Roman Britain: Part 4 ( contin. )Battle of Segontium.

I thought I would do a battle based on the Campaign map and rules in the previous chapter. Although fictional, the Scots-Irish did raid this area quite often and, for a while actually settled there.

I diced for the scenario and the result was:  "West Coast Raid".

I diced for the number of stands for the Scots-Irish, which was 16.
1 Command stand at @ 2 points.
13 stands of warriors armed with spears and javelins @ 2 points each.
2 stands of archers @ 1 point each.

Being at Segontium, ships were required. I had the Warbands already formed up from the boats. I put the boats in but as it turned out the game finished without them being required.

I used the scenery set up mechanism in Table Top Battles. Two hills, a wood and a river were required. I then had a quick look on Google for the terrain in the area and adapted the four items in a rough approximation.

There were only the civilians at the town but the 20th were at Deva,  so, I had them hard marching in light order to get there!

The Legion is represented by 16 stands.
11 stands are Auxillia style infantry @ 2points each.
4 stands are light archers @ point each.
1 infantry Command stand @ 1 point.

I put 4 small items inside the town plus some stands of civilians. I also put 2 stands of civil guard to represent the town decurione and his personal retinue. As it turned out, they didn't do much at all!!

In the rules I use,  Infantry stands can move onto a wall from the outside if there is space. During the course of the battle, three stands of warriors made it over to open the gate! from the inside.

I interpreted this action as a result of a lack of garrison and the dilapidated state of the walls!

The Romans formed up to the East in line. The Roman Prefect had his men form up not knowing what he was up against. The Scots-Irish formed up to the West and South on the shoreline ready to attack the town, not knowing the Romans had arrived.

I used my own Table Top Battle Solo rules with the 2 player mechanics of Fire and Combat.

I fought this battle over 8 turns. For most of the battle the Scots-Irish had the upper hand and the Romans were being beaten. Three stands of Scots-Irish made it into town and rounding up townspeople and loot.

It looked like the Scots-Irish were going to get away. Right on the eighth turn disaster struck!. The Scots-Irish Chieftain was struck down!

The Casualties were about even but losing the Chieftain lost the battle for the Scots-Irish.

The battle finished with the remainder of the Warband heading for the boats. Some of the Warband were caught exiting the town, therefore the prisoners and loot were recovered. There was one relieved Prefect at the end of it all!.

As always the table is 3 feet x 2 feet ( 90cm x 60cm). The squares are 2" ( 50mm ). The boats and fort are scratchbuilt from cardboard and foamboard. 

The figures are Hat Industries Roman Auxilliaries and Goths. The Roman archers are Newline Design 1/72 scale metal figures.

The Civilians are from Ceaser Miniatures and come from their boxes of Roman Supply Train.

The spears are from North Star Miniatures ( 28mm javelins). The buildings are from either Peter Pig or Hovels.

The square stands are picture framing cardboard 40mm x 40mm. The round stands are 40mm, from Minibits. The wood area bases are from S and A Scenics and the trees are various manufacturers.

Roman Britain Part 4 : A Campaign.

The following is some rough campaign ideas for fighting battles in Roman Britain during the 4th century ( 301AD to 400AD).

A single stand of figures is roughly equal to 100 men.

The  Infantry Unit;

The Unit represents a Cohort of Roman troops or a Numerus of Federated tribesmen.
The unit is represented by 4 stands of figures.
They do not have to be armed all the same, so you can mix n' match the stands.

The Infantry Warband;

These are of 4 stands. Again they don't have to be armed all the same.

The Ala Petriana;

This Roman cavalry unit is of 8 stands. They do not have to be armed all the same. This unit does not have to operate together and so, could be split into smaller groups of stands

Warband cavalry;

Not available in great numbers and limited to the Picts and the Scots Irish;
Each of these Nations would each have one group of 4 stands.

War chariots;
A bit controversial this one. The Scots-Irish were also known as the Del Riatta or
" people of the chariot". Wether that refers to another time, I don't know, but because the Scots-Irish had settlements on the West Coast of Caledonia (what
is now Scotland )they might have been used so, I have one group of 4 stands.

Command Stands;

Within my own rules I just have a command stand for the whole group of stands comprising one army, however if you have command stands for each group then go with that.

Note: The stands within each unit do not have to move together. They can be moved independently of each other. However the choice is your own.

The scenarios;

Below are listed four groups of towns that can be attacked by specific tribal groups depending on their location. Besides some of the names is the letter (N) denoting a Numerus being present. A Numerus is a Cohort of Federated troops with some training but carrying their own weapons.

In the first three scenarios listed, a 12 sided ( or two D6) die is required. This number decides which town the Warband has appeared at.

Dicing for size of forces;

The Roman player may already have a Numerus present in the town. If any others are within one move distance on the map ( between one town and the next is one move distance ) these other units may take part.

The Warband player throws a D6 for the number of stands they have;
For Land Battles;
1 or 2:  8 stands.
3 or 4: 16 stands.
5 or 6: 24 stands.

If the Warbands are landing by boat;
1 or 2: 8 stands.
3 or 4:12 stands.
5 or 6: 16 stands.

Each marked town on the map represents the town and the area around it so this may decide the type of battle to be fought. If outnumbered two to one or more, the weaker army or group can have defenseworks like a town stockade or marching camp.

If numbers are three-to-two, the weaker side will pick which edge to fight from after the stronger side has rolled for scenery ( say three pieces).

The Legion;

If a full Legion takes the field  ( which was rare ), 16 stands will be required.  Again these stands don't have to be armed all the same. One command stand will represent the Prefect or whoever you nominate as senior commander. In my previous blog I said that Legions would be 2000 men. However the 16 stands would give you 1,600 men which is probably closer to the norm!

The Petriana Horse,

If the full Ala takes the field this will be represented by 8 stands. Again, they don't have to be armed all the same. Once again this will give you 800 men rather than 1000 which ,again would probably be closer to actual numbers.

I'm being a bit loose on organisation of figure types for a reason. At this time various units were being moved all over the place and to the continent. There was also continual warfare. The supplies of weapons, armour and food must have been disrupted a fair bit. I'm sure some units had a less than organised appearance.

The Scenarios:

Throw a D6 to decide which scenario you wish to follow:

Score 1: Picts and Scots-Irish; Northern Incursions.

Roll a D12 ( or 2 D6 ) to see which town the Warband starts from;

1 to 3 : Luguvalium ( N).
4 to 6 : Brocarum ( N ).
7 to 9 : Brementenacium ( N).
10 to 12 : Verbeia.

Score 2; Scots-Irish West Coast raid.

Roll a D12 ( or two D6 ).

Deva : 20th Legion ( 2,000 men ).
1 or 2: Segontium.
3 or 4 : Isca.
5 or 6 : Glevum ( N ).
7 or 8 : Lindinus ( N ).
9 or 10 : Corinium Doburiorum ( N ).
11 or 12 : Isca Dumnoniorum ( N).

Score 3 or 4 ;  Fankish or Frisian Pirates. The Picts ; East Coast.

Throw a D12 ( or 2 D6 );

1 or 2 : Bannovallum.
3 or 4 : Ventacenorum.
5 or 6 : Combatovium ( N) ☆
7 or 8 : Lindum ( N).
9 or 10 : Durobrivae, 3rd Cohort, 2nd Augusta. ☆
11 or 12 : Durovigutum ( N ). ☆
Rutupiae : 1st and 2nd  Cohort, 2nd Augusta. ☆

Note: Those town marked thus; ☆ , must be taken first then Londinium can be claimed. Londinium becomes a permanent Saxon base.

Score 5 or 6 : Rebellion!.

Throw a D6. If a "4 " is thrown for example, the first four towns on the list revolt and have to be defeated by regular troops. Any Warbands in the area will join the troops in revolt.

Score 1: Virconium (N ).
Score 2 : Vectinis.
Score 3 : Portus Dubris; 4th Cohort,  2nd Augusta.
Score 4 : Portus Aderni ( N ).
Score 5 : Gabrantovicorum ( N ).
Score 6 : Arbeia ( N ).

MOVEMENT ON THE MAP.

● Players each throw a D6. The higher scoring player moves first. The second Player  moves next. After this, players take it in turns to move. Once both players have moved, fought battles etc, that concludes one Campaign Turn.

● A whole group will be in one square. When two opposed groups move into a square, a battle is fought.

● A group can be moved one square across country or two squares on a road.

● If ships are used they will move three squares on the map. They can move to any part of the shoreline but troops can only move away from the boats on the following turn.

● If a group moves into a town square with no opposition they can sack the town which is worth 5 points.

● A group needs 20 points for a successful raid. They also need to get back across the border or away in their boats. Each stand can " carry" 5 points with them, though if they fight, they must stash a marker on the table representing 5 points of loot.

Ships:

I know that not everybody has ships in their collection. A flat cardboard tray will suffice. It has to be big enough to hold one stand.

The Romans have access to a Navy of 12 ships. 4 are based at Rutupiae. 4 are based at Portus Aderni. 4 are based at Arbeia. The Roman player cannot replace these ships.

These ships were called Picati. They could hold 100 men. They were painted a blue-gray colour. The Roman crewmen also had blue-Gray tunics

 At the end of the 8th Campaign turn, the Warband player can sail 4 ships from either, Hibernia, Caledonia or Himlingoje ( Denmark ).

The ship's move three squares on the map.

Well, that's it for the moment. Hopefully the above will give you some ideas about a campaign. It's deliberately vague in places so that you can bring your own mechanisms in to play.

As the man said:  Ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris
( Fictions meant to please should approximate the truth ).