Battle of the Mauriac Plain

[FierceKitty]

The beginning of the great battle for eastern Gaul. On the left, Flavius Aetius and Theoderic the Visigoth, with sundry Frankish and middle eastern auxilliaries. On the right, Attila ("Daddy") the Wrath of God, with Huns, Gepids, Ostrogoths under King Widimer, more Franks, and a few Sarmatians. Figures are a mix of Pendraken (Picts and Mongols in particular make useful conversions), Newlines, and a handful of Steve Barber and Baggage Train. The outskirts of Troyes behind the Hunnic line by Leven. Sophia Loren not available, sad to say.

[FierceKitty]

The Romans enjoy a brief moment of end-of-empire splendour as they march out. Note home-made carroballistas, which proved really unpleasant to their barbarian opponents. Also note Visigothic infantry carefully looking after the baggage. (Gepid spearmen, similarly crummy, are guarding the Hun camp too.)

[FierceKitty]

The Romans were a bit overconfident at the beginning, and many melees developed in which the impact of impetuous tribal cavalry favoured my Huns. The luck was with the Empire, however, and my heavies were not as quick to sweep away the imperial forces as might have been hoped. Fortunately, the Hun light cavalry did a excellent job of skirmishing and evading, so the Roman attack became less well-coordinated than Aetius needed.

[FierceKitty]

As may be seen here, the Gepid nobles got bogged down against Franks and a Palatine legion, and then taken in flank by the Praetorians (or the Patrician equivalent).

[FierceKitty]

AND Theoderic turned up on my flank at just the right time. My Hun LC managed to lure him into a long and useless pursuit, however....

[FierceKitty]

The Scourge of the Lord, Great Khan of the Huns, banging heads against the Equites Catafractarii while being flank attacked by the Diocletiani legion. Here my luck held; the Hun nobles did not break. Meanwhile, the Sarmatians on the hill took the Equites Promoti in flank, and despite poor rolls neutralised them until King Widimer's Goths flanked them in turn. Hee hee hee.

Finger on the battlefield courtesy of Pamela Hay-Whitton, and (I've always hoped) the milkman.... The auxilliary archers near the finger failed completely to stop a wide outflanking move by another Hun LC unit, and their rout, and the threat to the Roman camp, was to prove decisive.

[FierceKitty]

Aetius and the guards showed great staying power; several times my nutcracker failed to damage him. But the eventual loss of a legion, the auxiliary archers, the cataphracts, and the Promoti were too much for Roman morale, and they retreated, leaving the Huns to mourn their faithful ally Widimer.

A tough match-up; I think we may be doing it again soon.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great report, but the Praetorians were dispanded by Constantine

[FierceKitty]

True. They'll have to be a different left-over guard unit.

Smartarse!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Takes one to know one!

[FierceKitty]

Rematch today. Let's see if the Huns can pull another rabbit out of a helmet.

[FierceKitty]

Oooh, a muddy field is a right headache for cavalry armies!

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Not going well then?

[Techno]

Still good stuff, though !

Cheers - Phil

[FierceKitty]

After three rounds the Romans negotiated a surrender. In their place I'd have done the same.

[FierceKitty]

Today the Romans finally managed an indecisive victory. The battle was marked by some extreme fluctuations of luck.