Caesar Invades Britain (Again), a DBA 3.0 AAR

My friend Bob & I got together & played DBA 3.0 with double sized armies of Ancient British vs Marian Romans. Bob recently obtained more British chariots and was eager to see them used. We used the Big Battle DBA (BBDBA) rules, modified by using only 2 commands per side instead of 3, on a 6' x 4' board.

The battle was set up to somewhat mimic Caesar's first invasion, with the British hanging back from the coast at a distance, following &  watching the Romans land before approaching for battle. The Roman force was assumed to be following along the coast in ships, landing on a random location where the White Cliffs of Dover were no longer an obstacle to getting ashore. As happened historically, the Roman cavalry would not be able to land with the main force, but landed in a random location in a random number of turns later. In 2 previous games, the British won both using standard 12 element DBA, so the Romans were trying to get revenge.

One special rule we used was that British light chariots could dismount during the game as warbands (3Wb). However, the British never used this option during the game. Another special rule was that the Roman player could decide which pip dice to assign to each command after rolling each bound, to reflect Caesar's command ability. The British had to roll a separate die for each command and use whatever the score was for that command each turn.

The order of battle for both sides is shown below:

Ancient British (List # II/53)

2 x Commands each composed of the following:

1 x General in chariot (LCh)
3 x LCh (British chariots)
2 x LH (Light Horse)
6 x 3Wb (Fast Warbands)

The British army is fast moving, and has troops that can go toe to toe with the Romans, and has an advantage in the number of mounted troops.

Marian Roman (List # II/49)

2 x Commands each composed of the following:

1 x General on foot (4Bd)

2 x Cavalry (3Cv)

1 x Psiloi (Ps)

1 x fast Thracian Mercenary Auxilia (3Ax)

2 x solid Greek Theurophori Auxilia (4Ax)

5 x Legionaries (4Bd)

For the Romans in this game, we avoided using Roman troop types that would not have been used in Britain, such as elephants, Asiatic Horse archers, etc.

Below is the British deployment. The battlefield had a ridge on the Britain's entry edge, while the battlefield side edges had rough terrain.

The Roman entry side was divided into 6 x 1' numbered "entry zones." The Romans rolled a '4' and entered zone 4 as shown.

A close up of the Roman foot. The Roman cavalry would land randomly and enter at a zone to be determined on a later turn.

The Romans hang back to deploy their force.

On turn 5, the Roman cavalry arrives at entry zone 2, separated from the main body, while the Britain's advance.

The Romans have mostly deployed while the Britain's close.

The Britain's charge on the Roman far right flank....

British chariots & the CinC (red bordered shield) charge the Mercenary theurophori.

British warbands charge in the center.

Panorama of the battle.

More chariots & Romans in close combat.

The warband breaks through the Roman line.

The Romans kill one chariot, but the Britains are attacking Caesar's blade element with a double corner overlap. Caesar has to fight them off using his CinC +1.

Another panorama of the battle. The Roman right flank command is demoralized, while the British right flank command is also demoralized.

Caesar's last moments as his command is demoralized and he runs out of the CinC bonus.

It was a close contest with both sides having a demoralized command. The Britain's claim another victory and are now 3-0 vs the Romans. You can read about the previous British victories here and here.