Hail Caesar !

SteveJ's Romans
v.
SteveP & Barrie's Britons

We didn't have enough 28's available tonight, so we stuck with 15's on a 8x5 table.

The Britons tried to advance on the whole line, but the dice gods turned this into an advance in echelon leading from the right.

Both sides put all their horse (& chariots) on the near flank (Roman right).  The Britons got first blood with some hot shooting from their light horse, but the cavalry fight was all downhill from there & the Briton cavalry division was quickly routed.

On the other flank, the Britons failed to quite make their charges go home on the very Roman straight line formation.  The Romans countercharged chucking pila & better dice all along the line.  After failing to break any Romans on the first charge, the Britons ran out of steam and their divisions were pushed back & crumbled one by one.   The Romans lost only 1 unit in a  crushing victory.

In the second pic the Romans have won on the far flank.  In the centre the Britons are pushed back & about to break.  Near the wood there is another warband surrounded & doomed.

Last week the Britons got on a roll & the Romans looked hopeless, this week the sandal was very much on the other foot & the Romans seemed invincible.  I have commented before that Hail Caesar seems to suffer from wild swings of fortune, but it may be that is a function of the type of armies we are using.  Both Romans & Warbands have high impact factors, so the first round can easily be decisive -   Warbands either win first up or they lose - which is logical.  Match-ups of armies with steadier troops like hoplites or phalangites with lower impact factors & better saves should make combats more of a grind & less prone to wild swings of fortune.

Despite the limited experience with the rules the players collectively have, the battle went very smoothly and rattled right along.    Everyone enjoyed the experience & is keen to do more next week.  We are hoping to round up enough 28's for next time.