The Forum

Over recent games the Romans had stubbornly defended the settlement of Reading at considerable cost. The fight for the town had bled the forces of both sides white, and this final game would see the if the Brits could finally push the Romans out or give up trying. Chris and Tim took generalship of the British and Tony and I the Romans.
The location of Reading on the table for this battle was noticeably more central on the table, which gave more room either side of the town and therefore the British initial deployment would in many ways dictate the course of the battle. The Romans as the defenders deployed first as usual, and again the legionary units were positioned in and to either side of the settlement, with the light units and auxiliaries positioned to the left and the ballista units behind them on the hill.
The Brits deployed in a very similar way to the previous game probably in the belief that they could repeat their sound performance and inflict even more casualties on the Roman defenders. However, the Roman legionary units were far more centralised on the table and still able to enjoy the cover afforded by the settlement. Chris in the first move of the game initiated a wide flanking move against the Roman left while Tim advanced against the town and right wing. This was indeed an attempt to repeat the success of last weeks game! However, this time the flanking move was even more extreme which left the British centre rather thin! Also, the Roman army had more cavalry than before and any gaps could more easily be exploited.
My Roman legionaries formed a shield wall along the road and in parallel with the town. This provided the Roman legionary line with the additional cover behind a 4 hex hill. Tim looked at this position and decided not to advance his missile troops comprising slingers and skirmishers into shooting range. Meanwhile Tony and Chris’s light units had started to lob missiles at each other. Here Tony found his mark with the shooting dice and held and recoiled the British chariots. These acted as a blocker against the British warrior hordes advancing from the woods in support.
The battle on the left started to get very bloody as Tony sacrificed his skirmishers and light cavalry in order to stop any further British progress. The Roman ballista units which had performed quite poorly in resent games found their mark – more good shooting dice from Tony! As more British units advanced from the centre towards the fight on the Roman left the Roman heavy cavalry took up position from where they could charge the thinning British centre.
A further advance of the Legionary units forced Tim into a decision about whether to stand and shoot or to move back. With the A2 armour protection afforded by the Legionaries this was probably a sound decision. I advanced a single unit of legionaries from the line and into combat in order to pin the British warriors right of centre. It was a sacrificial move but it helped to widen the hole in the British centre in preparation for the Roman cavalry to undertake their mission.
The Roman cavalry accompanied by 2 generals charged into the British centre which by now consisted of 2 hordes of Gaisatai fanatics and a general. The following rounds of hand-to-hand combat saw escalating losses on both sides, but with the British force effectively divided in two – Chris on one side of the table and Tim on the other, the Romans had gained the upper hand. The Roman legionary units were able to advance from Reading and from the road into the centre of the table out-numbering the Brits 3 to 1. In response, Tim decided to keep his force intact and started to pull away towards his table edge. Chris, who was far more heavily engaged with the advancing Romans could only retreat with a relatively small contingent.
As the British force withdrew from the field it was only fair to conclude that finally the Romans had, after much sacrifice, managed to successfully defend Reading and were now ready to advance northward!
Game Analysis
This was an easier scenario for the Romans than in the previous game with the relative position of the town. The British flanking move created a weak centre which was successfully attacked by the Roman cavalry supported by legionaries. Tony’s shooting was excellent at key moments which again helped to stop Chris’s flank attack. This Roman victory at Reading had taken a heavy toll on both sides!

Written by Paul K.