Sambre
(Caesar's
Romans vs the Belgae)
This scenario has also
been published in Society of Ancients' Slingshot issue 243
The Background
Having read the
article about the battle of the Sambre in Slingshot 241 (Journal of the Society
of Ancients www.soa.org.uk) we
felt that we just had to play this battle.
When Julius
Caesar was campaigning in the North of Gaul (Belgian) a trap was laid against
his legions in 57 BC by the Nervii. Around 85,000 Belgae lay waiting in the
woods to attack when the Romans were still building their camp for the night. As
soon a the baggage train arrived the crossed the Sambre river and hit the Romans
by surprise. The legions barely had the time to form up. A fierce battle
commenced.
The
Romans (at that moment only 30,000 were present, the rest was still marching
towards the camp) had much trouble holding the Nervii and
their allies. Eventually the Belgae even started to attack the Roman camp. But in the mean
while the tenth legion managed to rout the barbarians and attack the barbarian camp.
When they saw that their own camp was being attacked, they quickly redrew to
help their unfortunate comrades. In the end the
return of the tenth legion and the arrival of the two legions at the tail of the
Roman column proved to be too much for the barbarians. According to Caesar
almost all Nervii died. |
A Belgae attacks a Roman consul (GW Spartacus diorama) |
Read
the actual account from Caesar himself.
The Scenario
Celtic cavalry charge towards the Roman camp.
Based upon
the description from Julius Caesar and the Slingshot article we developed the
following scenario to play with WAB:
Table
-
The table
should be 4 x 8 feet.
-
The
Belgae deployment side (up to 12" from the edge of the table) is wooded.
-
The
Romans deployment side (also 12" from the table edge) is on top of a hill.
-
The
terrain counts as uphill all the way from the Sambre towards the
deployment edges (for combat results).
-
The Roman
and Belgae camps (max.8x8") are situated in the centre of their deployment
space at the edge of the table.
-
The
barbarians had placed obstacles from the Roman camp towards the river,
dividing the roman table space into three parts. These barricades count as difficult
terrain.
-
The
Sambre river runs across the table at about 18" from the Belgae table edge.
-
The 4"
next to the river are still flat level. So no uphill bonus here.
Deployment
-
The
Romans must divide their army into three equal parts. Each part consisting
out of 2 legions close together.
-
The Roman
cavalry and missile troops already have crossed the river in the middle of
the table.
-
Caesar
and labienus are at the left part of their table.
-
The
Romans deploy first.
-
The
barbarians are all in the woods at the start.
-
The
Nervii have the left part of the wood.
-
The Atrebates are at the
middle of the deployment zone.
-
The
Veromandui are at the right.
-
The
General and Battle standard are with the Nervii.
Turns
-
The
Belgae take the first turn.
-
On
(their) turn 2
the Roman Allied cavalry arrives anywhere at their table edge. They may
march and shoot, but may not charge that turn.
-
On turn 3
the last two conscripts legions arrive in the same way.
Special rules
-
When
fighting in the river, the unit in the river looses 1 rank bonus for the
purpose of combat results.
-
The
Sambre is easily crossed, but you may not move over it at double movement
rates. So marching and charging at base movement.
-
The Roman
legions on the table are still in disorder. (About a third was constructing
the camp, while the other two thirds were guarding.) They have one rank bonus less
until they throw a 1 or 2 on a D6 at the start of their turn. (To visualise
this, place the last rank in a disorderly fashion behind the unit.)
-
Cavalry
and skirmishers may try to rally and to not automatically break if they are
only 3 models large (instead of the normal 5 models).
-
When you
capture the camp (the turn after you touched it with a non-fleeing unit),
you will receive 100 pts victory points.
-
All Roman
units are stubborn (for free).
-
The idea
is to
play with the same number of points for each army. But in this case you
should try to keep the barbarians twice as large as far as models are
concerned. We came up with a 2400 points list.
-
Victory
conditions are as normal.
Click here
for the Army lists.
The Setup
This is how the
battlefield looks:
The barbarians
emerge from the woods (left).
The legions of Caesar are still building their camp (right).
(move over the picture to get unit info)
A Battle report
We played this
scenario and here is the result. Due to the obstacles the battle was divided
into three separate parts:
The
(Roman) Left |
The Romans were played by Richard.
The Belgae by Don. |
The tenth legion accompanied by Labienus
easily routed the Atrebates. The other legion also did. |
One Legion was then sent to the centre to
reinforce the battle there. |
The ninth legion planned to attack the
camp but was held up by a Belgae unit. It had a long struggle with
the them. In the end the Romans were routed of the table. |
The Belgae posing for the camera.
|
The struggle on this flank was not decisive
for the outcome of the battle... |
|
Roman Legions at the top in red.
Barbarians at the bottom in green.
Camps in blue.Large arrows are attacks.
Narrow arrows are path of retreat. |
The
(Roman) Right |
Two Roman legions were opposed by 60,000
Nervii (6 warbands of 30 models each!) with their warlord (Boduognatus)
and an army battle standard. No way they could win the
battle on this flank... |
The Romans decided to advance and hold up
the attack as long as possible, hoping for reinforcements to arrive. |
Both legions were routed. One was
destroyed, and the other ran of the table. They slowed the advance of
the Nervii. But was that long enough? |
The outnumbered Romans are bracing for the impact of the Nervii. |
By the time the Nervii approached the camp
the two remaining legions arrived. They choose to block the way towards
the camp. |
Roman reinforcements in yellow.
|
|
The Centre |
The Roman cavalry and
skirmishers that were harassing the Belgae in the centre across the
river were easily routed when the Belgae started the full attack on all
fronts. The skirmishers were destroyed, but the cavalry got away. |
The Viromandui hesitated
to cross the river. The two Roman legions there were guarding the
crossing, and the Roman cavalry rallied. The next turn they were also
joined by the allied cavalry. |
And now also help from the Roman left
appeared. But these Romans headed for the enemies camp. Finally the Viromandui crossed the river, while the Romans plundered the
enemy camp with
their cavalry. |
The last two legions to arrive did so to
hold up the Nervii coming from the right. At this point the barricades
pulled up by the Belgae became an unwanted obstacle against themselves!
5 Nervii units were pushing themselves through a small gap were the
conscripts were waiting for them. |
Roman legion defending the camp. |
The newly arrived legions did not held out in
the end, and the Roman camp fell too. At the same time the
Viromandui units were both fleeing in the centre battle. |
The Romans had held on very fiercely, but
the loss of 5 legions out of 8 against 4 Belgae units out out 10 was
bound to be too close for comfort... |
Julius Caesar |
The Result
The battle ended in a clear victory for the barbarians. The
Belgae lost 4 units out of 10, while the Romans lost 5 units. A result of about
1500 victory points against 1000.
|
The Aftermath
The
Romans had a very difficult time against a much larger enemy with warband rules.
This decided us to add an additional rule; the Romans should be stubborn to
represent the willingness to hold whatever the price.
A charge of the Roman cavalry
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