Last week we played Republican Romans vs. Thracians. The rules used were Sword & Spear. For more information about these rules see
link
The Romans had 11 units – 5 Legionaries, 1 artillery (Bolt-shooters), 1 Gallic Cavalry, 1 Numidian Light Horse, 1 Auxiliary infantry, 1 Light Foot Slingers, 1 Light Foot archers.
The Thracians had 15 units. The infantry were medium foot and were in large units to represent them fighting in deep formations. There were 7 of these large units of foot, including 5 armed with romphia, which are two handed weapons and negate the Roman armour. Additionally there were 2 units of noble cavalry, 3 Light Horse, 2 Light Foot javelinmen, and a unit of poorly equipped foot.
The small green dice you can see in the pictures are to indicate hits. A unit can take hits equal to its strength before routing and being removed. Heavy foot are strength 4, Skirmishers are strength 2, and all other units are strength 3. Large units can take an extra 2 hits, and fight with one extra dice whilst fresh. This means that each unit of Thracian foot fights on a par with the Roman legionaries when fresh, but once they take hits or if they are outnumbered they are not as effective as the Romans.
There wasn't much terrain, and deployment was pretty straightforward, so it looked like being a quick clash of battle lines.
The situation at deployment:
The Thracian foot, heavily outnumbering the Romans.
Thracian Noble cavalry and horse archers. I suspect some photos of these very nicely painted Xyston figures will appear in the final version of the rulebook.
The five units on legionaries making up the Roman foot line. They may be outnumbered but legionaries are well disciplined, tough troops, and that is reflected well in these rules. If the Romans are to win it will be done here, in the centre.
The Roman left flank during the first turn. Thracian horse archers press forward and take a chance against two units of light foot. Both Roman units get bonus shooting dice (which can be gained depending on the activation dice allocated) but fail to damage the horse archers, who can count themselves lucky.
Elsewhere in the first turn most of the other troops on both sides press forward. The Thracian foot get good activation dice and use bonus movement so that they end the turn within charge range.
At the end of turn 1:
The Thracians continue to get good activation dice, allowing their infantry to charge the Romans en masse. The Romans throw a hail of Pila which are successful in disrupting the initial Thracian charge, and the Romans come off best. However, the extra Thracians at either end charge in and the Romans struggle against the extra numbers, with one legionary unit close to breaking on three hits.
On the left the horse archers pull back and Thracian foot move forward to take their place, again with good activation dice giving them bonus movement and putting pressure on the Roman skirmishers.
On the right the Roman Gallic cavalry tempts the Thracian noble cavalry forward into range of the bolt-shooters, but the Romans are struggling from a lack of decent activation dice and don't get to shoot.
At the end of turn 2:
Fierce action in the centre, with units breaking on both sides.
On the left the Thracians charge and catch one of the Roman skirmisher units, destroying it easily. The Roman auxiliary foot move into position to flank charge the Thracian foot.
On the right the heavy cavalry engage.
Turn 3, and the heavy fighting continues in the centre, with both sides taking more hits.
On the left the Roman auxiliaries charge the Thracians in the flank, but the extra resilience of the large unit means they don't break. The Thracian horse archers then charge the Romans in the flank. Roman losses are building up.
However, the Romans are fighting back in the centre and the Thracians are also taking heavy losses.
On the right the heavy cavalry continue fighting, but it is quite evenly matched and both sides have general present to rally hits. However, the Thracian light horse have not moved up and are out of command so the Roman Numidian light cavalry push forward to challenge them.
At the end of turn 3:
On the left, the Thracians finish off the Roman Auxiliary foot and the legionaries at the end of the line. At the end of the turn the Romans have an army morale tests due to cumulative losses and the remaining skirmishers decide they've had enough.
The one positive point for the Romans is that the Thracians have a bit of a traffic jam, and they can't easily get their heavy cavalry free to roll up the Roman centre.
The centre is going more in the favour of the Romans, with another Thracian unit breaking and one on the brink of routing.
On the right the Numidians rout the Thracian light horse, and the heavy cavalry battle continues. A unit of Thracian foot moves up to threaten the Roman bolt-shooters, who have been ineffective all game.
At the end of turn 4:
It is pretty much over for the Romans, with their only hope being killing the Thracian General, who is fighting with the foot in the centre.
At the end of turn 5:
In the centre Roman legionaries manoeuvre into a position to charge the flank of the unit the Thracian general is with.
On the right the Thracian light horse get back into the fight, charging the flank of the Roman Gallic cavalry, finally breaking the stalemate.
At the end of turn 6:
The Roman heavy cavalry rout, and that is enough to break the army. This takes place at the end of the turn, so we play out the last combat, as the Romans charge the flank of the Thracians foot in the centre. However, they hold so we don't even get the chance at the consolation prize of a dead general !
It was another enjoyable game of Sword and Spear. The match ups and interaction between troop types all felt right. The activation dice definitely favoured the Thracians throughout the game, so I think I'll be demanding a re-match in a couple of weeks to see if I can get a Roman victory next time.
