Open Battle at the Siege of Rome 537 AD - Command and Colors Medieval

 

Initial deployment from the Goths’ side

Opposite end

Byzantine right flank commanded by Belisarius

Byzantine centre commanded by Principius

Byzantine left flank commanded by Valentinus

City Militia and ballista on the walls of Rome

City Militia and ballista on the walls of Rome

Initial deployment from the Byzantine side

Opposite end

Goths’ right flank

On Monday morning I played a solo Command and Colors Medieval game out in the shed. The scenario was an Open Battle at the Siege of Rome 537 AD. The Byzantines commanded by Belisarius, taking on the besieging Ostrogoths commanded by Vitiges, in the fields just outside the walls of Rome. Quite a lot is actually known about this battle as Procopius in his Gothic Wars 1.28.15 - 29.45  gives quite a detailed description of it. Both sides had four command cards and two inspired actions tokens and the Byzantines moved first. I have an early Byzantine army (mainly the superb Aventine miniatures range) but only have  a unit of horse archers painted to date, so used my Late Romans and even some Nikephorian horse archers to make up the Byzantine numbers.

The Byzantines advanced and shot effectively with their horse archers on both flanks. The Goth cavalry charged on their left flank but both units were eventually destroyed. The Goth warriors in the centre attacked and drove the Byzantine infantry back to the very gates of Rome but suffered heavy casualties themselves. Principius the Byzantine commander in the centre was then able to lead the Byzantine infantry to a very convincing 6-0 victory. A really fun scenario but a very one sided game where the Byzantines had all the luck with their dice and cards.

The new GMT Games' board game Command and Colors Medieval Expansion 1: Crusades Mid-Eastern Battles 1  looks really interesting and is currently at the printer, so will probably be shipping in the next couple of months, I'm really looking forward to that!

Goths’ centre commanded by Vitiges

Goths’ left flank

Byzantine horse archers advance and
shoot on the right flank

Same thing on their left flank

Goth cavalry charge on their left flank

Byzantines destroy Goth cavalry

Goths attack in the centre

Byzantine infantry retreat to the very gates of Rome

More shooting on the left flank

Principius leads the Byzantines
to victory in the centre 6-0

Goth Noble Cavalry

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy gaming, painting and blogging for 2020! Here are some Goth Noble cavalry with LBM shield transfers from the Gripping Beast plastic set. This is basically the same set as the Late Roman Heavy Cavalry one with different head and helmet options. I've gone with dry, burnt grass basing on these figures as I want to use them as Vandals in North Africa as well.

I backed the Kickstarter for Clash of Spears, a new set of ancient skirmish rules and today received an advanced pdf copy of the rules. The hard copy is suppose to be released in February next year. I'm looking forward to reading and trying these out. First impression it looks to be a really nice set, 156 pages, lavishly produced with great photos and illustrations, it reminds me of the old WAB supplements.

Battle of Ad Salices - Dux Bellorum

View of the table from the Roman lines

View from the Goth lines

Roman left flank

Roman right flank

Goth left flank

Goth right flank

Goth cavalry charges 

Cavalry on the Goth left flank close

Then charge

Infantry advance

Cavalry melee

Last Sunday Craig, Garry and I met down at the Vikings Club in Lanyon, for a Dux Bellorum game with Late Romans and Goths, the Battle of Ad Salices in 377 AD. Craig and Garry were the Roman commanders, Richomeres and Frigeridus and I was the Goth commander Fritigern. Ad Salicum translates as towards the willows, hence the willow trees on the table. In our game after many rounds of close combat the Romans were able to wear down the Goth right flank and eventually it broke.

Goth right flank reforms

Goth infantry charge

Fritigern's Comitatus charge

Infantry slog it out

Skirmishers threaten a flank by the willows

Romans charge Goth warriors on the flank

Roman shieldwall wears the Goths down

Goth left flank survives another round of fighting

Goth right flank routs

Roman shieldwall wins the day

Goth left flanks remains

Goth Infantry 2

Here are some more Goth infantry. These are all from the Gripping Beast, Dark Ages Warriors plastic set, with LBM shield transfers. They are nice figures, easy to assemble and paint. My only gripe with them is they aren't armed with a seax, the standard side arm for Germanic and all Dark Age warriors. Anyway these figures will see action tomorrow as we have a game lined up at the club, the Battle of Ad Salices 377 AD with Dux Bellorum rules.