Victory Results:
 70 %
Record a victory for BOTTOM ARMY  30 %
Total plays 53 - Last reported by Jerjinski on 2024-01-12 22:28:31

Historical Background
Julius Caesar had established Rome’s northeast boundary as the Rhine River a half century earlier. But the Emperor Caesar Augustus decided to extend imperial control all the way to the Elbe. A task that seemed easy on a map in Rome proved far more difficult to the commanders in the field. Yet, despite difficulties, Rome’s control was extended to the Elbe. The warlike Germanic tribesmen, temporarily subdued, lacked only an inspirational leader to spark an uprising. Arminius was that man. As a young German noble of the Cherusci tribe, Arminius had been placed under Roman tutelage, a common practice. He served in the Roman army as a commander of auxiliaries. This only served to fuel his hate, but he bided his time and learned their tactical methods. His opportunity to strike arose when Publius Quintilius Varus was leading three legions on a march through Germany. Arminius knew it would be difficult for the Germans to defeat a well-led Roman force in the open, so he devised a plan to lure Varus’ legions toward Kalkriese Hill, where he would launch his ambush. The Germans constructed a camouflaged sod wall to improve the already ideal ambush site. The seemingly loyal Arminius accompanied Varus’ march column until one night he and his German auxiliaries disappeared. A good tactician would have sensed trouble, but Varus arrogantly elected to march on without adequate reconnaissance. At dawn the next day, as the Romans undertook to march through the area on a narrow track between woods and swamp, the Germans attacked from the woods. In a scene eerily reminiscent of Lake Trasimenus, the Romans were pinned where they could not properly deploy. Roman counterattacks proved ineffectual and all the Roman infantry could do was endure the constant assaults. As night fell, Varus’ survivors constructed a fortified camp.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. The rest is history.

Light InfantryAuxilia InfantryWarriorsMedium CavalryLeader
44723
Light InfantryAuxiliaMedium InfantryMedium CavalryLeader
31523

War Council

Germanic Tribes
• Leader: Arminius
• 5 Command Cards      
• Move First

Roman Army
• Leader: Varus
• 5 Command Cards      

Victory
6 Banners

Special Rules
Marius Legions Rule is in effect.

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GF1954 replied the topic:
8 months 2 weeks ago
2 solitaire games, with the Germanic Tribes defeated the Romans, 6 - 3, and 6 - 2. Those Warriors were just too much for the Romans.
clavain replied the topic:
1 year 4 months ago
6-4 Roman win. The Germans (me) recklessly charged down off the hill with a Line Command followed by an inspired centre leadership, driving some of the Roman centre into the Marsh. Romans tried to rescue their consul with Med cav, both of whom died, but then the three Roman leaders got together and slammed the Germans who fell back in disarray and were picked off unit by unit, despite heavy Roman losses. Arminius, the rear line and the German cav never came into play.
GF1954 replied the topic:
2 years 10 months ago
2 solitaire games with the Germanic Tribes winning both 6 - 4 , and a 6 - 1 massacre in the rematch.
kostas63 replied the topic:
3 years 10 months ago
Vittoria Barbari 6-3. Un ordine generale ai Guerrieri barbari schierati sulle colline da' inizio alla battaglia. La carica e' talmente furiosa che una delle fanterie medie romane viene spazzata via al primo assalto. Ma i romani sono tenaci e compattano le file tentando timidi contrassalti che conesguono qualche successo. Arminio preoccupato per l'andamento della battaglia ordina alla sua ala destra di intervenire mentre nello stesso momento anche l'ala destra romana si muove. Sono i barbari che hanno la meglio spingendo i resti delle unita' romane nelle paludi dove anche un generale romano perde la vita.
mk20336 replied the topic:
6 years 2 weeks ago
Played recently in mini-campaign. Here Germans were definitely better, strucking hard in the middle of the Roman line - 6-2:
Achtung-Panzer replied the topic:
11 years 11 months ago
The Germans opened up with a Order all Medium card and sprung the ambush! But the initial success (Varus saw his cavalry unit destroyed and fled into the marshes) turned to failure when one of the Warriors charged too far into the Roman line and was wiped out along with their leader.

The Romans recovered and pushed some units forward on the right to screen that flank whilst moving units towards the left to stabilise their line. The German Warriors charged forward again but were caught by a Double Time move as a Roman general bravely led his unit in to kill off one last Warrior band.

This game really produced the panic of a surprise ambush, but the Romans managed to recover well.
MasterChief replied the topic:
13 years 3 months ago
Played this against King Billy a few weekends ago. We thought it looked really tough on the Romans. It was in the first game...

First game I was the barbarians, and Bill the Romans. We were right, the poor Romans got slaughtered. If the barbarian player starts with a couple of 3 or 4 unit move cards, they can very quickly roll up the banners needed where ever they attack. That, combined with an opponent that seems to have forgotten how to roll dice. The Romans maybe got a banner or two.

So we swapped sides... And the Romans this time did much better. This was the beginning of a string of poor luck for Bill (that carried into other games we play, aka - ASL) that not even the most hardy and patient of characters could survive. You know, the sought of rolling like "Aha! I need one hit against your unit to win! Roll 4 dice and miss them all, leader directed even... and then the battle back does four hits...". It was a true testament to Bill's character that all he did was sigh.

Hopefully soon, Bill will remember how to roll dice again :-)