Field of Glory Wargaming at Warfare 2009
Pictures of Gauls from my Ancients Photo Directory
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The second game saw me come up against some nicely painted Gauls who's list is available here The table was almost ruined by a large steep hill right in the middle of the enemy deployment area, which left me guessing which side his main forces would choose to be on. As it turned out, the Gauls - and the Romans - sort of split their armies either side of it, to everyone's detriment apart from the 3 unexpected units of Gaeasati who had turned up in the final deployment batch on the side of teh hill where my men mostly weren't
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Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods, Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds. |
The game started as my Legions rushed forward on my right eager to engage any enemy they could find, and the Gauls threw forward a skirmish screen of cavalry, infantry and chariots to oppose me.
In the center the Gauls threw some warband fast up the hill as my line moved forward in a stately manner, considering how to deal with the threat of almost no opposition.
But even as the Gauls skirmished my men out of the way, the Roman cavalry and Greek slingers did likewise to the Gaeasati, allowing my legion and accompanying spearmen to dance around aimlessly in the vast open spaces of the extra-large table.
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O conspiracy! Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, When evils are most free? |
Having been intimidated by the awesome show of force, the Gallic cavalry on my right considered when to turn tail and escape.
But my own cavalry had already realised that it was time for them to retire gracefully, hopefully luring back the Gallic cavalry to a showdown with my spearmen in the process.
Back to the left, and a nifty expansion from the endmost legion shut the door on any possibility of a cheeky flank move by the mounted Gauls.
The plan was starting to take shape almost before I even realised it, as the legions milled around in an attempt to form a line from the foothills of the mountain from where they could take on the Gaeasati, the Roman cavalry quickly outpaced the more pedestrian Gallic horsemen to fall back to the safety of their own spearmen .
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Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds, In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol. |
With the luxury of time and drilled status the Greek spearmen were confident enough to also turn tail and move away from the rather puzzled Gauls, as the I attempted to time the battle far better than I had managed to do previously and bring the Gaeasati into combat before the rest of the Gauls hit the spears and cavalry.
The battle plan started to look incredibly clever as a defensive line slowly took shape.
And whilst this was happening an aggressive push was seeing the Gallic cavalry on my right pushed further and further back.
The advancing lines in the center drew ever closer together as the Romans and Gauls taunted each other, daring the other side to come up or down the hill and fight like men!
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In war events of importance are the result of trivial causes. |
My Roman Legions were even threatening to put the squeeze on the Gallic
chariotry who were forced to withdraw. 
In the center both battle lines now came to blows with wave after wave of Romans queuing up to provide encouragement.
The Romans had now discarded any fear of being overrun on their right, and were feeding more units into the mincer in the middle.
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In war events of importance are the result of trivial causes. |
At impact the units were equal, but soon both sides started to tire - the Gauls more quickly than the Romans of course.
But even as the battle teetered for a time against the odds, the morale-boosting effect of the Roman general and rear support from yet more legions told .
And with reserves ready to enter the fray, hammer blows started to whittle down the large Gaesati units.
Elsewhere, the Roman cavalry maneuvered desperately to try and pincer the Gauls between themselves and the gigantic Xyston Theurophoroi - hoping to crush the barbarians before more Warband Fast arrives on the scene.
Over on the far right, an impasse had developed, with the Gladiators reluctant to come out of the attractively designed field and face the Gallic cavalry in the open until their accompanying legions has cleared away any remaining skirmishers, and so with still acres of space left behind them, the Gauls reconsidered their options.
The Theurophoroi and Roman cavalry had driven off the Gallic cavalry, and now faced off against the onrushing warband - the cavalry in a somewhat worse state as a result of an earlier attempt to disrupt the Gauls without the aid of their accompanying Giant Theurophoroi.
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Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come. |
But in the middle things were now much better, as triumphant legions smashed their way through the Gaesati with the phenomenal advantages of both better armour ad skilled swordsmanship and cut down unit after unit .. even allowing them to threaten the flanks of the men defending the mountain top
But this time frontal combat was not even required with the rather disturbingly unclothed Gauls, as the unit was battered in the flank by a grateful spare legion.
Back to the right now, and even as the Gallic cavalry retreated, their chariotry decided to have a go at a legion in the open.
The Theurophoroi braced themselves for the warband's impact - but the Gallic cavalry were also returning to the field - and the Romans were in severe danger of being outmaneuvered by a warband horde! The Roman cavalry had to be encouraged to charge home, hoping to add their hooves to a desperate attempt to break the Gauls before their own cavalry arrived !
Aaargh! Broken nudists fight desperately as they are surrounded on all sides - every way they looked a deeply unpalatable sight faced the Roman legions!
But elsewhere, in their own personal cock-up the Roman cavalry decided that winning was not for them, and broke instead leaving the hapless Theurophoroi to their fate.
Inevitably, the Gauls charged home, placing the Theurophoroi in a world of pain.
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Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. |
Elsewhere, the Gladiators were intimidating their opponents away, as the Romans prepared their legions for attacks on the bastion of the steep hill !
Chariots and cavalry facing them, the Gladiators dug their tridents into the ground and hung on valiantly !
Two legions charged uphill - but even thought they were hit in the flank, the warband managed to inflict a dramatic reverse on the legion facing them frontally ....
Two units of Gaeasati were now, and as the clock crept towards a timed out finish the Romans were closing in rapidly on the rear of the third
The Gladiators were also fighting manfully, aided in no small part by a legion who prevented the Gallic cavalry from breaking off
But, buoyed by their own General, the Gauls fought back and bashed the Gladiators down to fragmented ! It was a bitter struggle to the last....
But - as if often the case - the decisive movement came as the remaining Gaeasati managed to pull off a Complex maneuver Test and contracted past my skirmishers and escaped the charge threat of the Roman legion, buying them another turn of safety...
With that hope gone, the hapless Gladiators finally succumbed to the massed mounted assault and broke. A narrow loss for the Romans to their traditional barbarian foes.
Post Match Summary
Well,
I felt this was going quite well - especially on the "legionaries are
really good" front. It seemed to all go a bit pear shaped when "other
troops" started to get involved though, and for that I blame the boy Porter
for selecting them in an army list - and of course not having an IC to lead
them.
Any, of course, it was in many ways a game of maneuver on a huge mostly empty field - which is a game in which I always seem to come off worse. Sort of like facing a Gallo-Skythian army really, but with some of them dug into trenches at the top of a mountain like that one in Italy at Monte Cassino - now, if someone ever decides to attack Rome starting from Sicily, what a fantastic defensive line you could build there eh?
At least we lost to some nicely painted troops this time, which softens the blow somewhat. And at least I deserve some praise for not losing outright.
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Unsurprisingly
I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him.
And what the hell happened here? You got turned over by Gauls? You are two factors up in melee against most of them, yet you failed to win? Admittedly your opponent widely took an army with not that many of the typical Gallic warrior, and used the terrain you set down to cut your army in half and place lots of his men totally out of harms way, but even so.
Even if you had managed to wrap up the victories against the nudey-boys what would you have done next? Your army was incapable or actually catching the enemy LF, cavalry and chariots, and the MF could have just turned round and marched away from you faster than you could ever hope to catch them - its just like watching John Hawkwood all over again.
And I told you that those Gladiators would cost you dear somehow. Admit it, they did.
I suppose you still totaled up some points and didn't lose outright though.
Lets see how the next game goes.
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