Battle of Mons Graupius - A 28mm Ancient Roman Wargame

 Afternoon All

A few years back myself and a good friend put together a project focussing on the Roman Invasion of Britannia in glorious 28mm. Between us we managed to put together two Legions alongside hundreds of auxiliaries (archers, cavalry and infantry). Facing this mighty force were over 2000 Ancient Britons and Celts. Sadly these chaps frequent the table on a rare occasion so we felt this ought to change and over the last couple of Monday nights we have tried to recreate the Roman Invasion of Caledonia (Scotlands) and the lesser known battle of Mons Graupius. 

17ft table looking across the slopes of Mons Graupius

The Roman Army

Roman Cavalry

This post talks about out attempts to bring this game to the table, the orders of battle and stats for the units involved plus our two games. Suffice to say that the honours were even with each protagonists winning one engagement.

The forces edge forward

Background

What we know about this battle comes from the Roman writer Tacitus. We know it was fought in Scotland (most likely the North East coastal plain) in either 83AD or 84AD. Having successfully conquered Wales and Northern Britain the Roman Governor Julius Agricola marched north into Scotland to complete the invasion of Britannia. Facing him were the warring tribes of the highlands loosely allied to face this Roman threat. The Caledonii as known were lead by King Calgacus.

Before engagement...

Charge !!!

For some weeks Calgacus refused to give the Romans the pitched battle they craved, his strategy was to harass and generally avoid meeting the strong invader head on in the belief that they might just go away. However when the Romans were beginning to force the point and began to threaten the natives winter grain supplies his hand was forced.

Fierce fighting across the front

The two sides were soon drawn into combat . Arrayed across the slopes of Mons Graupius the locals held the advantageous terrain. The two sides were evenly matched in numbers with each side reported to field 30,000 men (if true this could well be the largest ever battle fought on British soil)

Skirmishing on the slopes

Generals debate their orders

The Romans deployed with their auxiliaries (mostly likely German/Batavian units) to the front, flanked by their armoured cavalry. The Legion was drawn up as a tactical reserve. Rumour has it that Agricola was keen not to sill Roman blood on these worthless natives.

As the Romans advanced the Britons charged forward en masse. The result was a massacre, according to Tacitus a third of the Caledoni were killed with the remaining routed, all for the cost of only 360 auxiliary soldiers. 

Despite winning the day The Romans never fully conquered the highlands as there attempts were hindered by political issues of the day and the need to draw troops from Briton to other parts of the empire.

One final point according to Tacitus the Caledoni Calgucus addressed the tribes on the eve of battle with the following words.....which sounds very similar to the words used by Mel Gibson in Braveheart

“You have mustered to a man, and to a man you are free.”

Celtic Light horse chase down the Romans

In both games we used the Hail Caesar ruleset and the stats for most of the units were drawn from the Britannia supplement. Note we did alter the Caledonian forces in the second game to create a more balanced game.

Holding the line against the horde

Orders of Battle

Romans

9 x Cohorts of Regular Roman Infantry (Testudo, Drilled) - Stamina 6

1 x Large Primus Cohort - Veteran Romans (Testudo, Drilled, Tough Fighters, Elite 4+ - Stamina 8

5 x Auxiliary Infantry (standard units) - stamina 6

5 x Auxiliary Archers (standard) - Stamina 6

7 x Scorpions (light Artillery)

5 x Medium Auxilliary Cavalry - Stamina 6

The Romans were given 9 commanders (all rated 9) and could use these to command any unit - we wanted the Roman forces to have complete flexibility on the table. 

The Roman infantry were deployed in the centre as the players saw fit - our first game saw the auxiliaries lead the line (not a good idea) but in the real battle they did all the hard work. The Cavalry were split and lined the flanks.

Trying to break the line

Caledoni

24 x Large Warbands of Warriors - Stamina 8. In the first game they were given armour of 5+ plus tough fighter trait. The second game saw the removal of the trait and armour modified to 6+. These were brigaded into 4 brigade across the centre. Each Brigade had a commander rated 8

6 x Light Cavalry - stamina 6 - Split into two brigades each with its own commander rated 8

6 x Small units of chariots  - Stamina 4 - In the first game they had the standard 4+ save, this was modified to 5+ in the second game. In addition the second game saw each chariot unit as its own command with a rating of 7. 

8 x small units of skirmishers armed with slings and bows (stamina - 4) . Two units Attached to each warband brigade

Finally the Caledonii were given a further three 'generals' (rating 8) who could command any unit - we decided only these could issue 'follow me commands'

The Game (s)

As mentioned earlier we fought this game over two separate Monday sessions. In both cases the objectives of both sides were to break the opponents army (ie they had to rout or break 50% of the opposition). In both games we ran out of time but the results were conclusive and we probably only missed out on an hour of play.

In our first game the Scots swarmed across the field and sensibly targeted the weaker Roman units. Given the Roman cavalry was strung out on the flanks and the leading line was manned by the lesser armoured Auxiliaries there life was made much easier. They also had better armour themselves. The result a Roman defeat by some margin. Trying to develop a scenario that is both balanced and fun to play is a juggling act. Our first game was definitely exciting but it just felt too easy for the Celtic tribes. 

In the second game we allowed the Romans to deploy as they saw fit and we reduced the armour values of the Scots. These two tweaks turned the game into a much closer affair. Ultimately the Romans just won because of their superior command roles, the mutual support each cohort could offer each other and their better armour/morale saves.

In conclusion 

• the game needs about 4 hours to play out to a successful conclusion
• deploying the heavy infantry (albeit historically incorrect) is the right way for the Romans to survive the massive number of attacks coming their way from the big warbands
• the light troops/skirmish units are a greaty way to screen the larger units and generally be a nuisance on the field
• The Romans need to protect their weaker units (archers and horse in particular) - the loss of these severely impacts their chance to winning the game.
• The large warbands (stamina 8) are great one shot charge weapons but extremely brittle against heavily armoured troops. They need plenty of supports in action.