Book IV: from the Jaws of Victory

Cast: From the West Sound Warriors Club: Minimus Gluteus-Mitch Berdinka; Stevinius Abernathius - Steve Abernathy; Greghikos Philpatakos-Greg Philpot; Gareas Wilmaneas- Gary Williams; Bradakos Philpatakos- Brad Philpot

Rules: Game was conducted at Discordia Games in Bremerton, WA in November 2007 using a play test version of the TACTICA II (T-2) Ancients rules. T-2 has been in development by Art Conliffe and it appears they will publish in the very near future

Beginnings:
Encouraged by his last victory over the indomitable Ponts at the battle of Metropolitron, Roman General Minimus Gluteus decides to advance into the heart of his nemesis’ territory in order to bring the campaign to a quick close and extend Roman rule to the far reaches of the eastern empire. News of his latest victory has resulted in an influx of new recruits all eager to join in on what they see as a chance for loot and plunder of the rich Pontic Empire. Gluteus now enjoyed an abundance of light and skirmish infantry although he would still be outnumbered in mounted troops. He acquired the services of a seasoned Roman Legate, one Stevinius Abernathius, who was returning to Rome on leave from fighting Getae barbarians in the northern regions of Thrace. As he was highly recommended by members of the Roman Senate, Minimus felt himself fortunate to have acquired such worthy commander who being from out of the country, had no knowledge of Minimus’s own dismal reputation.

To handle the abundance of his newly recruited light infantry, Minimus looked for a reputable leader with experience in handling irregular troops. As luck would have it, he ran into a young Thracian soldier looking for employment while relaxing at the local tavern. Seems they had both ducked under the same table to avoid becoming embroiled in a bar fight when the Centurions of Gluteus’ two Legions came to blows over which was the better outfit. Minimus, who always believed discretion was the better part of valor, thought he had found a kindred soul. In actuality the Thracian, Greghikos Philpatakos had left Thrace after a disagreement with his father about use of the family horse and had decided to leave home to make his own fortune. Greghikos had no trouble convincing Minimus of his abilities with light troops, although the several rounds of beer Minimus consumed played no small part in the deal. So Minimus with his two new commanders set off with his Legions to find the Pontic army.

Meanwhile the Ponts in desperation after their last defeat, moved to replace the injured Bythian General, Chuckmunsae with an upstart from neighboring Armenia. Gareas Wilmaneas, of Greek descent volunteered his services to lead the phalanxes albeit at quite a monetary advantage to himself. Always a fastidious dresser, he saw opportunity to increase the size of his wardrobe and with little risk, as he was quite familiar with the reputation of the Roman General. With him he brought a Thracian leader who was an old friend and had some experience fighting Romans. This was Bradakos Philpatakos, none other than the father of young Greghikos on the Roman side. So both sides advanced cautiously and found each other just outside the small village of Discordium on the evening of a late fall day. Both sides set up camp determined to be victorious in tomorrow’s battle.


Deployments: (Map 1)

Minimus rose early in the morning after a bad night of sleep interspersed with volatile bouts of flatulence, no doubt due to an over abundant intake of Galatian wine the night before. After a quick stop at the latrines, he donned his best armor, mounted his trusty steed and rode off to survey the field of battle. The Ponts were already deployed and Minimus thanked the Gods for allowing him to see the enemy dispositions before he made his deployments.
Before him he found an open plain with a small patch of rough ground at the center on the right flank. On the left he was pleased to find a large wooded area completely covering his side of the field. Seeing the advantage it held, he dispatched young Greghikos with almost all of his light infantry to deploy there and hold it against all costs. Thinking the boyish Thracian would not likely get into trouble within the protecting woods, Minimus advised him to protect the left flank of his legions and to strike the flank of the Ponts if an opportunity presented itself.



Figure 1: Initial dispositions

In the left center, he discussed with Stevinius the need to quickly close with the Pontic Phalanxes and flank them. He pointed out that his 2nd Legion should be able to make short work of the Pontic Light Infantry enabling him to devastate the pike formations with flank attacks. He directed Stevinius to deploy his troops in the usual Roman “Acies Duplex” formation but neglected to clarify that what he desired was the “Acies Duplex/alternate” formation. The “alternate Duplex” requires the cohorts to line up behind each other rather than in the checkerboard formation the Romans more commonly used when fighting barbarians in the woods that Stevinius was familiar with. This would ultimately have a serious effect on the outcome of the battle.

Minimus took command of the entire right Roman wing to ensure he would receive full credit for his soon to be victory. Of course it did not occur to him that in case of a defeat he would not be able to easily put the blame elsewhere as was his usual custom. All of the Roman cavalry was on the right flank with the one light infantry unit remaining as a reserve.
Gareas had deployed his heavy Phalanx units in the center. On ether side of them were light infantry units to protect the Pike flanks and then the heavier warbands to provide some muscle. As normal, the Pontic light cavalry were on the extreme flanks. On his left flank, just outboard of the Bastarnae warband, Gareas placed his unit of Armenian Cataphracts, hopefully to punch through the Roman right flank. Behind the cataphracts he placed the Pontic Heavy cavalry and a unit of light horse as a reserve. On the left of the Phalanxes and behind in line with the heavy cavalry, he placed the scythed chariots as another reserve, not wanting them to be wasted against the Roman skirmishers. Gareas took command of the Pontic left flank, trusting Bradakos, an experienced commander to handle the right. His plan was to crush the Roman right flank with his more numerous cavalry and then roll them up onto the points of the Pontic pikes. He knew the light infantry and the warbands were his weakest links, but he estimated the Phalanxes would be able to hold out until his cavalry advantage would take effect.
So after sending out orders, making some quick prayers to their gods and forming up, both sides began advancing toward each other, the skirmishers leading the way.





Opening Moves :( Map 2)

In the center the Ponts moved first, advancing the two 48 man Phalanxes in a sort of wedge formation with the 32 man Phalanx, light infantry and warbands angling back. On the Pontic right, the Thracian Light Cav wheeled their left flank towards the forest opposite with the Armenian Archers wheeling back to line up parallel and ahead of them. On the opposite flank, the Skythian horse started to advance around the rough ground to their front. The Cataphracts advanced cautiously forward. The Pontic javelinmen, to protect the horse unit from the Roman slingers placed themselves in front and parallel to the cataphracts and just on the edge of the rough ground.

Figure 2: Bradakos deploys the Thracians


The young Greghikos with the Roman left flank advanced his lights to the edge of the woods passing through his archers which moved up behind in support. Stevinius with the 2nd Legion advanced his cohorts as fast as possible. The left half of his second rank of the Cohorts moved up into line with the fist rank of cohorts, both still formed in double ranks. The right half of his Legion cohorts moved up deploying into single ranks, with the rear cohorts reinforcing the front cohorts. Minimus advanced his Legion also, reinforcing the front Cohorts with the second line as they deployed. On the right flank, he directed one of the Roman heavy cavalry units and his light Gaulic horse to counter the Skythian horse that appeared to be trying to get around his flank. He dispatched his one Light Infantry unit on that side to cover the flank of his cohorts in case the cataphracts were to attack there.

Figure 3: Pontic Catapracts & javelinmen




Seeing the Pontic javelinmen form up in front of the cataphracts, Minimus yelled insults at them as to why they would be so stupid to form up in open ground while the rough terrain immediately adjacent offered safety from his cavalry. While Minimus’s aides muttered, “why doesn’t he shut the #&*@ up”, the Pontic javelinmen promptly moved into the rough terrain where indeed, the Roman cavalry could not reach them. They then began pelting the advancing Roman heavy cavalry as they moved up to support the Gaulic Lights. The other Roman Heavy Cavalry unit moved up to contend with the Cataphracts. Minimus dispatched his one LI on that side to support the Cavalry .Both side’s skirmishers then began firing at each other with minimal effect. Eventually as the heavy infantry came up into range, the missile troops began firing over the opposing skirmishers to try to weaken the massed units behind.
The Real Battle Begins: (Map 3 and 4)
On the Roman left, young Greghikos, seeing he was opposed only by some Armenian archers and a unit of Thracian Light cavalry, decided to become aggressive and quickly advanced his Light Infantry out of the woods and towards the elder Philpatakos’s light horse. He made short work of the archers, routing them, while his light infantry moved up to contact the Thracian Light horse. In the left center, Stevinius’s 1st Legion came to grips with the Pontic Phalanxes and began to slug it out after first tossing their pilum. Seeing that the Light Infantry of Bradakos would be hard pressed by the cohorts, the Pontic General Bradakos , dispatched his reserve Scythed Chariots there to block the Romans in anticipation of the light infantry eventually routing. The echelon formation of the Ponts prevented the left two cohorts of Stevinius from coming to grips with the Galatian warband, so they continued to advance causing the Skythian archers to evade back.

Figure 4: Miimus's Cohorts advance


Minimus’s 1st Legion left most cohorts also contacted the Phalanxes. Unfortunately, he had misjudged the pikes advance and did not fully deploy his cohorts there. This resulted in a lesser number bodies in the front line, putting them somewhat at a disadvantage with the dense pike blocks.

The Pontic Thurephoroi LI and Bastarnae warband being held back, he had more time there and quickly had his cohorts deploy there and reinforced the front line with his rear cohorts. Fearing disaster should the enemy cataphracts attack his open flanks, he dispatched his lead cohort to assist his heavy cavalry and sent another to a blocking position just in case. He directed his one light infantry on that side to deal with the Pontic javelinmen who had so rudely taken his advice to occupy the rough terrain.

Almost all of the forces were now engaged in melee from one side of the battlefield to the other. Greghikos’s light infantry were thrashing his father’s Thracian cavalry on the Roman left. The Galation warband’s charge however, had intimidated some of the cohorts there, giving the warband an advantage. On the Roman right, the Gaulic and Skythian light cavalry fought hard, but eventually they reached a point where both sides had had enough and each routed back. The Roman heavy cavalry quickly advanced upon the one remaining Skythian horse unit.



Romans gain the upper hand :( Map 5)




In the center the Ponts struggled hard against the invincible cohorts. The Thracian Light Infantry gave way and two cohorts advanced to flank the Pontic Line. Luckily, the scythed chariots arrived in time to plug the gap, but Pontic Sub-Commander, Bradokos worried they would not hold. Surprisingly, the chariots did quite well against the cohorts for a change. As they dove into the ranks of Romans, legs and torsos were separated from each other with body parts flying everywhere. A grim Stevinius urged his men forward. On the other flank, Minimus’s 3rd & 8th cohorts crashed through the Threphoroi Lights with hardly a pause. They also, were now in a position behind the Pontic phalanxes. On the far Roman left, Greghikos’s light infantry had made short work of the Thracian light horse, one unit pursuing them off the field. They now turned and advanced to assist the cohorts with only the Skythian archers to try and delay them. On the Roman right, the Bastarnae warband were finally engaged by a reinforced cohort, however the cohort was heavily damaged by the impetuous charge of the barbarians. Minimus could smell victory. With the Ponts outflanked, the phalanxes could not last long. He called his Praefectus Castrorum over and began to dictate a message to Rome proclaiming his victory.

Figure 5:Pontic left in trouble

Things indeed, did seem bad for the Ponts, but the cohorts had been sorely weakened by skirmisher fire, warband charges and the depth advantage of the phalanxes. Many of the cohorts were reaching close to the breaking point. As Minimus wrote, he hoped the next few moments would bring a great victory.

Disaster Strikes:(Map 6)


Minimus, was partly correct. The great victory was on the other side however. It started on the Roman left when one of the Roman cohorts reached its breaking point. The next cohort’s reaction left it disordered, in melee. Receiving more casualties, it to broke. And so it went down the line. The cohorts who were on the verge of victory found themselves at break point or disordered. Eventually the entire Legion of Stevinius became disheartened and began to rout off the field.

Even some of Minimus’s cohorts gave way against the pikes and the Bastarnae due to the toll of casualties fighting the deeper formations of the Ponts.



Figure 6:
Aftermath,Ponts victorious



On the Right, the cataphracts finally routed the Roman heavy cavalry after a hard fight. The result was that over half of the Roman troops were broken and fleeing the field. Minimus quickly dropped his communiqué in the dirt and headed to the rear. With no Pontic cavalry on the Roman left and center, both he and a shocked Stevinius made good their escape. The premature missive was later found and the Ponts had a good laugh when Gareas shared the contents with his staff.

Aftermath: Gareas Wilmaneas after rounding up the prisoners and selling them into slavery made a tidy profit. Along with his payment from the Pontic Empire he had enough to buy a villa in a kingdom then known as the Kartoonian Circle.

There he began raising his own army, dressing them in glossy colored uniforms. Bradakos Philpatakos also made a nice profit from his exertions in the battle. Although his right flank had disintegrated, Bradakos’s calm and steady resolve had encouraged his phalanxes to outlast the Roman cohorts. As thanks for his courage, Gareas rewarded him handsomely with wagon loads of captured Roman loot.

Young Greghikos although on the loosing side, actually came out quite well from the Roman disaster. He was the only one on the Roman side to earn any glory. As he had pretty much free reign over his portion of the battlefield, he had no trouble evading the pursuing Ponts as all their cavalry was on the other side of the field. He even managed to grab a significant portion of goods from the Roman camp. He returned home to Thrace where the dispute over the family horse was long forgotten. He now had with him a significant herd of captured Thracian and Roman horse. All was well in the Philpatakos household as father and son vowed that if they ever again fought on opposing sides, at least they would do so on opposite flanks of the battlefield.

Stevinius never quite recovered from the shock of seeing his Legion crushed from what appeared to be an imminent Roman victory. He was last seen in the northern regions of Macedon mumbling incoherently about men with long pointy things.
Minimus was in a pickle as to how to explain this latest debacle. After giving it some thought, he decided to do the only thing a Roman could do in such a situation. He placed the blame on the absent Stevinius. Returning to Rome, he raised the threat of Pontic terrorists who would soon be raiding and pillaging Roman territories. The Roman Senate hastily voted to provide funds for another Pontic adventure feeling guilty over their original recommendation of Stevinius which Minimus dutifully brought to their attention. With Stevinius absent and Gluteus having paid some Bythnian pirates to slit the throat of anyone saying different, there was no one advise the Senate of the true facts. So as Minimus planned his next campaign, there came to be known in all reaches of the Empire at that time, what was called the Maximum Minimus tax as the Senate raised revenue collections to pay for the Pontic wars.