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Late Imperial Romans at Cancon 2017

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Barritus:
Well, for Cancon (400AP plus 10AP for stratagems) I decided to run a Late Imperial Roman army. The LIRs had been a very popular army in the old 6th and 7th Edition days (particularly the triple-armed mutant legionaries). But their popularity declined in the days of DBM when their legionaries were no better than the legionaries of other periods (in fact Patricians became more popular in this time - at least in Australia).

I’d built a Patrician Roman ally as part of a Sub-Roman British army in those days, and later decided to expand it into a full army which could be used as either MIR, LIR or Patrician. I then took it as LIR in two comps, for a grand total of: Played 10, Drew 2, Lost 8. I quietly put the army away and turned to other armies, until I started having another look at them in the last year or so. After some experiments I thought I’d come up with a reasonable list, and was just able to complete the extra painting needed to have it ready for Cancon.

The army was Eastern in 394AD, based on the army of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius in his invasion of the West, and in particular the battle of the Frigidus River. The army structure was as follows:

Command 1 (33ME)

General as Reg LH (S)
6 Reg Kn (X)
2 Reg Cv (O)
5 Irr LH (S)
4 Reg Ax (S)
4 Reg Ps (O)

Command 2 (16ME)

Sub as Reg Cv (O)
4 Reg Bd (O)
2 Reg Ps (O)
6 Irr Wb (O)

Command 3 (25ME)

Sub as Reg Cv (O)
4 Reg Kn (F)
2 Reg Cv (O)
4 Reg LH (O)
1 Reg LH (F)
4 Reg Ps (S)

Command 4 (12ME)

6 Reg Bge (O)

Army: 86ME

Stratagem: Ambush

Deployment with this army was always going to be simple, with C2 in the centre and C1 and C3 on the flanks. With the C-in-C as LH (S) he’d be able to lead the LH to wherever they were needed using his own PIP, leaving the rest of the highest PIP dice to manage the advance of the rest of the troops. For C2 the Wb would deploy in three ranks with a column of Bd and Ps on each flank. And with Kn of some sort on each flank, I hoped to divide my opponents’ attention with the double threat. And with such a variety of troops I hoped that the Ambush stratagem would provide an opportunity to mislead opponents who were unfamiliar with the army with some unexpected arrivals. Finally, after using an army with ally generals and irregular generals at Cancon last year, I was looking forward to using an almost all-regular army with no allies to worry about.

My plan for PIPs was to give the highest PIP dice to C1, the second highest to C3, and the lowest to C2.

The army had performed quite well in practice games, breaking every opposing army, although this included a couple of mutual demoralisations. The cataphracts in particular had proved quite effective, knocking over LH (S), Bw (O) and even Kn (F) in various games. As a result I was quietly confident of finishing at least in the middle of the field.

Orcoteuthis:
Warband in a low-PIP command seems a little brave? I guess the idea's they'll only be walking forwards anyway?

Barritus:
Game 1 v Middle Imperial Roman (Craig)

I was the invader and deployed second. Terrain played little part in the game, with the key piece being a rough gentle hill at the right end of Craig's deployment zone. Weather and time of day played no part in the game.

Craig deployed three commands, all Roman. The centre of his army was a long line of Bd (O), supported by some scattered Ps (O) and one artillery cart. In reserve was a block of Bd (X) and some Bd (S) Praetorians. Scattered through the line were blocks of supported Ax (S), and a few Ax (O). On his right were some Kn (F), and there were some Cv (O) and LH (O) supporting all the commands. The biggest block of supported Ax (S) was on his left, and there were a couple of Ax (O) sitting on the rough hill on his right.

I deployed C3 on the left and C1 on the right, figuring that the Ps (S) could take on the Ax (O) to uncover that flank, the Wb could worry his Bd, and the mounted troops could monster his infantry-heavy left wing.

Craig, seeing my cataphracts, immediately sent his C-in-C with the Bd (X) out to support the flank facing the Kn (X). Otherwise, he was content to await my advance.

I sent the LH (S) out towards the Ax, hoping to get around their flank. I advanced the rest of the line as quickly as I could. As the lines closed, Craig’s artillery cart opened up, knocking over an Ax, which opened an annoying gap in the line. I slid a Cv across to cover the gap. Meanwhile, the Ps (S) headed up the hill to take on the Ax (O).

Out on his left flank Craig moved his supported Ax (S) block and some LH (O) to face my LH (S). I pulled them back and transferred the C-in-C to the cataphracts.

The first contact came in the centre where Craig attacked C1’s Ax with some Bd. But thanks to some bad combat dice two Bd died, opening up a hole for my Ax to exploit.

The fighting soon became general, spreading to the Bd and Wb in the centre and to the Bd and Kn (X) on my right. Craig’s Bd (X) charged into my cataphracts. Fortunately for me I had overlaps at both ends, and this saved me. In a series of close die rolls my cataphracts survived intact, and in my next bound I exploited a series of overlaps and double overlaps to wipe out three of the four Bd (X) for again no loss. Likewise, the Wb proved their usefulness, knocking over some Bd.

Over on my left things were a bit slower to get going. My Kn advanced behind a screen of LH. But thanks to a lack of PIPs I couldn’t get all the LH out of the way to let the Kn charge through, so my attack was a bit piecemeal.

But the troops in C2 and C1 did their thing, blowing away both Bd and Ax (S). Craig’s centre command became disheartened, and the infantry of C2 crashed into the Praetorians.

On my left my Kn were able to knock over a couple of elements, but then I lost a couple of Kn to Ax (S). But the main action was still in the centre and on my right. Craig’s centre command broke, followed shortly afterwards by his left wing. This was easily enough to break the army. My losses were surprisingly small, meaning the result was an unexpectedly decisive 25-0.

Poor Craig, his combat dice deserted him until it was way too late to retrieve things. My PIP dice were similarly poor (only 1 PIP dice of 5+, and then only late in the game) but my combat dice were great.

Barritus:

--- Quote from: Orcoteuthis on February 14, 2017, 08:28:06 AM ---Warband in a low-PIP command seems a little brave? I guess the idea's they'll only be walking forwards anyway?

--- End quote ---

Yes, that was the idea...

Read on to see how well it worked out.

Barritus:
Game 2 v Medieval Portuguese (Greg)

I was the defender. As invader, Greg placed a massive difficult hill, which sat in the middle, stretching from my deployment zone to Greg’s. No other terrain played any significant role in the game, although I placed a vineyard on the left end of my deployment zone.

Such a large feature was always going to be tricky to defend given my small number of Ps, and by splitting the table in two it left me unsure how to deploy. I eventually discarded the idea of flank marching C3, and placed C1 and C2 on the left of the hill, and C3 on the right, with the Ps (S) on the hill. Greg placed a command of Irr Bw (O) and a couple of Art (I) in the gap to the right of the hill (as Greg saw it, facing C1 and C2) angled back to his table edge. Next to them were English allies – a couple of Bd (S) and a bunch of Bw (S). Then, behind the hill was a block of Irr Kn (O) under the C-in-C, with some light troops and Hd (F) in the hill. Finally on the left of the hill (as Greg saw it, facing C3) was a command of LH (O) and Reg Bw (O).

The deployment dice specified that the weather was a strong wind from my right to left.

My plan, such as it was, was to push forwards quickly on the flanks with the mounted. I figured the cataphracts could see to the Bw, while the Kn and LH of C3 could take on the LH of Greg’s left wing. Meanwhile I planned to use C2 and the Ax of C1 to take on the English.

Only, my PIPs weren’t much help. C2 kept getting only 1 PIP, which meant all it could do was advance straight ahead. C1 and C3 didn’t do much better, meaning the charges of the cataphracts and the Gothic knights were stately in the extreme.

Greg responded by transferring his C-in-C’s Kn from his right over to his left to support the LH, sending his English forward in a column along the edge of the hill nearest C2, and advancing the light troops through the rest of the hill. Due to lack of PIPs the Irr Bw on his right had to stand and await the arrival of the cataphracts.

To help develop C2’s attack on the hill I left behind the column of Bd and Ps nearest the hill, but the ongoing 1s for that command’s PIPs meant I actually lost control of the Wb. They lurched forward, blocking the remaining Bd column from swinging around to attack the English.

In contrast, Greg received enough PIPs to swing around the English so they could shoot at C2. And what shooting! Shooting downwind, the English Bw tore apart C2’s Wb and repeatedly recoiled the Bd. Eventually I managed to get a single column of Bd and Ps into contact, but the English won the combat, then counterattacked with a flank hit to destroy 2 Bd. This broke the centre command.

Meanwhile the Ax and LH of C1 kept getting in each other’s way as they turned inwards towards the hill and the two Portuguese guns, and the ongoing lack of PIPs made it hard to maneuver them in useful ways.

Then, finally, Greg got great PIPs for his Irr Bw (O), allowing him to turn them into column and march them across to his left, leaving the cataphracts charging at air, and his Art (I) to face the wrath of C1 alone. This didn’t seem to be a problem, as a shooting 6-1 destroyed one cataphract. I let a couple of LH (S) charge impetuously onto the Art, but thanks to terrible combat dice, one LH died and the other fled, recoiling some Ax they had to burst through.

By now my only hope for something good lay with C3. Things got off to a good start when I charged some LH (O) into Reg Bw (O) and managed to knock over two elements. Our Ps (S) forces also engaged on the difficult hill, but Greg’s larger numbers allowed him to gain a small advantage in the combats. Greg was able to line up his Kn to face mine, but couldn’t prevent me from charging into combat first. Sadly, despite starting with the destruction of a LH and creating an overlap for the first Kn-Kn combat, my combat dice rolls were average enough that all I could manage was a couple of recoils each way.

Greg’s Kn were then able to knock over a couple of my Kn, while his LH also destroyed a couple of my LH. This was enough to break C3, and along with the loss of C2 and the minor losses in C1, enough to break the army. Greg’s losses were as minor as mine had been in the previous game, meaning Greg won 25-0.

Once again my PIPs had been below average, with again only the one PIP score above 4, and C2 rarely getting more than 1 PIP. However this time my combat dice were generally poor as well, the only exception being the performance of my LH (O) against the Bw (O). By contrast, while Greg had sweated for several bounds waiting for decent PIPs to get his Irr Bw (O) out of the way, his other three commands seemed to get one or two good scores each bound among them, and his shooting dice were hot.

= = = =

So, end of day one, and I was as in the middle of the field as I could be.

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