"Caput serpentis praecidet et corpus morietur..."
It is five years since the catastrophe in the Teutoburg Forest, which lead to the death of Publius Quinctilius Varus and the annihilation of three entire Roman legions at the hands of Arminius and his perfidious alliance of Germanic tribes. Now, the noble Germanicus is reaping a terrible revenge upon those tribes, burning and destroying everything in his path. Far from the epicentre of the Roman advance into the German tribal lands, small detachments are seeking out smaller, less powerful tribes and dispensing Roman justice in their own inevitable way.
One such detachment, recently arrived from Britannia, is a small group of Auxiliaries, lead by Centurion Perfidius and his trusty side-kick, Optio Odius, who have been entrusted with bringing the simple and ignoble Insanitarii Tribe to heel and delivering suitable punishment for their shameful involvement in the rising of 9AD. Their mission is to locate the Insanitarii Tribe and terminate its leader, Adalbrane and as many of his despicable warriors as possible.
The paltry village of the Insanitarii Tribe straddled the River Urinfluss, in a small clearing in the forest. It consisted of a few negligible and filthy huts and its most remarkable feature was a small wooden bridge, which allowed the Insanitarii to cross from one half of their village to the other without getting their feet wet. The Insanitarii made no attempt to engage in agriculture and lived by stealing produce form the tribes around them who did.
Leader of the Insanitarii, since he usurped the position from his elder brother, was Adalbrane. Adalbrane feared no man, but the wild and formidable women of the tribe filled him with an extraordinary terror that haunted his dreams such that he often times awoke saturated in sweat and shivering uncontrollably. The Insanitarii women were eerie and unearthly creatures, whose torment of those of the tribe who showed fear in battle had driven many a warrior to hurl himself headlong into the freezing waters of the Urinfloss, rather than face their unyielding harassment and scorn. Related to Adalbrane, but in what degree no one knew, was Baldenhard, elder of the village and veteran of Arminius' war against Varus. Baldenhard was held in great esteem by the Insanitarii warriors for having remained standing after being punched in the solar plexus by Griselda the Harridan Crone and High Priestess of Erbrechan. On the day of the Roman attack upon the village, Baldenhard was given command of a group of tribesmen and javelin armed skirmishers, and tasked with sweeping through the forest and striking the unsuspecting enemy in the rear... a task for which the denigratory women of the village said that he was most admirably suited. The tribesmen of the Insanitarii outnumbered their Roman opponents but the lack of space within the village and the goading of the frenzied women forced them to face the enemy on the wrong side of the Urinfluss. Perfidius and Odius lead their Auxiliary host in a broad sweep, as they had done many times before, towards the enemy, with a group of archers advancing in the cover of the forest... unfortunately, the Romans day got off to a dreadful start when the archers emerged from the trees and found themselves receiving a deadly shower of javelins from Baldenhard's skirmishers. The Gods of the Bones were shining down on the Insanitarii and the archers soon found themselves in the jaws of death... before being destroyed and leaving a yawning and vulnerable chasm on the right flank of the Roman line.
Pleased, and somewhat surprised, by the unexpected success of his javelinmen, Adalbrane felt confident enough to leave the protection of the village maidens and cross the bridge to take tighter control of the battle against the centurion Perfidius and his pair of Auxiliary contubernia. A shower of throwing spears from the Romans caused havoc amongst one unit of Insanitarii tribesmen, who needed to rely on the fates to prevent them being all but wiped out under the deadly hail of missiles. Fearing the same fate as their fellow tribesmen, Adalbrane's second unit decided to hurl themselves into combat before the Romans could unleash their lethal missiles. The hand to hand combat was brutal and the Germans soon learned that the Auxiliaries knew their business... and the Insanitarii were efficiently despatched. The butchery had, however, left the Romans dangerously fatigued and two of their number had also fallen. And when Adalbrane immediately sent in his second unit, the Romans found themselves in serious trouble... outnumbered and four fatigue points greatly reducing their capability. The Insanitarii must have prayed long and hard that day, as they managed seven out of eight possible hits and even a good saving roll from the Romans still left them only three Auxiliaries remaining and four dice to roll in the morale test! The subsequent morale roll finished off the Auxiliaries and left an utterly stunned set of German Tribesmen with nothing between them and Perfidius's already battered Auxiliary contubernium! Perfidius's Contubernium were already engaged in a desperate struggle, with two casualties lost and three fatigue points and were completely unaware of the onslaught that was about to materialize from their right. Fortunately, Perfidius was able to fend off the first attack and form his men into close order before the second group of Insanitarii were able to make their assault... Throwing caution to the wind, Perfidius threw himself into the fray, adding his considerable weight to the Roman counterattack... The well armoured and experienced Roman Auxiliaries, with their commander fighting along side them, were much too powerful for the Insanitarii Tribesmen, who were scattered to the four winds and effectively brought the combat to close. Although the Germans failed their Force Morale Test and abandoned the battle, giving the victory to the Romans, Perfidius had failed in his mission to kill of capture Adalbrane, who quickly fled back across the bridge and to safety. On the far side of the battlefield, Hardenbald and the Optio Odius were in stalemate and the Germans were able to make a hasty withdrawal before anymore casualties were caused.
The Roman attempt to remove the head of the serpent had failed, at the cost of twenty-one casualties from their original force of thirty-two! The Insanitarii had lost even more of their number and they broke probably moments before the Romans would have done! Adalbrane and Hardenbald lived to fight another day, although, having to face the wrath of the harrowing Insanitarii Ladies, they probably wished they hadn't. Perfidius and Odius, having refused to enter the Insanitarii village and face the enraged womenfolk, would lick their wounds, re-build their forces and return to make another attempt to complete their mission.
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