In this post are these battles:

• ZELA, 47 BC, Pontines vs Romans
• MEDWAY, 43 AD, Britons vs Romans
• BRENTWOOD, 44 AD, Roman (Claudius) vs Britons (Caractacus)
• SAUMIZEGETUSA, 105 AD , Dacians vs Romans (Trajan)
• ARMENIA, 114 AD , Armenians vs Romans (Trajan) 

ZELA, 47 BC

"Veni Vidi Vici!"

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zela_(47_BC)

Map: Open.

Special: Pontic scythed chariots are 8/- as in 8 combat value and are routed if they do not rout enemy, or are disordered or required to retreat.

Pontines (bp 2.5): 1 LDR, 2 CH, 2 HC, 1 HI, 2 MI, 1 LI.

Deploy: HC* LI MI HI MI HC.  CH in front of this line.

Romans (bp 2.5): 2 LDR, 2 HC, 3 HI, 1 LI.

Deploy: HC* HI HI* HI LI HC.

Deployment, Pontic on the left.

Romans have the stronger centre and I don’t think the Scythed chariots will change that too much, although they will disorder the legions and a 1 in 6 chance of a rout!  Hit and miss really.  The Pontic left flank is stronger than the Roman right, and the Roman right is stronger than the left.  So it may well be that the battle is decided by various flank attacks.

Scythed Chariots must move and cannot turn so they advance.  The Pontic left Heavy Cavalry advances.  The Romans advance their centre and left flank.  Scythed Chariots disorder a legion unit and rout the Light Infantry (a lucky 6).  One Scythed Chariots continues off the board, the other is routed as it did not rout the legion.

Scythed chariots contact the Roman line. A Light Infantry is already routed.

The Cavalry clash on the flanks but not routs on contact.  Subsequent melee see Pontic victorious on their left, and the Romans victorious on the right.  They move to get to the flanks of the infantry battleline.

The Romans finally contact the Pontic infantry line.  The Light Infantry fires for no effect and retreats.  Across the line there are quite a few disorders, even the 2:1 combats.

Ancients battlelines clash.

The Pontic Medium Infantry and Heavy Infantry are routed, as is one of the Roman legion units.  The Pontic side flees and the Romans have won.

End game

A close game. Closer than I thought it would be!

MEDWAY, 43 AD

Distracted by a crossing of light troops in their rear, the Britons turn and assault the legionaries who have made a surprise river crossing in their rear.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Medway

Map: River on Roman baseline with bridge in centre one unit wide, otherwise Open.

Special: Chariots are poor.

Britons (bp 3.5): 1 LDR, 2 CH, 5 WB.

Deploy: CH WB WB WB* WB WB CH.

Romans (bp 2.5): 1 LDR, 3 HI, 2 MI, 2 LI.

Deploy: LI HI HI* MI LI.  Enter turn 2 over bridge: HI MI.

Deployment, British on the left

The forces are about equal.  The British Chariots, although poor, can be powerful if they can flank the less numerous Romans.  The Light Infantry have an even chance Vs the poor chariots.   If the British warbands get a good result on their first melee charge then they have a chance to win.  The Romans are not going to advance until the reinforcements come on. 

The Chariots advance on both flanks and contact the Light Infantry that retreat and missile fire.  One chariot is disordered.   The chariots just cannot seem to engage the Light Infantry due to the missile fire (the chariots are forced to retreat).

The warbands advance and on turn 2 the roman reinforcements arrive and split up to bolster the line – the incoming Heavy Infantry to the Medium Infantry only flank.  The warbands make contact and due to an excellent first charge dish out a lot of disorders, rout a Medium Infantry and wound the Roman general!

Mid game

After a lot of indecisive melees finally a warband routs a roman melee.  The Romans have lost!

End game

Well, that did not go as expected.  The chariots were ineffectual, the warbands did get damage and the Romans did not even rout a single unit.  Losing the Roman general did not help either.  I think for the Romans I needed to be more aggressive with the Light Infantry against the chariots rather than just maintain a standoff.  The scenario is worth a replay.  It is interesting.

BRENTWOOD, 44 AD

The culmination of Claudius' campaign against the Britons. (Note: This is based upon Robert Graves' fictionalized account in Claudius the God, rather than the real battle!) http://www.relativerange.com/ancients/scenario/brentwood.gif

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Claudius

Map: On British side (left ro right): wood (2 units wide), hill (6 units wide), marsh (2 units wide).  Takes up whole half.

Special: Britons lose if camp is taken.

Roman (Claudius) (bp 2.5): 1 LDR, 1 EL, 3 HI, 1 MI, 2 LI.

Deploy: HI in the edge of marsh,  El LI in the edge of woods, rest HI HI* MI LI  .

Britons (Caractacus) (bp 3.5): 1 LDR, 3 CH, 1 LC, 1 HI, 3 WB, 1 CP.

Deploy: In woods: WB WB, then on hill HI* LC CH CH CH, then marsh, WB.  Camp in centre rear of hill.

Deployment, Romans on the left

A very unusual scenario, if is only fiction.  The Romans need to attack the flanks and hopefully the centre quickly or else may get flanked.  They may even make it to the camp from a victorious flank.   The Britons need to win a flank and hopefully hold the centre.

Elephants advance into Warband and both disordered.    The other warband advances towards the Light Infantry but the Light Infantry retreats.  It is a bit of an impasse as neither the Elephant nor warband unit can attack at 1:1 as they are in the woods that ½ an attack value.  I may need to change it so both attacking AND defending unit is halved.  So I change the rules J  And then the elephant is routed.  Later the Light Infantry is chased down and routed as well.

British right flank, elephant routed shortly after this.

The legion on the right advances towards the warband that charges but the warband is disordered.  Next melee the Roman unit is disordered.    Subsequent melee saw status quo.

Main infantry battleline advances onto the hill.  The warband advances towards the Light Infantry and the Light Infantry is disordered and later routed.  The Light Cavalry fires for no effect.  The Roman legionaries advance into the chariots and there are disorders everywhere.   Next melee the chariots will be at a disadvantage now disordered.

Battle on the hill.  The Light Infantry is soon routed.

The chariots are all routed, the legions advance on the camp.  The Light Cavalry faces off against the Medium Infantry.  The Heavy Infantry and warbands are desperately trying to get to the hill to help out the camp.  But the camp falls before the warbands get to help.  The camp is looted and the Romans win as the British army has broken.

End game

Another interesting scenario.  Lots going on.  I even got to do a rule change!

 SAUMIZEGETUSA, 105 AD

Trajan's first campaign battle against the rebellious Dacians.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sarmizegetusa

Map: Hill centre of Dacian side, 4 units wide.

Special: None.

Dacians (bp 3): 1 LDR, 1 HC, 1 LC, 1 HI, 4 WB, 1 LI.

Deploy: HC WB  on hill: WB HI* WB WB,  LI LC .

Romans (Trajan) (bp 3): 2 LDR, 2 HC, 4 HI.

Deploy: HC HI HI* HI* HI HC.

Deploy, Romans on the left.

The Dacians need to stay on the hill if they can to get the bonus of being uphill.  Otherwise the flanks are fairly equal and can be tied up to stop them supporting the centre attack. The Romans need to attack the Warband, hopefully break up the line when they impetuously charge.  They have two leaders in the centre so that is an advantage.  The Heavy Cavalry on each flank can hopefully delay the opposing flack forces so the infantry can be routed.  

The Romans advance the centre and the flank units move up in support.

The Roman centre does not tempt any warbands to break ranks so they charge up the hill into the Dacian infantry. A few disorders, mostly on the Romans and one of the Roman leaders dies.  But at least the Romans all survived so they will have the advantage next turn. 

Infantry clash on the hill

Bad luck next turn sees one Roman unit rout.  But then in a stroke of excellent luck (three 6s) sees three warbands in the centre rout.

Meanwhile the Dacian right flank advances and contacts the opposing Heavy Cavalry – disorders all round.    Bad luck sees the Heavy Cavalry rout.

The Dacian right wing attacks the lone Heavy Cavalry

Before the Dacian wings have a chance to come to the rescue in the centre the Romans encircle the remaining Dacian Heavy Infantry and it is routed.  The Dacians have lost!

No end game picture as I forgot.

A close game.

ARMENIA, 114 AD

Trajan's final eastern battle against the Armenians and their Parthian allies.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan%27s_Parthian_campaign

Map: Two small hills at rear to both sides of the Armenian edge.

Special: Romans must take camp for a win, else most they can achieve is a draw.

Armenians (bp 3): 1 LDR, 1 HC, 4 LC, 1 PX, 1 LI, 1 LA, 1 CP.

Deploy: LA MM PX HC* LC LC LC LC, Camp on right hill.

Romans (Trajan) (bp 3): 2 LDR, 2 HC, 4 HI.

Deploy: HC HI HI* HI* HI HC.

Deployment, Armenians on the left

Interesting setup.  The Romans need to focus on the camp but there are a lot of units on the other side.  The first thing to do is refuse their right flank and move forwards with the left and centre towards the camp.  The Armenians need to break the Romans before they can break the camp. 

Romans advance the Heavy Cavalry and legionaries, drifting to their left.  The Heavy Cavalry on the right flank moves to protect the legions flanks.  The Armenian’s all advance except the left flank Heavy Cavalry that turns to move to right flank.   The Heavy Cavalry and Light Cavalry dance around a little for no real effect.  The Light Cavalry units fire on the legions for no effect.

Early manoeuvring

The Armenian left flank has managed to engage the Roman Heavy Cavalry.  The Armenian Phalanx is engaged by a legion and is soon routed.  One of the Light Cavalry routs due to a Roman legion.  The Romans also have a few disorders on them due to Light Cavalry arrows. 

Mid game

The Armenian Medium Infantry is gone, as is another Light Cavalry.  The Heavy Cavalry manages to hit a legion in the flank but the romans are only disordered.  The Heavy Cavalry is then also attacked in the flank and it is routed.  Another Light Cavalry is trapped from the flank and routed as well.  The way is open to the camp.  The Romans will win as they have not taken a loss and can capture the camp. 

End game

A very interesting game with all that Light Cavalry.  A bit of crowding at the bottom of the hill.  I am surprised more Roman units were not lost.

End of 30 games

Well, that was fun.  I may have to do that again some time, or maybe not!  At least play more of these historical scenarios using these rules, easy to set up and fast to play.  There are only a few hundred more to try J