NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists V - Crusades

 Let me first start out by saying that the title for this series - the Ancient Army Lists (for Niel Thomas' rules from Wargaming: An Introduction) is a bit of misnomer for this particular entrance in the series.  By this point in his timeline, Thomas has moved on from the ancient world, into the firm middle of the Medieval world.  The armies covered here are those involved in the middle and later Crusading period.

As a reminder, the earlier articles in the series are:

• NT Rules: Ancient Wargaming
• NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists I - Persian Invasion
• NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists II - Alexander the Great 
• NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists III - The Punic Wars
• NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists IV - Imperial Rome 

 As I pointed out in some of the earlier articles, there are many additional lists for each of those periods covered in the longer, and more complete, treatment on the topic in Thomas' book dedicated to this period - Ancient and Medieval Wargaming.  Those rules have a little more to them, and a little more nuance, than the rules in the Introduction book.  Having said that, in many cases the army lists will transport to the earlier book.  What is different, is the grouping of the periods.  In his more advanced book, Thomas, for instance, groups what are here list periods I, II, and III into one chapter, entitled the Classical Period.  The army lists covered here from the Introductory book are present, with additions of other armies from the period such as Parthians and Numidians.

What is interesting, however, is that the army lists from the Introductory book jump from the Imperial Rome period, all they way up to a thousand years later, into the Later Crusades.  Absent are Late Antiquity, the Early Medieval period (or Dark Ages), and of course the Viking Age, if you choose to interject such between Early and High medieval periods.  There are some fascinating armies and wargaming possibilities covered in that millennium between Second century AD and Twelfth century AD.

However, space in the Introduction book is limited, and perhaps a better choice of Medieval representation could not be made than to cover the Crusades - an iconic chapter of medieval warfare that is always popular.  Thomas skips a general introduction to this period (covering 1180AD - 1290AD), rather he chooses to get right into the first army list - the Later Crusader army.  This is representing the Western Europeans armies on crusade in the Levant, during the events generally thought of the Third through Sixth crusades.  This covers the battles of the Crusader states (Kingdom of Jerusalem, Principality of Antioch, etc.) as well as the battles between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin.  It continues to cover the armies of the west, up until the events of 1289 (Tripoli) and 1291 (Acre).

 Here is a list of the units in the Later Crusader army:

Knights Templar (Heavy Cavalry, Extra-Heavy Armor, Fanatical) 0-1 unit
Knights Hospitaller (Heavy Cavalry, Extra-Heavy Armor, Fanatical) 0-1 unit
Other Knights (Heavy Cavalry, Extra Heavy Armor, Elite) 0-1 unit
Turcopoles (Light Cavalry, Light Armor, Bow) 1-3 units
Infantry (Mixed) 2-6 units

The Infantry is Mixed, and here that means that each 4 stand unit has 2 stands of Heavy Infantry (with Heavy Armor), and 2 stands of Heavy Archers (with Medium Armor and Crossbows).

This army has two special rules associated with it:

1. Fanatic units never have to check morale, but they may never withdraw from combat.
2. Mixed units will always have the Heavy Infantry targeted first, until only Archers remain.

The Later Crusader army is for the player that likes to charge his enemy, and stomp him into the dust.  Not that this will always work, but it is hard to envision the army being successful any other way.

The army list that is presented as an opposition to the Later Crusaders, is the Saracen Army, which can represent the different armies of the region who were opposed to the Crusaders and their establishment of states and principalities (Saladin's Ayyubid Egyptian army, or the Fatimids, Khwarismians, or even the Mameluks).  This army is an interesting foil to the Later Crusader army.

The Saracen player can choose his army from these units:

Guard Cavalry (Heavy Cavalry, Medium Armor, Bow, Elite) 1-2 units
Heavy Cavalry (Heavy Cavalry, Medium Armor, Bow) 1-2 units
Turcomans (Light Cavalry, Light Armor, Bow) 1-2 units
Infantry (Heavy Archers, Light Armor, Bow) 2-4 units

The general ruleset does not allow Heavy Cavalry to be armed with bow, however that and some other concerns are covered by special rules for this army:

1. Saracen Heavy Cavalry may be equipped with Bow
2. Saracen Heavy Cavalry may move before they fire
3. Saracen Heavy Cavalry are allowed to make a 180 degree turn (about face) any number of times during movement
4. Saracen Heavy Archers move as Warband, however they fight and shoot as Heavy Archers

This army allows for, and may demand, considerable more finesse than the Later Crusaders army.  Every unit is armed with a bow, which helps, however with the exception of a pair-up between Turcopoles and Turcomans, the Later Crusader has better armor, and often, better morale.

A really interesting battle would be between a Fatimid army (this list) and a Sunni foe, such as the Ayyubid army (also this list). 

Finally, this section also introduces a third army.  The Mongols, which are according to the author fought just about everyone (including the forces represented by the Saracen list given here), except for the later Crusaders.  More about that below...

 The Mongol player has this army list to choose from:

Guard Calvary (Heavy Cavalry, Bow, Heavy Armor, Elite) 0-1 unit
Cavalry (Heavy Cavalry, Bow, Light Armor, Elite) 1-3 units
Horse Archers (Light Cavalry, Bow, Light Armor, Elite) 4-7 units

This is an all mounted force, unlike the Saracens which include infantry archers.  It will make for an interesting foe to fight the Saracens, and others.  The army, as presented in the book has a few special rules associated with it:

1. Mongol Heavy Cavalry may be equipped with bow
2. Mongol Heavy Cavalry may move before they fire
3. Mongol Heavy Cavalry may make an about face (180 degrees) any number of times during their move, without penalty

 These of course are almost identical to the Saracen list of special rules, which is what makes them an especially worthy foe for the Saracens. The addition of the foot archers for the Saracens might make all the difference in the world, if the terrain is friendly.  However, if the terrain is mostly open, with little space for the Saracen infantry to have a rough spot (woods, rubble, etc) to anchor against, then they may be overrun by the Mongols.  It would be a good fight.

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One other way to fight the Mongols would be against a Northern Crusades army.  This is something, here, of my own inventing, but owes a lot to similar army lists in other games.  I would rework the Later Crusaders army list into a Northern Crusades army list as this:

Teutonic Knights (Heavy Cavalry, Extra-Heavy Armor, Fanatical) 1-2 units
German Knights (Heavy Cavalry, Extra Heavy Armor, Elite) 0-1 unit
Lithuanian Cavalry (Light Cavalry, Bow, Light Armor) 0-2 units
Sergeants (Heavy Cavalry, Heavy Armor) 1-3 units
Foot Sergeants (Mixed) 2-4 units

The Foot Sergeant units are Mixed, and here that means that each 4 stand unit has 2 stands of Heavy Infantry (with Heavy Armor), and 2 stands of Heavy Archers (with Medium Armor and Crossbows).

This army has two special rules associated with it:

1. Fanatic units never have to check morale, but they may never withdraw from combat.
2. Mixed units will always have the Heavy Infantry targeted first, until only Archers remain.

 This last army list could be a challenge to the Mongols.  It would still have a hard time in the battle, as the Teutonic Order did have a hard time vs the Mongols in history.  With the Fanatic Order knights, and the Elite other knights, this is an interesting mix of morale grades, but it would be very interesting (and fun) to field.  Maybe a playtest should come up soon...

NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists IV - Imperial Rome

 The fourth period that Neil Thomas covers for his Ancient Warfare rules in Wargaming: An Introduction is focused on the Imperial Roman period, or as it is titled in the book, "Imperium Romanum: 25 BC to AD 130".  This covers the Roman army, following the Marian reforms (which took place during the Republic Period), and beginning in 25 BC with the rise of Augustus as the first Caesar of the Imperium.

This period is focused on the wars between the Romans and their more northern Barbarians, the Germans and the Gauls.  The period starts, as stated, with Augustus, so after Julius Caesar\"s famous campaign in Gaul, however the army list looks very much like it could be used to represent Julius\" famous exploits.

The book presents two army lists for this period, one representing the Romans, and one representing a norther Gallo-German Barbarian army.  

The author presents the fact that at the scale of the rules, the differences between the two armies (Gauls, and Germans) are negligible.  Other rule sets, such as the classic WRG army lists, present differences in troop types, morale, training, weapons, and even fighting density (the Germans generally being in denser formations for most of the represented tribes).  Those rules (the WRG rules), however, have a much more tactical focus, than these, in terms of classifying the troops.  Here, Thomas has taken the approach similar to Phil Sabin in his works (such as Lost Battles) whereby ancient infantry is simply divided up into heavy infantry and light infantry (based on the fact that heavy infantry is expected to stand in the battle line).  One further distinction made, at least here, is with Warband, which are somewhat lesser heavy infantry, but also with the ability to fight well in rough terrain.

 The Roman army here is represented by the following units:

• Legionaries (heavy infantry, heavy armor, Elite) 3-6 units
• Auxiliary Infantry (warband, medium armor) 1-3 units 
• Auxiliary Archers (light infantry, bow, light armor) 0-1 unit
• Artillery 0-1 unit 
• Auxiliary Cavalry (heavy cavalry, medium armor, Elite) 1-2 units

The Roman player is then presented with fielding a battle line of Legion units, with a few support choices.  The Elite cavalry is nice, possibly representing mercenary or foederati tribal cavalry, but with better equipment (hence the medium armor).  But, it is not present in sufficient numbers to deliver a winning battle, only a supporting role.  This leaves the Roman player in the enviable position of playing an archetypical Roman battle plan - a steady onslaught of well equipped, well trained infantry. 

The Barbarian army is composed of the following units and availability:

• Warriors (warband, light armor ) 3-6 units

• Skirmishes (light infantry, javelin, light armor, levy) 1-2 units

• Archers (light infantry, bow, light armor, levy) 0-1 unit

• Chief’s Bodyguard (warband, light armor, Elite) 0-1 unit

• Cavalry (heavy cavalry, light armor, Elite) 1-3 units

The Barbarian player is faced with the fact that his army is outclassed, as in real life. He must rely on a ruse de guerre or clever use of rough terrain, in order to balance the odds.

Several options exist for a more balanced game. First, the Barbarian player may be given either a few additional units, or additional rough terrain.  Second, the Barbarian warband units can be made larger (6 stands), this is what the Tactica rules do.  Third, battles could be fought as part of a campaign, or series of games, with the Romans having a more difficult time of recovering losses between battles.  I had an article in Yaah! magazine featuring such a campaign for Commands and Colors, it would work with these rules, as well.

There are many other possible army lists available for this time period, some of which are in Thomas’ longer book on Ancient and Medieval Wargaming, but here these are the only two.  Satisfying games could be fought with Roman v. Roman, as a civil war or rebellious province scenario. Equally, a war between two Barbarian tribes might be fun.

For fun, and to recreate a British Barbarian army, replace the Cavalry and Chief’s Bodyguard units with Light Chariots (make one of them Elite). That should give a satisfying Boudicca’s revolt feel.

NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists III - Punic Wars

The third period of armies covered for the Ancient Warfare rules in the Wargaming: An Introduction book is the Punic Wars.  This is a great period of history to study, and also a great topic for wargaming, and these armies are interesting.  Neil Thomas handles it well, by presenting two versions of the armies, one for the main part of the campaigning when Hannibal was in Italy.  Then he gives a second set reflecting the battle of Zama where we start to see some brilliance on the Roman side.

Hannibal was able to use his mixed army with great success for what I think are two reasons. First, he has a good mixture of forces at his control, and second he was a military genius.  Years ago, I read Tony Bath's Hannibal's Campaigns, which is perfectly written for a wargamer, taking care to detail the armies and battles very nicely. Another great source is Warfare in the Classical World by John Warry. Warry has an informative chapter on the Punic Wars, but really there are a ton of references and resources out there on this rich period.  Both books, and a library of others, can be found at Amazon.

Thomas gives a good army list for Carthage, showing the variety of troops.  There are enough Infantry units to have a battle line, supported by elephants, and a variety of cavalry and skirmish infantry.

1-3 units African Infantry (heavy infantry, light armor)     
1-3 units Gauls/Spaniards (Warband, light armor)               
1-2 units Skirmishers (light infantry, javelin, light armor, Levy)       
0-2 units Elephants                         
1-3 units Numidian Cavalry (light cavalry, javelin, light armor)    
1-2 units Gallic/Spanish Cavalry (heavy cavalry, light armor, Elite)

The Infantry units are respectable, and the elephants present a choice. They are a tough foe for the Romans, but since they are one stand units, they will crumble fast.  The skirmishers and Numidians are extremely useful, but won't win a battle on their own.  And the same goes for the Gallic horse.  This is a tough army to run since we aren't all Hannibal Barca, but it does present some problems for the Roman player. 

The Roman army, however, makes up for a lack of diversity, by  having some heavier units.

4-7 units Hastati and Principes (heavy infantry, medium armor)
0-1 units Triarii (heavy infantry, heavy armor, Elite)      
1-2 units Velites (light infantry, javelin, light armor)    
0-1 units Roman Cavalry (heavy cavalry, medium armor)         

The Velites will win man-to-man and unit-to-unit vs the Carthaginian skirmishers, if he can close. The Roman Cavalry will probably fare poorly vs the Gallic Cavalry.  That leaves the impressive battle line Infantry. Can they withstand both the elephants and the warband?  The triarii are a luxury item, but taking them leaves little room for support troops.  It comes down to a matchup pairing the discipline of Roman Infantry, vs Carthaginian finesse.

As mentioned, there is a second version of each army(Carthage and Rome) representing the period of fighting where Rome grew much more aggressive, strategically.  This was under the command of Scipio, when he pushed the war out of Italy and back to North Africa.

At this time, the Gauls were beginning to lose some faith in their Carthage allies, so the list represents a situation where the Gallic (or Spanish/Iberian) soldiery was still willing to fight for Carthage (promises of pay or booty), the Gallic/Spanish Cavalry is no longer available. Perhaps the Nobles sensed a futile effort? They were willing to fight in Europe (Italy), but reluctant to go to Africa?

The second big change is that the majority of the Numidian now saw the situation as being allied to Rome, a better deal than Carthage.

Finally, to reflect the hardening of some of the African Infantry, there are now some proper veterans n the army, fighting as an elite cadre.

To reflect these changes, change the two cavalry lines on the Carthaginian army list, to the following three lines:

0-1 units Numidian Cavalry (light Cavalry, javelin, light armor)
0-1 units Carthaginian Citizen Cavalry (Heavy Cavalry, Medium Armor, Elite)
0-1 units Hannibal's veterans (heavy infantry, heavy armor, Elite)

The Romans, after years of fighting Hannibal now have a different mix of troops, which includes their new comrades the Numidian, these changes occur.

Reduce the number of Hastati and Prncipes units, to 3-6 units.
Numidian Cavalry are now available (light cavalry, javelin, light armor) 1-3 units

With these changes, the later battles of the war can be fought.

NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists II - Alexander the Great

The second period of armies for the Ancient Warfare rules in Wargaming: An Introduction, covers the army of Alexander the Great, and his chief foe - Persia under Darius III.

The army list in the book is listed as covering the period from 340-323BC.  Several of the major battles of the period are against the Persians - and indeed, the two army lists presented are for Macedonia (under Alexander), and the Achaemenid Empire (Persia, under Darius III).  There were other battles, other than against the Persians. 

In the beginning of the period, while Alexander is still just prince, under Phillip, he fights one of his most famous battles, Chaeronea (338BC). His foe at this engagement is a Greek style polis army, with Thebans and Athenians present.  In fact, the book suggests that for such an army, the Greek Army list from the previous period be used, with the modification that the hoplites be modified to having Medium Armor, instead of the Heavy Armor.

The other adversaries that Alexander faces, that are not represented here in this article, include the Scythians (light horse archers, from the Black Sea area) at the battle of Jaxartes 329BC.  Also, the Indian army of the Pauravas at the battle of the Hydaspes 326BC.  Both of these armies would be fascinating to see, and they are represented in Neil Thomas' later, more detailed treatment of ancient warfare, in Ancient and Medieval Wargaming.

Other than the battles listed above, the other non-Persian foes that Alexander faced, were always during sieges (and the campaign in the Swat valley region around the Khyber Pass - the battles fought against the locals were very one-sided).  And so armed with army lists for Alexander, and Darius, we can refight the famous battles of Granicus (334BC), Issus (333BC), and Gaugamala (331BC) and finally the battle of the Persian Gate (330BC).

Alexander's refinement of the Macedonian war machine is a great evolution over the earlier Greek Polis Hoplite army.  Several equipment and technique improvements occurred, and rather than just having a static battle line, the army in the hands of the Macedonians (Phillip and Alexander, and Alexander's successors) becomes a very dynamic and aggressive tool.  This comes about with great numbers of cavalry (heavy such as the Companions, and light such as the Thessalians), and more reliance on light infantry.  With these adaptations, the army can use the phalanx (the battle line of pike, or sarissa, wielding heavy infantry) as a strong central anvil, and the cavalry and light infantry can harass the flanks of the enemy until they crumble under the push of the phalanx. 

Phalangites (Heavy Infantry with medium armor)                                3-5 units
Hypaspists (elite Heavy Infantry with medium armor)                         0-1 units
Agrianians (Light infantry with javelin and light armor)                      1-2 units
Cretans (Light infantry with bow and light armor)                                0-1 units
Companions (elite Heavy Cavalry with light armor)                             1-2 units
Thessalians (elite Light Cavalry, with light armor and javelin)             0-1 units

The Hypaspists are the select, elite heavy infantry of the army.  They might be employed on one end of the Phalanx, and used for the "killing blow" against the enemy battle line.

Two options allow the players to represent some non-standard historical theories.  The first allows the Hypaspists to be fielded as Warband rather than Heavy Infantry.   I'm not sure I agree, but it is there.  Second the Thessalians could be reclassed as Heavy Cavalry. 

Against the army of Alexander, the army of Darius would face them multiple times (and many sieges).  This new Persian army differs from the model of Xerxes, 150 years earlier, now being based on a battle line that could be split between heavy archers, and heavy cavalry (which can make up more than half the army).  In an effort to face the Macedonian Phalanx, there are several examples of the Persians hiring Greek Mercenary heavy infantry.  These are good units, but not quite the level of the Phalanx.  In several of the battles under Darius III he would try to adopt a certain stratagem or element of surprise against the army of Alexander.  One of those is present in the army list - the Scythed Chariots.

Persian Cavalry (Heavy Cavalry with light armor)                                         3-5 units
Paphlagonian Cavalry (levy Light Cavalry with javelin and light armor)      1-2 units
Scythed Chariots                                                                                              0-1 unit
Kardakes (levy Heavy Archers with bow and light armor)                             2-4 units
Greek Mercenary Hoplites (Heavy Infantry with medium armor)                  0-2 units

With a minimum of four mounted units, (up to a maximum of six units), this army will lead the player commanding it to trying some interesting maneuvers against the army of Alexander.  Standing in the battle line, even with Mercenary Hoplites making up the core, winged on both sides by Kardakes, would be a risky toss of the dice vs the Macedonian phalanx.

Upon Alexander's death, the empire would of course be divided up into five successor states, and they would wage the wars of the Successor States on each other.  Each successor, or Diadochi, was a general or presumed family heirs of Alexander's.  These included Ptolemy, Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus and Epirus.   I would suggest, without resorting to the army lists and rules from Ancient and Medieval Warfare, that a generic Successor Army might look like this:

Phalangites (Heavy Infantry with medium armor)                                3-4 units
Hypaspists (elite Heavy Infantry with medium armor)                         0-1 units
Agrianians (Light infantry with javelin and light armor)                      1-2 units
Cretans (Light infantry with bow and light armor)                                0-1 units
Companions (elite Heavy Cavalry with light armor)                             1-2 units
Thessalians (elite Light Cavalry, with light armor and javelin)             0-1 units
Elephants                                                                                                0-2 units

NT Rules: Ancient Army Lists I - Persian Invasion

The Neil Thomas Ancient (and Medieval) rules that are found in his book Wargaming: An Introduction, were covered in a previous article on this blog.  This is an overview of the different army lists that are presented to go along with those rules.

First, let me preface another one of Neil's publications, the great book on Ancient and Medieval Wargaming.  That book presents a more in-depth treatment and greater coverage (both in terms of years/periods served, as well as some more nuance in the rules).  It also divides up the whole period, as does the current ruleset in discussion here, into different time periods.  In the later book, however, each time period has more army lists than presented here.  So, when I speak of additional army lists here, or the idea for more troop types to be covered, presented - that is done in the latter version of the rules, to a certain extent.

Supporting the current ruleset there are several tie periods, and two or three armies presented for each one of them, as examples.  Presumably, some clever gamers would take their knowledge of the period, plus the list of troop types in the rules, and could craft additional army lists for additional armies not covered in this introductory set of rules and lists.

This is further reinforced by the fact that there are troop types in the rules, that don't exist in any of the army lists (for instance, as mentioned in the article on the rules themselves, Heavy Chariots don't appear in any of the sample army lists).

Period 1

The first time period covered in the chapter on Ancient Army Lists in this current book, is the period from 490-480BC, the Persian invasions of Greece.  For an excellent overview of the history of this incredible decade, see the article at the Ancient History Enclopedia.  These are the wars detailed by Herodotus in his volume, 'The Histories'.  This period offers up two armies, the Ancient Greek army, and the Persian army of Xerxes.  The only other information given for this time period is a suggestion that the tabletop have no more than 0-3 pieces of terrain, and that should be either woods, hills or rivers.

The Ancient Greek Army here is a representation, for these rules, of what the army would look like on the Greek side at the battles of Marathon (490BC), Thermopylae (480BC), Mycale (479BC) or Plataea (479BC).  Marathon represented (according to Western history) the end of the first invasion by Persia.  The other battles were fought making up the land campaign of the second invasion by Persia.

For those interested in this history of this extremely interesting war, please take a look at the major Naval engagements that made it up as well - the battles of Salamis and Artemisium in 479BC.

The Greek army is of course built around a core battle line of Hoplites, supported by some other units.  Here is the breakdown:

City Hoplites (4-7 units)
Spartan Hoplites (0-2 units)
Javalinmen (1-2 units)
Cavalry (0-1 unit)

The City Hoplites are heavy infantry, with heavy armor, and average morale.  The Spartans are the same, but with elite morale.

The Javelinmen (Peltasts) are light infantry, with light army, and levy morale.  They are of course armed with javelins. 

The Cavalry are light cavalry, with light armor, and javelins.  They are average morale.

Between the javelinmen and the cavalry, these are the only missile troops in the army.  However, this army will win (or die) based on it's strong battle line of heavy infantry.

This list well represents the Athens' heavy army at Marathon (the Spartans did not make it, because they had a religious ceremony to venerate before crossing Greece to the battle site).  It also represents the pan-Hellenic alliance at Platea.  If you wanted to do Thermopylae, I would suggest an army something like this:

7 units of Spartan Hoplites (heavy infantry, heavy armor, elite morale)
1 unit of Allied Hoplites (heavy infantry, heavy armor, average morale)

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The Ancient Persian army of Xerxes is also a good representation of the Persian Army, for these rules.  The army list grants the following troops:

Heavy Archers (3-5 units)
Levy Infantry (1-3 units)
Immortals (0-1 unit)
Persian Cavalry (1-2 units)
Scythian Cavalry (0-1 unit)

The Heavy Archers are the Persian core battleline units, however this army has a lot of different options.  The Archers are themselves Heavy Archer units, with bow and light armor and Average morale.

The Levy Infantry are light infantry, with bow, light armor, and Levy morale.

The Immortals are Heavy Archers, with bow and light armor, and Elite morale.

The Persian Cavalry are Heavy Cavalry, armed with bow, light armor, and Average morale.

The Scythian Cavalry are Light Cavalry, with bow, light armor, and Average morale.

This whole army is armed with bows!!  The Greeks will definitely appreciate their Heavy Armor before this period is all over!  As Herodotus informs us, the Persians informed the Spartans, prior to the engagement at Thermopylae, that they have so many archers in their army, that the arrows would darken the skies.  To this, the Spartan reply was, Then we shall fight in the shade!!

These armies will tend to show the warfare as (we think) it must have been during these engagements.  The Greek tendency to adopt the heavy infantry and heavy armor, from the many battles among the different Polis factions. Against this, the Persian reliance on archery is the nature of the contest.  It is a tough one.

To play the Spartans against the army of Xerxes, the attitude of the Spartans is certainly helpful to adopt.  It is best summed up in the monument to the Spartan dead at Thermopylae:

Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

Wargaming the Barbarian Kingdoms (6th and 7th century) - Part 2, Visigoths

Visigoths - originally, as Feoderati under the Romans, they established area of rule in Gaul and Spain. The early (but exciting) campaigns of Alaric I predate the period considered here.  In 507, however, the Franks, under Clovis I beat the Goths (under Alaric II) at the Battle of Vouille  Visigoth rule in Gaul was at an end, but the Frank's were established as a kingdom that would give us Charlemagne, France, Germany, and a lot of different kinds of cheese.

The Visigoths, however, survived the loss of Gaul.  They had a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, or Hispania).  There, they survived (and in harmony with the rest of Christendom after converting from Arianism in 589) until being overrun by the Moors (Berbers and Arabs up from North Africa) in about the year 711 or 712 (the Mozarbic Chronicle of 741, written in Latin, is unclear).  That was the Battle of Guadalete between King Roderic of the Goths, and Tariq ibn Ziyad.

Battle of Guadalete

So, for about two hundred years, there was a gothic kingdom in Spain. It gave us a lot of interesting Gothic architecture and early cathedrals, but not a lot of details on military practices.

Tariq Ibn Ziyad

Looking at what wargames have to offer on the Western Goths is interesting.  Again, turning to the original DBA list (as a conceptual distillation of the 1982 WRG army lists, and benefitting from eight years of further research and debate) we see that there is an infantry core of five elements. These can be either spear, or warband, or a mix of warband and auxilia - depending on which allies or sources you prefer. But that establishes a solid infantry battle line, supported by two units of skirmishers (Psiloi), and finally a solid mounted contingent of four units of four Cavalry units, and a Knight (general) unit.  

King Roderic

This could easily represent the army of Roderic, at the battle of Guadalete.  There, his solid infantry line was a match for the Moors, but he lost because his right cavalry wing under a disgruntled commander abandoned the field allowing the numerous, but lighter, Moorish cavalry to flank the infantry line.  Legend replaces the commander with Count Julian, who turned traitor because his daughter was raped at Roderic's court, but this (while a great medieval narrative) is unsubstantiated.

Visigothic Warriors - from a later English sculpting method.

Refighting Guadalete as a decisive battle that ended Christian rule in western Spain, until the Reconquista, is a worthy war gaming goal, but the lack of other major foes makes the prospect of building a large Visigothic army seem like a futile enterprise.  It is, however, a great example of a balanced army from the Barbarian Kingdoms era.  There are, of course, lots of Possible match ups against sixth century foes, such as Byzantines, Ostrogoths, or even early Andalusians from the other parts of Spain.

For figures, standard dark age infantry (metal conic helms, round shields, and either sword, spear, or bow) make the battle line and Psiloi easy to model. Likewise, the cavalry (cloaks, metal helms, round shields) are readily available. The older Minifigs heavy barbarian horse and heavy barbarian infantry are nearly perfect, as well as many modern manufacturers.

A nice set of pictures of a painted army is here.

is here.

Lord of the Manor - Sample Army - Bombastia

(This is a continuation of my thoughts about a mapless Medieval campaign supporting tactical medieval rules, such as Chainmail.  This is the first version of the random generation of lands and troops.)

This is a partner article to the one on the army of Poppenheim.   As mentioned previously, Bombastia is the other medieval state that was part of pre-modern Furstenberg. It was often at war with Poppenheim, even into the early modern period, when the 1696 Crisis of the Pumpkin-King Throne between the Principality of Bombastia and the Grand Duchy of Poppenheim would lead to the Unification Wars of Furstenberg (ending up establishing the modern state of Furstenberg).  But, as early as the 11th century, and on up until the 18th, the two states were often at war with each other.

So, relying on the Lord of the Manor system, lets take a look at what the medieval state of Bombastia looked like, and what the army looked like.

First, the chief Manor of Bombastia is at Hofbrau Burg, and the ancestral feudal duty of the Hofbrauen means that the army of Bombastia starts out with a unit of Knights and a unit of Crossbow.

Hofbrau Berg

The other lands that make up the Demesne of Bombastia are as follows:

• Four farmlands, which the player chooses to provide 3 Spearman units, and 1 unit of mounted Sergeants.
• Two forests, which the player chooses to provide 2 units of Archers.
• One town, which provides 1 unit of Billmen, and 100 bezants.
• One Church, which the player decides to tithe 100 bezants, and gains the use of 1 unit of Holy Order Knights.
• Two Highlands, which the player chooses to provide 1 unit of Highland Pike, and 1 unit of Reivers.
• One Orchard, which provides the player with 1 unit of Men at Arms, and 100 bezants.

This means that the army of the Demesne of Bombastia consists of:

1 unit of Knights (9 figures, heavy horse, lance)
1 unit of Holy Order Knights (9 figures, heavy horse, lance)
1 unit of Sergeants (9 figures, medium horse)
1 unit of Reivers (9 figures, medium horse, lance)
3 units of Spearmen (18 figures, heavy foot)
1 unit of Billmen (18 figures, heavy foot, polearms)
1 unit of Men at Arms (18 figures, armored foot)
1 unit of Highland Pike (18 figures, light infantry, pike)
2 units of Archers (12 figures, light infantry, long bow)
1 unit of Crossbowmen (18 figures, light infantry, crossbow)

And the player has access to 200 bezants, but spends 100 of it to secure the unit of Holy Order Knights, from the local Church.

This is a very good army, but the player might be eager to either conquer the Towns or the Port that the Poppenheim player has, to balance out the money situation - very lopsided, at 600 bezants (Poppenheim) to only 200 bezants (Bombastia).

Lord of the Manor - Sample Army - Poppenheim

(This is a continuation of my thoughts about a mapless Medieval campaign supporting tactical medieval rules, such as Chainmail.  This is the first version of the random generation of lands and troops.)

In the past, some of my wargaming with Imaginary Nations (or Imagi-Nations) has featured a number of substates and states in a fictional region called Balkania.  In 19th and 20th century conflicts, I have used the two states of Furstenberg and Rumpwhistle.  Earlier conflicts have been between the two medieval states of Poppenheim and Bombastia (they were baronial lands that became part of Furstenberg).

Here is the treatment that a medieval Poppenheim receives, when using the Lord of the Manor method to determine the army.

 So, the demesne of Poppenheim has 12 lands. The first is automatic (a Manor), the other 11 were generated using the dice method presented in the earlier article.

First is the Manor, which we will call Schloss Romfels, and is the seat of Poppenheim power. It provides two units to the army, a unit of Crossbowmen, and a unit of Knights.

Schloss Romfels

• Three Farmlands, which the player chooses to provide 2 units of Spearmen, and 1 unit of mounted Sergeants.
• One Forest, which the player chooses to provide one unit of Archers
• One Pasture, which the player chooses to provide one unit of Slingers, and 100 bezants.
• Two Towns, which provides 2 units of Billmen, and 200 bezants.
• One Port, which provides 200 bezants, and access to hire Foreign Mercenaries.
• Two Highlands, which the player chooses to be 2 units of Highland Pike units.
• One Fish Pond, which provide 1 unit of mounted Men at Arms, and 100 bezants.

 This gives a family consisting of:

1 unit of Knights (9 figures, heavy horse, lance)
1 unit of mounted Men at Arms (9 figures, heavy horse)
1 unit of mounted Sergeants (9 figures, medium horse)
2 units of Spearmen (each, 18 figures, heavy infantry)
2 units of Billmen (each, 18 figures, heavy infantry, polearms)
2 units of Highland Pike (each, 18 figures, light infantry, pike)
1 unit of Archers (12 figures, light infantry, longbow)
1 unit of Slingers (12 figures, light infantry, sling)
1 unit of Crossbowmen (18 figures, light infantry, crossbow)

And the player has access to 600 bezants, and has access to hiring Foreign Mercenaries.

This is a very interesting army, and should provide a lot of interest to the player who is commanding it.  There is a lot of strong infantry, although the Highland Pike are going to be tough to manage (they hit very hard, and might be a terror, if the enemy army lacks any pike units - but they are light infantry, and would be susceptible to flank attack, and archery).

Additional possible armies/units for 19th century Balkania

So, with the Kingdom of Elsinore sorted out, and beginning the rebasing process, I started thinking about possible limits on other units and armies based on figures I already own.

One of my rules for this project is "no new figures".  I am only making use of figures I already own, and preferably those already painted.

One such possible army (although it would be small) would be a phalanx of Wagon People of the Karzstan mountains. These are wandering communities, in and around the Fribourg Canton of Rumpwhistle, and he travel in town sized populations with many wagons and horses.  The fighting style is not unlike South African Boers, fighting from behind a wagon laager.  I have about 8-10 units of infantry intended for this role, only needing rebasing.  I also have half a dozen wagons that could serve this "phalanx" (the name they use for an armed camp fighting together.  They were first mentioned here: http://chuckgame.blogspot.com/2013/03/19th-century-imaginations-rumpwhistle-2.html

Beyond that, all other possible painted figures that would be suitable are individually based for The Sword and the Flame.  I don't want to rebase them.  However...

If I stick to my rule of no new figures, but relax the rule on painting, then I could conceivably come up with not only several foreign units (Vulgarians, Trans-Turkylvanians), but also a sizable force of Urbs.  In fact, I am planning on it. Details to follow...however, so that I can use them for other  gaming projects, I may make changes to the standard Baalkanian basing scheme ( which is currently 12 figures on 4 bases for standard Infantry units).

Finally, another modeling project related to 19th Century Balkania will be some terrain modeling. Again, details to follow.

Standard Army Sizes

I suspect that this is something that arose, over the years, first amongst figure resellers (who tried to come up with "standard" boxed armies based on published army lists), and then among rules writers to provide standard armies for systems that did not have points values (I am thinking of Tactica, etc).

Recently, I started organizing my 15mm Napoleonics for Shako II. 99% of the games played in ODMS using Shako are scenario driven (some referee picks a scenario and sets the forces and terms of deployment and victory conditions, ignoring the standard army lists and tournament rules etc). This is the way I usually like to play wargames. However, I am using the army lists as a helpful rubric (like that?) for deciding how "large" my forces should be. You know, so I don't try to build the whole invasion Leipzig campaign, man for man, in miniature.

My observation is this - those are pretty large armies. For instance, the Prussians (1813-1814 variety) have an army that looks like this:

10x Battalions of Line Infantry
10x Battalions of Landwehr Infantry
5x Battalions of Jaegers/Fusiliers
2x Battalions of Grenadiers/Guards
1x Regiment of Cuirrasier
2x Regiments of Dragoons
1x Regiment of Landwehr Cavalry or Lancers
1x Large Gun Battery
1x Medium Gun Battery
2x demi-Battalions of Skirmishers

That is with 12 figure battalions, and 6 figure regiments. The size of units is flexible, and a battalion could be (reasonably) as few as 6 or as many as 24. Most that I know of are doing between 12 and 16.

Anyway - does that seem kind of large? Almost all of the standard armies in that ruleset are approx 30 units (more or less - the Prussians are more, the British are less, etc), plus artillery and skirmishers.

I know that rulesets like DBA do it smaller, and that Tactica armies could range quite large. But this seems big for a "standard" army.

Please comment below ?