Gallic Wars - Battle of Sabis River - 57 BC

Good afternoon,

I'm running this game at Historicon in July so I thought I would do a dry run in preperation for the game(s). 

I had to scale back the forces as I only had 2 players, but the game at Historicon should handle 4 to 6 or 7 players.

As usual, click on the photos for a larger image.

Game Components

• WoFun 18mm Caesar's Legions figures
• Roman Marching Fort from Etsy Shop CenturianStudio. 
• To the Strongest (TtS) rules
• Homemade chits (rather than cards) for TtS.
• Homemade trees and one-inch thick foamboard insulation for the minor hills.
• Plains Mat from the Big Red Bat Shop (6' x 8') with 4" squares
• River from Etsy Shop that appears to be gone for the moment.
• Green Movement Trays off Thingaverse and 3D printed by my friend Steve.
• I designed the labels to go on them so there is no roster needed for the game.

View from the Belgae side looking towards the unfinished Roman fort

Note: Since it was just me and Rob, I scaled back the table to 6' x 5' and removed about 1/3 of the forces. I hope to run the entire game at Historicon.

Background for the Battle

Wikipedia Link about the battle

Caesar is trying to put down a Belgae revolt led by the Nervii tribe. The Nervii have massed their forces and gather the Atrebates and Veromandui Belgae tribes as allies to fall upon the Romans on the River Sabis in 57 BC.

Here is the graphic layout for the entire battle that I created. Click for larger view.

The Forces

Two Roman Legions with Caesar ins support hold the center

Nervii tribe in front of the Roman Lines. Historicon game will have double this amount.

Veromandui tribe advances in the center

Atrebates tribe on the far right facing the mighty X Legion

The Sabis River valley

View from the Roman marching fort which is not used in the battle, but was being contructed when the Belgae attacked.

X Legion prepared for the onslaught with Labienus (detached leader) commanding this wing.

Great view of the entire battlefield.

The Battle

Atrebates javelin skirmish strike first disordering a Cohort from the X Legion!

Veromandui trying to soften up the IX Legion with javelins

Rob's Romans quickly filled in the gaps in their lines while the Belgae were a little more unorganized

The Nervii, led by their warlord Boduognatus (round stand), charge towards the Romans

Nervii skirmishers filter back through their lines to let the warriors charge the rightmost Roman Legion

The Atrebates and Veromandui warriors collide with the IX Legion (blue shields)

Note: the single small bases are used to denote disorder on the units. Romans take two disorders and are eliminated. The Gallic Deep warbands take 3 disorders before they are routed.

The Atrebates warriors clash with the X Legion (red shields)

One warband attempting to move around the flank of the X Legion

In the center the Romans drive back the Veromandui warriors across the river with multiple disorders.

The X Legion breaks the center of the Atrebates line! This was the beginning of the end of the Belgae.

Nervii's turn to be routed, with the Legion filling the gap

At this point the flexible Roman legions begin to turn and flank the Belgae warriors. Much slaughter ensues.

Atrebates disordered and flanked!

The slaughter of the Veromandui continues across the river Sabis! (two disorders)

One Nervii warband (center) had been stuck out of command behind the main force and finally marched to save their brothers. Hits the Romans in the flank! Too little, too late.

Romans in the camp witness the battle in the river valley!

The End

With six warbands wiped out (18 victory metals) and every other one damaged, the Belgae are forced from the field. The IX Roman legion lost three out of four cohorts, which is only 6 Victory Metals.

Victorious Rob with a huge victory smile

Other Games

I've been playing a lot of different games over the last couple weeks with friends and family. Over 40 games in January and February combined. Here are some of the latest games.

Conquistadors by Compass Games

This is another great game marred by poorly edited rules and lack of counter component design. However, I love the game so much I have created a new Player Aid, painted all the counters (after this set of photos) to clear show the difference between the factions, and then added Conquistador expedition markers in the faction colors for easy identification on the gorgeous game board.

Played with Rob and Daryl, with Daryl claiming victory in the end.

What a GREAT looking game. Love the mechanics too.

Here you can see the player mat created by a BGG fan.

Using this Wofun mini (18mm) as the new Impulse Marker.

Game in action, however you can't tell which Conquistador is yours very easily.

Using my WoFun 18mm Cortez Conquistador mini as the First Player marker.

Darwin's Journey. This is our newest "go to" Euro with tons of dynamic ways to win. We are playing it two more times this coming weekend.

Arkham Horror the Card Game. Played with Rob, Steve, and myself. Definitely a fun game and a different type of "RPG". We won the game, but it felt like there was a doom clock ticking in our ears. Steve used his 3D printer to pimp out the game.

Great War Commander by Hexasim. Played this with Bill K. Truly enjoy playing this game. This was scenario 19, a German attack against the Highlanders.

Have a great day! Goodbye from Oak Island!