Marian Romans vs Gauls - posted by Andrew Bennetts, 19 March 20245

John Way and I had an entertaining game at the AWC on Sunday which saw his Marian Romans, suitably led by Julius Caesar, invading Gaul.

The important terrain fell mainly on the Roman side of the table with a steep hill on their left and a wood and a gentle hill to their right. The Gauls deployed with a strong cavalry wing facing the steep hill, tasked with ensuring that nothing came off that hill to threaten the two Commands of warbands who made up the centre, one of which included some chariots as a reserve. The left was held by an Iberian Spanish Ally of Ax(S), Psiloi and a few Cv.

The Romans formed up in classic style, their two infantry Commands each in three separated lines, the first of Ax(S) the second two of Legionaries, the right most command led by Big Juli himself and containing the fabled 10th Legion. The steep hill on their left was garrisoned by just a few Psiloi, leaving the Gallic cavalry with not a lot to do to fulfill their mission. Their right, facing the Spanish was of Light Horse and Psiloi supported Cavalry deployed on the gentle hill.

The Gauls advanced quickly all along the line, the warband looking to get engaged as soon as possible. The Romans responded by sending their mounted troops on a wide outflanking march around the wood aimed at taking the Spanish in flank and rear, Caesar extending the reserve line of the 10th Legion out to the right to fill the gap this left. Against this, the Gallic CinC dispatched the chariot reserve to the support of the Spanish but, with quite some distance to travel, they would take time to arrive.

Meanwhile the warband had crashed into the first Roman line of Ax(S) with predictably indecisive initial results while the Spanish, somewhat overextended, had to make a choice between pushing forward to cover the left flank of the warband or pulling back their mounted in the face of the approaching Roman cavalry. Choosing the former option, the inevitable subsequent pip drought saw the Spanish General and his two supporting Cv caught isolated and overwhelmed by the Roman horse before the Gallic chariots could arrive in support, breaking the Spanish and disheartening the nearest of the warband commands!

This disaster for the Gauls was however compensated by progress in the huge infantry melee where quantity was steadily overcoming quality. All along the line, auxiliaries were being forced back or killed with the growing number of gaps needing to be plugged with legionaries. The decisive moment came when one of the few surviving Ax(S) of the 10th Legion's command, having already been recoiled to within a base depth of a supporting Bd(S) was then lost. Having already taken (and inflicted!) heavy losses, this 3ME hit was enough to break them just as their warband opponents became disheartened following the collapse of the Spanish!

With the Gallic chariots stabilising the situation following the demise of the Spanish, focus turned to the remaining Roman infantry command which was steadily taking losses against the opposing warband, these eventually tipping the Romans over the 50% threshold for a dramatic 18-7 victory for the bloodied but unbowed Gauls!

A fabulous game and all credit to John for taking on the Gauls with Romans, what many would consider a daunting match up, and for contributing to a hard fought and exciting game that could have gone either way. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/824840264342234/posts/2550977328395177/

The Romans in classic "Triplex Acies"

The Roman mounted wing

The mass of warband in the Gallic Centre

The ill fated Spanish forming the Gallic left

The Gallic cavalry really don't have a lot to do............

Meanwhile the Spanish cavalry view the approaching Roman mounted with some trepidation.

The infantry lines clash........

Arriving too late, all the Gallic chariots can do is attempt to stabalise the situation

However the 10th Legion is under intense pressure and will soon crack

Victorious Gauls burst through the line, overwhelming the last Roman resistance

John Way

Top Contributor

Yes indeed, a very bloody scrum all down the line! We fought for four hours and neither of us was playing slow

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Vincent Cholewa

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Group expert

+1

Good game. I am sure Caesar's letter to the Senate would have explained how this was a significant Roman victory, fighting off a HUGE Gallic host (outnumbered 20:1!), inflicting demoralising casualties on the Gauls and then withdrawing the legions to fight again ...