Battle in the Forests

Well we had our first full battle using our version of the NT "Classical Warfare" rules with my Germans taking on my mate John's Romans. An extremely bloody affair fought across a tree studded battlefield saw my Germans win (it could hardly be called a triumph!) but only just! Admittedly there were several extra dice thrown in a couple of melee's by the Romans but this would have impacted the game only slightly.

 

 

My skirmishers worked their way up the flanks, at one stage eliminating John's Moorish cavalry, pinned and unable to retreat by his heavy infantry.

Victory was costly however - by the end the Germans had 4 fresh units including skirmishers, some warriors and cavalry and a couple more worn units whilst the Romans were down to their last three units of legionaries.

Gaesric, the German King was able to claim the field, however his tribe has suffered very heavy losses and only by careful diplomacy will he be able to find the manpower to attack the Roman frontier.

Macrinus, the Roman commander quit the field at the outset of battle - the result of a random event card. Luckily for the Romans this didn't cause much of a morale collapse and the men stayed to do the job they were there for....unlike their commander.

A great game, and the casualty figures, dice frames and 7mm die worked well meaning our decision to use a single unit base and count up hits rather than 4 bases with casualty removal was as sound one. They are decidedly less fiddly than the casualty "wheels" out there and seen in the pic below.

I think my bases need some "tufts". The flock matches my own table, which makes them look plainer.  But other than that I'm please with how it looks en mass.

I've got my own Romans to finish, and then an Achaemenid Army - lots of yellow and purple!