Burn the village

As previously mentioned the twin drivers for the latest game to be set up in the annexe were the receipt of a To the Strongest! Quick Play Sheet from Don and finishing off the three chariots that had been languishing for months.

I was looking for something different to the usual line up the Romans up on one side and the Ancient Britons on the other and after a bit of casting around for inspiration (eventually found here) have set up a punitive raid scenario:

The conceit is that a small Roman detachment has been sent to burn the village. There are only two small units of skirmishers on table to defend it at at the moment; in game terms they positioned to prevent the attackers' lead command from using march moves. The rest of the Celts, having been caught unawares, will arrive in due course. Two warbands will emerge from the village via the gate, one after the other. Two further units will emerge from the wood and the chariots - having been elsewhere for some unspecified reason - will enter from the end of the table nearest the camera.

Which ones are crap? They all are!

We are playing with the very latest iteration of the rules and my advice would be to remember the following rules in particular:

• March moves: make you get there quicker; can be thwarted by appropriate use of skirmishers.
• Group moves: help keep units in command.
• Light troops: don't actually need to be in command and don't cause morale tests when they break.
• Melee from the flank: two chances to hit and no response from unit being attacked.
• Firing from the flank: reduced saving throw.

To burn the village a unit of Roman auxilliary infantry must:

• Be in a square orthogonally adjacent to the village
• Not be in a warband zone of control
• Defeat the occupants of the village (who count as a mob and may not leave the village) in melee. 
• In the same turn start the fire by passing a simple activation.

If (when) the mob is defeated in melee they are not removed and nor do the Romans enter the village. If the attempt to set fire to the village fails then the occupants are deemed to have regrouped and must be defeated in melee again before another attempt is made.

I am hoping for a game of manoeuvre. We shall see.