BRITANNIA AD, Epic "Hail Caesar" Clash

WOW, what a game.
Last nights gaming activity saw myself and Andy take another foray into our islands past history.
A Roman attack on a British Hillfort, (a good excuse to use the new Hillfort I made and the new flexible terrain Andy has made at Terra Firma).
The scenario required the Romans to attack and take a local Hillfort that had become the centre of resistance to Roman rule in the area.
The Britons, hearing of the impending attack had mustered a large force to give the pasta munchers a bloody nose.

The Roman Force

 

Setting up the table

I can't do a full batrep, as I was having so much fun that I can't really remember all the fine details of what happened during the game.

I did take some pics though, so a quick rundown of the game will have to do.

Britons Chariots and Cavalry arrive.

 The British cavalry seemed reluctant to get into the battle. The chariots got into their position quite early but the cavalry seemed to be less enthusiastic about the impending clash.

Romans advance into attack position

The Romans formed their line, but a few poor command rolls delayed the assault.
Even with the "Drilled" rule, the Romans were slow to move early in the game.

The British horde ready for the advancing Romans.

Both sides faced off against each other, it would come down to who would make the first move.

The Romans decided to make the first move, the scenario demanded it.

The Romans had to take the Hillfort (Minor Victory) and destroy the British Host (Major victory)

The Brits had to prevent this.

The Roman Assault begins

Britons Cavalry starts to move at last

The Face Off just prior to the Roman advance.

The Battle swung from one to the other as the casualties started to mount on both sides.

The British cavalry now on the Roman right, prevented the Roman right wing from aiding the Roman centre against the British centre.

Romans advance

The British centre and the Hillfort , a tough nut to crack

Epic struggle as casualties mount.

The Romans discipline started to show as they withstood the Britons high clash values (but only just)

Warband after Warband broke as the Romans pressed on relentlessly. 

Time was running out, the final Roman assault would decide the battle.

Both sides were now reeling from the earlier rounds of hand to hand.
The loss of a few Warbands had left Andy in a bit of a predicament, but the Brits were still strong and were going to be hard to move.

The Final assault drove the Britons from the field.

The final Roman assault broke the back of the British centre as the attacks on the Hillfort proved to much for the defenders.
With the Hillfort captured and the British centre in full retreat, the game ended.
The minor consolation for the British was their cavalry defeating the Roman cavalry on the right as the entire British Army became broken.
This had been a very hard fight for the Roman army, all of the Legionaries were in a very poor state at the end of the battle.
It really could have gone either way.
A Roman victory that gave the Romans a very bloody nose in getting it.

The Hillfort fell to a double attack from the Romans 

Well !

What a game.

Myself and Andy sat down after this hard fought slog and chatted about the game.

While enjoying a cuppa and a cig, we both came to the same conclusion.

HC is a great system, it really does work.

It felt right for the period, the table and the 1/72 troops looked great on my modest 6 x 5.

The Scenario worked a treat and we both really enjoyed the game.

There were NO quibbles, no gamesmanship, just a great evening of gaming.

I must say that this was one of the most enjoyable games I have had in many years.

Our dice rolls were sometimes shocking but we just got on with it.

We played in the spirit of the period and it felt right.

Most importantly, we had FUN, and to be honest, this is how gaming should be and will be in the future for me.

A BIG thanks to Andy (LOKI) for a superb evening and for the new flexible terrain.
Mmmmmmmmm, now what for next thursday.