Huns versus Foederate Romans Pacto MeG Game

 

Romans are out scouted and deploy first

Opposite end

Romans and Hun cavalry advance

Horse archers shoot on the Roman left flank

Last Thursday afternoon Robert, Garry and Craig came over to my place and we played a MeG Pacto game out in the shed, with the Huns taking on the Foederate Romans. We diced for sides. I commanded the Romans, while Garry commanded the Huns. Robert generously offered to advise and talk us through the latest changes made to the Pacto version of the rules. This was really handy as we both haven’t played a game since last year. Craig watched the game, providing moral support, as well as some fresh duck and chicken eggs straight from his farm. Andrew also dropped in and said hello and had a quick chat.

The Roman cavalry advanced and then charged on both the flanks, while the infantry advanced in the centre. The Hun cavalry fell back shooting, their Frank and Burgundian infantry movements were limited by a mediocre commander and poor command discs. The Roman left flank was quickly whittled away by the Huns’ shooting, combat and a flank charge. The Roman right flank had slightly more success but overall the Romans were toast and while they hadn’t reach break point it was only a matter of time before further flank charges achieved this.

Roman cavalry charge

Cavalry combat with Hun horse
archers threatening the flank

Roman left flank is whittled down

Romans are toast

Lion Rampant 2nd Edition - Late Romans versus Huns Game

 

Huns and Goth infantry deployed in the SW corner

Late Roman infantry deployed in the NW corner

The race is on

Late Roman cavalry are in charge range

Late Roman cavalry retreat after charging

On Monday Craig came over and we played another Lion Rampant 2nd Edition game out in the shed. Craig was the attacker with his Late Romans and I was the defender with my Huns. The scenario was a Gentle Stroll with the defenders, on a forced march, aiming to exit the opposite table corner with at least half of their war band's total points value. I rolled a 12 for the leader's skills and had a great commander,  so the leader's unit automatically passed every activation. Very handy, possibly Attila himself, had joined the warband!

The Romans moved first and the race was on. The Romans after a couple of turns were able to charge a Hun heavy cavalry unit who countercharged and were able to beat off successive attacks before succumbing to their wounds. The Romans failed several movement and charge activations but tried again attacking with light infantry this time. Two attacks were beaten off by the Hun leader's unit and another failed Roman charge activation allowed them to escape. The Goth infantry were the sacrificial lambs in the game allowing the faster Hun cavalry to escape.

Roman cavalry charge again

Will the Huns escape?

The net is closing

Huns escape!

Battle of Catalaunian Plains Mortem et Gloriam Game

View of the table from the Roman left flank

View of the table from the Ostrogoth left flank

Aetius' Roman infantry advances

Attila's Frank foot advance

Ostrogoth and Visigoth cavalry manoeuvre

Visigoths charge

Last Saturday afternoon Craig came around and we played a Mortem et Gloriam (MeG) game, with a refight of the Battle of Catalaunian Plains. Craig commanded the Roman, Alan and Visigoth army under Aetius and I was Attila with the Huns, Gepids and Ostrogoths. The scenario for this was played as a Pacto game by Simon Hall for the MeG launch recently and is available on the MeG site. For our game I doubled the unit sizes for a Magna game of about 8000 points a side but was short a few figures for some units and had to draft in some other Dark Age troops to make up the numbers.

I followed Simon MacDowall's Osprey book Catalaunian Fields AD 451 for the battle field and deployment and the camps of both armies were off the table. One thing I noticed with the scenario was that the Ostrogoth left flank was a bit light on infantry with only a single unit of combat shy foot archers! In the end it was a straightforward victory for Aetius with Attila's right and left flank pretty much destroyed and only the centre remaining.

Attila and Sangiban in the centre

Gepids, Franks and Huns on Attila's right flank

Attila's centre is a bit ragged

Centre under Attila and right flank under Ardaric have yet to close

Visigoths and Ostrogoths slog it out

Gepid cavalry rout

Ostrogoths rout on the left flank while the centre is still undecided 

Huns versus Foederate Romans Mortem et Gloriam Game

Above are some Late Roman commanders that I've just finished painting. The figures are by Footsore Miniatures with LBM shield transfers and saw action in a game last night down at the club in the photos below. Dean, Rick and I played a 7,000 point (Magna) game of Mortem et Gloriam (MeG) with Huns versus Western Foederate Romans. I commanded the Huns and Rick had the Late Romans. Dean very generously and patiently, guided us through the game, as it was Rick's first game and my second, and he also tweaked the army lists. Dean is the owner of Olympian Games and is the Australian agent for MeG and runs all the local competitions.

We stuffed around a bit sorting out commands but eventually got down to it and the Hun invaders were able to make some double moves early on. The Roman Equites block charged the Hun and Ostrogoth cavalry. In the centre the Frank and Burgundian infantry charged the Roman Legionaries and Auxilia and were met with a hail of darts. On the Huns left flank they charged the Roman Foederate cavalry, while the Roman horse archers attempted to charge the Alan horse archers. Back on the Hun right flank the Ostrogoth cavalry broke and their commander was killed, while Attila himself was wounded. At this point we ran out of time but the game could still have gone either way.

Thanks to Dean and Rick for a fun game. It was great to have Dean explain the rules and I certainly learnt a lot, enjoyed it and look forward to my next game!

View of the armies deployed from the Huns' left flank

View of the armies deployed from the Huns' right flank

Hun & Alan horse archers

Huns make some double moves

Roman Equites, Legionaries, Auxilia & Foederati

The armies close

Ostrogoth cavalry

Hun nobles & horse archers

Roman Equites block charge Hun & Ostrogoth cavalry

Cavalry align on the Hun's right flank

Charges in the centre and on the Huns' left flank

Roman horse archers fail to contact the Alans

Ostrogoth cavalry break

Huns versus Patrician Romans ADLG Game

Huns advance

Roman cavalry on the right flank with infantry in the centre

Roman force in full

Hun cavalry on the right flank

Hun commander with allied Frank warriors

Hun cavalry on the left flank

Here are photos of a 100 point Huns versus Patrician Romans ADLG game, that Garry and I played down at the club last Sunday afternoon. This was a bit of learning experience for me as I hadn't played the Huns before with these rules. In the end the Romans won fairly easily but we will have to try another game as we got a few things wrong. I'd like to try a game with Simon MacDowall's Comitatus rules too, as they are actually designed for the Barbarian migration period. I think horse archer armies are tricky to use and most rules probably don't really do them justice, however getting the balance right is quite hard to do.

The two forces close

Mounted Foederati charge the Huns

Roman cavalry charge the Huns

Foot Foederati and legionaries advance cautiously

Hun cavalry on the left flank crumble

Huns concede defeat