Mid-Republic Romans vs Alexander Macedonians (600pt battle)

[Jason_Langlois]

A Battle in Pictures
A 600 point battle between Alexander's Macedonian Army and a Mid-Republic Roman Army. I played the Romans and my commentary appears in italics.

Roman Army (12 BG)
Legion I: 4 base H&P (armored, avg), 4 base H&P (armored,avg), 4 base velites (prot, avg), 2 base triarii (super)
Legion II: 4 base H&P (armored, avg), 4 base H&P (armored,avg), 4 base velites (prot, avg), 2 base triarii (super)
Alae: 6 base Italian Allied Foot, 6 base Spanish Scutarii, 4 base Roman Cavalry (armored), 4 base Roman Cavarly (prot)
Commanders: 1 x FC, 3 x TC

Macedonian Army (8 BG)
Phalanx: 12 base hypastists, 12 base foot companion, 8 base greek mercenaries
Cavalry: 4 base agema, 4 base Thessalian cavarly
Lights: 6 base Macedonian bowmen, 6 base Illyrian javelinmen, 4 base Thracian light horse
Commanders: 1 x IC, 2 x TC

Reviewing things, it looks like the Macedonian army wasn't quite legal. The requirement is 4 stands of Companion Cavalry (Cv, Arm, Super, Drilled, Lance, Sword), which would have replaced the Thessalian cavalry and pushed the army points to 612. A technicality, but one to watch out for in future.

Before Deployment


The terrain chosen was Agriculture, by the Macedonians who handily grabbed the initiative with +2 from Alexander and +1 from their horse, versus a Roman +1 from having a Field Commander.

We have three open fields, mostly on the Roman left (closer to the viewer) side of the table. An enclosed field dominates the center of the battlefield, while the Roman right has a plantation, gully and steep hill.

Of concern to the Romans is just how much open ground there is in the center of the table, even with all the terrain. Macedonians love the open ground.

Roman Deployment


On the left, we have the two Roman Cavalry units (one Protected, one Armored) deployed 4 across behind a unit of Italian Allied Foot (MF, light spear). Then Legion II and Legion I, with the velites in front, two units of Hastati & Principes and a triarii in support for each. The right of the Roman line is a unit of Spanish scutarii (MF, impact foot), who are also protecting the Fortified Camp.

In hindsight, my deployment has a number of flaws. First, I shouldn't have deployed the horse in lines - they should have been in a 2x2 block, side by side with each other. Second, I deviated from the classic Roman pattern and should have had a unit of cavalry on the right. The scutarii really should have deployed into the Plantation, to take advantage of the terrain... or I should have committed more to my left, put the scutarii in the open field and the Italian allied foot on the right. Lesson learned.

Macedonian Deployment


On the left, we have the Agema (who will soon have Alexander with them) and a unit of Thessalian Cavalry. The center block is a unit of Greek mercenary hoplites (drilled), then Foot Companions and finally the Hypaspists. They are screened by three light units: Illyrian javelinmen, Macedonian archers and a unit of Thracian light horse. The camp is unfortified.

The Macedonian deployment is otherwise fairly strong (stronger than the Roman), and clearly designed to contest the open ground in the center. He was definitely helped by having the initiative, and was able to place his cavalry where it would do the most good. Unlike me.

[Jason_Langlois]

Early Maneuvers

End of Turn One



The Macedonian light horse and bow head towards the enclosed field, while the phalanx and cavalry advance.

The Roman Legions move forward in the center, while the left slowly advances and the right does a slight wheel to face the approaching cavalry.

My deployment immediately screwed me over here. If my plan is to maneuver the Roman cavalry in a wide flank maneuver, why have I screwed it up by sticking them behind the Italian allied foot and in a terrible maneuver formation? The answer: because I deployed the Italian allied foot earlier in the Order of March, and developed the flanking idea only after that. Whoops!

End of Turn Two



The Macedonian light horse and bowmen begin to advance into the enclosed field, while the phalanx begins a wide wheel to line up more with the center gap on the table. Alexander leads his cavalry forward of the phalanx line, smelling weakness in the Spanish medium foot across from him and his shock cavalry.

The Roman attempts to sort out the left wing, and commits the Legion I towards the enclosed field. Legion II sets up in the center, while the scutarii arrange themselves on the right to cover the flank. The Roman velites move forward to contest the enclosed field.

Oi, that left flank is bollocks right up. Mentally, despite stating and reading and knowing otherwise, I just couldn't shake the idea that movement in the field would be halved. Thus, I was aiming to put the medium foot around the field, which forced my cavalry, still in the crappy line formation, wider to the left. However, at this point, I had crafted a plan to lure the phalanxes forward into Legion I (on the right), and set up Legion II to face my right while behind the fields, with the aim of hitting the Macedonian's in the flank once they had committed. Events were to catch up to me.

End of Turn Three



We flip perspectives here...

The Macedonian bow and light horse prepare to contest the enclosed field, while the phalanx continues to wheel and sort itself out into a line facing the Legion I. Alexander's cavalry, on the far left, negotiates the gap between the phalanx and the plantation, aiming itself towards the scutarii.

The Roman velites run forward to contest the enclosed field, while the Italian allied foot swings in to begin the same. The Roman cavalry, finally free of the troop barrier begins to advance across the field. Legion II, beside the enclosed field, begins to set up for the planned 'flank attack' on the phalanx which, it is hoped, will impact Legion I in the middle of the line. The scutarii continue to wheel to face the approaching cavarly.

The Roman line is in disarray at this point, and for good cause. The realization that the scutarii are nothing more than a speed bump to the cavalry has set in. As well, I over-estimated the effectiveness of his light foot bows, even in the field, and made the mistake of committing my velites to digging them out. Again, in hindsight, the Italian allied foot and maybe one of the velites should have been in the field. The other velite should have advanced towards the phalanx to disrupt his advance. The cavalry, meanwhile, is still being forced too wide by the infantry. Plus, I should never have attempted the trick stuff, and instead should have maneuvered the two Legions closer together for support.

[Jason_Langlois]

Skirmishing

End of Turn Four



The Macedonian phalanx continues to wheel and slows the advance, sending the Illyrian javelin men forward. The light horse on the right of his line move into the enclosed field in support of the bowmen, while the cavalry on the left tries to squeeze between the plantation and the hoplites, still aiming at the scutarii. The Thessalian cavalry charges the scutarii, but has the bad luck to be bounced and breaks off in the JAP.

A unit of velites charges the Macedonian bow in the field, begining the skirmish battle. Meanwhile, Legion II continues to try and maneuver into position to perform a flank attack on a Macedonian phalanx that has not yet appeared. The Italian allied foot begin the move into the enclosed field, while the Roman cavalry starts to swing around. Over on the Roman right, the scutarii steel themselves and await Alexander and the unleashing of hell in another charge.

All things considered, the velites versus bowmen fight probably should have gone my way. Even so, it would probably have been better if I hadn't initiated it - instead, I should have waited for the medium foot to move up and drive off the Macedonian skirmishers. The second velite unit (from Legion I) should also have tried a complex manuever to do the 180, move, 180 with a wheel, to set up against the phalanx & javelins approaching.

By this point, Legion II is mired in the enclosed field and isn't really a factor. In fact, pretty much half my army is now out of the fight because of that enclosed field. Sigh. On the bright side, the scutarii actually manage, through lucky dice rolls and not facing Alexander's Agema, to hold against a cavalry charge.

End of Turn Five

Roman 2/12 AP, Macedonian 0/8 AP



The Macedonians move up their light horse to slow the Roman cavalry, and dispatch a commander to bolster the wavering Macedonian bowmen in the field. The Macedonian phalanx breaks up, with the hypastists wheeling to face the velites, the hoplites continuing to advance and the Foot Companions squeezed in the middle. Finally, Alexander and the Thessalian cavalry charge and disorder the scutarii.

The Roman cavalry on the Macedonian right drives off the Thracian light horse, while one unit tries to swing even wider around. The Italian allied foot continues to move through the enclosed field, while the velites mix it up with the Macedonian bowmen. Legion I, its flanks threatened by the approaching cavalry, wheels to try and cover itself. Its velites twist to face the Illyrians and the oncoming pikemen. Meanwhile, Legion II continues to get mud on it's sandals and begins to try and extricate itself from the enclosed field. The scutarii, despite holding up the cavalry for a turn, are broken and begin to flee off the table.

Ugh, this was a terrible turn. With the wheel of the phalanx, my velites against the bowmen are doomed. This was also the turn I decided my cavalry was going to ride for the enemy camp, which was a terrible, terrible idea and effectively removed them from the rest of the fight. I also should have been focused on just marching Legion II out of the field, instead of trying to wheel it into some kind of line first. Lots of lessons learned about terrain in this match.

With the phalanx in this close, as well, my ability to maneuver against the cavalry was hampered, since any direction I turned, I'd be showing a flank.

End of Turn Six

Roman 4/12 AP, Macedonian 0/8 AP



The hypastists charge the velites in the flank, which causes them to break and rout away. The bowmen pursue, ending up deep in the enclosed fields. Alexander and the cavalry, on the Macedonian left, manuever and aim towards the exposed Roman flank. Meanwhile, with added breathing space, the Foot Companions and hoplites sort themselves out in the middle. The Thracian light cavalry continues to slow up the Roman cavalry in what is now the Macedonian right.

The Romans pull out the Legion I velites, and advance half the Legion to a blocking position against the Macedonian hypastists, threatening their flank. The other half of the Legion turns in place to face towards the cavalry, while the triarii set up on their right. Legion II is fully stuck in the mud of the enclosed field, wheeling and turning and churning in a feeble attempt to find a position that will work. The Roman cavalry continues its attempt to wheel - a failed CMT prevents the line from contracting, however.

Oh man. Legion II being stuck in the field kills me, here. I have no reserve, and no ability to really stop either the cavalry or the phalanx descending upon me. The Italian allied foot should be aiming to get behind the bowmen, to prevent any evasions, and to threaten the flank of the Macedonian phalanx. Of course, that won't happen. Time is running out.

A misreading of the pinning rule actually kept the Macedonian cavalry from making a charge this turn that they were eligible for - its the 2" to the front of a unit that pins, not just having a unit within 2" of the front.

[Jason_Langlois]

The Battle Is Joined

End of Turn Seven

Roman 4/12 AP, Macedonian 0/8 AP



The Thessalian cavalry launches a charge into Roman Legion I, is held and breaks off. Alexander's Agema maneuver for position, and line up on the Legion I triarii. The Illyrian javelinmen begin to move out from in front of the phalanx - they have a new goal: the Roman camp! The Thracian light horse, having held up the incompetent Roman cavalry begin to ride back to the main line, while the Macedonian bow pull back a bit.

The Roman cavalry continues to maneuver ineffectively on the left. The Italian allied foot expand back out and moves up, following a charge by elements of Legion II which forced the Macedonian bow to evade out of the enclosed field. The other part of Legion II begins to try and wheel into position to face the oncoming horde... but the writing is on the wall. The maniples of Legion I facing Alexander and his cavalry are squeezed and cannot expand; the other maniple charges into the hypastists, but makes no impact and suffers greatly on the long spears.

This really tells the tale - the Roman army committed piecemeal all over the place, and accomplishing nothing. Another failed CMT prevented the Roman cavalry from contracting (undrilled cavalry hurts). I'm also wasting my time sending the far unit of cavalry on a wasted run towards the Macedonian camp.

End of Turn Eight

Roman 6/12 AP, Macedonian 2/8 AP



The Macedonians commit the cavalry - the Thessalians against the Roman hastati & principes, Alexander and his agema against the triarii. The hastati & principes hold and break the Thessalians, who rout. The triarii fare somewhat worse, and are overrun by Alexander; the small unit size and a bad death roll work against them. The hypastists chew up the Legion I maniple they were facing, and move forward along with the Foot Companions. Meanwhile, the javelinmen head for the Roman camp, but are left shaken as the Thessalian cavalry streams by saying the battle is lost. The remaining light troops (bow and light horse) calmy are arrayed to block the movement of the Roman cavalry and allied foot.

The Romans, for their part, fight bravely. Maniples from Legion II throw themselves onto the spears of the hypastists, while other maniples move up to threaten the flank. The triarii of Legion II march calmly towards the thundering Alexander, hoping to buy time. Meanwhile, the Roman nobles on horseback spur their horses towards the undefended Macedonian camp, hoping for loot.

The balance is tipped hard here, and I'm basically just swinging wildly from the ropes and hoping to land a lucky punch. Time really has run out, and the dice are not with me. Even if they had been with me, the mistakes made to this point are too hard to recover from, and the Macedonian has this one sewn up.

We removed the Thessalian cavalry, but technically, it should have been rout moving down the side of the table to try and make it back to its own table edge.

End of the Game

Roman 12/12 AP, Macedonian 2/8 AP



Alexander leads the charge of his agema into the triarii of Legion II, who fight bravely but are wiped out in the thunder of hoof beats. The maniple of Legion II facing the hypastists also goes down under a forest of spears. Then word spreads like wildfire - the camp is taken! All is lost, save yourselves!

With that, the Romans flee the field, and victory is Alexanders!

No surprise, really. My defense was too scattered to be effective, and so it was just a matter of the Macedonian grinding up what was in front of him to gain the win. I didn't help myself by taking half my army out of the fight by bogging it down in the enclosed fields, or by trying to go wide around the enclosed fields. Definitely didn't help myself by going after the Macedonian camp - that was a big mistake. I had the opportunity to threaten the flanks, and threw it away, pretty much.

For next time, I'll have to shake the idea that the terrain = no movement. Its not true. I should also have made better use of the terrain defensively, to pull the Macedonian into it and negate the various POAs he had against me.

[hammy]

Great report, I can never remember to take pictures regularly in my games

Terrain is fine as long as you get the right troops in it. Once you get heavy foot in terrain it really slows them down.

[Jason_Langlois]

We added a 'Take a Picture' step to the end of the Roman turn ... though I kind of wish I'd gotten a couple close-ups of the battles, as well.

I like the way terrain is handled in FoG and its something I'll have to better use next time. It really messed up that Legion, and I really didn't need to avoid it with the cavalry and medium foot like I initially did.

[SirGarnet]

Very good battle report. Your turn by turn narrative and retrospective analysis of the cumulative results of decisions made show how the game is planned and played and are instructive in many areas. I recommend this report to new players for careful study.

The mistakes were of the kind that historical commanders made often enough. The irony is that you had a good defensive position for the legions between the enclosed fields and the plantation, which the medium foot BGs could have seized and used to menace the flanks of advancing Macedonians.

Having sorted things out after this battle, obviously the Roman reminiscing after the next fight is going to be happier.

[Jason_Langlois]

Thanks for the compliment - having the chance to go through the turn by turn sequence without the pressure of the game play does allow for reflection. The photos work well to jog the memory, and highlight my mistakes...