Caesar's Gallic Campaign

[TitusPullo]

Hey everyone,

I'm starting a LRR army based upon Caesar Gallic Campaign (not to original I know, but I like the variety of troops that he used). I plan on using Wargames Factory miniatures since they have all the models that i'll need (Roman Legionaries and Cavalry, Gallic Warband and Cavalry, Numidians to represent skirmishers and Baelaric slingers, and maybe some German Bodyguard Cavalry when they come out). Here is the core of my army, I'm choosing to do a cohort of the 11th Legion with auxiliaries listed.

1 x Field Commander (Centurio Pilus Prior) - 50
2 x Troop Commander (Centurio Pilus Posterior & Centurio Pilus Princeps) - 35 (70)
1 x Fortified Camp - 24
6 x Century (4 x Superior/Armoured Legionary Bases) - 56 (336)

So far the total is 480 points and 6 battlegroups. So for the questions;

-I want a group of 6 bases of heavy cavalry and 4 bases of light. Should I go with all Gauls or do a mix of Gauls and Romans, and which unit for which role?
-I'm using the Numidians for javelin armed skirmishers and as Baelaric slingers. How many of each and in how many battlegroups shoud I go for?
-If they're are any points left I would like to go for a nice big battlegroup of Gauls (I'm think 6 - 8 bases to form a nice big block of fast troops to either act as a center bait or as a fast outflanking force)?

New to the game so help me out people!

Thanks in advance!

[rbodleyscott]

It doesn't answer your questions, and you can of course choose to play your army at any representational scale you like, but the rules are designed around a representational scale of 250 men per base. On that scale your army represents one full strength legion rather than a cohort.

[marioslaz]

I suggest first you play some games, with different armies, to enter in the mechanism of play. We make near ten match before to start our first campaign. When you will have understood the principles of game, you will know how to better get the situations you want to recreate.

[madaxeman]

I'm not sure it matters for the LH, as undrilled and drilled are equally effective. However in game terms, drilled (ie Roman) Cavalry are much better than undrilled (Gallic) ones, although 6 is an unwieldy number to use anyway. This is because you can expand by 2 bases each turn, you normally fight in 2 ranks but and being in a single rank is sometimes important as it allows you to evade. A fighting formation of 2 ranks of 3 cannot therefore expand to an evading formation of 1 rank of 6 in one turn.

Light foot work in 6's or 8's, so you may as well get 8 of each whilst you are buying and painting - but you may be dependant on how many are in a box from WF

For Gauls or Spanish get as many as you can in each battlegroup - they are fragile in combat, don't manoeuvre well and are vulnerable to shooting so weight of numbers is your only defence. They wont be able to outflank someone as they wont be able to turn effectively or quickly - or maybe not at all ! The legions are actually better at outflanking moves than the Gauls.

[batesmotel]

I'm not sure it matters for the LH, as undrilled and drilled are equally effective. However in game terms, drilled (ie Roman) Cavalry are much better than undrilled (Gallic) ones, although 6 is an unwieldy number to use anyway. This is because you can expand by 2 bases each turn, you normally fight in 2 ranks but and being in a single rank is sometimes important as it allows you to evade. A fighting formation of 2 ranks of 3 cannot therefore expand to an evading formation of 1 rank of 6 in one turn.
...snipped...

While I would need to check sources, I believe that Caesar did not use any significant bodies of drilled Roman cavalry in Gaul. Maybe some bodyguards but probably nothing in enough numbers to qualify as a BG in FoG.

Chris

[TitusPullo]

thanks guys. I'll make some final decisions once I get the Rise of Rome book.

-With regards to how many bases for light infantry, the numidians have 28 men per box, so I'll probably go for 2 BGs of 6 bases.
-I'll again have to do some research as to whether Caesar had any Roman LH, but it was my understanding that every cohort in the Marian system had an ala of 30 horse. Which using my scale of 5 men to a figure, will be 6 bases.
-What about heavy cavalry if I have to room pointswise? I may wait for the German cavalry to come out for these, but is there a games difference between Gallic and German HC? If so how many bases should I try to go for in a BG? 4 or 6?

Again thanks in advance guys

[TitusPullo]

Here's some text that I found from Answers.com that used Caesar's Commentaries as a source.

Many of the campaigns end with the Roman cavalry running down thousands of fleeing tribesmen, and often their women and children as well. In one instance he defeated a tribe and immediately sold all 53,000 survivors into slavery.

Sounds like Roman LH to me! Sweet!

[deadtorius]

Only difference between gaul and german cav would be the figures I believe, both can be rated as superior and armoured.
Not sure how accurate this is but I believe that Caesar decided he preferred the germans to gauls as he felt they were better cav. Of course the fact that most of the nation you were getting your cav from is revolting against you might have had some bearing on that decision.

[paulburton]

From what I recall of Caesar's commentaries he had German Cavalry for his bodyguard (say 1 BG of 4) and Gallic horse for the rest. The Germans were considered to be better so should be Superior with Gauls as Average. Germans were generally thought to use less armour (question is swould it be sufficiently less to justify Protected Germans vs Armoured Gauls - I would say not). He also had Balearic Slingers, possibly Cretan Archers and Numidian Light Horse. I don't recall any mention of Roman cavalry units. For Medium foot I would suggest either Illyrians (as he was Governor of Illyricum as well as Gaul) or Gauls for the Gallic wars. He recruited Spaniards for that phase of the Civil War.

The 120 Cavalry in the Legionary establishment were mostly used as despatch riders and scouts. Since they add up to half a base at the notional scale they aren't worth representing.

For reference I represent a Legion (Early Principate) as 2 Battle groups of 4 bases each. This means I can put 3 legions in the field at 800 points (4 if Late Republican as there are fewer distractions and the support troops are cheaper).

Unless using Caesar as the CinC I would not bother with a Field Commander. A TC is quite sufficient.

[peterrjohnston]

Unless using Caesar as the CinC I would not bother with a Field Commander. A TC is quite sufficient.

FC's matter in 25/28mm with bigger base sizes and same movement distances. Or so I'm told, as I did wonder on the value of FC's myself...

(OP is using Wargames Factory, which is 28mm).

[TitusPullo]

yes I am using 28mm, although I originally wanted to do 15mm Macedonians. Everyone else at my LGS wanted to do 28mm. O well, eventually I'll do both!

[Legionbuilder]

with a nickname like Titus Pullo - you HAVE to have some Romans - maybe two or more Armies

[deadtorius]

yes 25mm does make a difference to the command radius versus 15mm figs. Mind you, being pretty much all drilled the Romans probably will find it less necessary for a FC, the few undrilled non-lights you have make command to manouver kind of insignificant. You will most likely want to use your generals for going into combat to make your superior romans even more deadly, and to rally any units that break so keeping 1 or 2 back for rallying is useful. Big problem occurs when you need one to rally and they are all engaged in melee's.

[Blathergut]

TCs in 15mm reach out 4MU (100mm) = two full bases + a bit. In 25mm, the TC only makes it part way through the 2nd base. This makes it difficult for even Romans to form Battle Lines of more than 3 BGs. The TC can be with the middle BG, but then only commands one BG on each side of that.

An FC would make it much easier to form a main Battle Line and advance with the heavies.