Post by Eric Farrington on Dec 15, 2021 15:36:40 GMT
I initially started working on Wars of the Republic as a more focused set of rules called Conquest: Rome in Italy. As part of that rule set, I was focused on getting armies and forces for the early period of Roman history. There is not a lot of data on these early foes, but one of my favorites was the Etruscans.
The Etruscans was a loose group of city-states to the North of Roman territory. They shared a unified culture and a religious League, called the Etruscan League. Legend has it that 12 cities were part of this League. Despite the existence of the League, Etruscan cities were fierce rivals and were not above feuding and fighting amongst themselves.
The Etruscans themselves have very little written evidence that remains of their civilization. Instead, we must rely largely on Roman accounts from a legendary age. The other main source of information is archeology. The Etruscans may have been colonists from Anatolia, but had a complex relationship with their mostly Greek neighbors and trading partners. They entered and conquered much of the Northern Italy around 510 BCE.
It has been theorized that much of the early culture of the Roman military came from the warrior culture of the Etruscans. Some have theorized Rome herself was a colony or vassal of the Etruscans in its early history. Roman myth itself talks about how the Romans overthrew the Etruscan kings and replaced them with the Republic.
Despite expelling the Etruscan kings, the two groups remained rivals for control of North Central Italy for generations. This led to various battle, sieges, raids, and more. There are several major battles that history records. However, for every major battle recorded, there were several smaller skirmishes or lesser encounters that led up to the big clashes. Today, we will be playing one of those lesser engagements.
You can order your copy of the Wars of the Republic rules here.
Forces:
The Etruscan list will come straight out of the Wars of the Republic rulebook.
Etruscans
1 Elite Phalanx- Pila - General
2 Militia Hoplites
1 Drilled Infantry- Axemen
1 Skirmisher
They will face off against an Early Roman Triplex Acies. It would also make sense to have them fight a Early Roman hoplite army, but I want to use these guys instead to highlight the difference between the two fighting styles.
Roman Triplex Acies
1 Skirmisher
2 Hastati
1 Principes- General
1 Triarri
Set-up
This was completed using the rules laid out by the rules in the booklet. The board is 72 x 48 MU with an MU being 1 inch. The board was divided into 6 grid spaces and terrain rolled and placed using the chart. The Players took turns rolling and placing terrain, with the player being able to place the terrain anywhere they wished in the grid square.
This system led to the following set-up.
Grid 1 is the Roman right, 2 Roman center, and 3 is Roman left. Grid 4 is Etruscan left, 5 is Etruscan center, and 6 is Etruscan right.
Grid 1- Swamp
Grid 2- Stone Wall
Grid 3- 2 Level Hill
Grid 4- 1 Level Hill
Grid 5- Stone Wall
Grid 6- Grove of Trees
The Romans deployed with the Triarri on the right flank by the 2-level hill. Then Hastati on the road, then Hastati in the open leading to the shrine, then Principes on the left, and the flank is anchored by skirmishers.
The Etruscans deployed with the Elite Hoplite on the right, then a Militia Hoplite, with the second militia hoplites behind the other two. The Axemen are on the road. The left flank is Skirmishers in a ruined building. The Etruscans seem as if they want to fight the entire battle to the right side of the shrine.
Mission
We set-up our scenario using the method found right in the main rules. This is going to be a set-piece battle, so no fancy scenarios for this one. Etruscans are the attackers.
However, this battle will have Hungry and Thirsty complication. Disappointingly, no unit is suffering the effects of this complication as they all passed their Discipline checks.
With that, we are ready to start fighting! You can read the full report and the results on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:http://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2021/12/battle-report-wars-of-republic-romans.html