DUX BELLORUM... FIND THE LADY!

Publius Decimus Barbula Leads a Dawn Raid to Rescue the Lady of the Villa Lurkio!

For much of the winter, Fulvia Meretrix, Domina of the Villa Lurkio, had been held captive by Conchobhar, the Warlord of Dal Riatta and his band of nefarious warriors. On several occasions, Conchobhar had tried to rid himself of the troublesome strumpet but, despite all his most inspired endeavours, the Domina continued to cause mayhem in the Irish camp, instilling her own uncompromising order upon each and every one of the Irish raiders!

This scenario was loosely based upon "Dawn Attack", which appears in the rule book, but was only meant to be a trial run at using the rules with several units on each side. Barbula's rescue party totalled 26 points, while the Irish force guarding Fulvia Meretrix came to 19 points, with both sides taking no optional extras or upgrades!

Barbula and his Noble Companions and a unit of Noble Riders were tasked with a dash into the Irish camp to sweep the lady from the evil clutches of her abductors. Two units of javelin armed skirmishers and a unit of archers advanced in support, while a three unit group of Shieldwall brought up the rear as a rallying point once the rescue had been effected!

The Irish units were scattered fairly randomly around the camp and were made up of one unit of Noble Warriors, four units of Ordinary Warriors and a couple of javelin armed Skirmishers.

The only area terrain was this ploughed field and a swamp over on the opposite side of the battlefield. The donkey had been turned out into the field but it would be needed to help whisk the lady away from her captors!

The Romano-British skirmishers immediately gave an indication of how the battle was going to pan out, with one of the units failing it's Bravery Test, while the other scurried on through the swamp.

With plenty of Leadership Points between them, the two cavalry units sped on towards their destiny. The Irish weren't allowed a move in the first turn, to replicate their shock at seeing Babula and his warband looming towards them out of the early morning mist!

The Romano-British bowmen launched their first volley against the Irish Warriors defending the lowly hut where Fulvia Meretrix was being held. Two hits scored, but both cancelled out by Irish Leadership Points!

Barbula intended to make this a lightening strike, hoping to tempt the Irish Warriors into an Uncontrolled Charge, giving the lady chance to sneak away from her dingy abode. The Irishmen, however, contrived to fail their Bravery Test, giving them the opportunity to fall back and join their leader and a third unit of Warriors!

Meanwhile, in an act of utter stupidity, the unit of Noble Riders, decided to give up every advantage they had by charging into combat against a unit of Skirmishers sheltering behind a hedge (-2 dice in the combat roll!). As there is no 'official' ploughed field terrain type, I classed this as a 'bog', which is the last place mounted troops should be gallivanting.

The Romano-British Shieldwall manoeuvred itself to tempt another unit of Irish Warriors into an Uncontrolled Charge and the Noble Riders continued to embarrass themselves by ploughing further into the ploughed field!

The inevitable outcome of this dawn raid drew ever closer, as Barbula positioned his Companions to allow the lady to scurry out of her hovel but, she seemed somewhat reluctant to follow the plan!

Possibly the sight of her rescuer's massive horn tempted Fulvia to sneak out into the waiting arms of the lowly skirmishers and the rescue seemed at last to be going to plan.

The Irish, however, hadn't completely given up on the lady and an Uncontrolled Charge by their Foot Companions put a dent in Barbula's Cohesion.

Over on the opposite side of the battlefield, the Shieldwall had broken ranks, in an attempt to finish off the unit of Irish Warriors, but failed to make any impression upon their resolute opposition. The Ordinary Shieldwall Unit did, however, manage to attack and wipe out the Irish skirmishers attempting to get around their flank.

Barbula's brave Companions managed to force their opponents back and this was enough to convince the Irish that re-taking their prisoner was not worth the sacrifice of more lives.

Flavia Meretrix was now safely back in the hands of her own people and would be returned to her loving husband, waiting anxiously for her at the Villa Lurkio. Sadly, the Romano-British warband did not make sufficient progress on their right flank to rescue the donkey and so, it would be a long walk home for the Domina!

This small game of Dux Bellorum was only ever intended to get a few troops on the table and try out the rules. I only had a couple of hours to spare, so, although the battle could have gone on considerably longer and, probably, with a different outcome, once the Romano-British had reached the hut where Flavia Meretrix was being held, then that would trigger the end of the game. Play was frustrating at times, with units failing their Bravery Test for Movement, but I really like the ebb and flow of combat, with the advantage swinging first one way and then the other. Cavalry are clearly meant to operate in clear open terrain and sending the Noble Riders into a field, chasing after some skirmishers was an act of pure folly. The Irish Warriors are completely intransigent in combat; once they engage, even if they are pushed back, their Uncontrolled Charge trait will see them hurling themselves back into the fray again on the next move, even if they are loosing Cohesion Points. They are like wasps that just wont leave you alone, no matter how many times you swat them away. My Warriors were scattered around the battlefield as part of the scenario, so it will be interesting to see how this Uncontrolled Charge feature plays out when they are fielded in larger groups. Their Protection Score of 5 (or 6 for Nobles) makes then very difficult to hurt, especially when Ordinary Shieldwall only have an Aggression Rating of 3. You really need to stack up as many advantages as possible for your Shieldwall if you are playing the Romano-British. I have just started painting the first of an Early Saxon Warband and I can't wait to field them against the Warrior Irish... 

I originally painted my Irish and Romano-British to play with Dux Britanniarum and then tried them using Clash of Spears but, for this early Post Roman period, I think Dux Bellorum are definitely the rules I'm going to use. They are deceptively simple, with a combat system that can turn into a real slogging match (in my view, just like the real thing) and a Leadership Point system which allows the lesser un-named mortals in your warband to have a significant impact on the outcome of the battle. Failing Bravery Tests at the vital moment is just a spanner in the works that you have to rise above and hope that it will happen to your opponent, at an even more critical time and throw their carefully crafted plans into a turmoil, from which they will not recover!