And the eternal enemies go at it again. Syagrius and the last of the Romans (yours truly) against Clovis and the up-and-coming Franks (Peter). Peter has got the idea that he really needs to get all his Warriors into the fight, and he hit on the notion of forming them up in two lines: the first to weaken the Roman infantry, the second to finish them off. A very good plan.
The terrain pre-game got us this battlefield. Some forest and scrub, a couple of hills and a stream. Gallo-Romans on the left, Franks on the right.
And the armies deploy. 3 commands each. The Frankish Warriors are in two lines, the front line uncommanded, the second line with a commander hence in command.
I decided to amend this for subsequent games, as it slowed play down. Henceforward, a unit is in command if it is directly in front of or behind a battleline in command, which means a single command can be three battlelines deep and all the units be in command. Sounds historical enough to me.
I like Optio's hills. 😊
Another view of the calm before the storm.
Turn 1. Syagrius.
I decided to sit tight. I had a good position with forest on my flanks and a stream in front. Let the Franks come to me!
Turn 1. Clovis.
And the storm begins. The Frankish first line trundles off. Since it is uncommanded it moves at half speed - ½ a square per turn, indicated by moving the unit up to the edge of the square they occupy in turn one, then into the next square in turn 2, then to the edge of that square in turn 3, and so on.
Turn 2. Syagrius.
I decide to sit tight and see what Peter does, especially with his second line which he is holding back.
Turn 2. Clovis.
On they come.
Put I stay.
Turn 6. Melee.
Turn 3. Clovis
Forward, nice and slow.
Turn 4. Syagrius.
Nice and immobile.
Turn 4. Clovis.
The Frankish first line starts angling towards my infantry. About what I suspected.
Turn 5. Syagrius.
Well let 'em come....
Turn 5. Clovis.
The Household Warriors get in range of the leftmost Legion unit and and exchange of missiles begins. Household Warriors are armoured like Legionaries, so this will be a drawn contest.
Meanwhile the Frankish MC heads for the other flank. Does it want to engage my cavalry?
Turn 6. Syagrius.
The leftmost Roman commander moves to the Bucellarii unit on his left. Commanders may move from unit to unit of their command.
Turn 6. Clovis.
The Household Warriors charge the Legion - and Clovis is wounded!
Nobody routs.
Turn 7. Syagrius.
Time to move the Bucellarii and archers up on my left and outflank the Frankish right.
Turn 7. Clovis.
But Peter had anticipated that, moving his cavalry over to his right to counter my outflanking move. Peter told me he had intentionally moved his cavalry to the other flank in order to tempt me to advance my Bucellarii as it was obvious I wanted to use them to outflank the Frankish right. More fool me....
Turn 7. Melee.
Clovis' Household Warriors and Syagrius' Legionaries fight furiously but inconclusively.
Turn 8. Syagrius.
The Archers move up to support the Bucellarii whilst the Garrison troops move across to replace them. On my right the cavalry finally spring into action.
Turn 8. Clovis.
The Frankish cavalry move to outflank the outflanking Bucellarii. Damn! Meantime the Warriors move up to engage the Roman foot asap.
Turn 8. Melee.
We might have missed this. Never mind.
Turn 9. Syagrius.
The Roman MC and LH move into the Frankish rear whilst the Garrison troops continue to move to the left to support the Bucellarii and Archers. I stop the advance of the Bucellarii as that will just open them to being rear-ended by the Frankish MC.
The Warriors occupy the square vacated by the routed Legionaries.
The victorious Romans occupy the squares vacated by the routed Franks.
....and its square occupied by the triumphant cavalry. Syagrius starts composing his victory speech: Veni, vidi, peachy....
The victorious Frankish warriors surge forward.
The moment of defeat.
Better luck next time chaps....
Incidentally, the game, although 15 moves long, took, from the first to the last move, exactly 2 hours and 10 minutes to play. You cannot get a long, drawn-out game with Optio.
Turn 9. Clovis.
Franke verhef! In goes the first Frankish line. The Frankish MC flank charge the Bucellarii, disordering them.
Turn 9. Melee.
Opposing fighters hack away at each other but nobody routs yet.
Turn 10. Syagrius
The cavalry move across to deal with Clovis' horsemen whilst the uncommitted Bucellarii unit turns in preparation for rolling up the Frankish line. That disorders it but never mind.
Turn 10. Clovis
Peter sends the second line forward. He must crush the Romans under weight of superior numbers as quickly as possible.
Turn 10. Melee
Something happens which doesn't happen very often in Optio: The Household Warriors and Legionaries fight to morale exhaustion and break off from each other. This occurs when the melee combat is a draw and both units lose a morale interval which would rout them both.
In this case they don't lose morale and don't rout, but break off from the fight, the idea being they are so worn down they cannot carry on, but need time for a breather and the opportunity to remark (with loud voices) on the canine and rodent ancestry of their opponents' parents.
So long as their morale remains on the lowest shaken interval, they can't subsequently charge.
Turn 11. Syagrius.
Forgetting my own rule I let the Roman legion on the left charge the Frankish Warriors, assisted by a flank charge by the Bucellarii. I've miscalculated however. Warriors do well in the charge and the Legion is routed! Damn!
The Cavalry form up facing the Frankish MC and Warband.
Turn 11. Clovis..
....and turn to face the Archers.
Turn 11. Melee.
Nobody routs.
Turn 12. Syagrius.
Time to make every effort to hit the Franks in flank.
Turn 12. Clovis.
The Household Warriors charge the Archers. If they're going down, they're going down in style.
Turn 12. Melee.
Again!.... Warriors and Legions fight to exhaustion and break off from each other. What a ding dong battle this is.
Ding dongs are more conclusive elsewhere: Bucellarii rout as do Frankish cav. The Household Warriors go down fighting to the last.
Turn 13. Syagrius.
Chaaaarge! The rightmost Warrior unit of the first line is hit in front and flank. Meanwhile the rightmost Warrior unit of the second line is finally shot to rout.
Turn 13. Clovis.
But the Franks aren't done yet. The Frankish MC rear end the Bucellarii, disordering them.
Turn 13. Melee.
Another Warrior unit bites the dust.
....and the Legion occupies its square.
Turn 14. Syagrius.
Cavalry move into position.
Turn 14. Clovis.
Another rare event in Optio: the Warriors of the second line burst through the Warriors of the first line and slam into the Romans. Bursting through friendlies is a rule I've had for a long time but have rarely used. Nice to see it's useful. The one Legion is routed by the Frankish onslaught.
...who occupies its square.
Turn 14. Melee.
Two Legion units go down in rout. Syagrius pauses in the composition of his victory speech. The Roman army is approach its collapse point. What is going on?
Turn 15. Syagrius.
Syagrius must finish this quickly. In charge the cavalry....
Turn 15. Clovis.
No good options for the Franks.
Turn 15. Melee.
Frankish MC and Warband go down - and the Frankish army reaches its breaking point, just ahead of the Romans. Game over!
Incidentally, the game, although 15 moves long, took, from the first to the last move, exactly 2 hours and 10 minutes to play. You cannot get a long, drawn-out game with Optio.
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