Monday 3 September 2012

Ad Castores; at the shrine of the twins

Yesterday Dr Phil Hendry, m'self, Craig Davey and others re-fought Ad Castores, 69 AD.  This is a Roman Civil War bust-up with one side consisting of "loyal" but raw legionaries, and the other experienced auxiliaries from the Rhine frontier.  All pics are "clickable".


The historical battle occurred early in the year of the four Emperors, when Vitellian auxiliary forces set up an ambush in woods near the shrine of Ad Castores, hoping to trap the Othonian cavalry.  Unfortunately for them, a deserter betrayed the plan to the enemy, and the entire Othonian army turned up for the party!  Above and below, at the outset of the game, the majority of the Vitellian auxiliaries are concealed within woods and vineyards.  The unit below is Cohors Hedlium, which I recently bought from a fellow blogger.


Below, the Vitellian cavalry initially faced the Othonian cavalry along the Postumian Way, near the epoymous shrine to the twins (Castor and Pollux).


Facing them, below, is a positive legion of Othonian foot (not all shown in the photo), with their cavalry in front of them.  The Othonian cavalry have halted to avoid the ambush.


The Othonians quickly advanced, with the Praetorians crossing the stream and deploying.  The Vitellian auxiliaries unexpectedly poured forth from the woods to the attack; their Batavian vanguard can be seen below.  The Batavians urned out to be positive lions and tore through no less than 3 units of our legionaries, in succession!


Below, I tried to be clever and move the Othonian cavalry to the flank.


However, they were almost taken in their flank by the rapid Vitellian advance and just managed to turn to face, in time.  A vast melee ensued (below).


The two lines became locked and the melee became general.  Note the gladiators in the foreground, who turned out to be quite as ineffective as their historical ancestors, despite their cataphract armour.


...and then we ran out of time.  Quite a few units had broken, especially the raw Othonian legionaries, and outnumbered Vitellian horse, so honours were mixed.  Both factions claimed a victory; I reckon we loyalist Othonians were a tad ahead, but Craigus (Davey) would no doubt beg to differ.

It was a very good natured game, ably umpired by Dr Phil Hendry who provided his "Augustus to Aurelian" rules.  Thanks to all who came by for a chat, and to the very able organisers of the event and good-natured staff, and to Craig for arriving at dawn with his lovely boards.

23 comments:

  1. Fantastic looking game, the scenery is particularly evocative. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it after all those months of effort ( and flocking)
    Regards HGA

    ReplyDelete
  2. The terrain really shows off the figures to there best.Love the figures in the vineyards and the cypress trees really stand out!
    Can I ask is the river section glued on to the tile of cut into it it looks great!!
    Best wishes
    Willie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks chaps! I do hate that flocking, HGA, with a vengeance.

    Willie the river is cut into the boards. Craig said it was a nightmare job. The river material is mostly yacht varnish.

    Cheers, Simon

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stunning pictures !!!

    Best regards Michael

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gorgeous. Sorry I missed it.

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm honoured you named the cohort after me! In a vineyard is exactly where my lot would be!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful looking game and as you know love the trees!

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
  8. My turn for the bacon butties next time!

    Regards,
    Craig

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks chaps! I love it when a plan comes together.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great report, great terrain, and great models. What more could one want from a game?
    Really need to gives those rules a good some time soon.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good to see all the elements you've been working on come together on table.....very nice result, you must be pleased indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks all! Tarty, yes it looked very much as I had hoped.

    Now I need to make a bigger and better plan for the next one...

    Cheers, Simon

    ReplyDelete
  13. Very Very Impressive!!!!
    Cheers
    paul

    ReplyDelete
  14. oh my that's awesome so many well painted figures,the terrain is perfect congrats
    Cheers
    Kent

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks, chaps! Just wait until the armies are finished...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Marvellous stuff this - loads of shiny, and some terrific terrain as well. Looks like a blast.

    ReplyDelete
  17. That is a giant, heaping serving of inspiration. Thanks so much!

    ~ Jonathan

    ReplyDelete
  18. Excellent terrain, will be nicking a few ideas when I put all mine together. Nothing helps set off a good collection of well painted figures, like a well thought out terrain set up.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks chaps!

    I do plan to do some more terrain, myself- a raised Roman road, with trees along the side, is high on my list.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Brilliant looking game Simon!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I will post this as soon as I am able to review it.