The (Unofficial) Great Battles of History
Frédéric Bey has been kind enough to permit me to post translations of his GBoH scenarios from Vae Victis magazine. The creativity is his; the "translationese" and typos are mine. My French isn't perfect, so if anyone can offer corrections, I'd be grateful.
By Frédéric Bey(?), from Vae Victis #17, p. 18
Scenario for Caesar (GMT)
In his Roman history, Vellleius Paterculus wrote, about P. Quinctilius Varus, the "man had a soft and peaceful naturalness, a certain idleness of the body and espirit, more accustomed to peaceful camps than warfare." In AD 9, in the last years of the reign of Augustus, he was charged to oversee a practically pacified Germany.
From his base camp (Aliso, now in Westphalia), he marched east in the autumn to pacify the tribes in rebellion. The Roman army in German numbered three legions (XVII, XVIII, and XIX), three cavalry alae (800 men) and six auxiliary cohorts. During his expedition, Varus had only around 15,000 men, having left auxiliary troops as camp garrisons. Arminius, a Cherusci leader serving in the Roman auxiliaries, used his services to set a trap for him, actively preparing for a revolt of the tribes in the area.
Between the rivers Ems and Weser, in the Teutoburger forest, Arminius wanted to benefit from the difficult ground (forests, marshes, and hills) to prevent the legions from using their mobility, to launch the assault. The first day, the surprise was total. The German auxiliaries, recruited to reinforce the expedition, deserted and rejoined the army of Arminius, composed of Cherusci, Chaucii, and Marsii. Impeded by their baggage (there were as many civilians -- women, children, and slaves -- as soldiers in the column) and victims of Varus's apathy, the solid legions resisted but remained blocked[?] and encircled. The next day, the cavalry tried to escape but failed. Then, the third day, overwhelmed, the Romans succumbed, almost to the last man (less than a dozen men managed to escape).
Quinctilius Varus nobly chose suicide, and fell on his sword to avoid the humiliation of capture. The disaster, the worst since that of Crassus against the Parthians, sealed the fate of Germany. The Romans withdrew the northern border to the Rhine, and the Germans found in the person of Arminius one of their first legendary figures. Augustus, having learned the news, cried "Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!"
In AD 16, under Tiberius, Germanicus gained a partial revenge on Arminius, who unwisely gave up his guerilla tactics to accept an open battle. He even drew[?] up a funeral pyre[?] in homage to the legions of Varus on the battlefield traversing the forest. Arminius, forgotten by his people, died a few years later during a war between rival tribes.
Map: The map of Beneventum (SPQR) is the best adapted to represent the battlefied of the Teutoburger forest. The Roman camp on the map is ignored; its hexes are considered forest hexes.
Units: The pieces are from the Caesar game (Romans) and in the Dictator module (Germans). Most of the leaders of the two sides and aquilae of two of the legions are found on the countersheet included in this issue of VaeVictis (11 new units) and are marked '*'.
The cavalry units and German auxiliares are deployed freely within three hexes of any cohort and within command radius of their prefect, who is stacked with one of them. Varus is placed with any unit of his army.
The German player then places seven "entrenchment" pieces (see the Special Rules) anywhere on the map, at least seven hexes from a Roman unit. He then freely places his units in: woods hexes, elevation 1 or 2 hexes not adjacent to elevation 0 hexes, or "entrenchment" hexes.
Quinctilius Varus (OC and WC)*
Tribune XVII + Aquila XVII
Tribune XVIII + Aquila XVIII*
Tribune XIX + Aquila XIX*
Vala Numonius, cavalry prefect*
Prefect of German auxilia*
Legions:
10 CO of the XVII legion
10 CO of the XVIII legion (use the CO from the L legion)
10 CO of the XIX legion (use the CO from the XXX legion)
Cavalry Alae:
2 RC (Roman 1 and 2, brown units)
1 LN (Gaul 3, brown unit)
German auxiliares:
6 LI (Antesignani 1-6, brown units)
Note: for this scenario, these units have a size of
4 (and not 1 as indicated on the counters).
Baggage and Civilians:
6 Baggage units (use Passed markers)
6 Civilian units (use Testudo markers)
Arminius* (OC)
Cheruscii leader*
Chaucii leader*
Marsii leader*
Cavalry commander
Cherusci:
20 LI (use the green Cimbri (j) units 1-10 [TQ5] and 1-10 [TQ6])
5 BI (use the green Cimbri units 1-5)
Chauci:
16 LI (use the green Cimbri (j) units 11-18 [TQ5] and 11-18 [TQ6]
3 BI (use the green Cimbri units 6-8)
Marsii:
10 LI (use the green Cimbri (j) units 19-23 [TQ5] and 19-23 [TQ6]
2 BI (use the green Cimbri units 9 and 10)
Cavalry:
3 BC (use the green Cimbri units 1-3)
Entrenchments (use seven Column markers or the Abatis markers from GBoA.
The rules are those of Caesar. The changes from Dictator are also applied (but the special rules of the Vercellae scenario are not).
Ambush: On the first game turn (and only then), Arminius gets Elite Initiative (rule 5.5).
Baggage and Civilians: Baggage and civilian units are worth 1 Rout Point each. They move four hexagons once per turn (face them towards an hex angle rather than side to show this). The Roman player can move them whenever any of his leaders are active. Baggage units cannot leave the road. Baggage units and civilians cannot stack with any other Roman units. If a German piece enters their hex, they are eliminated (Civilians are removed from the map, Baggage units remain; the hex is traversable but units cannot stack there). A baggage unit is eliminated if a routed unit enters its hex.
German entrenchments: They give German units stacked with them the benefits of a woods hex for Shock and Missile Fire resolution, plus a -1 drm for all TQ checks.
German auxiliaries in the Roman army: they do not count for Rout Points for either army. They are moved by the Roman until the first normal activation of Arminius (not elite initiative, see above) and by the Germans afterwards.
Truce: Upon rolling a second '9' on the Dieroll of Doom (rule 5.33), after the normal effects (resolve the end of the turn), the Germans mark a pause in their attack (the real battle lasted three days...). All German units are redeployed to their starting hexes (woods, elevations, etc.) by the German player; the Roman units remain in place. Routed units of both sides are automatically rallied and all other units recover two cohesion hits. The game then begins again.
Retreat directions: The Romans rout their first two hexes (10.31) towards their respective Aquilae (cavalry towards the nearest Aquilae). During the Rout and Reload Phase, units rout move (10.31) towards hex 3044 or 1700, whichever is closest to the unit in question.
The Germans rout towards the nearest board edge.
The army of Arminius wins immediately if Varus is killed. The army of Varus wins immediately if the three Aquilae exit the map by hex 3044 or hex 1700 (the three must exit via the same hex).
Otherwise, the army of Varus loses if 75 Rout Points are eliminated; the army of Arminius loses if 115 Rout Points are eliminated.