Early Germans vs Huns: Another 100pt ADLG Battle

 Recently, we had another ADLG battle. We enjoy the effects that ADLG allows horse archer types during the game, such as evading and distant shooting. ADLG is also a step-reduction game, where the elements/units are worn-down step by step in combat, whereas in games like DBA, the units are mostly either recoiled back a short distance or destroyed outright.

In our latest game we used the Early Germans (250AD) vs the Huns (374AD), so an out-of-period battle where the armies existed about 124 years apart. We used Huns from a period prior to Attila (who appeared about 433AD). Below is an order of battle for our game. Note that each army below is made up of a single corps or command. The latest version of ADLG now requires 100pt armies to be composed of two commands, so we will adjust our armies for future games:

Huns:

1 x Brilliant CinC (Mundzuk) & Elite Heavy Cavalry, Bow

1 x Heavy Cavalry, Bow 

12 x Horsemen: Light Cavalry, Bow

Total: 14 units

Germans:

1 x Brilliant CinC (Arminius the Younger) & Bodyguard of

 Elite Medium Cavalry

2 x Horsemen: Elite Medium Cavalry

4 x German Tribes: Impetuous Heavy Swordsmen

2 x Veteran Germanic Tribes: Elite Impetuous Heavy Swordsmen

1 x Skirmisher: Light Infantry, Bow

3 x Skirmishers: Light Infantry, Javelins

Total: 13 units

Below is an account of our game.

The Hun army deployed at the crest of a low ridge. The Hun Nobles are in front of the camp, with 2 wings of bow armed horsemen. A small wood is in the lower right of the photo.

  Another view of the Huns.

The German army deployed opposite, also on a low ridge (no effect for game purposes).

An overview of the battlefield. The Germans (left) have moved their left flank javelin-armed skirmishers towards the field (outlined with rocks), supported by their medium cavalry elite horsemen. The Huns (right) have advanced forward into the valley.

 

Another overview of the battle.

 

 

The Huns ride up to close range and shoot into the German tribesmen.

The javelin armed German skirmishers attempted to engage the Huns in the flank, who subsequently evade away.

The Huns about face the next turn and engage the skirmishers with bow fire. The Hun bow fire on the near flank is ineffective.

The Germans try attacking the Huns on the near flank, who evade. 

The Huns have routed a skirmisher in the field in close combat, and scored bow hits on the others.

The Huns close in and rout the rest of the skirmishers in the field.

 

 

The Huns on the far flank reform and begin to work around the German flank. The near flank Huns have turned around and moved back into bow range.

The German line starts to break up. First, the German Elite Horsemen move forward past the field towards the Hun Nobles. Some German tribesmen charge the Huns on the near flank, but the Huns evade.

 

 

Far flank Hun horsemen move towards the flank of veteran (elite) German tribesmen, while the near flank Huns turn around and come into bow fire range of the Germans.

The veteran German tribesmen turn & face the Hun horsemen on the far flank. The German elite horsemen charge the Hun nobles, who evade (upper right).  The German tribes on the near flank are reforming their line as the Hun horsemen approach.

The far flank Huns (upper left) are engaging the veteran German tribesmen with bow fire. The Hun nobles (upper right) have made an about face and move into bow range of the German horsemen, while another group of Hun horsemen is on their flank. A Hun unit on the near flank has routed a German skirmisher unit (not shown). 

 

Clockwise from upper left: One group of Huns have evaded the German veterans while another moves into bow range, The German horsemen are engaging the Hun nobles but it is going badly as all three German horsemen units have taken 2 hits each from melee and bow fire, and the Huns on the near flank are moving into bow range again and inflicting hits on the German tribesmen.

 

The last act clockwise from top left: The Huns have reformed to attack the veteran Germans with bow fire, the Hun nobles (upper right) have routed all the German horsemen, and the near flank Huns (below) are firing for effect on the German tribesmen. German casualties have forced army demoralization at this point, including the 4 units in the photo disordered from bow fire.

Another hard fought exciting game (well, exciting for the Huns anyway). Miniatures are 28mm Old Glory figures.

 

 

Patrician Romans vs Huns: An ADLG Battle

 I haven't posted anything in awhile, though we have been playing a few DBA games here & there. Recently, we took a diversion from our usual DBA encounters and wanted to try something completely different, so we tried a 100 pt game of ADLG (Art De La Guerre) using Patrician Romans vs Attila's Huns. While many of ADLG's game mechanics are similar to DBx series games, ADLG has some unique mechanics of it's own, including step reduction for combat, missle fire by all troop types capable of doing so (not just abstractions as in DBA for Psiloi, Light Horse, etc.), and the ability to evade when charged by the enemy. We also tried using Armati II, but didn't like having to track not only hits, but also fatigue for individual units as well, and the rules system was unlike DBx in many ways. ADLG has more game mechanics that we are used to. We used version 3 of  ADLG, as we hadn't yet obtained a copy of version 4 at the time of our game.

Below is an Order of Battle for our game:

Attila's Huns:

CinC: Ellac, Brilliant General, attached to Nobles.   

1 x Nobles: Heavy Cavalry, Bow

4 x Huns: Light Cavalry, Bow

2 x Subject Heruls: Heavy Cavalry, Impetuous

4 x Subject Goths, Heavy Swordsmen, Impetuous

2 x Skirmishers: Light Infantry, Bow

Total: 13 units, 100 pts

Patrician Romans:   

CinC: Aesop, Brilliant General, attached to Equites

1 x Equites: Heavy Cavalry, Impact

1 x Equites Clibanarii: Cataphract

1 x Equites Illyricani: Light Cavalry, Javelin

2 x Mounted Foederati: Heavy Cavalry, Impetuous

1 x Decadent Legionaries: Heavy Swordsmen

3 x Auxilia Palatina: Medium Swordsmen, Impact, Support

2 x Exulcatores: Light Infantry,Javelin

1 x Heavy Artillery

Total: 12 units, 100 pts

As you can see from above, the 100 pt armies in ADLG are very similar in size to a standard 12 element DBA army.  

An account of our game is below. Note that all infantry units, except for light infantry, are 2 ranks of elements in ADLG.

 

Above, the Romans deployed for battle.

 

 

Above, the Huns deployed for battle. Note that both armies are deployed on a ridge with a valley in between.

 

 The Huns advance: the skirmishers in the center, & the Hun light horse on both flanks, with Herul heavy cavalry supporting the right flank (top of photo). 

The Mounted Foederati charge the Hun light horse, but they evade to the rear. Note the Roman Auxilia Palatina with rear rank of supporting archers to the left next to the camp. 

 

 After some ineffectual shooting, the Hun light horse on the left flank (lower right) evades from the Roman legionaries and Equites Illyricani. In the center, a Hun skirmisher has taken a hit from the Roman heavy artillery. Next turn, a second hit destroyed it.    

 

       

The Hun cavalry on right flank fight the Roman mounted Foederati. The Huns have lost a light cavalry unit.

The Foederati follow up and knock out a Herul Heavy Cavalry unit.

The Hun archery fire on the left continues to be ineffective, and the Roman aggressiveness caused the Huns to evade further.

However, the Hun light horse turns around surprise charges the Roman legionaries and Equites Illyricani, with a Herul heavy cavalry in support, striking the Legionaries in the flank. Both Roman units are destroyed in the ensuing combat.

With 2 mounted units lost on the right flank, the remaining Hun flees (evades) with one Foederati in pursuit, while the other attempts to rally from it's losses.

The Hun light horse evades further behind the exposed Hun camp. A Goth heavy swordsmen unit turns to face the Foederati.

      

The Huns rush a Herul heavy cavalry unit and a light infantry skirmisher to the rear to support the Hun light cavalry unit.

 

The left flank Huns rush forward & resume harassing the Roman right flank, inflicting a hit on the Roman light infantry.

The Foederati unit halts their pursuit and attempts to get away from the Hun cavalry, but they are blocked by the Goth infantry threat zone. Meanwhile, the other Foederati unit has fully recovered and is moving towards the Hun line.

On the left, Hun bow fire kills a Roman skirmisher unit.

The Foederati heavy cavalry that was trying to escape is destroyed by the Goth infantry.

The second Foederati makes a suicidal charge into the Goth infantry and becomes disordered after the first combat round.

The Foederati is finally destroyed after being flanked by the Heruls. This action finally caused the Romans to break.

Ellac and the rest of the Goth battle line looking on.

The Roman Auxilia Palatina look on in defeat.

The battle was close until the end. Both sides spent their command points on the flanks, with not much action in the center. In ADLG, the quality of a general determines what kind of command points can be generated. After killing one skirmisher unit, the Roman artillery had no other targets for the rest of the game.

History of the Gallic Wars

I recently came across some videos by Historia Civilis on the Gallic Wars. They are informative & entertaining. They are also a great source of information for creating scenarios for games like DBA or ADLG, as several Roman/Gallic battles are reviewed in detail. The first video details the Battle of the Sabis (which we have gamed a couple times, with articles on this blog). If you finish this video, Youtube automatically plays the next one in chronological order. Episodes on Caesar's invasion of Britain are also included. Here is the Sabis video, which is the first one in the series:

Below is a link to the Historica Civilis YouTube channel, which has the rest of their videos, which cover not only Caesar's wars, but includes campaigns of Crassus, Pompey, Philip II, and Alexander:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv_vLHiWVBh_FR9vbeuiY-A

1st Corps Hellenistic Thureophoros & Thorakitai

I just finished some 1st Corps 28mm Thureophoros & Thorakitai to fight alongside my Thracians in ADLG & DBA. I purchased the miniatures from Mark Severin at Scale Creep Miniatures, who gives good service. The figures were very nice, with little flash.

The Thureophoros are on the left, while the Thorakitai are on the right. The difference between them is that the Thorakitai are wearing mail shirts, while the Thureophoros are unarmored. I based the figures as 4Ax for DBA. They can also be used as Medium or Heavy Spearmen for ADLG. For ADLG, note that the rear rank have the long thrusting spears, while the front rank are throwing javelins, which I think pretty well shows how they fought historically.

All the figures with spears are cast with butt-spikes. The Thureophoros are slightly more animated than the Thorakitai, but I am pleased with both types. These troops were typically mercenaries found in late Hellenistic & Successor armies, but were also found in Late Republic Roman & Pontic armies.

Old Glory Thracians

I just finished painting a bag of 30 Old Glory 28mm Thracians. Now I have Thracian units for ADLG and enough elements for a Thracian DBA or BBDBA army where the Thracians were auxiliaries.

 I based them 3 to a base. In DBA, Thracians can be 3Ax or 4Ax. I decided to base them all on 3 figure bases and designate certain elements (the white theuros shields) as 4Ax when needed. The figures are nicely animated, some of Old Glory's better figures.

As you can see from behind, the Thracians have crescent shields of various designs, as well as ochre & white theuros shields.

ADLG: Kushites vs Ostrogoths

I recently played another ADLG game in 25mm with Simon Babbs. This time, Simon came to Wheaton, where we played at Liberty Hobby Center. We had another 200 pt contest, this time the Kushites vs the Ostrogoths. 

Simon used his NK Egyptians as Kushites, and 2 horse chariots as 4 horse ones (Simon is currently painting 4 horse chariots for his Kushites). 2 of the Kushite commands contained 4 horse chariots, very tough units that have impact ability, as well as being heavy. The center command also had light infantry bows, while the left flank command had mediocre medium cavalry and bowmen. On the right flank, the Kushites had mediocre medium cavalry, bowmen, and a light cavalry unit.

The Ostrogoths have limited command ability (+2 command rating) and no Strategist Generals are available. I used 2 competent generals for the flank cavalry commands and an ordinary general in the center infantry command. Based on my previous experience with the Ostrogoths, for this game I decided to mass the Hun Light cavalry (elite, bow) within one command, along with the elite heavy impetuous cavalry. The left flank command had bowmen, light infantry bows, and regular impetuous heavy cavalry. In the center were impetuous heavy swordsmen (Frankish foot warriors), a light infantry bow unit, and a medium impetuous cavalry unit. The Goths also had a fortified camp.

Above shows the end of turn 1. The areas with trees are plantations. On the Kushite side there was a gentle hill and two small fields.  

 Above shows the Hun cavalry has advanced into bow range. Hun bow fire in this game was fairly effective. The Goth heavy cavalry is just out of charge range behind them.

 The above photo shows just a couple turns later when the Goth cavalry impetuously charged through the Huns into the Kushite left, proceeding to get three units destroyed vs the very tough chariots (though the Goths managed to kill one of the chariots). The Kushite chariots in the center "slid" to the left and towards the Frankish foot warriors. The bowmen of both sides began trading volleys. On the far Gothic left, the Kushites were annoying the Gothic cavalry with a single light cavalry unit on the flank, which the Goths were countering with a light infantry bow unit.

 Above shows the death throes of the remaining Gothic cavalry unit on the Gothic right flank. The chariots charged, but the single Hun unit evaded, while the remaining Huns stayed where they could keep firing. On the Gothic left, the Light Infantry dispatched the Kushite light cavalry with bow fire and the Gothic cavalry wheeled round into a position where it could charge next turn. Both sides lost bow units on that flank.

 On the Gothic right, the heavy cavalry is gone, but the Huns are still firing away at the Kushite medium cavalry and bowmen. In the center, two groups of Kushite chariots have "slid" towards the center and into the Frankish foot warriors, causing multiple disordered. On the Gothic left, the Kushite medium cavalry has evaded from the Goth heavy cavalry, while the bowmen continue to trade volleys.

 The above photo, lower right shows the growing number of Gothic dead. The Huns on the right have destroyed another medium cavalry unit with bow fire and are making their presence felt. In the center, two Frankish warrior units have been killed and two are disordered by the Kushite chariots. On the Gothic left, the heavy cavalry has hit the Kushite medium cavalry in the rough terrain, but the Gothic general's unit is flanked. The Gothic & Kushite bowmen are still trading volleys.

 Above shows the point where the Gothic casualties reach the breaking point and the game ended. The Huns were still viable on the right, while the Frankish warriors had lost half their number and another unit disordered. Somehow, the Franks managed to kill a chariot.

 Close-up of the Frankish/Kushite battle.

The left flank Gothic general fighting hard, though outflanked.

Aftermath: Massing the Huns proved to be effective in this game. The left flank Gothic cavalry should have more aggressively deployed to attack the weaker Kushite right flank sooner in the game. Kushite chariots are very tough opponents regardless. Thanks to Simon for another enjoyable game and for fighting 2 hours of traffic to get there.