Battlereport EIR vs Ancient German

[ErikG]

This time a battle between imperial Rome against an army of ancient Germans. The last time we played a battle from this period the Germans achieved a resounding victory over the Celts, to us, therefore, it seemed perfect to pitch them against a mighty Roman army (just completed).

The Germans fought under their leader Justin supported by Erik and Alex against the Romans led by Roland, supported by Latok and eventually Abe.


The Germans

The Romans

Marcus Lucius Rolandus

Year after year armed groups of Germans crossed the Rhine and attacked the Gallic settlements where they looted and robbed, a year ago, a Celtic army that tried to stop the Germans was massacred. Rome could not accept this humiliation of his allies and decided to give of a clear signal. A mighty Roman Legion led by Marcus Lucius Rolandus marched towards the Rhine, here they built a bridge, and the Legion crossed it and entered the Woods. Word of this campaign reached the regional Germanic tribal leader, Justin "the formidable", he sent messages to his allies, Alex "the Heartless" and Erik "the terrible", the latter was personally involved in the battle against the Celts, and the Germans gathered their warriors and marched to battle.


The setup before the battle




The warriors of Alex “the Heartless”


The first turn was for Rome, Marcus Lucius Rolandus took the Centre of his army under his own command, Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok got the right flank, the left flank was for Buterius Abesius “Vino" whom, unfortunately, the night before, had looked "too deep" into the carafe and was nowhere to be seen. Marcus Lucius Rolandus therefore also took the left flank. The Romans moved slowly forward, only the manubalistae were active and ran up the hill from where they could take the Germans under fire. Rome had fewer troops but of a better quality, they wanted the army concentrated so that the Germans would "break themselves" on a wall of legionaries.



The cavalry of Alex


The Romans heard sounds coming from the Woods and saw that the Germanic Alex "the Heartless" formed opposite the Roman left flank, here he was in the minority compared to the Romans who had gathered there. He gave the order to move forward, his warriors were hesitant and moved forward only very slowly. In the Centre the Romans saw the standard of the infamous Erik "the terrible". Erik saw the manubalistae on the hill and behind them a vulnerable flank of legionaries and he gave the order to his cavalry to charge the Romans, the Germanic cavalry was not convinced of the need of this aggressive action and walked slowly forward.
Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok heard a noise in the distance, it was the large group of warriors of Justin "the formidable". The Germanic plan was to irritate and delay the Romans and keep them pinned behind the Woods and then to break the flank open with a Germanic majority of Justin’s warriors. The Roman tactic was well received by the Germans and Justin gave clear and structured commands (not really Germanic) that his warriors followed adequately. The great Germanic force moved steadily towards the Roman right flank.


Erik "the terrible moves forward

Justin "the formidable" moves towards the Romans

Marcus Lucius Rolandus tried to bring his troops in line and both the centre and on the right flank the Romans formed like a disciplined machine. Abesius Buterius "Vino" still had not arrived and Marcus Lucius Rolandus, overloaded with the large amount of troops under his direct command had trouble giving orders to the Roman cavalry on the left flank, the Roman cavalry was ordered to turn around and return to the centre of the battle line, this the Cavalrymen refused and they stood where they were with their flank towards the Germanic Cavalry.  On the right flank Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok gave his auxiliaries the command to close the right flank, the orders did not come through and a Chaos arose on the flank and while these troops were trying to form a defensive line on the flank, they ignored the large force of Justin that came closer and closer. The manubalistae and archers opened fire and killed a number of Germans.




Alex gave the order to attack the Roman cavalry in its vulnerable flank but the Germanic Cavalry moved forward only very slowly and did not reach the Romans. Erik again gave his cavalry the command to charge the side of a Roman unit (behind the manuballistae) but these orders also were poorly followed and the cavalry moved but came to a halt just before the Praetorian Guard. The only effective commander giving orders once again was Justin, whose troops moved steadily forward and his troops closed in on the Roman right flank.



Marcus Lucius Rolandus gave the order to his Praetorian Guard to charge the Germanic Cavalry from Erik that was right in front of them, this they did. The Praetorians cast their Pila and a number of Germans were killed, the unit became "disordered" and the Romans pulled their Gladius and they slashed in on the disoriented Germanic Cavalrymen, totally surprised by this efficient Roman attack panic broke out amongst the Germans, while men and animals perished as they were mercilessly cut down the German unit broke. The second Germanic cavalry unit backed away.
Behind the Roman lines the Romans heard a gurgling sound, loud singing and with a spinning head, Abesius Buterius “Vino” finally arrived and he immediately took the left flank and admirably enough he managed to bring order to his troops, his cavalry turned and a second Roman cavalry division came in as reinforcement of the Roman cavalry that had now formed on the left flank. All the Roman cavalry had now gathered in front of the German Cavalry of Alex.  On the right of the Roman lines, Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok again had problems issuing orders to his troops, again his troops did not form into line, and the right flank was now partly open to the oncoming Germanic divisions of Justin.

[ErikG]

Erik kept his troops behind the forest, this forced the Legionnaires of Marcus Lucius Rolandus to stay where they were to make sure they did not leave their flank vulnerable to Erik, Alex ordered his cavalry to charge the Roman cavalry, the Germanic and Roman cavalry pounded at each other, there was no clear winner from this fight.
The Roman troops of Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok looked to their side when they heard loud screaming, to their horror, they discovered that the Cavalry of Justin "the formidable" had arrived and charged them in their exposed flank, completely surprised and confused the Romans tried to turn but their attempt was in vain. Blood thirsty the Germans slashed into the disoriented and helpless Roman troops, the Roman formation was broken and the survivors ran for their lives. Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok had no chance to bring his other troops into safety, the Germanic cavalry was still not satisfied with the massacre of the first unit of Romans and they charged towards the flank of a second, this unit also had no idea what was happening until they were affected by the power of the Germanic attack.
Covered with the blood of their enemies the Germans cut and slashed the helpless Romans, totally overwhelmed they were massacred. A shocked Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok saw how two of his units were destroyed, his Division was broken and he joined his last unit whom, after this terrible slaughter wanted to do nothing more but to leave the battlefield.


Cavalry of Justin attacks the flank
 



Abesius Buterius "Vino" Alex's cavalry drove back the German cavalry from Alex and he decided to move his Legionnaires forward as well, up to that time they had not done much else than catching the arrows that were shot by the archers of Alex, he moved all the troops he had at his disposal forward to crush Alex on the left flank. Marcus Lucius Rolandus gave a unit of Legionnaires, supported by the Praetorian Guard, the command to charge the last cavalry unit of Erik, they charged forward and threw their Pila, several Germans were killed and a brief fight ensued, the Germanic cavalry was driven back, heavily bloodied the Romans moved back to preserve their line. The last unit of Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok moved away slowly and Marcus Lucius Rolandus tried to close the right flank with his legionaries.






The Germanic Cavalry of Justin still hadn’t killed enough Romans, they formed again and saw that the flank of the Division of Marcus Lucius Rolandus was still open, the legionnaires had not yet fully closed the flank. Drooling of enthusiasm Justin gave the order to attack this soft flank, then Erik would charge the Romans through the woods in a frontal attack, caught on two sides the Roman line could be broken open and the centre could be destroyed. In their blood lust after the destruction of two units, however, the German cavalry no longer paid any notion to their leader, governed completely by adrenaline they charged not the Legionnaires but the last unit of Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok, though this time not the flank, the Romans brought their shields together and put their Spears forward, they caught the Germanic assault head on and managed to hold out against this deadly attack of these "savages" they were driven back but under direction of the charismatic Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok they held their position. The Romans had more success on the left flank, Abesius Buterius "Vino", still turning and spinning on his horse, managed to break a Germanic Cavalry unit from Alex and the other unit was pushed further back. His Legionnaires threw their pila towards the Germanic infantry of Alex, the gladius was taken out and cut into the Germanic warriors that fought back ferociously but the disciplined Roman formations pushed their attack forward.





Germans attack from all sides
 

A salvo of arrows broke the last unit of Erik's cavalry, in a panic the Cavalrymen left the field. Abesius Buterius "Vino" broke a second unit Cavalry of Alex and a unit of Alex's Germanic infantry unit was also broken, the other Germanic units from Alex made a tactical withdrawal into the forest. Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok and his unit fought back hard against a cavalry unit of Justin but was pushed further back. Because they were driven back a second cavalry unit of Justin now came in sight of the open flank of the Legionnaires of Marcus Lucius Rolandus and at full speed, they stormed towards this vulnerable flank and crashed into it. Erik's troops could now no longer stand still, screaming loudly his divisions charged from the forests and attacked multiple Roman units frontally. Beset from two sides a Roman unit of legionnaires broke, two other units cast their pila but this could not stop the Germanic attack, the Warriors from Erik fought the Roman legionnaires that locked their shield to survive the brutal Germanic attack. The first unit of Legionnaires was broken open, dominated by blood lust the Germans cut down the Romans where they stood, panic broke out amongst the Romans and the survivors ran for their lives, a second unit was driven back.






Marcus Lucius Rolandus brought in a unit of fresh troops, a Germanic unit was not prepared and was exterminated. Marcus Lucius Rolandus drove up and down screaming to his troops in the hope that they would be able to close their lines and to restore order in the total chaos that now reigned amongst his troops.


Alex and Abesius Buterius "Vino" fighting

The remaining troops of Justin were now also arriving and hordes of barbarians flowed into the Roman lines, surrounded by large numbers of barbarians several Roman units were broken. The Roman army in the Centre and on the right was now decimated, all three divisions were broken, only the divisions of Abesius Buterius "Vino" were still intact and they slowly started to get the upper hand on the left flank. Marcus Lucius Rolandus and Ahenobarbus Domatius Latok pulled their troops out, Abesius Buterius "Vino" had no choice other than to join his companions and humiliated and bloodied the remnants of the Roman Army crossed the Rhine where they destroyed the bridge, the legionnaires who were left on the other side were rounded up and sacrificed by the jubilant Germans.


Roman unit attacked from all sides
 




Order was not restored, after a Celtic defeat now a powerful Roman Legion was also heavily defeated by the blood lust of the Germanic barbarians, in the border regions an absolute chaos broke out, there was now no one left that could stop the Germans from crossing the Rhine to plunder the Gallic province.

 
Alex achieved his first victory!

[A Lot of Gaul]

Great AAR and pics, Erik! Congratulations to Alex on his Germanic victory. 

Cheers,
Scott

[ErikG]

I'll tell him, he was so happy

[area23]

Good one! That will teach the Romans to cross the Rhine. 

[Paleskin]

Great report and game!

[rumacara]

Huumm!!
Seems history repeats itself!!
Teutoburg version 2 but only with one legion and without Varus...
Well done.
Keep it coming.

[ErikG]

The Romans didn't need Varus to be defeated..... It felt a bit like it, perhaps not as decisive as Teutoburgerwald but certainly as satisfying, for us anyway (the ancient German players).

Before the game we thought the Romans were a bit overpowered... boy were we wrong.

[warburton]

Very impressive!

[Siaba]

A very enjoyable battle report and an impressive game. Thank you