Battle of Adrianople 378 CE

An friend of mine, Dave, is working on a refight of the Battle of Adrianople for a Society of Ancients game day in 2022 and kindly offered to give it a run through as a learning exercise for me with Mortem et Gloriam and to give my 15mm Late Imperial Roman army a first outing. As this was a refight and is intended as a demonstration game, the scenery was pre-defined rather than using the normal MeG pre-game mechanism and there were some special rules, particularly on movement in the deployment phase. 

Goths

• Fritigern - Talented, instinctive
• Alatheus - Competent, instinctive
• Saphrax - Competent, instinctive
• ANO - Competent, instinctive
• Camp - Poor, Fortified
• Comitatus Cavalry - 6 Cavalry, Formed, Loose, Superior Protected, Short Spear, Melee Expert, Dismountable
• 4x Warriors - 8 Infantry, Tribal Flexible, Average, Protected, Unskilled Javelin, Short Spear
• Ex-Roman Infantry - 6 Infantry, Formed, Flexible, Average, Protected, Unskilled Javelin, Short Spear
• Archers - 8 Infantry, Formed Loose, Average, Unprotected, Experienced Bow
• Comitatus - 6 Cavalry, Formed Loose, Superior, Unprotected, Devastating Chargers
• 3x Cavalry Warriors - 6 Cavalry, Formed Loose, Average Protected, Short Spear
• 2x Archers - 9 Infantry, Skirmisher, Average, Unprotected, Experienced Bow, Combat Shy
• 2x Alans - 6 Cavalry Skirmisher, Average, Unprotected, Experienced Bow, Cantabrian
• Huns - 6 Cavalry Skirmisher, Average, Unprotected, Experienced Bow

Romans

• Valens, Cassio, Trajan & Victor - all Competent Professional
• Camp - Formed Loose, Average, Protected
• Scutari - 4 Cavalry, Drilled Loose, Superior, Protected, Unskilled Javelin, Short Spear
• 2x Equites - 4 Cavalry, Drilled Loose, Average, Protected, Unskilled Javelin, Short Spear
• Equites Dalmatae - 4 Cavalry, Drilled Flexible, Superior, Protected, Experienced Javelin, Short Spear
• Cataphracts - 4 Cavalry, Drilled Close, Average, ArmHrs/FArm, Long Spear, Devastating Chargers, Shove
• 3x Auxilia - 6 Infantry, Drilled Flexible, Average, Protected, Experienced Darts, Short Spear, Shield Cover
• Auxilia Sagitarii - 6 Infantry, Drilled Loose, Average, Unprotected, Experienced Bow
• Equites Sgitarii - 4 Cavalry, Skirmisher, Average, Unprotected, Experienced Bow
• Archers - 6 Infantry, Skirmisher, Average, Unprotected, Experienced Bow, Combat Shy

The rest of the post below is Dave's summary and assessment of the game, interspersed with my photos and captions.

The test game went quite well. It played for 10-11 turns and was eventually narrowly won by the Romans, who were themselves one break away from their TuG to break limit.

We used three special rules:

Gothic cavalry arrival:

Cards dealt to the two cavalry commands as normal but face up.

Black - A cavalry unit arrives at the table edge.

White - A cavalry unit moves on to the table

Colours - no arrival but can be played normally on on table units.

Arrivals were placed on table before normal movement.

For a competent general (so 3 cards per turn) this should generate approx one unit per turn but it could be none, two or three. Once all units had arrived cards were dealt face down as normal.

Roman march column:

Roman units arrive on the road in a one wide column with one MU distance between them. Units in this formation may be moved as a group. Move distance over good going is increased to 4 MU. Once within 6 MU of an enemy unit they must convert to a normal formation ASAP. Treated a flank charged if attacked in march column. Roman foot must enter the table edge on the road but do not have to stay on it.

Roman rearguard cavalry arrival:

In the test game they were allowed to arrive once all the Roman infantry were on table. This actually proved too slow so we thought they should be allowed to arrive on turn Two in future games as they historically left the road and sped forward to reinforce the heavily engaged Roman vanguard cavalry.

Because the arrival of the Gothic cavalry was a bit delayed the deciding factor was the titanic infantry battle in the centre.

The action started with the Gothic infantry deployed behind the ridge on their side of the table with only a few archers and skirmishes visible to the Roman vanguard cavalry.

The game started with only the Roman forward cavalry units and some auxilia in march columns on the road on table.

The Scutari heavy cavalry and a unit of horses are front-left for the Romans, advancing confidently on a vulnerable looking unit of foot archers, little suspecting that they were actually a skull-rolling machine that went on to shoot them up on the approach then break them in the impact. A unit of Equites is on the right whilst the first two units of auxiliaries are in column of march on the road. 

The Roman Scutari attacked the exposed Gothic foot archers but were badly shot up as the main Gothic battle line appeared over the ridge.

Over the next three turns the Roman foot raced to deploy as the Goths closed the distance between them. The Gothic cavalry started to arrive on the Roman left flank but only the Alan's and Huns appeared which allowed the Romans some more time to deploy their infantry.

The start of Turn 4. Two units of auxiliaries have deployed off the road whilst the first two of four units of legionaries are marching across to form a second line. With the Scutari being shot up then broken in melee by the Gothic foot archers, the horse archers were feeling a bit exposed as the Alans and Huns closed in on them. However the surviving Equites are completing their move across the front of the the infantry to come to their support whilst the rearguard cavalry are coming up fast on the left. 

Turn 6. The Roman's first line with only two auxilia is already under pressure but Fritigern's dismounted bodyguard took a battering from the initial volleys of darts and the three legions and another auxilia have completed their moves to form a second line, leaving the superior legion, still in column of march, to the rear.

Turn 6, the cavalry. The Roman Equites Sagittarii had evaporated under the arrows of the Alans and Huns and a move by a unit of equites to push back Alans led to them taking a battering too. The Huns were busy getting themselves out of the way whilst the Roman Catphracts and the Equites, who had started off on the right flank, moved up.

Both the Roman rearguard cavalry and the Gothic horse arrived at a similar time to each other and clashed in the centre of the table. The outnumbered Roman cavalry attempting to hold up the superior numbers of Goths while the legions and auxilia confronted the main Gothic battle line.

Turn 7. The right hand auxilia is close to breaking and a legion moves up in support - too close as it turned out and they had to take a KAB test when the auxilia inevitably broke. The legions on the right were doing better, chewing their way through two larger units of Goth infantry.

Turn 9, I think. The two Roman legions on the right have broken the two Gothic infantry units and advanced in pursuit but lost three bases in the process whilst more fresh Goths are bearing down on them. The right hand auxilia is close to breaking and a legion moves up in support - too close as it turned out and they had to take a KAB test when the auxilia inevitably broke. The cavalry battle on the left is at a critical point. The left hand Equites broke in melee with the lead Gothic heavy cavalry but the Cataphracts also charged into the front of the Goths, doing better in the impact, and have expanded out. The last unit of normal Equites have charged into the foot archers and also expanded out in the melee. 

Turn 10. The two Roman auxilia have broken but the Gothic infantry centre has taken heavy losses and the survivors are facing two fresh legions. The Roman Cataphracts have broken the Gothic cavalry and their pursuit has taken them behind the flank of the other two units of Gothic heavy cavalry and are about to turn in for a flank charge. The Roman Equites, with their general leading from the front (all his other units had been destroyed so there wasn't much to lose!) are about to break the Gothic foot archers and, with that, narrowly win the race to reach the opposing army's break point.

The end. A much thinned-out table, with boxes full of casualties for both sides. It was a thoroughly enjoyable game and I'm looking forward to my next game of MeG and, having learnt from my mistakes in this game, finding a whole lot of new ones to make. 

Overall, I thought it worked well as a game and a simulation. The only thing we didn't really resolve was whether to create some kind of special rule to make the Roman cavalry attack impetuously at the start of the game as in the real battle. In the test game we forced them to advance at full speed and attack the nearest Goth unit then after that as the player wished.

I think it would work well either as a two hander or a four player game. Hopefully we can have another test game before the games day and I might even build some special scenery.