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 #6, p. 39
Scenario for Caesar (GMT)
In 17 AD, under the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, a revolt burst out in one of the richest provinces of the Roman world: Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia).
Tacfarinas, a Numidian who had served in the Roman auxiliares, took charge of an irregular troop to raid and pillage. Later mustering a coalition of tribes in search of their lost liberty, he most seriously threatened Roman authority in Africa.
His forces reassembled Musulames (located between the Aures and the Sahara), Moors (located northwest of the preceding) commanded by Mazippa, and the Cinithiens (located easternmost, near Syrte Minor). Aside from an elite equipped like the Romans, he could count only on light troops, mostly mounted.
Facing him, the proconsul Furius Camillus gathered together the army of Africa, that is the legion III Augusta camped at Haïdra, near the territory of the Musulames, and its auxiliary troops: cohors XV, ala Pannoniana, and probably the cohors Lusitania equitata and ala Siliana. Some Moorish allies, under their king Juba II, also reinforced the legion.
Few in number (less then 10,000 men), the Romans did all to give confidance to the Numidians and to egg them on to submit to a pitched battle. When the two armies met, in the southwest of present-day Tunisia, Camillus put his legion in the center and his auxiliary cohorts, the alae and the allies on the flanks. Tacfarinas, carried away by the hope of a decisive victory, didn't refuse combat. That which [doit = ought?] to happen then happened: the Numidians were put in complete rout by the solid professional army of the Romans and Camillus won the triumphal insignia.
It took the Romans seven more years to completely eradicate the revolt of a more prudent Tacfarinas, especially with the intervention of a second legion, IX Hispana, between AD 20 and 23.
Map: Use the north Pharsalus map. The camp of Pompey is ignored in this scenario. Little information exists on the battlefield, but the map corresponds to the kind of terrain found in the province of Africa.
All units are facing southwest.
Furius Camillus (OC, SC), Aquilae III: 1926
Tribune III legion: 2025
Prefect cohors XV: 2031
Prefect cohors VII Lusitania: 1919
Prefect ala Pannoniana: 2017
Prefect ala Siliana: 2014
Juba II: 2033
Leader counters: The leaders of both sides of this scenario are available on the insert in this issue of VaeVictis.
III Legion (each has 2 cohorts): 2021, 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029
XV cohort [a]: 2031
VII cohort, infantry [b]: 2019
VII cohort, cavalry [c]: 1919
ala Pannoniana [d]: 2016, 2017
ala Siliana [e]: 2013, 2014
Moorish cavalry [f]: 2033, 2034, 2035, 2036, 2037
[a] : use the 5th cohort from the XV legion
[b]: use the 7th cohort from the VII legion
[c]: use the Roman RC 1 (light brown)
[d]: use the German BC 3 and 4 (light brown)
[e]: use the German BC 5 and 6 (light brown)
[f]: use the Moorish LC 1-5 (light brown)
All units are facing northeast.
Tacfarinas (OC): 3329
Mazippa: 3214
Musulame leader: 3422
Cinithien leader: 3239
Musulames
Skirmishers [a]: 3023-3028
Numidian LI 1-8 (blue): 3222 - 3229
Elite infantry [b]: 3324 - 3327
Numidian LC 1-11 (blue): 3329 - 3331, 3430, 3431, 3319 - 3321, 3420 - 3422
Cinithiens
Numidian LI 9-16 (blue): 3233 - 3236, 3333 - 3336
Numidian LC 12-17 (blue): 3136 - 3138, 3237 - 3239
Moors
Numidian LI 17-23 (blue): 3215 - 3218, 3315 - 3317
Numidian LC 18-25 (blue): 3111 - 3114, 3211 - 3214
[a]: use Numidian SK archers 1-3 and Numidian SK slingers 1-3 (blue)
[b]: use cohorts 2, 3, 4, and 5 from the Cilician legion (Clcia).
The historical sources and especially Tacitus (Annals, Book II.52) are clear enough on the Roman deployment, but for the army of Tacfarinas the uncertainty is complete. As a result, the initial Numidian placement proposed above is a hypothesis which tries to be logical. The players can in any event decide to have recourse to a free placement, the Roman on the hex column 2000 (facing west) and the Numidians between hexrows 3000 and 3500 (facing east). In this case, the Romans deploy first.
Special Rules
1. Command The various Roman leaders can command onyl units of their formation. For example, the prefect of the cohors VII Lusitania can give orders only to the infantry cohort and cavalry unit of the Roman mixed cohort (cohors equitata). Thus, some Roman leaders have an initiative (number of orders per activation) greater than the number of units which they command and can't use the "surplus". The prefects of the cohorts are treated like Tribunes in the standard rules.
The Numidian leaders, with the exception of Tacfarinas, can command only units of their tribe. Only Tacfarinas can command the elite infantry.
2. Stacking The four Musulame elite infantry units cannot stack even though they are represented by CO units.
3. Tacfarinas's Overconfidence To reflect the exaggerated belief of the Numidians in their victory, their units, save only those of class SK (Skirmishers), cannot perform Orderly Withdrawal until they have already lost two points of cohesion.
4. Line Eligibility
Romans:
Roman cohorts: Tribune, OC
Roman cavalry: Prefect of ala, OC
Moorish cavalry: Juba II, OC
Numidians:
Skirmishers: OC (see Auxiliares Phase)
Light infantry: Tribal chief, OC
Elite infantry: OC
Cavalry: Tribal chief, OC
A given line cannot be cannot be composed of units from different tribes.
5. Retreat Direction The Romans retreat towards the northwest edge of the map. The Numidians retreat towards to southeast edge of the map.
Victory Conditions
The army of Tacfarinas routs when 60 Rout Points are eliminated. The army of Africa routs when 45 Rout Points are eliminated.