ADLG - Game Report 252

Early Imperial Roman (85) vs Early Arab (75)

Despite all the planning of what army to choose or not to choose, it does help if one firstly reads (very closely) the eligible armies. In this case I would have found out that the list specifically excluded my preferred option of Batavian Revolt, so in the end I went entirely Roman. I managed to just about get the army up to a manageable size of 25 units with: two similar commands made of Auxilia with cavalry and light supports and a third with Legionaries and artillery.

My first game was against Ian (and thank you for the whisky miniature which went down very well) and his Early Arabs. I was defending in the plains. The Legionaries were in the centre flanked by the Auxilia. Railed against us were the boundless hordes from Arabia, and I do mean boundless!

I decided I need to shorten the line and the left wing Auxilia were moved closer to the centre. In the centre the fire support and lights are already inflicting attrition on the enemy.

In the centre the enemy Light Cavalry are attempting to hold of the cream of the Roman army. On the right the Roman Equites are trying to find an avenue of approach – aka I couldn't decide what to do with them.

The Auxilia on the right have started to envelope the enemy heavy swordsmen, while their Equites colleagues remain stuck in the field. On the left the Wing commander with the Equites could have (should have) done better attacking the enemy cavalry flank; that is not going to turn out well.

Which it didn't as the Left Wing Commander perished leaving the left wing effectively on its own without command. However, on the right the enemy Heavy Swordsmen have been assailed on both flanks by Auxilia and Legionaries.

In spite of the advantageous position on the right the Romans have been unable to translate it into victory; the enemy are stubborn!

Even worse the enemy Heavy Swordsmen are making a break forward as quickly as they can. Elsewhere the enemy centre and right have not been able to gather themselves to take advantage of the Roman General's expiry.

With some recovery the Auxilia and Legionaries have managed to dispose of more enemy Heavy Swordsmen as the day fades into dusk.

Outcome

A draw with the Roman's losing 22 and the Arab's 12 of 22.

Lessons Learnt

I continue to struggle against armies that significantly outnumber me, something to think on.

Perhaps a narrower deployment front would have helped the Romans.