bronze eagles

8/13/2019 Bronze Eagles

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Br o n ze Eag l es War in the age of the Caesars

Monday, 16 July 2007 1

War gamin g r ul es f o r t h e age o f t h e caesar s

David Ch il d -Den n isMMVII

[email protected]

BRONZE EAGLES


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The Romans and their EnemiesSome explanation of the mechanics of actual combat needs to be made for those who have only begun tobecome interested in this period. The Roman legionary was trained to fight in a chequer board pattern.This gave each man room to fight, but more importantly it allowed the rear ranks to move forward andrelive the front ranks. This meant that an opponent was facing fresh troops where possible. It also meantthat casualties could be replaced quickly. One of the things Roman soldiers were quick to do wascovering wounded comrades by immediately pushing forward and standing over them until those in therear ranks could drag the wounded to safety. This form of comradeship made for very strong unit morale.

The Greeks and Persians were trained to fight in blocks. That is in very dense formations that relied onpushing their opponents over so that they would be helpless to resist. One of the more bizarre practices in

Greek conflicts was the clearing of battlefields of all obstacles so that neither side had an advantage. Itboggles the imagination to consider the clearance parties intermingling while they cleared away debris.They may even have co-operated to move heavy objects such as tree stumps or large boulders! TheGermanic or Gallic tribes observed no such niceties. They took every advantage against the Romans theycould get, including ambush and deception.

The principal difference between Rome and its opponents was that the Roman army was based on anallegiance to the state, while its opponents had allegiances only to tribal and family leaders. It waspossible to defeat a revolt or subdue an enemy by removing their leaders. It was impossible to defeat astate using the same tactic. Unlike the Greeks, Roman society was not based on racial exclusivity, but ona citizens service to Rome. Many tribal leaders were granted citizenship and high office within the Romanadministration after accepting what became known as Romanization.

The Roman administration attempted to absorb and use local tradition unless it directly contradictedRoman practice and law. In order to pacify new territories and peoples, Rome encouraged tribal leadersto educate their sons in Rome or at the major centres established in Romanised territories. In this theywere particularly successful. But this also has an unfortunate consequence. Many tribal leaders felt theyhad been marginalized by the Roman presence and rather than accept the benefits of Roman protectionand trade, they instead incited bloody revolt. This can be largely traced back to clear cultural differences,well understood by writers such as Tacitus and Stithlico. Rome was a highly developed agricultural andtrading society by the 1 st century BC. It traded with nearly all the known world. Massive wealth wasconcentrated within Rome itself, which by the 2 nd century AD had grown in size to nearly a million people,something that would have been impossible without Roman engineering skill and money. By contrast, thelargest city outside Italy was by comparison a small town. The claim that all roads lead to Rome was noidle boast.

Roman Republican legionary -1BCItaleri produce these cheap,excellent 20mm figures thatcome in a variety of realisticposes. They may not have theappeal of lead figures but theymake an affordable starting pointfor new players.

I n t r o d u c t i o n


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Barbarian culture was hunter-gatherer and as such most of these peoples lived in squalor with fewpossessions. Raiding local tribes was considered a worthy pastime and encouraged as a matter of manlypursuit. This was the cause of many of the disputes Rome was forced to intervene against once territorieswere romanised. Roman trade soon alleviated much of this poverty and because trade came from allcorners of the Empire, shortages due to poor local growing conditions could be quickly and efficientlyrectified from some other part of the empire. The bulk of those living within the Roman world understoodand supported such obvious advantages. But it did have its cost. New territories were required todemonstrate loyalty and productivity before the Empire would invest in the more expensive projects

associated with developing a major population centre.

Most of us believe the Roman legionary was just a soldier, but that is not the case. Every man wasrequired to learn a trade, thus a legion was as much a construction force as a fighting unit. Whole townswere construc ted by legions working under the direction of their engineers and much of the stone workand mosaic decoration we admire today, 2000 years later, was the work of common soldiers turnedcraftsmen. The Roman administration showed great judgement in this policy. It kept soldiers busy and outof trouble while not on campaign and it gave them a trade to pursue after their service with the army hadfinished.

The Roman Empire at the height of its power


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As a matter of practice, the Romans tended to use local tribes to fight in their wars of conquest, where atall possible. This was especially true during the Gallic Wars where the auxilia were made up of mainlytribal warriors and did most of the fighting. This was not so much the case in Britain, where tribal warriorswere formed into limitanei and militia units serving alongside legionaries. The Middle Eastern territorieswere very different in political structure and climate. The Roman Empire came upon empires that hadexisted for hundreds of years before the founding of Rome. They were sophisticated and well organisedto resist conquest. They also occupied climate zones the Romans found difficult to operate in. It does nottake much imagination to see the problem of marching in 100 degrees of heat while wearing loricasegmentata, let alone fighting in it! Its easy to understand why the Greeks chose to fight naked. Not onlywas it cooler; it reduced the chances of infection from wounds that had dirty linen and cotton fibresembedded in them.

Legions Augustus Tiberius Claudius Vespasian Trajan Antoninus Caracalla Aurelian

Italy 1 1

Illyria-Dalmatia 3 2 1 1

Macedonia 2 2

Britain 4 4 3 3 3 3

Rhine 5* 8 7 7 4 4 4 4

Danube 4 3 8 6 12 10 13 12

Egypt 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

Afri ca 2* 2 1 1 1 1 1 1

Spain 5 3 2 1 1 1 1 1

Total 24 23 25 22 23 20 24 23

The Roman formationused to repel horses.


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Much is made of the Roman lack of cavalry in their early forays into Persia and Mesopotamia, but itshould be understood that the available European horse stocks would have been completely unsuited towar in these regions. The Romans, realising this, recruited local militia horse as soon as was practicableto address this obvious deficiency.

As most readers will know, the Roman presence in Briton and to a large extent, Europe, ended during the6 th Century as the Empire crumbled under continuous attack from without and internecine war from within.There is a fascinating comment from senatorial records that suggests the reason for the large migrationsof peoples from the east was caused by climatic changes due to a cometary impact somewhere to theeast. Personal papers excavated reveal that Rome experienced at least two very cold summers and as aconsequence many crops failed, causing a real fear that starvation would begin to affect the whole ofItaly, if not the western empire. The writer complained that he was required to wear heavy clothing even inthe summer months in Rome! This may have been the cause of the move of the imperial capital furthereast into warmer climes? Today, Constantinople is certainly warmer than Rome in the winter months, but

that may not have been the case between 100BC and 500AD. If the reader looks at illustrations of theRoman soldiers dress after 300AD, there is a noticeable tendency for breaches and closed footwear,something that appears rare in BC and early AD.

Organisation of the Roman Army A.D. 23

Location Units Type of Unit Number of Units Approximate Size

Rome PraetorianCohorts

Foot + somecavalry

9 4,500 men

Rome Urban Cohorts Foot soldiers 3 1,500 men

Rome Vigiles Foot Soldiers 7 3,500 to 7,000

Rome GermanBodyguard

Cavalry 1 100 500

Rome Speculatores 300 1 300

Rome Equitessingulares Augusti

(Formed after 23 A.D.)

11000


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The rules are my definition of what was likely and possible within the context of the era they portray.Players must remember above all that the records from this period of time are scarce and in manyinstances have been written to obscure the truth! As archaeologists and scholars manage to unearth

more sites and records our knowledge of this period increases.Players should endeavour to follow as many historical leads as theycan, if for no other reason than a fascination of what our ancestorsreally were like.

My system is based on the proposition that no two forces were equal,either in number or quality of troops. While it has been argued by

some each army has its strengths and weaknesses thus they are inthe main reasonably evenly matched, history refutes such anassertion! But there were numerous instances where armies sufferedunexpected defeat or victory and it is these instances I am trying toallow the players to recreate.

As the names of the rules indicate these rules are centred on theRoman Empire, from about 300BC to around 550AD. In that timeRome rose to become the greatest power in Western Europe theytend to have ignored the Chinese Empire that was considerablylarger, but thats another issue for the historians among us to argue.The reason I have chosen this period and region is because of thediversity of armies available to the players.

Historically there is a problem with pitting a 300BC Greek army against a 1AD Roman army in that thetechnological difference alone makes a Roman victory almost a certainty. It is similar to putting musketloaders against breach loaders and expecting the former to have any chance of victory. However, if we

put aside technological differences, it is possible for two armies of a similarera to give a good account of themselves in battle. I have restricted thescope of these rules to Rome and her enemies because I dont subscribe tothe idea that it was possible for early Greek armies to meet Late Romanarmies or Han Chinese to fight Welsh Celts. Each epoch develops its ownfighting techniques and styles according to the materials available andopponents faced. Bronze age armies had little chance against iron-agearmies. The technological gap was simply too great. Armies also tend todevelop fighting techniques based on the territory they defend. Westernforests are unlike Eastern deserts in both terrain and climate, therefore a

different approach much be taken when fighting in either. That the Romansmanaged to succeed in both climate zones is a tribute to their ingenuity, butas masters of one of the largest empires in the western world, they hadsufficient time and resources to develop techniques for these climate zones.Their key to success was undoubtedly their civil administration that allowedthe recruitment of local peoples to fight as allies of Rome.

Force construction.The basic game system revolves around a number of bases of figures beingallocated to six commands. The commands themselves have no bases, but

are assumed to exist as part of the bases. The number of bases available to a command is determined by

Rul es design an d ph il o so ph y


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1 dice roll. Therefore the maximum number of bases any command can receive is six and the minimum isone. Players may determine which troop type is allocated to each command, within the exceptions listedin the force construction rules.

Each of these commands would represent a small tribal warband, a Roman vexillation (detachment) froma cohort either legionary or auxilia, or any other small unit of levi es. They may be cavalry, Cataphracts(Knights) or chariots.

If players want a larger game, then a second group of six commands is allocated to each player and theabove unit construction process is repeated.

Sca les Any figure scale between 6mm through to 28mm can be used with this rules set. Should players wish touse 6mm -15mm figures it is suggested that they change all measurements from inches to centimetres.

Bases and FiguresSca les1 figure equals 20 troops1 mounted figure equals 5 cavalry or their equivalent troop type.1 move equals approximately 10 minutes real time.1 inch equals approximately 20 yards.

Bases of figures are constructed using the following formula. A trained Heavy Infantry base of four figuresis equivalent to about an 80 man Roman (or similar) heavy infantry Century (4x20=80) of a LegionaryCohort. The Warband is also of similar strength. The trained Open Order troop base of three figures(3x20=60) is equivalent to a Roman Auxiliary detachment or any similar organisation in another force.The Levies, which include archers or cross-bowmen are a base of 2 figures representing 40 men. Theseare the small units of either tribes or villages that have been collected to defend their location and areunlikely to be called upon to campaign with the main body of the army. Bowmen are the exception, beingrelatively rare commodities, did campaign with an army as an important component, usually asmercenaries, thus their numbers are actually small in comparison to the other troop numbers on bases.

Players will soon realise that their forces are not equal and that is the intention of these rules. It is asystem designed to make players do the very best they can with what they have, not what they wouldwant.

Morale.I have added a section within the morale rules that allows players to vary the basic morale profiles of theirunits. I have done so to allow for the known historical variations in the performance of many units,especially during the Roman Civil Wars. Most gamers believe that Romes legions were superior troops atall times and in every battle. Historical evidence does not support such claims. Some units wereunshakable while others turned and fled at the first sign of danger. What the Roman commanders were

very skilful at assessing was which ones were reliable and which were not. The tribal warbands hadsimilar problems, not so much in the unwillingness of their warriors to fight, but in their loyalty to thosethey were allied to. More than anything else it was these differences the Romans were so skilful atexploiting that allowed them to defeat many of their enemies without resorting to costly battles. My moralesystem is designed to recreate this problem for both sides by introducing an unknown quantity ofunreliability into each force. Players will then be forced to husband those troops that are unreliable orexpend them in a hopefully decisive stroke!

Playing the GameEach game turn starts with one player receiving the right to move one command first by winning a singleinitiative dice role. It is a mechanism designed to give some advantage to the winning player while


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ensuring it is not overwhelming. The losing player then moves any command he may chose. The processis repeated until all units that each player desires to move have done so. All base movement is calculatedfrom the centre of the base.

MovementMovement has been divided between trained and untrained troops. Trained troops have a more highlystructured unit command and can usually respond to a changing situation more quickly than untrained.Warbands generally rely on a single leader to make a decision for the entire group and as such initiativeand flexibility are sacrificed while instructions are relayed to the various parts of the group. In order toreflect this I have allowed trained units to change formation while on the move without penalty, whileuntrained are penalised. However, offsetting this, trained troops crossing obstacles attract a movementpenalty because they will attempt to maintain their formation or column of march while doing so.Warbands and levies have no rigid formation to maintain and thus attract no such penalty.

Horse face the greatest disruption crossing bad going in that in most cases the riders will need to

dismount and lead their horses across or through the obstacle. Players should be mindful that in someinstances there will be terrain that cannot be crossed by horses. Steep hillsides and gullies are goodexamples.

Shooting is fairly straight forward, so I shall move on to combat.

CombatCombat is only possible when two bases come into base-to-base contact with each other. The playersmust align the bases so they face each other and meet corner to corner. Bases may be turned withoutpenalty to face an attacker, but once turned, may not be moved again to face an attack from a differentdirection. The bases in contact become locked as soon as contact and alignment have been completed.


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Where multiple bases are involved in a combat, they are spread along a line so that each opposing basecomes into contact and is aligned. If one side has more bases than the other, these are aligned directlybehind the centre of their parent command and take no further part in the first round of combat.

Combat is adjudicated by rolling a dice for each base in combat and comparing the adjusted results. Thehighest dice roll wins the combat. Each base is rolled for separately.

In the second round of the same combat, assuming neither side has been defeated and broken, anysecond rank bases may attempt to move to the flanks of their opponents bases. If units do not have asecond rank of available bases, then no flanking attacks may take place.

Where a base is attacked in the flank by an enemy base, all the bases facing each other fightsimultaneously. Therefore the attacker rolls two dice and the defender only one. As in the first round ofcombat, the highest dice roll wins.

Combat resultsOnce all dice rolls have been made between the two opposing bases, the highest adjusted dice roll wins.Immediately, the players subtract the two highest dice rolls from each other and this becomes the numberof inches the losing base is pushed directly backwards. Players should understand that this push backoccurs during the actual fighting and not after it. Therefore, the units end their combat resolution in adifferent position to that from where they began. The base that is pushed back is the loser. Both basesremain in contact until morale is tested.

The reason I have adjudicated combat by individual bases is to create a situation where commandsbecome split up due to combat, which was a normal outcome of all the pushing and shoving thataccompanied such events.

MoraleOnce a winner of each base to base combat has been determined the loser must make a morale check.Two dice are rolled which must either be less or equal to the adjusted morale rating required.


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Example: A Roman trained heavy infantry base is pushed back by a war-band. The base Roman morale rating is 7.The Roman player must therefore roll 7 or less with two dice in order to pass the morale test.

If the Roman player fails the morale test they roll a further single dice and move back the number rolled ininches. The warband, being of a similar troop type, may chose to follow up and automatically destroy thelegionary survivors provided they can roll the same or better with a single dice roll. I think it might beuseful to point out that had the legionaries been facing horse and lost, there would have been littlechance of them escaping once they had broken, give that horse roll two dice when determining how farthey move in pursuit.

Warbands A War-band may consist of up to six bases of figures as a single command choice. Each of the basesrepresents a sub-chief or tribal village leader who is connected to the overall war-band leader (usually byfamily ties or grievance against Roman taxes and expropriations) representing the command. A war-

band commander may be used on the table as the Army Commander. The principal difference betweenwar-band and trained commands is that war-band commands may not be divided against separate enemycommands unless those commands are joined base to base in a continuous line. They may alwaysdefend themselves against multiple enemy command attacks.

People of the woodlands.Most of the Warbands and limitanei were people of ruralbackgrounds. They had great skill in hunting and trapping and assuch were at home in the deep forests, which many of the citydwelling Romans found intimidating. They may always movethrough woodlands without penalty.

HorseHorse mounted troops are probably the most widelymisunderstood troops of the period. In todays world we go andget into the car and without further thought, start it up and driveaway. Nothing could be simpler. Mounted troops were the mostcostly troops on any battlefield. The animals were expensive tomaintain and difficult to keep alive after wounding. Thousands ofhorses were lost in the major battles of Europe and given thateach one took up to three years to replace, they were a resourcethat needed to be planned well in advance. In army service, theyrequired huge quantities of water and feed on a daily basis. It canbe readily appreciated why horse units were small in number.One of the reasons the Romans did not use horse troops during

their first expeditions into the Middle East, was because of the difficulty in supporting them without regularwater supplies and suitable feed.

The next issue was riding and fighting skill. Most soldiers were not natural riders and before they wereintroduced into horse units, many had never ridden a horse. Teaching soldiers to stay on a horse in battlewas an expensive and time consuming business. It must also be remembered that the stirrup is a moderninvention so riders were required to direct their mounts using foot signals and reins. It became a matter oftactical common sense not to use horse units in anything but low risk, high return tasks, such as pursuit orscouting. This is the reason I have severely limited horse in the makeup of European armies.

Gamers need to also understand that the modern Hollywood western film portrayal of the use of horses isnot the way in which horse would be used. Riding into an unknown watercourse at full tilt or gallopingthrough woodlands without second thoughts was not encouraged! While moving to battle, most horses


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were ridden at a slow pace for a short period, possibly as little as 15 minutes, then the riders woulddismount and walk for a similar period of time. Horses were ridden at different paces to ensure theirmuscle structure was well exercised but not overtaxed. They would have been walked and cantered, asthe going permitted. Therefore, except on the battlefield, horse troops did not move at a much fasterpace than foot troops.

I have allowed an extra dice roll for all horse units charging frontally engaged foot units from the flank orrear, in the open. The second dice role is designed to simulate the shock of impact and the psychologicaleffect horse charging foot troops have. Most cavalry is heard well before their opponents see it. There is asteady drumming through the earth as they approach that can be heard from a long way off. Then as theyget closer, the clatter of the horse accoutrements and the riders equipment can be heard. Shields strikingsaddles and armour make for the additional clamour of war. It all tends to unnerve the foot troops

standing ready to receive the charge or worse still, locked in battle.

This extra dice roll only contributes to additional casualties but not to the fall back calculation. Whendetermining the winning dice rolls of a combat, the horse owner chooses the best dice roll of the two dicerolled for that charge move.

No man can stand against the impact of a horse and rider. The only option is to do whatever it takes toget out of the way before impact or kill the horse before it reaches the foot troops. In order to do this,troops need to be well trained in how to deal with a horse charging and they need to have confidence intheir abilities to do so.

The Romans developed a clever solution to the problem that is not commonly portrayed in war-gaming,yet widely known. The standard Roman tactic was to bash shields with weapons and yell and scream asthe horse attempted to close with their ranks. Few horses would charge an unshaken line. Men may havebeen foolish enough to try, but horses would not. This is why the Parthians would approach close enoughto shoot an arrow at Roman infantry, but not attempt to close. In the few instances where they did getclose enough to be counter-charged by their Roman enemies, they were reduced to chaos as horsesbolted or threw their riders. The eastern horse armies soon learned to respect unshaken Roman troops.

The second problem for mounted troops was the caltrop. This triangular shaped metal spike was carriedby a percentage of the Roman infantry in a pouch tied around the waist, similar to a modern builders toolpouch. As enemy horse or chariots approached the infantry, they scattered these B.C. mines in front oftheir position and retreated. Any horse that stood on a caltrop immediately fell, throwing its rider.Naturally, a hail of javelin and spear would have also greeted the charging horse. Another common

The tortoise. The standardattack formation used forapproaching fortifications.


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defensive tactic was to spread stones across the approach route of attacking horse in order to slow themdown before they reached the foot troops. This was a tactic widely used in the Middle East where stonyground was more common. Alexanders tactic of having his troops form lanes allowing Darius chariots topass harmlessly between them is a well-known early Greek tactic.

However for all the perils horse faced in reaching the enemy, once they did so, the foot troops were inserious risk of being ridden down and slaughtered. It was only after foot troops were either heavilyengaged to their front or attempting to flee the battle field that the cavalry were sent in. Therefore, in orderto receive an extra dice in the charge move, a cavalry unit must either attack a frontally engaged foot unitin the flank or rear, or be used to ride down a broken foot unit attempting to flee the battle. If they areused in any other circumstance to fight foot troops they receive no charge bonus.

Missile troopsBows are probably the most common missile weapons of the period. Most Roman citizens had little

experience in the use of bows hence the Roman army was forced to rely on mercenaries or levies fromthose in the empire that used them for everyday hunting. The skill to use a bow well, takes many years todevelop. Legionary archery practice appears to have been a regular event and it appears auxilia at leastwere expected to be reasonably competent in their use. However, when it came to the need for experts,the Romans relied on experienced bowmen.

Slings were a common hunting weapon throughout the empire, and especially so in the southeastern

provinces and territories. The Spanish Balearic slingers seem to attract the greatest mention in Romanrecords, but this type of weapon would have been common throughout North Africa and theMediterranean. This type of weapon suited the open desert or grasslands. It was not successful in thewoodlands of Northern Europe, where heavier weapons were required to penetrate brush and forestundergrowth.

Slings, although simple to construct take time to master. But how effective were they? The only referenceI can find to their effectiveness comes from the Cortez expedition when faced with Inca slings. TheSpanish could cope with the Inca darts and arrows rendered largely ineffective by their heavy armourcorselets, but they found the slingers were able to cause painful bruising that lasted for some time. If


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struck on the head with a stone hurled from a sling, it could easily prove fatal. It was the one weapon theSpanish feared and detested. I would suggest the slingers of Roman times were equally as effective.

Siege bows and stone throwing engines such as the ballista and onager were Roman specialities that noother troops seem to have mastered. I shall deal with their use in an expansion of this set of rules at alater time.

And why the competing dice roll system?Over the many years I have been designing rules I have come to believe that a single lucky dice roleshould not determine the outcome of a game. By introducing a competing dice roll system it evens outvariability yet provides enough difference to give a clear result. What I have tried to recreate is a systemwhere the game result is generally not a foregone conclusion and will remain in the balance for most ofthe game. Having the players roll off competing dice also raises the intensity and excitement of the game.

The reason I have used the single number 6 to cause a figure casualty is because a single number is the

easiest for players to memorise. This allows archery bases an 8.5% chance to cause a figure casualty,which equates to 20 actual men from a unit.


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Game Turn SequenceInitiative

Both players roll one dice for initiative. The highest dice roll allows the winner to move onecommand first.

MovementThe loser then moves one command in response. The process continues until all movement iscompleted.

ShootingBoth players may shoot at any target within range with bows that moved up to half their maximummove distance or cross bows that remained stationary. Stationary Siege engines, catapults etc

may fire. Troops may not fire into combat.CombatUnits moving into base-to-base contact during the movement sequence are deemed to haveentered in to combat by charging.

Morale Units that lose the combat sequence must immediately have their morale tested. Units that havefailed a morale test and have as not yet recovered their morale, test again.

Troop types:

HorseKnights including Cataphracts Lance, Hand weapon, Heavy armour, Shield, Heavy horse with barding.(These are deemed to be trained close order troops)Cavalry Spear, Armour, Shield, Hand weapon, or bow (these are open order troops)Scouts Spear, Horse, Shield or bow (these are open order troops)

Foot troopsTrained Close Order troops - Heavy armour, Shield, Throwing weapon, Hand weapon.Trained Open order troops Armour, Shield, throwing or shooting weapon, Hand weapon.Warband Shield, some armour, hand and throwing weapons.Levies Hand weapons, shooting weapons, some with small shields.

Figures and basing.Close order infantry and Warbands should be based on a 60mm frontage base with 4 figures per base.Open order troops should be on a 60mm frontage base, with 3 figures per base.Levies should be on 60mm frontage base with 2 figures per base.Horse should be on individual bases with 20mm frontages.

Base depths should suit the figures used.

Setting up initial morale ratings At the beginning of the game, players should alter the basic morale value of each command. Each playerrolls one dice. The difference between the two dice rolls is either added or subtracted from the basemorale figure, according to which player wins the roll off. This allows for a variation in individual unitmorale, as was often the case.

Example: The Roman player rolls a 1 while their opponent rolls a 6. The Roman player ADDS +5 totheir unit morale rating. If this is a Trained Open Order unit, (Limitanei or Auxilia for instance), their basemorale rating would rise from 8 to 13. In other words they would pass any morale test they were

Th e Rul es


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required to make. If on the other hand, the dice roll was exactly opposite and the auxilia unit reduced itsmorale rating by 5, the unit would be most unlikely to pass any morale test at 3

Markers need to be placed beside units to denote their current morale rating.

Army composition.Players start the game with six commands on the table.

For each infantry command they roll a further 1D6 for trained troops and 2D6 for untrained troops orWarbands. This is the number of troop bases each command may have.

The Roman player may elect to make one of his infantry commands horse. Middle Eastern armies maychose up to half as horse and eastern armies up to a quarter. Gallic and German armies may chose twocommands as either cavalry or scout. Britons may chose two commands as horse one of which may bechariot the other scout or cavalry.

Movement

All movement is measured from the CENTRE of the units base. A unit that pivots or wheels to changedirection makes no deduction from their movement allowance, except as described in the rules below.

Cavalry 20 inches) Horse must be lead across bad going on footScouts 25 inches) Movement penalty equals 2D6 inchesKnights 15 inches)Chariots 20 inches but may not enter bad going

Trained Close Order infantry 6 inches) Movement penalty over bad going -1D6 inchesTrained Open Order infantry 8 inches)

Untrained levies 10 inches) No movement penalty over bad goingWarbands 8 inches

All troops may change their facing without penalty while remaining stationary. All trained troops may change their facing while advancing, without penalty.Untrained troops may change their facing while moving but reduce their move distance by half.

All troops may break off from an engagement or refuse combat, provided they can move a greater movedistance than their opponents and have not been locked in combat by being charged. A continuation ofcombat into a second game turn does not constitute being charged. Units may always attempt to break offcombat if they have the movement allowance to do so. For example, a warband may always break offcombat from Roman auxilia (trained open order infantry) in bad going because they can move fasterthrough it.

CombatTroops must charge into base-to-base contact in order to engage in combat. Shooting is not permittedinto or out of combat. Any troops making base-to-base contact are deemed to have charged.

During the first turn of combat, opposing commands must align all their troops base to base, corner tocorner, then any excess bases must form a second rank behind the first, starting at the centre of the frontrank. No overlapping or outflanking is permitted in the first round of combat from bases within the samecommand.NOTE: Commands may not voluntarily hold back bases from making contact with enemy bases. All basesmust make frontal contact in the first move of a charge if at all possible. Only those bases that cannotmake contact are retained as a second rank of bases behind the centre of their command.


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Fight each set of opposing bases in base-to-base contact as a separate combat. For each base in contactroll 1D6 and apply the following modifiers.

If a second round of combat occurs in the next move, between the same units, the owning players maymove any second rank bases to a flanking position provided they can make contact.

When engaged, bases must always attempt to face an attacking base unless they have been contactedby another enemy base first. At the point two bases come into contact all further movement of thosebases ceases.Adjustments for:

Combat training and command Foot troops charging other foot troops receive a charge bonus of +1 on their dice roll. Trained troops fighting untrained troops add +1 from their dice roll. Figures fighting across an obstacle subtract 1 from their dice roll. Catafracti or knights charging other horse add +1 to their dice roll. Horse charging frontally engaged foot in the flank or rear, in the open add extra1dice per base.

Tactical situations Horse cannot charge into or across bad going. Troops receiving a charge in their flank reduce their dice roll by 1. Troops being charged in the rear reduce their dice roll by 2. Troops fighting in bad going cannot claim a charge bonus.

NOTE: Only the greatest penalty reduction is applied once to the combat result. A unit attacked from theflank and rear only attracts a 2 from their dice roll, not 3.

Combat ResultsCombat is adjudicated between opposing bases in base-to-base contact. The base scoring the highestadjusted dice roll for that combat is the winner.

Once a winner has been established, compare the difference between the two adjusted dice rolls andapply the following result. If the difference is 5 or greater, the loser suffers a catastrophic defeat andimmediately routs from the battlefield. Any other difference is the amount in inches the loser has beenpushed back in the combat. The winner and loser move that distance and remain in contract. The losernow takes a break test.

Where horse attack infantry and receive an extra dice roll in the first round of combat, the higher of thetwo adjusted dice rolls is then chosen to determine the combat winner.

If both sides draw the adjusted dice number totals rolled in combat, they remain locked in combat.However, if one side has a greater movement allowance than the other, it may break off combat if it sochooses, provided it has priority for that game turn.

Push BackIn some cases bases are pushed back into other bases that appear to obstruct their movement. Basesare by definition inflexible, which it not the case with formations of actual troops. Where a base is pushedback into other friendly bases, not acting in direct support, the base being pushed back is deemed to flowpast the friendly base to the nearest clear space and then stop at the calculated push back distance.Where two bases are one behind the other, with one in direct support, they are both pushed back.


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Attacking bases will immediately fol low up a push back (except a rout) and remain in contact. Units that

may be involved in attacking a base from the flank will maintain that position if there is clear space to doso. If there is not, they will immediately fall in behind the nearest friendly base pushing the defeatedenemy base backwards.

Where bases are pushed back into unengaged enemy bases, they must immediately engage in a roundof collision combat and if they lose, take an immediate morale test. The results of this morale testoverride all other push back results. If they win this collision combat, they continue with the original pushback. The enemy base(s) they collided with, remain where they are and take no further part in the move.

Basic Morale RatingsTrained Close Order (usually veterans) =7Trained Open Order (may be veterans) =8Warbands =7Untrained levees =8

Roll 2D6. The dice total scored must be equal to or less than the adjusted figure.

Pursuit after winning a combatWinning troops may elect to pursue and destroy a fleeing combatant. Losers immediately take a flighttest. Horse roll 2D6 and foot troops roll 1D6. The number rolled is the number of inches they flee towardstheir original start line. Foot may not pursue horse and close order troops may not pursue open ordertroops or Warbands. Levies are automatically routed from the field and deemed to have been destroyed.

If a pursuing unit makes contact with troops in flight, all the troops in the routing body are immediatelydestroyed, whether or not all the pursuing bases have come into base-to-base contact.

ShootingRangesCrossbows = 12 inchesBow = 8 inchesSlings = 4 inchesTroops may not shoot into combat

Only figures actually firing a bow, crossbow or using a sling may fire. Each figure may fire at one target inrange and sight per game turn. Each firer rolls 1D6 and any 6 rolled results in the target base beingremoved from the game as a casualty. If a target is hit while in or behind cover, a saving roll of 4, 5 or6 will indicate the firer has hit the cover rather than the target. The owner of the casualty will roll for thesave!


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Shooting may only be at targets with a clear line of sight between the shooter and target figure. Troopsshooting may fire while in base-to-base contact with a single rank of their own infantry to their front.Troops may never shoot into or out of combat. Firers may move up to half their maximum move and fire.Crossbow may not move and fire.

Army Commanders in BattleCommanders may opt to join in battle with their troops by making base-to-base contact with any base indirect base-to-base contact with an enemy base. The Army Commander is therefore exposed to the riskof becoming a casualty! The opposing player immediately makes one casualty roll for the enemy ArmyCommander joining battle. Roll two dice and any double rolled results in the immediate death of the ArmyCommander. This roll is made at the beginning of each round of combat the enemy Army Commanderremains in base-to-base contact with the command he has joined in battle.

The Army Commander has the effect of adding +1 to each dice roll of each of the bases from thecommand he makes base-to-base contact with during any round of combat. In addition, the morale ratingof that command is increased by +2 while the Army Commander is in direct base-to-base contact with it.

If the Army Commander is killed in combat while with one of his commands, there will be a single dice rolloff between the two opposing commands. If the dead Army Commanders command wins they becomeenraged at the loss of their Army Commander and immediately attack the opposing enemy command with+1 on all dice rolls regardless of any tactical disadvantages (outflanked, surrounded, fighting over badgoing etc.) for the following game turn. If they lose the dice roll they become demoralised and suffer a 1on all combat dice rolls for the next game turn and suffer a -2 on their morale rating in the next game turn.


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Greek PhalanxPike Block 2



PersianPersian Persian

Attacking in a wedge formation.Troops attacking in a wedge formation fight two ranks deep as shown by theGreek Phalanx formation above. When contact is made all troops in theformation fight the contacted enemy base, therefore as in this diagram, thethree Greek Phalanx bases making contact with the central Persian basewould roll three dice and the Persian defender one.


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Gallic sub-Warband1

Roman Close OrderHeavy Infantry sub-unit

Roman Close OrderHeavy Infantry sub- unit

First Move

Enemy sub-Warband1


Second Move

Roman CohortIn twocenturies

In the first round of combat each base roll off and the loser will be pushed back the differencebetween the two adjusted dice rolls, in inches, directly backwards.

In the second move, should the loser pass their morale test and remain in contact with the winner,the winner of the initiative roll off would have the option of flowing round the flanks of the enemyunit with a base of troops immediately behind the first. If no second base exists in the unit, thisoption is not available. Troops must move to the flanks first and then if a third round of combatoccurs, may move to the rear of the enemy unit, provided there is a third base to do so.

Warbands and untrained levies may not attack more than one enemy command at a time, unless twoenemy commands are in edge-to-edge contact with each other. Warbands and untrained levies mayalways defend themselves against all attackers.

Gallic sub-Warband2


Sub-Warband2

Warband 3

Three bases that areONE Gallic warband.Each under a sub-command. Warband 3may not attack in thefirst round of combat

Gallic sub-Warbandssplit and overlap theRoman flank

Gallic Sub-Warband3

Sub-Warband3

bronze eagles

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