MichaelCollinsHimself | 01 Aug 2016 3:37 a.m. PST |
If you play ancients and have a barbarian army you`d like a chance to win right? But an historical win? As a Gallic warrior you`d believe that if you go down fighting, there may still be a chance of winning? I`m going to do something quite different for warbands in my Grand Manoeuvre ancients rules… For a Celtic-Germanic player the motivation needs to be there ! Giving them an impetus bonus in the charge and a follow-up move just isn`t enough. I`ll be introducing a new victory conditions and points modifiers to the game. Players with Celtic armies should stay tuned – there may still be a chance to win, even if you lose ! Who, after all, remembers the Roman General/Govenor who defeated Boudica? |
Oh Bugger | 01 Aug 2016 4:14 a.m. PST |
I've always wondered about the impact of the transmigration of souls belief-among the Celts anyway. Caesar thought it made them unafraid of death – because their souls could not die and they would be back. I'd be interested to see what you come up with. |
maverick2909 | 01 Aug 2016 5:38 a.m. PST |
Very interesting! Although I would challenge the claim that Barbarians never win. In DBM, barbarians will 9 times out of 10 beat a Roman army. So much so to the point where I think it's historically inaccurate the other way. That is to say, I think the quick kill of Wb on blades is somewhat unjustified. |
Green Tiger | 01 Aug 2016 6:25 a.m. PST |
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BigRedBat | 01 Aug 2016 6:49 a.m. PST |
Yes Suetonius Paulinus; did quite well in the Roman Civil War, too. |
kodiakblair | 01 Aug 2016 12:11 p.m. PST |
Right Mr Collins that's me sold. As the main reason I still wargame is to beat Rome,you need tempt me no more. Kindly drop everything else and get these rules finished. |
Frederick | 01 Aug 2016 2:20 p.m. PST |
Depends on the rules – I found in WarHammer Ancients the Romans were depressingly unbeatable, but in Hail Caesar the barbarians have a fighting chance Have to check out Grand Manoeuvre |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 01 Aug 2016 10:51 p.m. PST |
a few quick lines before I set off for work…. Maverick, I found DBA quite unrealistic too in that respect, I have heavy troops vulnerable to warbands too, but the Romans need to be at disadvantage first. Frederick, Please see: TMP link …that`ll fill you in on most of the story so far (my website has only Napoleonic stuff on it). David, Once I`ve worked something out for heroic deaths (devotio – Roman generals did it too!) would you like to playtest the rules? |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 03 Aug 2016 11:34 p.m. PST |
Earlier, I mentioned the Devotio, in which Roman generals vowed to sacrifice their own lives in battle in exchange for victory! This was only done in desperate situations to motivate a command that was faltering and perhaps on the point of collapse. Throwing the Legion`s eagle (considered a holy symbol to the legionary) into the midst of the enemy was another manner in which troops would be driven to fight and recover it. In balance then, I`ll be adding these Roman army possibilities to the rules. The picture below – Decius Mus performing the ceremony prior to his devotio at the battle of Vesuvius in 340 BC (Jacob Mathias 1733-1811).
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kodiakblair | 04 Aug 2016 2:32 p.m. PST |
Michael I'd gladly play test them. I've just dug out Ross Cowan's "For the Glory of Rome",there's a few instances where Devotio gets mentioned. |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 04 Aug 2016 10:50 p.m. PST |
David – drop me a line at: contact@grandmanoeuvre.co.uk to establish comms. Mike. |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 09 Aug 2016 11:59 p.m. PST |
In addition to the leader heroic death rules, we`ll be testing a slight change to the combat rules for warbands; giving them more chance of a good result in their charges. I`ll post later today to let you know how things went. |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 10 Aug 2016 7:17 a.m. PST |
We`ve just completed a few tests using different die rolls for warbands with impetus and some tests also with added depth (mass) of warbands to outnumber the legionaries by 2:1 (6 Roman legionaries v. 12 warbands) and by 3:1 (18 warbands). There were a range of results with expectedly the Romans being stronger and withstanding the impetus and assaults of the warbands and ultimiately winning the protracted fights. But encouragingly, there were also some results that caused morale affects on the Roman line in the first turn of combat and then a chance in a morale test, that the Roman line would break. A chance to beat the Romans !
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