Mons Graupius - Battle in a Zip File

[RogerCooper]

I am testing my ability to print out counters to use for Triumph. the battle I chose was Mons Graupius. Here are my scenario notes.

For the details of the battle see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons_Graupius.
According to Tacitus there were 8,000 auxilla in the center with 3,000 cavalry on the flanks. In addition there was a Roman legion in reserve (my guess is 5,000) and 4 cohorts of reserve cavalry (2,000?). Scaling this 1,850 per infantry unit (625 per cavalry) gives me a 48 point force. Note this was a much more cavalry-heavy force than a typical Roman legion.

For the Caledonians, I am figuring their chariots were effectively equal in numbers to the Roman cavalry in the front. For the remaining 27,000, I am splitting them roughly evenly between Warband, Light Infantry and Rabble. The Meshwesh army list has the Caledonians being mostly warband, but as this was a defensive battle with the entire tribe assembled, I assume that many less well-armed warriors are participating. Fudging the proportions a little bit, gives me a 48 point army. Note that although the Romans are outnumbered by nearly 2 to 1, the point values are the same. The only terrain mentioned is the hill which was not big enough to hold the entire Caledonian army. Most of the battlefield was clear.

Tacitus noted the superiority of the auxilla over the Caledonians. Triumph handles this with the Roman Raiders being at +4 versus Caledonian Warband at +3. Roman Javelin Cavalry is even with Caledonian Battle Taxis, but if the Romans commit their reserve, they should win with numerical superiority (and greater speed). The flag I am using for the Caledonians, is the double disc symbol of their Pict descendants.

The Roman army consists of 5 Javelin Cavalry, 4 Raiders, 3 Elite Foot.
The Caledonian army consists of 3 Battle Taxi, 4 Warband, 5 Light Foot, 6 Rabble

In our first game we tried to replicate the historical battle. The Roman Raiders were quite effective against the Caledonian Warbands. The Roman cavalry ran into some problems with the Caledonian chariots, dues to some bad die rolls. Still a Roman victory.

In the second game we just played the units as we thought best. Caledonian player tried holding his chariots in reserve and keeping his force close together. The Roman player advanced the elite foot immediately. Without the good die rolls of the first game, the Caledonians were defeated after only 3 player-turns of contact.

Triumph replicated history well. The Raiders dominated the Warbands as they did historically. The Elite Foot never engaged. The Caledonian Rabble was almost useless. The Roman army seems tailor-made to defeat the Caledonians in the open. 18,000 Romans curb-stomp 30,000 Caledonians with no special rules or reducing the size of the larger force.

You can use the following file to printout stickers to apply to bases.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13UKwps ... share_link