For todays game we set up our 10mm Romans and Britons for a refight of the Battle of Caer Caradoc scenario from the Hail Caesar 'Britannia' supplement. Randomly picking dice from a bag it was decided that Ian and I would take charge of the Roman forces led by Ostorius Scapula leaving Nigel to lead the Ancient British resistance. The scenario has the Romans chasing after Caractacus who is at this time residing with the Ordovices tribe. Borrowing a few light cavalry from Ian we were able to set the game up exactly as in the book.
The objectives are clear, the Romans must try to win the battle and capture or kill Caractacus and/or his family whilst the Britons must try to win the battle whilst keeping Caractacus and his family alive.
The Roman forces marching to battle.
The Ancient British getting ready to line the ridge and defy the power of Rome.
The River Severn was fordable but could cause dis-order to formed troops.
With very few missile troops Ian and I decided to get across the river fast. Here, our Auxiliary Cavalry destroy on small unit of British light cavalry whilst the other unit of Light Cavalry surprised us all by defeating the other Auxiliary unit (which had been dis-ordered whilst crossing the river).
Over at the ford, Nigel used more units of light cavalry to wreak havoc amongst the Romans trying to cross there. The Roman attack seemed to be faltering just trying to get across the river.
Scapula's division finally crosses the river.
The white counters show which legionnaires are in Testudo formation.
More action across the river.
Red counters are for disordered units, yellow for shaken..
Two Roman cohorts defeat a warband.
The remaining Auxiliary Cavalry, after a few other adventures, get around the back of the British and charge their baggage where Caractacus' family were, destroying the baggage and capturing Caractus's family.
Mayhem all across the British lines as one of their divisions collapses and not too much later Caractacus and his remaining warband flee leaving the Romans as victors and objectives achieved.
This was a closely fought game and Nigel did particularly well with his light cavalry, really disrupting the Roman advance. However, with the British having only two command figures he often struggled to get his troops to follow orders. The British Warbands are tough to fight, especially when they charge but the Roman Legionaries are very resilient and if supported well, tough to deafeat.
Another very enjoyable game of Hail Caesar.
