Bergisches Forest II

A Headless Body Production

Location:  Regency at Providence Community Center, Phoenixville, Pa
Event:        Providence Gamer's Game Knight
Players:    Phil Gardocki, Mark McConnahay, playing the Early German
                      Bruce Potter, Steve Turn, playing the Legio IX

Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, about 200 points per side.

The Narrative:
The worlds history is written in blood across a million battlefields.  Many are important enough to be written down by historians, this was not one of them.

The Forces:
Early German
Larryinous* (Ordinary), Darrylinous* (Competent) and Darrylinous* (also Competent)
    15 Tribesmen, Heavy Swordsmen, Impetuous, Elite
      4 Horsemen, Medium Cavalry, Elite

      3 Light Infantry Javelin
Breakpoint of 22

Triumvirate Roman
Marius (Ordinary), Darius (Ordinary) and Varius (Ordinary)
     12 Legionaries, Heavy Swordsmen, Armor, Impact.
      4 Light Infantry, Bow and Javelin
      2 Thureophoroi, Medium Spearmen
      2 Gauls, Medium Cavalry

      1 Germans, Medium Cavalry, Elite

      2 Orientals, Light Cavalry, Bow

      Break point 24

Scenario: The Wardahekarwi tribe of Germans have been following the Sugambri to share in the spoils of the war.  However, due to lackadaisical leadership, they failed to hook up with Arminius's Sugambri before the titanic struggle near the Bergisches forest.  In another part of that vast, forbidding wood, they are found by the IX Legion, which was set as a flank guard to protect the X Legion from just such an incursion.  

Nones of Quintilis DCCI, or Wednesday, July 8 or so, 51BC
Larryinous flew out of his tent at the second howling of the horns,  "Who is playing that gods awful racket?"
A nearby runner approached and nearly collapsed at his feet, "Romans, <cough> lots of Romans."
Off in the distance, more horns.  
"Where is my brother, Darrylinous, and my other brother Darrylinous?
A warrior, looking off in the distance, replied, "I see him, he is making mud angels with the pigs."
Larryinous nodded in acknowledgement.
Another warrior reported, "Your other brother Darrylinous has cooked up that percula we found on the path, the one found that was killed by a chariot, and is trying to convince someone to eat it."
Larryinous replied, "Thems good eating, but maybe now is not the time."  
"Have them get the warriors ready for visitors."

The Board:

The Germans won the initiative and elected to defend in the forest.  They picked two woods and a hill, while the Romans picked an impassable and a coastal.  During the adjustment phase the Romans lifted one of the woods.

Bergisches Forest or thereabouts

Two commands of the Roman IX Legion are visible, 12 Cohorts wide.  The Germans are split in to 3 commands of 5 warbands, with all their cavalry hidden in ambush.

Turn 1:

The Romans advance in perfect order.

Darrylinous's Germans on the left advance and contract into a long column.

It is known there is a flank march, and which flank it is running on.  The Darrylinous makes adjustments to receive it.

Turn 2:
The Romans rolled a 5 for their flank march and will be arriving on turn 3.

The Roman line is still in lock step precision, but slows down when in range of the German skirmishers.

Darrylinous has an abundance of command points.  His warbands advance and turn.  He reveals his ambush of 2 cavalry units, which exit the wood, and run up behind his lines.

The German center is now the German right, while the German Right has settled in on the hill, just outside of the 4UD flee zone.

Turn 3:
One thing of note, as the Romans advance, they have been sliding left, putting distance between them and the flanking warbands on the right.

The flank march arrives, but decides not to go up the hill, and instead, races behind the lines to the Roman right.

There was a considerable argument to let them come in near the hill, dismounted, while the legions raced forward.

Roman skirmishers charge, running off the German lights.

Darrylinous's forces are racing to engage that hanging flank of the IX Legion, but he only moves 2 UD's and the Romans are sliding left 1UD a turn, so the closing rate is only 1 UD per turn.

Darrylinous has 3 command points, and is able to prevent his warriors from charging off the hill.

Turn 4:

While Darrylinous lines up on the IX Legions flank, so to is the Roman cavalry lining up on his own.

The IX legion is now in charge reach.

Larryinous can no longer keep his warbands in check, and they go in.  Losing 2 of 3 fights.

Darrylinous keeps his warbands on the hill, but that is all he does, so his other units are out of position.

Turn 5:
The Romans are content to wait it out.  They will wait for impetuosity to get the better of the Germans rather then give them the advantage of the forts and hill.

Darrylinous's warbands ignore the cavalry on their flanks, expecting their own cavalry to keep them off of them for now.

So, this game is about flank, being threatened by a flank, which is in turn, threatened by a flank.

One warband is destroyed, the first real casualty.

On the hill, we have status quo.

Darrylinous's cavalry finds itself out numbered and out ranged.

But undisturbed, Darrylinous's warbands continue to march on the flank of the IX Legion.  Larryinous's warbands hold on despite the odds in a desperate battle.

On the hill, both the Darius and Darrylinous await the outcome of the flank actions.

Turn 6:

The Legions flank is very threatened.  But the rules are you have to conform completely to attack a flank, and the Thureophoroi behind the legion (yellow crests) are too close for that to happen.  And for the record, the Thureophoroi should be immediately behind the legion, the visible gap was due to haphazard placement when turning.

And for the record, I agree with the conforming rule that would prevent the legion from taking a flank charge until the Thureophoroi are removed as flank guards.

The Roman Cavalry decide to crush the German horse instead of threatening the warband flank.  They charge, the Germans, whose mission is to protect the warband flank flee, dragging the Romans out of position.

Save one, Varius turns his private Equis, and takes a warband in the flank.  They rolled very well, doing 3 points of disorder to the warband.  Meanwhile, Larrynious's impetuous warbands are still fighting.

The Roman line moves to heavy taunting range.

Darrylinous's warbands charge.

Having a couple of command points to spare, Darrylinous orders his cavalry into the fray.  To tie up the Roman cavalry for as long as possible.

The results are... The Roman foot troops take a pair of hits each.

And the patience of the warbands on the hill have worn out.  Darrylinous loses control.  In for a
denarius, in for a talent.  They all go in.  The results are Germans win 3, lose 2, and a tie.

Turn 7:
The Germans, despite being unarmored, are proving very tough to actually kill.
Also, there is a running pattern on rally's.  The Romans were successful in one rally the whole game.  The Germans made every rally attempted.  All of them when in contact.

German Cavalry is mostly surrounded, but is fighting effectively.

A genuine confused scrum here.  One warband, taken in the flank, continues to fight back.  A disordered legion also refuses to give way.

The main action sees little difference.  Except for the flank guard Thureophoroi has been run down by German cavalry.

Outnumbered, outflanked, the German horse pull out a win.

While on the IX Legions flank, the fight is undecided, but a hole is opened up, and the Centurions are leading the way through it.

On the hill, the fight is still inconclusive.  Both a warband and a cohort falls, but the German cavalry is free to run in the Roman rear.

The Cavalry fight is still inconclusive as well.

Turn 8:
The Germans have 13 points towards their demoralization level of 22
The Romans have 13 points towards their demoralization level of 24

A German horse unit is destroyed.  the odds are now 3-1 against Darrylinous's remaining horse, but he has a good position, if he can get the command points.

Varius, Roman Cavalry,  single handedly destroys a Warband, then follows up with slamming into another.  Releaving the pressure on the beleaguered Thureophoroi.

The warbands on the left, are flanked and unsupported, but continue to fight on.  The Legion IX's left flank has collapsed, and is about to be surrounded.

The Germans turn the Roman Cavalry's flank. 

The Legion IX's right flank has fallen, taking the Thureophoroi with it.  But they held on long enough, about 3 full turns, and 5 combats, and now have cohorts to throw into the fray.

While the fight near the barricades continues to be inconclusive.  The fight on the hill is now totally in the Germans favor, as one cohort is taken in the rear and destroyed, the remaining Cohort is surrounded.

The Germans have 20 points towards their demoralization level of 22
The Romans have 22 points towards their demoralization level of 24
Turn 9:

We are winding down to the end game.  The Romans need 3 points to win, and score one in the cavalry action on the flank.

And another one against the warband on the left.

But off frame there was a bit of light on light action, running a Roman Light Infantry off the board, and two more legions were flanked for a pair of hits.  In the end the score was 23 against the Germans and 25 against the Romans, throwing both armies into retreat.

*I have been asked what is the story behind Larry, Darryl and Darryl.  This is a nod to the series "Newhart" in the late eighties.  Us geezers know this instinctively, but for you young bucks, someone has made a compilation on YouTube --> Here

There are about 15 such compilations here, be prepared for a lot of lost productive time and a lot of laughter.