HKSW CAMPAIGN SERIES 2011 07

VALLEY OF DEATH 57BC

THE GALLIC SECOND REPULSE OF ROME

TALABECLAND PRESS

CONTENTS
Origins of the Campaign Gaul: the Arena of Conflict The Coming of Rome The Opposing Leaders The Gallic Commanders The Roman Commanders The Opposing Armies The Gallic Army The Roman Army The Gallic Order of Battle The Roman Order of Battle The Opposing Plans The Gallic Plan The Roman Plan The Campaign The deployment The Initial Gallic Advance on all fronts Julius Caesar Kens Counterattack The Warband Attack in the Centre Roman Left Wing Crumble Roman Centre Broken Final Victory of Gallic by breaking Roman Left Wing and Centre Aftermath and Reckoning Performance of the Gallic Army Performance of the Marian Roman Army

Origins of the Campaign

The battle of Hamburger Hill in 60BC was a serious setback of Rome in the Gallic War. Although Julius Caesar Ken had routed its Gallic opponent and kept most of his army intact, the German intervention on the Romans left and the crushing defeat inflicted by the German save the day for the Gallic tribe. With Lorento committed suicide in his bath and Proconsul Chu cut down by the barbarian in the Battle of Hamburger Hill, Julius Caesar Ken assumed overall command and raised a small but powerful army to invade Gaul again. Peace was short-lived. In spring 57 BC Julius Caesar Ken executed his plan and led the army into the Gallic territory again. King James this time did not receive any help from his German allies and had to face the onslaught of Rome alone. James army composed mostly of newly raised cavalry tried to stop the Roman advance in a valley later known as Valley of Death.

Gaul: the Arena of Conflict

Photo of the terrain Julius Caesar Ken might probably want to copy his success at the Battle of Hamburger Hill and thus he chose 2 1FE size of hill and 1 FE size of marsh. Unfortunately both hills were rolled at the wrong side of the table. King James needed open ground to let his warband fighting in full potential and thus selected 1 FE of wood and 1 FE of marsh to protect his flanks and also several hills to reinforce his position. The result was, as can be seen from the photos, that the battlefield was very open with some hills at the edges of the table. Each side also has a marsh at the center rear and the Gallic also enjoyed an extra benefit of having a small wood covering his left flank.

The Coming of Rome

The Battle of the Valley of Death was the second battle of a series of battles fought between the Marian Roman army and Barbarian armies at HKSW meeting. His loyal ally, Chieftain Neil in the course of battle, helped King James.

The Gallic Commanders

Photo of the Gallic Commanders, King James and Chieftain Neil during the battle

Photo of the Gallic commanders, King James and Chieftain Neil after the battle

James was the Commander who commanded the Gallic army and Neil the left wing sub-general commanded the cavalry wing. Note that nearly all the figures used in this game were painted by Dragon Painting Service Co (DPS). DPS has sponsored our Societys activities for four years. Should you be interested to order painted figures from DPS, please contact: dragonpainthk@yahoo.com.hk. Members of The Hong Kong Society of Wargamers are entitled to 15% discount.

The Roman Commanders

Photo of the Roman Commander Julius Caesar Ken during the battle

Julius Caesar Ken was the overall Commander with his newly raised Roman army. His army was recently painted by DPS and just been delivered to him.

The Gallic Army

The Gallic Warband

The Gallic Cavalry

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The Roman Army

The Legions

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The Spanish Foot and Thureophoroi

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The German, Spanish and Gallic Roman Ally Cavalry

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The Gallic Order of Battle

Gallic (Belgae)
A Total ME >1/4 ME Lost >1/3 ME Lost >1/2 ME Lost Cmd Points 58 15 19.5 29.5 302 B 20 5.5 7 10.5 97 C 27 7 9.5 14 146 D 0 0 0 0 0 Train 6 2 Break Points * Disheartened

2.5 * Broken 3.5 * Shattered 0

Command A 2 Army Baggage 1 C-in-C James 16 Cavalry 64 Foot warriors 5 Javelinmen 3 Archers

Type Irr Irr Irr Irr Irr Irr Bg(I) Cv(O) Cv(I) Wb(O) Ps(I) Ps(O)

Cmd Train CinC

AP 1 17 5 3 1 2

Total 2 17 28 192 5 6

ME 1 4 1 0.5 0.5 0.5

Command B 1 Army Baggage 1 Sub-general 4 Cavalry 10 Cavalry

Type Irr Irr Irr Irr Bg(I) Cv(O) Cv(O) Cv(I)

Cmd Train SG

AP 1 17 7 5

Total 1 17 28 50

ME 1 4 1 1

Command C 1 Army Baggage 1 Sub-general 11 Cavalry 10 Cavalry

Type Irr Irr Irr Irr Bg(I) Cv(O) Cv(O) Cv(I)

Cmd Train SG

AP 1 17 7 5

Total 1 17 77 50

ME 1 4 1 1

Train Command 6 Army Baggage

Type Irr Bg(I)

Cmd Train

AP 1

Total 6

ME 1

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The Roman Order of Battle

Roman army under Julius Caesar Ken
A Total ME >1/4 ME Lost >1/3 ME Lost >1/2 ME Lost Cmd Points 42 11 14.5 21.5 251 B 24 6.5 8.5 12.5 148 C 26 7 9 13.5 136 D 0 0 0 0 0 Train 12 3.5 4.5 6.5 0 Break Points * Disheartened * Broken * Shattered

Command A 2 Army Baggage 1 Roman C-in-C Julius Caesar Ken 8 Legionaries 4 German and Gallic cavalry 4 Spanish cavalry 4 Spanish javelinmen 8 Legio X 4 Ditch and rampart for camp

Type Reg Reg Reg Reg Irr Irr Reg Reg Bg(O) Cv(O) Bd(O) Cv(O) LH(O) Ps(S) Bd(S) TF camp

Cmd Train CinC(B)

AP 3 53 7 8 4 3 9 1

Total 6 53 56 32 16 12 72 4

ME 2 4 1 1 1 0.5 2 0

Command B 2 Army Baggage 1 Roman Sub-general 16 Legionaries 2 Ditch and rampart for camp

Type Reg Reg Reg Reg Bg(O) Cv(O) Bd(O) TF camp

Cmd Train SG

AP 3 28 7 1

Total 6 28 112 2

ME 2 4 1 0

Command C 2 Army Baggage 1 Roman Sub-general 4 German and Gallic cavalry 4 Spanish javelinmen 6 Thracian foot 6 Thureophoroi 4 Ditch and rampart for camp

Type Reg Reg Reg Irr Irr Reg Reg Bg(O) Cv(O) Cv(O) Ps(S) Ax(S) Ax(S) TF camp

Cmd Train SG

AP 3 28 8 3 4 5 1

Total 6 28 32 12 24 30 4

ME 2 4 1 0.5 1 1 0

Train Command 6 Army Baggage

Type Reg 17 Bg(O)

Cmd Train

AP 3

Total 18

ME 2

The Gallic Plan

The plan of King James was simple. Charged home before the arrival of Roman flanking force if any. James hoped that the open terrain would help him achieving his goal. Frontal attack in the same old barbaric fashion. Kill, kill, eat, eat and waaggh, waaggh. The Battle started at noon (12:00).

The Roman Plan

The plan of Julius Caesar Ken was rather complex. From his past experience at the Battle of Hamburger Hill he knew that his auxilia were hard to crack by warbands. Thus he had a lot of faith on these units and wanted them to stem the tide of the warband attack. He expected James to field all of his available foot warband (actually only 64 out of possible 96 were field). Therefore the deployment of his force was complex. He placed his auxilia, psiloi at the front while his legions were positioned behind. A small detachment of cavalry was also place on its left wing to protect the flank while a larger detachment of cavalry and light horse was positioned at his right wing.

Photos of Roman deployment from right to left

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The Deployment
Situation at 12:00 - Gallic side Last time James was unable to completely surrounding the Hamburger Hill due to the suborn resistance of Roman auxilia. Unhappy with the result at the last battle, James this time recruited more cavalry to deal with the troublesome Roman auxilia. Typically he placed all his foot warband at the center. He had 64 elements of foot warband positioned in 16 elements width and 4 ranks deep. Right behind the warband there were also 16 elements of raw cavalry in single rank. The purpose of the deployment was that should there be any auxilia found in front of the warband the raw cavalry would pass though the warband to deal with it. Thus the cavalry were to cover the advance of the warband. James also placed a large cavalry wing on his left. Neil was ordered to secure the hill and then turn the Roman right flank. James commanded a smaller cavalry wing on the right wing and to have watchful eyes on any outflanking movement of the Roman force.

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Kill, kill, eat, eat and waaggh, waaggh!

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Situation at 12:00 - Roman Response As mentioned before, Roman deployment was rather complex. The first line of light troops was deployed to absorb any possible initial charge of the warbands which was deadly and with them giving ground gradually rather than suddenly, the legions could counterattack at the desired moment thus routing the warbands. Due to being out numbered, the Roman deployed deep instead of a more linear fashion. The cavalry wings were to skirmish only and to protect the flanks.

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The Initial Gallic Advance on all fronts

Situation from 12:00 to 12:30 The battle started at noon. After seeing the Roman initial deployment, James immediately advanced his cavalry in the center to cover the advance of his foot warband. James wanted to use his cavalry to defeat those Roman psiloi and auxilia and clear the way for the foot warband. King James stationed with the foot warband so that he had a tight control on these unruly fighters. In support of the advance in the centre, Neil also advanced his large cavalry group and was able to secure the hill on Romans right. James also advanced his smaller cavalry group on his right to support the advance and to crush the Roman left wing. However, uncertain whether there was any outflanking force sent by Julius Caesar Ken, both cavalry commands advanced cautiously and had some cavalry elements held in reserve to deal with any unexpected situation. At 12:10 Ken withdrew his psiloi to the marsh and allowed his legion to advance to deal with the Gallic cavalry. He also advanced his other legionaries behind the auxilia in order to support them. At 12:20 a Roman deserter (Herbertis Wongius) revealed to James that there was no outflanking force sent by Ken (Ken rolled 3 command dices instead of 4). Moreover, the cavalry in the front also reported that the Roman auxilia was actually smaller in numbers than they seemed to be. Thus James had nothing to worry about and lined up all his cavalry as well as those commanded by Neil (more than 30 elements) in order to execute a La Grand Charge. Facing such a formidable cavalry formation, Ken sent his auxilia forward hoping that they could brunt the charge of the Gallic cavalry. The advance of the auxilia also gave room for Kens legion to deploy.

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Situation at 12:40 and the initial Assault Surprised by Kens advance of the auxilia, James and Neil nevertheless ordered their cavalry to charge home. The charge killed 2 units of auxilia. This was quite unlucky for the Romans as they should be able to hold for a longer period. It seemed that Kens hope could not be fulfilled. However, thing did not go smoothly at James right wing. Although James cavalry had also overlapped Kens smaller cavalry detachment, James could not achieve a breakthrough there but in return had one of his cavalry units killed. It left a hole in the cavalry line and let Ken to exploit it.

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Julius Caesar Kens Counterattack

Situation at 12:50 - Roman Response Ken advanced his legions in the center left to counterattack James cavalry. His cavalry on both wings also counter-attacked and managed to inflict some losses on James and Neils cavalry. It seemed that Ken could stabilize the front. However, the threat on Kens left did not remove as James was going to turn Kens left using his vast number of cavalry.

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The Warband Attack in the Centre

The high tide of the battle came at 13:00. Seeing his cavalry being repulsed by Kens counterattack, James decided whether to commit his foot warband into the fray. Actually James had little option as he threw 1 PIP for that command and the target was also tempting. There were a lot of legion positioned within the strike range of the foot warband and they were all caught in double ranks. Thus the foot warband could kill 2 legions in a row. Eventually James had let go his foot warband. Immediately a wave of warband in 16 elements wide and 4 ranks deep had surged forward for their victim. They charged through their cavalry and soon 4 legions were destroyed. The Roman auxilia were also giving way from the pressure of both James cavalry and warband. Ken wanted to stabilize the situation but already a hole was created in his center. He had no option but to commit his Legio X (Bd(S)) into battle. The situation was grieved and his smaller commands were close to dishearten point. Once disheartened the legion and auxilia were easy prey to warband.

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Roman Left Wing Crumble

At 13:20 the legions at the Roman left wing were broken after suffering terrible losses. In one stroke James warband was able to kill 1 auxilia and 2 legions.

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Roman Centre Broken

At 13:40 Roman center also crumbled and everything was lost.

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Final Victory of Gallic by Breaking Roman Left Wing and Centre

At around 13:40, the veteran Legio X started to take casualties Since the left and the center of the Roman army were already broken, this sparked a panic in the Roman files and the whole army started to flee. Julius Caesar Ken could not do anything but to flee with the remaining part of the army back to Italy to fight for another day. The Gallic losses were minimal and James claimed a major victory. last forever. Situation on the Roman left wing at end of 13:40 Hope peace can

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Aftermath and Reckoning

Performance of the Gallic German Army Extract from the Gallic King James: The battle again was straightforward. I positioned the warband at the centre and two cavalry wings at the extreme left and right. However, this time the foot warband were also supported by newly raised raw cavalry and these cavalry played a crucial role in the crumble of Roman centre. The cavalry had disturbed the position of the Roman legions before the foot warband charged home.

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Performance of the Marian Roman Army Julius Caesar Ken fought the battle in unfavorable terrain. Having been caught in the open ground the Roman had little chance to withstand the onslaught of the Gallic warband especially the Gallic enjoyed a vast superior advantage in the number of cavalry. The original plan of having the auxilia to brunt the charge of Gallic cavalry did not work and the trick to create an exaggerating army was also unable to fool James. In addition, the Roman logistic department misread the army list and thought that no Gallic auxillaries are available. Further more the Roman did not dig field fortifications in such unfavorable terrain. .

What if Julius Caesar Kens had received his field fortifications and his Gallic Auxiliaries reinforcements before the battle

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Editors: James Cheung and Lawrence Ho Writer: James Cheung and Ken Chan

Copyright 2011 The Hong Kong Society of Wargamers

www.hksw.org

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