The Batavian Revolt with “To The
Strongest“
The
Year of Four Emperors and especially the events on the Rhine frontier, namely
the Batavian Revolt, have been a particular research interest of our gaming
group for quite some time. Once again it is one of the local topics in military
history that we find so fascinating, the battlefields of AD 69 and 70 are very
close to our homes (as a matter of fact, after the game we went out for a meal
and could locate the battlelines of the final battle on a public city map).
One
issue with wargaming the period has been so far to decide on the miniature
scale and the ruleset, there are 28mm armies in the making but nothing definite
had been decided. Until, well until Mad
Dog came along and surprised us with a radically new approach: Why not use
6mm figures? They would be quick to paint and could form large, believable
units. And while he was at it, why not try out a new ruleset? “To The
Strongest” seemed to offer the interesting combination of playability and
unconventional (at least for us) game mechanics.
We
decided to give it a try and enjoy the spectacle of 6mm legions marching to
battle in the forests of Germania, on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Here is what
we experienced:
The Rules
“To The Strongest” is different from
other rules that we use by employing decks of playing cards in place of dice
and that movement is organized by square fields, so rulers are not needed. The
game is played in alternating bounds and units are organised in commands under
their generals. Each player gets the chance to activate all commands during a
turn, however, failure to activate a unit ends that respective command’s
movements and actions. Activation of units and combat are decided by drawing
cards from one’s hand and meeting a minimum numeral. Units can be activated for
several actions per turn, but they must activate on a higher numeral than the
one used for the previous activation. This creates a realistic feeling of
“command attrition” as actions become progressively more difficult, while the
cards are used up. Officers and special rules can provide opportunities to e-draw
cards if necessary, but usually only once per turn. It is therefore an
important part of the play to carefully consider the order of activations and
actions in one’s army.
The Armies
We
used these army lists in the battles we played:
Pricipate Romans
| |||||
Unit type
|
Save
|
Chits
|
VP
|
Points
| |
Primipilar Aquilius
|
detached foot
|
2+
|
|
2
|
5
|
Auxiliarii sagittarii
|
Bowmen, veteran
|
7+
|
7
|
2
|
9
|
Auxilian Cohort
|
Auxiliaries
|
6+
|
|
2
|
8
|
Auxilian Cohort
|
Auxiliaries
|
6+
|
|
2
|
8
|
Camp
|
Camp
|
---
|
|
3
|
1
|
11 victory points, demoralised once 6 points are lost
| |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legat C. Sempronius Longus
|
detached mounted,
senior
|
2+
|
|
2
|
7
|
Legionarii
|
Legionaries
|
6+
|
|
2
|
10
|
Legionarii
|
Legionaries
|
6+
|
|
2
|
10
|
Legionarii
|
Legionaries
|
6+
|
|
2
|
10
|
Carroballistae
|
Artillery
|
7+
|
6
|
1
|
8
|
Servus castrensis
|
Light Infantry, raw,
javelin
|
8+
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
Camp
|
Camp
|
---
|
|
3
|
1
|
13 victory points, demoralised once 7 points are lost
| |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prefectus T. Mala
|
Attached mounted
|
3+
|
|
2
|
5
|
Equites Alares
|
Cavalry, veteran,
javelin
|
6+
|
3
|
2
|
11
|
Equites Alares
|
Cavalry, veteran,
javelin
|
6+
|
3
|
2
|
11
|
Lanciarii
|
Light Infantry,
veteran, javelin
|
7+
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
Servus castrensis
|
Light Infantry, raw,
javelin
|
8+
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
Camp
|
Camp
|
---
|
|
3
|
1
|
11 victory points, demoralised once 6 points are lost
| |||||
Castrum
|
5x field fortification
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
|
|
|
120
|
Ammunition Chits
Reserve
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
Victory point total is 35, divided by 3 gives 11 Victory medals
|
Germani
| |||||
Unit type
|
Save
|
Chits
|
VP
|
Points
| |
Prefectus Julius Civilis
|
detached mounted, heroic, senior
|
3+
|
|
2
|
8
|
Cavalry ( Ex corporis custodes )
|
Cavalry, veteran,
javelin, attached light Inf.
|
6+
|
5
|
3
|
15
|
Batavian Auxilian Cohort
|
Auxiliaries, veteran
|
5+
|
|
2
|
10
|
Canninefat Auxilian Cohort
|
Auxiliaries, veteran
|
5+
|
|
2
|
10
|
Skirmishers
|
Light Infantry, javelin
|
7+
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
10 victory points,
demoralised once 5 points are lost
| |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frisii Chief Hauko
|
Attached foot, heroic
|
3+
|
|
2
|
5
|
Cavalry
|
Cavalry, raw, javelin
|
8+
|
1
|
2
|
7
|
Hosio´s Warriors
|
Warriors, deep, Hero Hosio
|
7+
|
|
3
|
10
|
Badafred´s Warriors
|
Warriors, deep, Hero Badafred
|
7+
|
|
3
|
10
|
Skirmishers
|
Light Infantry, javelin
|
7+
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
11 victory points,
demoralised once 6 points are lost
| |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chauki Chief Chario
|
Attached mounted, heroic
|
3+
|
|
2
|
6
|
Cavalry
|
Cavalry, raw, javelin
|
8+
|
1
|
2
|
7
|
Segimer´s Warriors
|
Warriors, deep, Hero Segimer
|
7+
|
|
3
|
10
|
Leudo´s Warriors
|
Warriors, deep, Hero Leudo
|
7+
|
|
3
|
10
|
Skirmishers
|
Light Infantry, javelin
|
7+
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
11 victory points,
demoralised once 6 points are lost
| |||||
|
|
|
|
|
120
|
Ammunition Chits Reserve
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
Victory point total
is 32, divided by 3 gives 10 Victory
medals
|
The set up
The Gaming Table
We
used a 120 X 90cm playing surface, covered with a printed cloth showing a grid
of 10 cm squares. Terrain was the Roman fortified marching camp and a number of
woods. This was meant to represent a fairly generic Rhineland landscape.
The Battles
Both
games started with a general advance by the Germani against the Roman lines,
who stayed on the defensive. The first time the terrain obstructed the
movement of some Germanic warbands, who reached the Roman frontlines in a
rather piecemeal fashion. This resulted in a rout of the Batavian army. After
the game we went out for a meal and discussed the experience and mistakes that
we had made.
Then
we modified the Batavian set up and replayed the battle. The second game was
very close and exciting, the Germanic Warbands reached the Roman lines en masse and, after being repulsed and
having regrouped, managed to turn the left flank of the Roman line and push
through towards the camp. The Batavian elite cavalry proved instrumental in
securing the left flank of the Germani, where the Romans had managed to break
through almost simultaneously with Germanic success on the other side of the
battle line.
The first battle
From the Roman side
The second battle
Auxiliaries
Tribesmen
Roman battle lines
Catapults defending the camp
Advancing warbands
The Batavians are coming!
Germanic cavalry
The advance
Spectacular view of massed tribesmen attacking Roman auxiliaries in a deep column ("wedge")
Tribesmen
And more tribesmen
Representative view of game sequence with "Cards on the table"
The Romans stand firm (yet)
Impending carnage
The breakthrough
Conclusion
We found the
second game to be a very realistic depiction of historical events, Roman
legions (with their additional pila) and both Batavian elites (higher saving
throw than legions) and even warbands (with “expendable” heros) all had
convincing strengths and weaknesses but were, on the whole, evenly matched.
Shooting
proved to be a moral factor (long range catapults inciting a quick advance by
the enemy) but relatively indecisive in terms of casualties. Cavalry was
extremely dangerous due to their mobility, but unable to achieve success
head-on. Victory depended on legions, auxiliaries and warbands. We found this
outcome very realistic.
The games
were played very quickly, the first one took us less than 3 hours, the second
one less than two.
The 6mm scale
was visually very impressive on the table by enabling us to field large units
with many figures; the number of miniatures per base was four times more than
what is normally used on 15mm scale elements.
Altogether it
was a very enjoyable and exciting gaming experience, many thanks to Mad Dog for
two fair and nice games, as well as introducing me to a new set of rules. And,
last but not least, I would like to express my admiration for his excellent
painting of the small miniatures and great modelling skills shown in the
manufacture of that camp and woods! Visually it was a spectacular game!
I stumbled across your blog and this was a great surprise. Wonderful scenics and good to see you are also enjoying "To The Strongest" as indeed I am.
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