Or, The Battle of Pen Foel Aman.
So, Burriena pushes into Area III. As usual I have looked at old O/S maps, local history sites and Google Earth to get an idea of the topography etc.
This small patch mainly consists of a high plateau, broken up by watercourses and a valley. There are no clear tracks for the force to follow. The ground is mainly open grass and scrub. The only farmsteads are on flatlands to the north, the slopes above the river valleys either side of the zone and in the vale of the Aman (Cmwaman) leading down to the Diffa Valley.
This is likely a poor area, with little or no chariotry. The local headman and family may be pony-mounted, but the folk are mainly sheepherders and small-scale farmers in the valleys. On the plus side the nearby rivers are likely full of pebbles for chucking/slings so expect a lot of this.
The local have gathered on Pen Foel Aman; a high spur of the plateau in the centre of the area, whose flanks, scrubby and steep to deter pursuit by cavalry, allow easy escape into the large river valleys to south and, via the Aman valley, east, which are also in a state of revolt (note: the road on the map is modern).
The terrain here allows the locals to sit on high ground dominating the route of anyone proceeding along the plateau, and the slopes and nearness of the revolted valleys prevent wide outflanking movements by the Romans. This looks as good a place as any for a stand. Looking at Streetview and the topography, the "dome" of the spur has a "nose" on the north west end. Placing the locals on this seems the best option, to protect their flanks.
Burriena does have the option of pulling back; but doing THAT, against hill tribes the world over, will almost certainly result in a harassed retreat. Simply pushing past will leave the cohort at risk of flank attack and leave hostile force to his rear. He really has no choice but to disperse the locals - and even with the home advantage, this, with only 200 locals, mainly amateurs to fight, should in theory be a routine action for a Roman cohort. However.....
Burriena's Dalmations are a cohors quingenaria equitata. But as we've seen, some are on detached duties at the two forts. He therefore only has with him 2 Turmae and 4 centuries, whose ACTUAL strengths on the day are:
Century 1: 52 men
Century 2: 56 men
Century 4: 50 men
Century 6: 26 men
(184 foot)
Turma 1: 15 men & horses
Turma 2: 21 men & horses
(36 horse)
Dismounted cavalry (men whose became lamed/rendered unfit or sick en-route etc. but who are retained as baggage guard): 2 troopers.
Servants etc.: 28
[Above figures and decisions ascertained by dice tests as usual. Battle location by IMP.]
IF the battle drags on there IS the possibility of interference from the neighbouring hostile septs. But this is unlikely, since two of these areas have already had the bulk of their men drawn off by Twrch and all three will be aware of the arrival of Albinius at nearby Difforum - and his larger force less than two to three hours march away.
To The Table:
This should be simple enough; a rough dome of a spur with a sloping approach, scaled to the chosen man/figure ratio. The Romans coming from the north would be confronted by this - with the likelihood that the "tip" of the nose would be occupied by skirmishers, with the rest of the men further up-slope. The slopes would make flank defence easier.
From the Roman point of view there is nothing other than the slope to give pause.
There is room for the horse to manoeuvre and a small hillock on their right flank to provide a rallying point if things go awry (best line of retreat would be across the narrow Caenona valley into the friendly territory above Ronda (about five miles away) and from there back to Nidenum.
In the event of a victory, nearby springs would be useful post-battle; particularly for the wounded and the horses.
The ground is rough grass and scrub. The trees thereabouts as seen on Google are, from old maps and photographs, clearly modern plantations, so no palisades/fieldworks/surprises from woodland to worry about. Basically this looks like a slightly rougher version of the open sheepwalks we get round here in Sussex, but with steeper sides in places. Not the best of marching grounds - but certainly no worse than what the Dalmations would be used to at home.
Scale-wise I'm undecided, other than this seems best suited to my 20mm figures (as it's really a skirmish). The Silures will have a likely frontage of about 60m or so I guess. I have done one figure = one man actions before, and have enough bods to do that, but maybe I'll plump for 1:2. It'll make a decision once I get the table out (this will be the first 20mm action in the Blockhouse playroom).
So, to battle...
This small patch mainly consists of a high plateau, broken up by watercourses and a valley. There are no clear tracks for the force to follow. The ground is mainly open grass and scrub. The only farmsteads are on flatlands to the north, the slopes above the river valleys either side of the zone and in the vale of the Aman (Cmwaman) leading down to the Diffa Valley.
This is likely a poor area, with little or no chariotry. The local headman and family may be pony-mounted, but the folk are mainly sheepherders and small-scale farmers in the valleys. On the plus side the nearby rivers are likely full of pebbles for chucking/slings so expect a lot of this.
The local have gathered on Pen Foel Aman; a high spur of the plateau in the centre of the area, whose flanks, scrubby and steep to deter pursuit by cavalry, allow easy escape into the large river valleys to south and, via the Aman valley, east, which are also in a state of revolt (note: the road on the map is modern).
Burriena does have the option of pulling back; but doing THAT, against hill tribes the world over, will almost certainly result in a harassed retreat. Simply pushing past will leave the cohort at risk of flank attack and leave hostile force to his rear. He really has no choice but to disperse the locals - and even with the home advantage, this, with only 200 locals, mainly amateurs to fight, should in theory be a routine action for a Roman cohort. However.....
Burriena's Dalmations are a cohors quingenaria equitata. But as we've seen, some are on detached duties at the two forts. He therefore only has with him 2 Turmae and 4 centuries, whose ACTUAL strengths on the day are:
Century 1: 52 men
Century 2: 56 men
Century 4: 50 men
Century 6: 26 men
(184 foot)
Turma 1: 15 men & horses
Turma 2: 21 men & horses
(36 horse)
Dismounted cavalry (men whose became lamed/rendered unfit or sick en-route etc. but who are retained as baggage guard): 2 troopers.
Servants etc.: 28
[Above figures and decisions ascertained by dice tests as usual. Battle location by IMP.]
IF the battle drags on there IS the possibility of interference from the neighbouring hostile septs. But this is unlikely, since two of these areas have already had the bulk of their men drawn off by Twrch and all three will be aware of the arrival of Albinius at nearby Difforum - and his larger force less than two to three hours march away.
To The Table:
This should be simple enough; a rough dome of a spur with a sloping approach, scaled to the chosen man/figure ratio. The Romans coming from the north would be confronted by this - with the likelihood that the "tip" of the nose would be occupied by skirmishers, with the rest of the men further up-slope. The slopes would make flank defence easier.
From the Roman point of view there is nothing other than the slope to give pause.
There is room for the horse to manoeuvre and a small hillock on their right flank to provide a rallying point if things go awry (best line of retreat would be across the narrow Caenona valley into the friendly territory above Ronda (about five miles away) and from there back to Nidenum.
In the event of a victory, nearby springs would be useful post-battle; particularly for the wounded and the horses.
The ground is rough grass and scrub. The trees thereabouts as seen on Google are, from old maps and photographs, clearly modern plantations, so no palisades/fieldworks/surprises from woodland to worry about. Basically this looks like a slightly rougher version of the open sheepwalks we get round here in Sussex, but with steeper sides in places. Not the best of marching grounds - but certainly no worse than what the Dalmations would be used to at home.
Scale-wise I'm undecided, other than this seems best suited to my 20mm figures (as it's really a skirmish). The Silures will have a likely frontage of about 60m or so I guess. I have done one figure = one man actions before, and have enough bods to do that, but maybe I'll plump for 1:2. It'll make a decision once I get the table out (this will be the first 20mm action in the Blockhouse playroom).
So, to battle...
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