"ONUS! Traianus" wargame

[DeRuyter]

I'm probably a bit opinionated on this subject. I used to be a reenactor of the 1st century Roman army - Early Imperial Roman period. I had two "impressions" - one as a heavy legionnaire with overlapping plate armor - "lorica segmentata", cylindrical scutum (shield), and the most modern for the time cassis (helmet). The other impression was of an auxiliary infantry with chain - "lorica hamata", oval flat shield, and earlier period cassis (Coolus E - looks like a Celtic helmet). This was an impression of an very early period auxiliary. The Romans also used native supplied auxiliaries, armed and armored as their native characteristics. So these units were much more likely to be "lighter" in comparison to their Roman counterparts.

During simulated combat (Dan Peterson's "needlefelt" system) against Briton reenactors (spear & shield, light armor), it was very, very clear how much more effective the Lorica Segmentata of the legionaires was compared to hamata (chain). While chainmail is very very effective and superior in some characteristics, segmentata would be much more effective against close order combat where thrusting weapons predominated.

The native (numerii) supplied Auxiliaries would possibly/probably were much less well trained and disciplined that legionnaires.

So my opinion is that Auxiliaries should not be equivalent to Legionaires , YMMV.

Cary

Great information! One question on the availability of the Segmentata. I thought I read somewhere that sometimes there was a mix of LS and LH within cohorts due to supply shortages etc. Do you have any experience or knowledge of this happening?  I also find it interesting that in the late Roman army there was a return to the hamata for the heavier armed legionnaires.

[DracoIdeas]

As it is Friday, there is a free giveaway: two units of Bersekir mercenary units, with a third copy for backers, is very interesting.
On the one hand, they have very good attack and dodge values, they cause fear in their enemies and they also have lunge, so they deal damage before receiving it.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/onus-traianus/posts/3463385

[bollix]

Great information! One question on the availability of the Segmentata. I thought I read somewhere that sometimes there was a mix of LS and LH within cohorts due to supply shortages etc. Do you have any experience or knowledge of this happening?  I also find it interesting that in the late Roman army there was a return to the hamata for the heavier armed legionnaires.

I'm certainly no scholarly expert, but others in the groups I was in or interacted with were - the aforementioned Dan Peterson was at the time the curator of the 101st Airmobile division museum, and had done a lot of research and "living history" while stationed in Europe before that. He had strong opinions but a lot of references to back them up. If you don't want to read the detail, yes, I'm sure there was a mixture within units, although not random.

I think that LH was definitely mixed into Legionnaire units, and it even probably predominated in many legions. There was no real standardization as we know it in the Roman Army, everything was crafted as opposed to mass produced to a set pattern. Lots of pros and cons for LH and LS. As I said in my prior post, I think Lorica Segmentata would win hands down in close order combat, but it is definitely more awkward to wear than Lorica Hamata. No question there was a mix. I'd rather be wearing Hamata if I were throwing pila, for example. Field breakage could be more problematic with LS - I'm sure Roman soldiers were capable of field maintenance, but I'd not be happy to have my brass/bronze hinge break and need to be re-riveted during combat (visions of the sholder "mantles" falling apart while fighting). I took a spear (a blunt tipped blade) thrust to my shoulder that barely left a mark on my LS, but I had a huge bruise underneath and was amazed it didn't shatter hinges.

Chainmail (Hamata) is really easy to make if you are just making butted mail - I'm far to blind to try to make riveted mail and it would be too finicky to be made in the field - and can non-riveted mail can easily be done in odd bits in spare time with basically no equipment, while making a Segmentata would be a major endeavour. Easy to make and easy to repair.

Finally, wearing a sizable (more than a short sleeved shirt of mail) Hamata all day is really tiring. I am amazed that soldiers back in the day could wear it all day, day in and day out. Segmentata is definitely less tiring to wear in my experience.

So I'd expect units to have mixed armor. Really good Lorica Hamata for Centurions and Signifers, wealthier soldiers - tight, riveted mail - and scattered cheaper butted mail for some of the Legionnaires (perhaps younger, less wealthy ones). But I'd expect the bulk of common soldiers to wear LS if they were available.

My books are buried (figuratively) somewhere, so no citations, but I'd recommend Adrian Goldsworthy's published research. He did a lot of the field archaeology. He is a really good author of period fiction too.

Cary

[Ray Rivers]

Okay, so I went "ALL" all in.

Now I am not a board game player, but my eyes have been suffering and it looks like my painting days are over. 

Thus, one of the things I really liked about the game is that the Unit Cards appear to be fairly large and easily identified, rather than those little tiny unit markers characteristic of most board war games. So it was the format which drew me into backing the project.

We'll see how I like the game, but I think I could easily be drawn into other historic games which use a similar format.

[bollix]

Okay, so I went "ALL" all in.

Now I am not a board game player, but my eyes have been suffering and it looks like my painting days are over. 

Thus, one of the things I really liked about the game is that the Unit Cards appear to be fairly large and easily identified, rather than those little tiny unit markers characteristic of most board war games. So it was the format which drew me into backing the project.

We'll see how I like the game, but I think I could easily be drawn into other historic games which use a similar format.

I haven't been too much of a boardgamer since I was a teenager an awfully long time ago. But I am all in as well.

[DracoIdeas]

More exclusive content? 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/onus-traianus/posts/3466853

[DracoIdeas]

New update!
New gift, 42 Stretch Goals unlocked.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/onus-traianus/posts/3469460

[DracoIdeas]

Ave!
Giveaway, solo play and unlocked social objectives

It's Tuesday and we have news and a giveaway for you. +45 Stretch Goals unlocked.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/onus-traianus/posts/3473302



Thanks to Nick from Talking Cardboard we have recorded an introduction to the solo game mode, here is the video:

[DracoIdeas]

Today is Friday and, as always, we have a giveaway for you. But there are many other things we also want to tell you.
Gaius Sueonius Paulinus is already preparing for battle, as Boudica approaches.
Do you know who these two historical figures are?
There are already more than 50 Stretch Goals unlocked in "ONUS! TRAIANUS".
LAST DAYS!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/onus-traianus/posts/3476198

[DracoIdeas]

Last hours & Giveaway!
All 57 Stretch Goals are unlocked now as we enter the last hours of the campaign. Our backers are going to receive a ton of additional content, as well as exclusive content, such as today's giveaway!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/onus-traianus/posts/3478779

[Ray Rivers]

Congrats on a successful campaign!

[DracoIdeas]

Congrats on a successful campaign!

Thanks!!! @Ray Rivers 

[DracoIdeas]

After the huge success of the funding campaign for ONUS! Traianus, we can only thank the 2206 backers who have supported us. THANK YOU!
While we prepare the pledge manager, which will be launched in May or June, a last chance option or Late Pledge is already available for those who arrived late to the campaign.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dracoideas/onus-traianus/posts/3480410

[madaxeman]

All credit to the amount of effort you chaos are putting into promoting this everywhere on the wargames Internet, but looking at the gameplay, what’s actually the “thing” in this game that makes it something different to a tweaked version of DBA using playing cards instead of figures mounted on standard DBx  bases?

The numbers of units per side, the way they move and fight, the essentially fixed army compositions, it all seems quite DBA-ish.  Nothing wrong with that, DBA has a great engine and has spawned many imitators and successors (usually at a bigger scale with more bases and list building options) - but what’s the main differences between this game and DBA?

[DracoIdeas]

All credit to the amount of effort you chaos are putting into promoting this everywhere on the wargames Internet, but looking at the gameplay, what’s actually the “thing” in this game that makes it something different to a tweaked version of DBA using playing cards instead of figures mounted on standard DBx  bases?

The numbers of units per side, the way they move and fight, the essentially fixed army compositions, it all seems quite DBA-ish.  Nothing wrong with that, DBA has a great engine and has spawned many imitators and successors (usually at a bigger scale with more bases and list building options) - but what’s the main differences between this game and DBA?

Hi madaxeman.
You can download the WIP manual on the kickstarter and you will see that there are many differences. Half of the game is playing the action cards right, which have orders (to activate units) and events (to condition combat and shooting). There are many game systems with miniatures, some of them are similar to each other, ours may be similar to some of them in some things, but it is very different in general.