Field of Glory Wargaming at Warfare 2009
Romans vs Early Sarmatians
Pictures of Sarmatians from my Ancients Photo Directory
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The third game and I was now suffering badly with a heavy cold and a risk of losing my voice (apologies to my opponents as this meant I not only snuffled throughout both games, but had to keep nipping off both to buy many cups of tea, and also then to deal with the consequences of drinking large quantities of tea all day). The day then didn't get better, as I was going to be forced to test my "cover the table" theory against a Sarmatian army who's list is available here. The table was as nude as the Gaeasati I had played yesterday, although with even fewer less hairy patches if anything.
But, astonishingly, my army did manage to just about fill the table - one rank deep across much of it to be fair. A Success!
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When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. |
The game started as a wall of Legions rushed forward across the entire width of the field - the Sarmatians had massed their strike troops on their left, and so my line drifted that way as it knew it would have to close up as they approached.
In the center the Sarmatians launched a fusillade of arrows from their 500+ units of average and poor mounted and foot skirmishers at the Romans as my line moved forward in a stately manner, considering how to deal with the threat of almost no real honorable opposition.
With light machinegun fire puffing up the dirt by their feet the Sarmatian skirmishers bravely attempted to slow the Immense Theurophoroi's advance but were soon forced to skirmish out of the way as the Roman cavalry hoped to find something they could actually intimidate on the flank.
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O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. |
Having been intimidated by the awesome show of force, the light infantry fled as gunfire licked at their toes .
The Romans were by now absorbing an immense amount of incoming fire - admittedly most of it poor - as the Sarmatians waited until they could smell the breath of last nights Roast Swan stuffed with Pigeon stuffed with Fieldmouse washed down with copious amounts of ropey red win that my men had dines upon the pervious evening.
Occasionally the incoming artillery caused a degree of discomfort to the well armoured Romans, but their Consuls were usually on hand to stem the tide and reassure their men with the threat of decimation should they waver too much.
The Sarmatian plan was starting to take shape as a wall of cavalry moved up for a decisive charge, and the legions bravely sat behind the Giant Theurophoroi as a form of moral(e) support as they braced themselves for impact.
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This was the most unkindest cut of all; |
With their isolated position, the Gladiators had gotten over confident, and pushed forwards - chasing off some rather tardy Sarmatian skirmishers who soon felt the cold steel of a trained fighter at their backs as they were caught evading! A bonus unit for the Romans and quite early in the game to boot.
The Gladiators then overconfidently followed up the stunning win against poor skirmishers caught in the rear by taking on some bow armed cavalry!
And whilst this was happening a Superior legion decided that Decimation might be not that bad, as they failed three consecutive waver tests whilst being shot at by some poor infantry and average light horse, breaking for camp and leaving a big hole in my line!
The main action was now starting to take shape, as the Romans sought to take out the Sarmatian units one at a time, hopefully leaving flanks and gaps for their own cavalry to exploit in the process.
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Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself are much condemned to have an itching palm. |
The Sarmatians charged home across the line, and bounced, even whilst taking
a casualty from the Immense Theurophoroi. But this had bought time for more
legions to arrive.... 
Also bouncing were the Sarmatians on the flank, who discovered that the Gladiators were a lot tougher in reality than they appeared to be on paper. Shooting suddenly seemed more effective than taking these guys on at close quarters...
The Romans were grinding forward on the right, allowing their own cavalry to pose a previously unexpected level of threat to the better equipped Sarmatians.
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O hateful error, melancholy's child! Why dost thou show, to the apt thoughts of men, The things that are not? |
The Sarmatian Nobles were eager to get into the fight, and judicious creeping forwards by the Legions tempted them time and time again into rash and uncoordinated charges.
But even as the legions bore the brut of the action, the Theurophoroi, seeing a chance to force a number of Sarmatian units into a potentially ruinous "they are all at funny angles to some of them may not be able to break off properly" pushed forwards as well.
And with Legions in reserve ready to enter the fray, the Sarmatians found themselves being badly squeezed ito an increasingly tight corner.
Elsewhere, the Roman Legions on my right had redefined the concept of a tight corner to an unprecedented degree, as with a huge gap to aim for Sarmatian light horse had flooded through and surrounded them - even as the Gladiators were causing mayhem and destroying the proper Sarmatian cavalry they had fought earlier, yet more mobile horse archers surrounded the supporting legion and shot it to pieces .
This was what was known in the trade as an unsustainable situation, and with their general giving up hope and joining the rather more popular and well dressed Gladiators, they broke and fled.
The Oversized Theurophoroi and Roman cavalry continued their relentless advance - although both had by now taken a heavy pounding
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He, only, in a general honest thought And common good to all, made one of them.. |
But they bravely all continued to push onwards, even as both sides started to lose the ability to fight on ... only outrageous dice rolling was keeping the Monstrous Theurophoroi in the game
But this time their luck was starting to run out, as their supporting cavalry decided to head for home. The Giants contracted into a deep column, shrugged their massive heads on massive shoulders and pushed ever onwards.
Back to the left now, and now it was the turn of the Gladiators to feel the wrath of Sarmatian arrows (surely they must run out soon ? ).
The rest of the Sarmatians heard the alert trumpeting in the distance as they were running out of table fast, as an inexorable line of Romans moved towards their baggage - the only hope was to make a break for it and seek refuge behind the salient in my lines that was the Sarmatian heavy cavalry!
Aaargh! All hands to the pump as the loss of the Roman Cavalry had exposed the Greeks to a flank charge from a rather half-strength bunch of Sarmatian knights - the Greeks were now teetering on the edge of breaking from cohesion and from casualties as the Roman Consul urged them to hang on!
The Gladiators, being made of sterner stuff than Legionaries, were inspired by the sight of the massive pile of Sarmatian dead to their left, and advanced relentlessly towards the Sarmatian baggage even as arrows fell all around them.
By now it was Elvis Presley time for the Sarmatian skirmishers, as the Romans pinned them to the back of the table.
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I'd had rather have Such men my friends than enemies. |
Elsewhere, the Theurophoroi had finally gone to their oversized graves, yet the same was true of the Sarmatians - both sides were down to the bare bones as units were broken and evaporating all over the field.
Legions and Cavalry returned for yet another round of relentless combat, with broken lances and bent pilums littering the field of battle.
The Sarmatian light horse, realising that the Retitarius' net was protecting all his comrades from their archers, decided to try to charge the astonishingly resilient Gladiators in the rear - would they buckle, or turn round and hand out another Gladiatorial spanking .... ?
Two broken units of Legions, unnoticed by everyone, had sneakily been rallied - thus avoiding the humiliation of decimation - much to the secret relief of their Consul as well, who was concerned that he would struggle to decimate a unit of 16 individuals without resorting to some probably quite messy and inexact fractions
The Sarmatians withdrew another Sarmatian lancer unit, but there were always more still eager to take their place in the front line...
But, buoyed by their own General, the Legions fought back - both units falling down the cohesion ladder at a rate of knots! It was a bitter struggle to the last....
But - as was inevitably going to be the case - the Gladiators luck was running out, as they disrupted and lost a base against the onrushing light horse horde....
With that hope gone, the hapless Gladiators finally succumbed to the massed mounted assault and broke - and with the bulk of the Sarmatian strike force in tatters, much of their army fleeing the table and their baggage looted, it still was not enough to hand the frustrated Romans even a minor victory - after 3 and a half hours of fighting, a dead heat 10-10 draw was all the Romans could record against the four legged shoot and skirmish of their Sarmatian foes.
Post Match Summary
Well,
I am astonished by this result - everything was going swimmingly, we were beating the enemy pretty much all across the field, we had captured the baggage, broken most of the knights, swept loads of LF units off he back of the table and even recovered 2 routers....
And all I got for it was a lousy draw? Incredible!
seriously though, I'm not sure what else my Consuls could have achieved here. We deployed well, fought well, were consistently lucky in combats and in waver tests, yet the sheer size of the Sarmatian army meant they were able to absorb the casulaties and flight of their men to an unnatural degree, whilst a few, inevitable losses saw my boys devastated and crippled. What's the point honestly of even turning up if you can outplay, outdice and out-match an opponent and still not manage to beat them?
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Well, much as it pains me to admit it, I am grudgingly going to have to agree with you here.
Other than taking an entirely different army composition, I can't quite see what else you could have achieved - and on a less lucky day you may well have been trampled underfoot (or under hoof and arrow to be more precise).
The only saving grace was that I wasn't your opponent, as I would certainly have devoted at least one of my 754 on-table LH units to pursuing the Legionaries who had been broken from shooting alone - as their recovery was what kept you at 10-10 instead of facing a rather inconcievable loss.
However, it's not like you didn't expect a game like this, and so you were forewarned. At least this time those Gladiators ended up with a net contribution of zero VPs to your army as they beat 2 units and then died.
Maybe you'll have more luck in actually catching the enemy this afternoon.
Lets see how the next game goes.
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