As the sun climbs inexorably towards its early Spring time zenith, a raiding band of Treveri warriors, lead by the veteran warlord Acrimonius and his trusted lieutenant, Cumulonimbus, have surprisingly, and somewhat fortuitously, stumbled across a delightful coven of Sicambri women, enjoying some much needed leisure time in a sacred wooded grove, as they prepare to carnally abuse and then bloodily slaughter a well endowed, broad shouldered, yet utterly wretched thrall, as a divine sacrifice to the much beloved and worshipped local deity, Holle, Goddess of Fertility, Hearth and Home.
Can the Gallic warlord, Acrimonius, liberate Aboutobedoneinabix from the terrible fate which is about to befall him? Will Acrimonius liberate Aboutobedoneinabix too soon? Can Arsonistus drive off the pillaging Treveri and defend the honour of the Sicambri women and their virtuous Goddess? For answers to all these conundrums and so much more... read on.
Arsonistus and his veteran warriors prepare to defend the Priestesses of Holle in the full knowledge that life back in the village is going to be pretty awkward if they fail!
On the opposite side of the battlefield, Cumulonimbus gives a rousing oration to the Noble horsemen and his band of javelinmen... little do they realise that defeating the Germanic warriors will be as nought to facing the Sicambri womenfolk!
The Sicambri javelinmen, on Arsonistus' left flank, soon find themselves in trouble, loosing two of their number to the accurate fire of the Treveri.
Fortunately, the Sicambri warriors hurl themselves into the Treveri javelinmen, who are unable to react in time and ghastly slaughter is sure to follow!
However, no sooner have the Germanic warriors massacred the unfortunate Treveri skirmishers, then they themselves are struck by their Gallic counterparts and a bloody melee ensues.
The Germans get the upper hand, although both sides suffer casualties.
With fatigue mounting worryingly on both sides, Acrimonius moves to make a timely intervention with a band of fresh warriors and things are suddenly looking bleak for the Germans.
Meanwhile, in the Sacred Grove, Aboutobedoneinabix arrives for his appointment with the Sicambri ladies.
It should be pointed out that warriors from neither side were allowed to enter the Sacred Grove. Doing so would incur the wrath of the Gods and, even worse, three Break Point Cards, which would mean an immediate Force Break Test. One result of this, was that the action developed into two separate actions on either side of the Sacred Grove... Acrimonius was about to get the upper hand on his flank, but things didn't evolve quite so favourably for the Celts on the opposite flank!
On the opposite flank, the Sicambri second in command, Vulgar, organises his warriors into close order formations to face the threat of the Gallic horsemen.
The horsemen continually hurl javelins at the Sicambri veteran warriors before turning and riding away. Casualties mounted slowly amongst the Germans but the Gallic horsemen soon begin to tire and Cumulonimbus knows that Acrimonius has committed all the Treveri foot warriors to the battle on the far side of the Sacred Grove. His only other unit is a group of javelin armed skirmishers, while the Germans have no fewer than three heavy infantry units advancing towards him.
With the close order warriors holding firm against the cavalry, a unit of Germanic tribesmen advance, under a hail of missiles from the Gallic skirmishers in the swamp, and manage to engage with the enemy. Just as it was on the opposite flank, the result is a forgone conclusion and the Treveri light troops are slaughtered by the heavier Germanic tribesmen.
Sensing victory, Acrimonius pushes his final warrior unit forward and they hurl their throwing spears into the depleted ranks of the Sicambri spearmen.
With the last of the Sicambri driven from his flank, Acrimonius commands a reluctant Aboutobedoneinabix to re-join the Gallic ranks and, with both sides scraping through Force Break Tests, the bloody encounter peters out. Both sides can claim a victory, as the Treveri have rescued their man, while Arsonistus has preserved the honour of the priestesses.
It's been a good few months since I've played Clash of Spears and I really enjoyed pitting Celts against Germans. The game used the Rise of Eagles supplement and I'm already planning further adventures for Arsonistus and Acrimonius... not to mention Aboutobedoneinabix! I was surprised how much of the rules I remembered, although it was quite a way into the game before I though about using the throwing spears as missile weapons!