800 points of Caesarean Romans vs. Ed's Pontics.
Ed & Bob teamed up against me.
Caesar wins deployment. A few scattered hills and some plowed feels, all counting as uneven.
I anchored my center with 3 legions (one elite, the Tenth Legion of course) all 6 bases (no damn 4 base legionary units for me!)
On my right I put a four base unit of Gallic Armored cavalry, a six base unit of Spanish Scutarii, six bases of archers (Nubians!) and on the center right a legion to help keep the right strong.
On my left 2 units of 4 base Spanish light cav, a 6 base skirmisher group with javelins, and a legion.
Through the haze and dust of the damn eastern provinces Mithra-Eddes had deployed 3-4 blocks of imitation legions in the center. A unit of scythed chariots on his left-center and some heavy weapon Bastarnae tribesmen on his right center.
On his left flank (my right) He had a 6 base block of Xystophoroi (armored lancers) 4 bases of light cavalry, 6 bases of skirmisher archers and a 6 base block of offensive spearmen
On his right flank his trusted minion, Bob-a-dates, deployed another six base block of Xystophoroi, a unit of 6 skirmisher javelins, 6 bases of offensive spear, and a 4 base group of light cav.
The armies moved towards one another. The skirmishers danced their dance with Bob gaining the upper hand as our light horse threw javelins at one another (mine became disrupted his didn't).
Ed's light horse came up close to my right flank. Both of us scrambling to get to the top of the hill there. I figured I'd get there by charging. Both my Gallic cav and Spanish Scutarii eagerly pursued, and chased them Pontic horsemen off the hill, but we pursued too far and Ed's Xystophoroi began to canter forward. . . .
The Legions marched steadily towards one another in the center.
On the left Bob's light cav charged mine, I held my own and disordered him in combat and to make matters worse for him, I had positioned my javelin skirmishers to charge in!.
I attempted to sneak my last unit of Spanish light horse by tight-roping the table edge to scoot around to the Pontic rear, but Bob's spearmen shook out on the hilltop and closed my alley down. My light horse was forced to 180 and withdraw.
My javelin skirmishers charged in on the next turn and Bob's light horse lost against both units. And then blew straight from disordered to broken! They went wee-wee-wee all the way home in spite of his general's attempt to rally them.
My left flank legion moved up to support and Bob began cursing his purple chessex! But on my right flank, things were about to go wrong. . .
Ed's Xystophoroi charged my Spanish Mediums, and since I was there I heedlessly counter charged with my Gallic cav (which seemed to be a very Gallic thing to do) Ed's Lances did their work in the impact phase and my cavalry tilted towards disorder, the Spaniards fought bravely but could never inflict enough hits (they were still stuck in a dang column!) to win the combat!
Caesar sat on the edge of the center and the right flank. His Nubian archers were disordered by some Pontic devilry. A quarter mile away he could hear the Gauls yowling and bleeding. And he debated what to do? "The Nubians aren't doing much, but it's safe and an easy rally!" "However the Gauls are disordered and could bein trouble, but the right flank is a long way off and is a dangerous place. Plus those damn Gauls and Spanish have moved too far ahead of their legionary support. . ."
I kept Caesar one turn to rally the Nubians and perhaps that was the straw that broke the camel's back. . .
The battle was interesting and we learned a lot. Here were a few high points. . .
On the Roman left Bob's Xystophoroi moved up but strangely did not charge, giving me two good turns of shooting that I took full advantage of forcing two tests that Bob passed nicely.
When he did charge his lancers smashed into my legion, won the impact phase and I botched the roll and dropped 2 levels to fragmented (poor Titus Pullo was holding on for dear life!)
His javelin skirmishers charged my javelins in the rear (we had turned to pelt the oncoming Xystophoroi) disordered me and then dropped us to fragmented (yowch!) in the melee.
Ed's Scythed chariots hit my legion head on and rolled NINE dice and scored 7 hits and killed a base outright, however I managed to salvage the cohesion test with a great roll and since the chariots did not win the melee phase they were removed (but do not count as a lost unit). Scythed chariots would be absolutely devastating against medium or light foot, but Roman legionaries can handle them (as long as the dice don't give out on you!).
On my right flank the Gauls hung on for another turn or two, dropping to yellow and losing a base. The Spaniards lost a base too but never lost their fighting spirit, even as Ed's spearmen slammed into them.
Caesar hurried to the right flank as the Gauls became desperate. he crested the hill just in time to see his cavalry break and rout! The Pontic lancers couldn't pursue as they were still tangled up with the Spanish Scutarii. Caesar spurred his horse and let his red cape flail in the breeze, calling out the the Gallic chieftains by name.
It aint easy to rally broken units who have lost 25% of their troops, but if anyone could, it would have to be Caesar (and rolling big woody and big whitey helped!) I rallied them on their first test. I was proud! I passed a CMT test to spin them around to face the enemy! Oh the joy! One more Joint Action phase and I had big plans to salvage my breaking right flank with Caesar. Big plans, until Ed and his slimy light cavalry showed up. They had been sneakily following the routing gauls who rolled low move distances both routs. They rode up and showered my Gauls with a hail of javelins. two dice, both fours, both hit. … Morale test (while still fragmented). . . A dart struck Chieftan Incognitus in the eye and he fell from his saddle, dead. Wailing and bawling the Gauls started to rout again and Ed sat back and grinned like he had swallowed the canary!
In the center the legions had come to grips with the Pontic cheap impostor legions. In the impact phase they impostors have a chance, but in melee their weaker armor and lesser swordsmanship put the nail in the coffin. Matching them up against an elite Roman legion made the butchery even more brutal. My center pummeled Mithra-Eddy. who made some great morale tests to keep his guys from breaking but they were losing bases left and right. After two turns one legion had lost 3 bases and auto-broke and the other engaged unit was fragmented and fading fast. To make matters worse I cut down a third general in as many games (another small victory! Huzzah!)
The Spaniards lost another base but still remained rock steady, struggling valiantly against steep odds (one more base and they would break and run!) fighting both the vicious Xystophoroi and the Pontic Spearmen.
On the left my fragmented legion broke against Bob's victorious Xystophoroi, my fragmented light foot held and my light horse pelted the advancing Pontic spear and disordered them (I remember the good parts, no matter how small!). . .
But by now it was 9:40 and the janitor was testy! We counted up the points. The Pontics had 6 and I only had 5. A close game by the numbers but both my flanks were cracking like a brittle chair under a fat lady's caboose. The Pontics clearly had the upper hand, but my legions (except for the one on the left flank) were in good shape. I wanted to play this one out just to see what would have happened. It was interesting and fun, as always.
