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Warhammer Ancient Battles This is a battle report from a 2000 points game of WAB played at Gamer's Gathering in Colorado Springs, thurday night Aug 18th of 2005. This game was setup for our regular thursday night of gaming fun at the store. The Sertorian army is NOT tournament-legal but it was good fun. Though slightly unhistorical, the romans are based on the EIR army list. The reason for the size of the units are my own personnal mini collection. Sertorius escapes again! 75BC: After naming himself king of Spain, with the support of the local celtic tribes, Quintus Jeff Sertorius and David Iberianus marched their army to face a roman army under Joel Metellus and J-Pastelix the Gaul sent to defeat him. Jeff Sertorius's army was composed mostly of Celt-Iberians, with a few attached Roman Colonist legion. Joel Metellus's army was composed mostly of legionnaires and a large contingent of Gauls under J-Pastelix. On the Roman left flank was Metellus who had joined the Equites (roman horse), with 2 experienced cohorts plus skirmishers from Rome and distant Syria. The Roman right flank under J-Pastelix the Gaul were 2 more cohorts including a unit of green legionnaires recruited the week before, J-Pastelix' own gallic warband and more Syrian archers. Facing them were David Iberianus's balearic took Sertorius' right flank (facing Joel Metellus). Under his command were the balearic slingers, one warband, raw colonist legionnaires, the fanatic celts and roman colonist archers. Jeff Sertorius had his senate of Barbarian Cavalry and the center and left. He commanded the Iberian Scutati, more colonist legionnaires and two celtic warbands and more skirmishers. The Terrain (from the Roman side of things) The far left in the Sertorian deployment zone was a large hill. The center of the battlefield had a large rocky area with some ruins. The roman deployment zone had a hill on the right and just beyond the Sertorian deployment zone was a small wood. Ample space to manoever. The battle (viewed from the Roman Side) The opening moves were very simple with skirmishers taking and inflicting a few hits. The Left Flank Legate Joel Metellus's equites took a number of hits from the slingers, and used his archers to pick off some of the advancing enemy units. His lanciarii moved into the rocky outcropping and fired at the fanatics. Sertorius himself moved to reinforce his flank and but was caught in the flank by the charging equites who had just routed the slingers. The equites failed to break Sertorius and his senate because of the Roman's iron will, the barbarians turned and swarmed the Romans' general. In the rocky outcropping, a unit of scutati charged the lanciarii and vicious hand-to-hand ensued. Finally, the romans managed to rout the scutati. Fire from the archers and skirmishers broke a unit of iberians, leaving only the raw colonist legionnaires and the fanatics to face against 2 cohorts. The fight was originally well-matched, but the second round of combat saw the recruits running before the veteran legionnaires. The fanatics fared better against the regular legionnaires, inflicting serious casualties while taking a few good hits themselves. The iberians who had run a moment earlier regrouped, ready to pounce on poor Metellus and his few remaining equites. The Right Flank The Roman slowly advanced, using the rocks as an anchor point for their assault. The enemy moved towards them and the Iberian archers exacted a heavy toll on the Gauls. When the Gauls charged and routed the archers, the battle for the right flank was on, the Gauls scattered the archers and pressed on their advantage into one of the Iberian warbands. The cohorts followed the gauls and charged into the Sertorian legions and his Iberian infantry. The recruits managed to break the scutatii and pursue them, but failed to land the killing blow. The Legion's eagle and the regular legionnaires inflicted a serious defeat to the stubborn colonist legionnaires. The Gauls broke the iberians but failed to catch them. The situation at the end of the battle The Roman left flank had good and bad. Good because the cohorts were holding their own against the enemy. The veterans failed to disperse the recruits and the regulars were fighting tooth and nail with the fanatics. The syrian archers were unscathed and firing arrows into the enemy. However, the big problem was Metellus being surrounded by Sertorius and his Senate. The lanciarii had pursued the skirmishing scutatii into the archers. The left flank was holding, and still open. The Roman right flank was in very good shape. The recruits were facing running scutatii, the Gauls wiped out one of the iberian warbands and the regular cohorts from both sides were locked in hand to hand combat, leaving one of Sertorius' warband free to act. The agreed ending The Romans carried the day, but failed to capture Sertorius. Losses where high in the Sertorian camp. If the battle had gone on for one more turn, the possibility of a Roman rout was a definite possibility with the precarious situation Metellus was in. It was close affair, well-fought on both sides.
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