Battle of Mons Graupius - A 28mm Ancient Roman Wargame

 Afternoon All

A few years back myself and a good friend put together a project focussing on the Roman Invasion of Britannia in glorious 28mm. Between us we managed to put together two Legions alongside hundreds of auxiliaries (archers, cavalry and infantry). Facing this mighty force were over 2000 Ancient Britons and Celts. Sadly these chaps frequent the table on a rare occasion so we felt this ought to change and over the last couple of Monday nights we have tried to recreate the Roman Invasion of Caledonia (Scotlands) and the lesser known battle of Mons Graupius. 

17ft table looking across the slopes of Mons Graupius

The Roman Army

Roman Cavalry

This post talks about out attempts to bring this game to the table, the orders of battle and stats for the units involved plus our two games. Suffice to say that the honours were even with each protagonists winning one engagement.

The forces edge forward

Background

What we know about this battle comes from the Roman writer Tacitus. We know it was fought in Scotland (most likely the North East coastal plain) in either 83AD or 84AD. Having successfully conquered Wales and Northern Britain the Roman Governor Julius Agricola marched north into Scotland to complete the invasion of Britannia. Facing him were the warring tribes of the highlands loosely allied to face this Roman threat. The Caledonii as known were lead by King Calgacus.

Before engagement...

Charge !!!

For some weeks Calgacus refused to give the Romans the pitched battle they craved, his strategy was to harass and generally avoid meeting the strong invader head on in the belief that they might just go away. However when the Romans were beginning to force the point and began to threaten the natives winter grain supplies his hand was forced.

Fierce fighting across the front

The two sides were soon drawn into combat . Arrayed across the slopes of Mons Graupius the locals held the advantageous terrain. The two sides were evenly matched in numbers with each side reported to field 30,000 men (if true this could well be the largest ever battle fought on British soil)

Skirmishing on the slopes

Generals debate their orders

The Romans deployed with their auxiliaries (mostly likely German/Batavian units) to the front, flanked by their armoured cavalry. The Legion was drawn up as a tactical reserve. Rumour has it that Agricola was keen not to sill Roman blood on these worthless natives.

As the Romans advanced the Britons charged forward en masse. The result was a massacre, according to Tacitus a third of the Caledoni were killed with the remaining routed, all for the cost of only 360 auxiliary soldiers. 

Despite winning the day The Romans never fully conquered the highlands as there attempts were hindered by political issues of the day and the need to draw troops from Briton to other parts of the empire.

One final point according to Tacitus the Caledoni Calgucus addressed the tribes on the eve of battle with the following words.....which sounds very similar to the words used by Mel Gibson in Braveheart

“You have mustered to a man, and to a man you are free.”

Celtic Light horse chase down the Romans

In both games we used the Hail Caesar ruleset and the stats for most of the units were drawn from the Britannia supplement. Note we did alter the Caledonian forces in the second game to create a more balanced game.

Holding the line against the horde

Orders of Battle

Romans

9 x Cohorts of Regular Roman Infantry (Testudo, Drilled) - Stamina 6

1 x Large Primus Cohort - Veteran Romans (Testudo, Drilled, Tough Fighters, Elite 4+ - Stamina 8

5 x Auxiliary Infantry (standard units) - stamina 6

5 x Auxiliary Archers (standard) - Stamina 6

7 x Scorpions (light Artillery)

5 x Medium Auxilliary Cavalry - Stamina 6

The Romans were given 9 commanders (all rated 9) and could use these to command any unit - we wanted the Roman forces to have complete flexibility on the table. 

The Roman infantry were deployed in the centre as the players saw fit - our first game saw the auxiliaries lead the line (not a good idea) but in the real battle they did all the hard work. The Cavalry were split and lined the flanks.

Trying to break the line

Caledoni

24 x Large Warbands of Warriors - Stamina 8. In the first game they were given armour of 5+ plus tough fighter trait. The second game saw the removal of the trait and armour modified to 6+. These were brigaded into 4 brigade across the centre. Each Brigade had a commander rated 8

6 x Light Cavalry - stamina 6 - Split into two brigades each with its own commander rated 8

6 x Small units of chariots  - Stamina 4 - In the first game they had the standard 4+ save, this was modified to 5+ in the second game. In addition the second game saw each chariot unit as its own command with a rating of 7. 

8 x small units of skirmishers armed with slings and bows (stamina - 4) . Two units Attached to each warband brigade

Finally the Caledonii were given a further three 'generals' (rating 8) who could command any unit - we decided only these could issue 'follow me commands'

The Game (s)

As mentioned earlier we fought this game over two separate Monday sessions. In both cases the objectives of both sides were to break the opponents army (ie they had to rout or break 50% of the opposition). In both games we ran out of time but the results were conclusive and we probably only missed out on an hour of play.

In our first game the Scots swarmed across the field and sensibly targeted the weaker Roman units. Given the Roman cavalry was strung out on the flanks and the leading line was manned by the lesser armoured Auxiliaries there life was made much easier. They also had better armour themselves. The result a Roman defeat by some margin. Trying to develop a scenario that is both balanced and fun to play is a juggling act. Our first game was definitely exciting but it just felt too easy for the Celtic tribes. 

In the second game we allowed the Romans to deploy as they saw fit and we reduced the armour values of the Scots. These two tweaks turned the game into a much closer affair. Ultimately the Romans just won because of their superior command roles, the mutual support each cohort could offer each other and their better armour/morale saves.

In conclusion 

• the game needs about 4 hours to play out to a successful conclusion
• deploying the heavy infantry (albeit historically incorrect) is the right way for the Romans to survive the massive number of attacks coming their way from the big warbands
• the light troops/skirmish units are a greaty way to screen the larger units and generally be a nuisance on the field
• The Romans need to protect their weaker units (archers and horse in particular) - the loss of these severely impacts their chance to winning the game.
• The large warbands (stamina 8) are great one shot charge weapons but extremely brittle against heavily armoured troops. They need plenty of supports in action.

The Valley Raid

 Monday night saw a return to the times of Ancient Rome and a game of Romans versus Celts. We used the scenario set out in the Hail Caesar Rulebook.

I won't spend too much time describing this as there maybe readers out there interested in playing this for themselves and suffice to say it works better (especially if you are the Roman players)only to have a basic understanding of the scenario.

In summary a Roman general has been despatched with a sizeable force to 

a) beat up the local natives

b) capture and plunder the locals

c) retrieve roman prisoners and standards

Surprise, surprise.... these can all be found in a local valley. 

The Romans enter the head of the valley and can see a small village to their left and a watchtower halfway down the valley on a small hill.

Further into the wooded valley they can see a herd of cattle and in the distance more woods and a larger Celtic village. The table is 6ft x 10ft in this scenario.

The Romans are divided into four divisons - one cavalry and three infantry units.

Our Roman commanders (Mark & John) debated their strategy and they would target the village nearest them first. Fearing an ambush at some point they would march cautiously up the valley.

Where could the celts be??

Quite quickly one Infantry division stormed the first village and ran into a bunch of woad coloured hunters emerging from the woods. These chaps didn't last very long

In nice neat lines the Romans steadily advanced.

Unbeknownst to them until they got within 24" of the watch tower or crossed midway across the valley floor the Celts would stay sleeping in their beds.

Eventually the Roman advance sounded the alarm and the Celt warbands were roused and the first tribe flooded onto the table

These chaps were a mixed bag of warbands, cavalry and chariots

Fearing their lines might be overcome the Romans girded themselves for action

The first Celtic tribe advanced ready to spring into action. Alastair lead this first war party. My party steadfastly refused to enter the valley

Some pushing and shoving in the ranks finally lead to the charge, with the warbands rushing past the chariots support and into the pilums of the Romans

By now the druidic fanatics had entered the fray (far right) and were about to lead the assault.

The two sides were poised for combat.

Crunch - the barbarians crashed into the Romans and it was carnage Serious casualties on both sides, the Romans quickly losing a veteran and auxilliary unit. Both Druidic fanatics were wiped out.

It was at this point the Romans really thought they were going to lose and began to complain bitterly that the Celts had all the advantages in the charge and that their troops should be faring better. 

Yes the Celts had inflicted serious damage but in subsequent rounds this advantage lessened and the Roman staying power began to shine through.The Celts were also advantaged buy Alastair's die rolling - it was stupendous - he was saving when saves were needed and inflicting sometimes 90-100% hits.

A few tuts and sighs from Mark as his forces took a pasting. John's cavalry and infantry were faring somewhat better but I got the distinct sense that these rules were not to his liking.  

As the combat continued the attritional losses on the Celts began to tell and after three to four rounds of heavy fighting Alastairs forces had been decimated. With six units wiped out or shaken. The Celts could lose this.

Skirmishes had now erupted across the fragmented battlefield but the Romans had maintained their battlelines and were hastily rallying some of their shaken units.

By now my tribe had emerged from the woods but it was late in the evening and with limited time left to play we considered how the game might end.

Realistically almost half of the Celts were shattered and as such almost at breaking point and yert the Romans had fared somewhat better. With the clock ticking we called it a draw.

A few more photos...

The following morning , before I cleared the table away I considered both armies positions. Had the Romans attacked there was every likelihood they would have broken the Celts. However were my tribe able to get into the action earlier it would have been a much closer affair.

For the record I like Hail Caesar - it can deliver a big game in a short period of time. It works for a multitude of periods and we have had some great games spanning the Dark Ages, Crusades and now Roman Britain. 

Like all rulesets its going to take time to bed in with all the players for a particular genre and for some it might still not work.

There are others rules we can try (eg To the Strongest) and we will in the coming months

Have fun folks & Stay safe

 

 

The Celtic/Dark Age Village

 This coming Monday we are playing a scenario from the Hail Caesar Rulebook that calls for a fortified village. Not having one of these in my collection meant it needed to be built fast. 

Excluding drying time I reckon the following build took about 6 hours and cost a total of £4 in new materials. Most I already had to hand like filler, paint, and timber. This was a relatively easy build and has a multitude of uses. Indeed I am thinking that the piece could be used as the bailey in a motte and bailey castle for my Norman conquest games. 

On with the build in pictorial form

The project started with two off cuts of mdf (9mm thick) - these were cut into an irregular shape with one smaller than the other. 

The smaller one was then placed on the large and its shape marked out in pencil. Markers were used to show where it would sit when it all came together.

Then using a power drill I drilled out holes regularly spaced just outside the pencil line. These holes were just large enough to hold a bamboo bbq skewer tightly. 

I think you can probably guess what is happening next. The Skewers are cut to about 5-6cm in length. And inserted into the holes with a dab of pva glue. The top of the palisade is shaped using a pencil sharpener. Remember this is 'dark ages' so its not essential for all the poles to be the same height. 

Eventually the first set of poles will be sitting snug in their little holes and once the glue is dry they are not going to move. I then coasted the outside of the palisade in pva and stuck in another row of skewers that ended up filling in the gaps and strengthened the walls even more.

Tip: Garden secateurs are great for cutting bbq skewers

 

With the wall dry I could turn my attention to the ground work. Sadly I forgot to take a picture here but the inside now has the inner wood fitted with glue and screws, .topped with a slab of polysterene to give some extra height. Onto the polystyrene and the outside edge I built up the ground with wall filler.

Its looking a bit like a strange cake...

With the filler dry all the ground works were coated in pva and then covered in bird sand and grit.

The resin buildings I have to hand show up the size of this small village

Again it was left to dry overnight. The following morning the excess sand was shaken off and then the whole thing was covered in brown emulsion paint. A chocolate cake....

With the brown paint dried I could start on drybrushing the groundworks and palisade. The Walls were painted black before drybrushing. 

The drybrush used a variety of yellows, whites and light browns. The fence was given some grey and light browns.

Just add some static grass and some tufts and its all done. Nearly, the gate still needs to be completed but its good enough for Mondays game.

The locals seem to be happy with there new home...

Apparently I need to build a wickerman next...

More soon

Stay safe folks