Love and Marriage

One night as they lay in bed Medb said to husband Ailill I brought more to this marriage than you did.  He is outraged and denies it.  The row escalates and soon the whole household is up as the royal couple shout for the totality of their possessions to be assembled to settle the argument.  Matters proceed apace but with each new comparison no supremacy can be established.  Until that is, the cattle are compared.  Ailill has a bull that is indubitably better, better by far, better beyond dispute. 

Did Ailill crow? Did he chortle? Did he quietly and provokingly say Sin E (That’s that.) and decide to go back to bed?  It didn’t matter because Medb was furious and she called her people to her and demanded they bring her a bull to match that of Ailill and restore her loss of face.  So, the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the Irish Iliad, begins and so does a war.

Let’s deconstruct what is going on here.  Our protagonists are the ruling couple of Connacht, royal from the day of their births.  From their first spoonful of honey and cream thickened porridge they had been told that they were without compare. First in beauty, wit and valour.  By dint of family connections and personal ability they had got to the top in a very competitive world. 

It’s tempting then, to see the incident as an overprivileged couple badly falling out over a trifle.  That would be to miss the point, the story is entirely political.

When Medb questioned Ailill contribution to the marriage she was instigating a challenge to the distribution of power in their kingdom.  For their marriage was legally of the best sort. Comadas and Comchenél, suitable and equal the jurists said. The couple were equal in beauty, wit, courage and status and both of their kin groups approved the marriage.  It provided for equal decision making within the union.

Were such a marriage to be dissolved, as they often were, then all brought to and gained by the marriage would be divided by halves.  That was the law.  There were of course many other less advantageous forms of marriage.

Ailill would have been alarmed at Medb’s words.  Probably he feared she had identified a future husband which would mean a civil war in the kingdom.  He had after all killed Medb’s previous husband in single combat. Possibly his life and the prestige of his clan were at stake.  At the end of the great counting he could relax, he had moved from equal to superior.

Not so Medb, the instigator was undone, she was no longer an equal and had badly devalued the status of her marriage, damaging her own clan’s prestige in the process.  Ailill could now, at least in theory, seek a wife of equal status who would be pre-eminent. To restore the balance, Medb was willing, and more importantly able, to launch a war.

So, the story goes and stripped of embroidery it no doubt reflects events but it’s importance lies in the world it shows us and its rules and conventions.

As a result, the world has the Táin Bó Cúailnge that provides a window to the Irish Iron Age, Cú Chulainn has literary and folkloric immortality and we, well we can understand that Celtic royal women had an agency of their own.

All of which makes me think Icenian Boudicca and her late husband Prasutagus.  I would suggest they had enjoyed a marriage of equals. Boudicca famously led a war.

Brigantian Cartimandua and her husband Venutius also clearly shared power and separately both of them started wars.  

Cartimandua took a lover, the ‘armour bearer’ Vellocatus - for whom the Romans thought she risked everything.  Contra Tacitus, I'd say he would most likely be another royal, albeit clearly too young to have achieved position.  I'd guess he was a close kinsman of Venutius.  A nephew, if we take tradition as our guide. 

Did sexual desire for a younger man move Cartimandua to civil war?  That would not be unlikely, but the politics of maintaining the Roman alliance would have weighed heavier. Venutius, a man pre-eminent in military skill as Tacitus tells us, was happy enough to take Rome on and eventually did so. Cartimandua preferred not to.

Cartimandua’s fate is unknown to us, as is that of Venutius, Vellocatus and Boudicca.  Medb and Ailill long ago passed into legend.  Yet all of them are recognisably human like us.

There Was Singing Before Battle

Cunedda’s bard recited in his elegy for his fallen patron that "There was singing before battle".  Cassius Dio tells us “The barbarians (Britons) approached with much shouting mingled with menacing battle songs”.

Dio was writing about Boudica’s army and the bard is describing the gwr hen ogledd- The men of the old north- so famed amongst the Cymry. We can see the practice of the Iceni and Trinovantes noted for 61 AD in the south east of the island was still current in 383 AD among British warriors around the Wall. A continuity if you like.  

There had been changes too.  In Boudica's time the western edge of Empire was at the northern border of her own polity.  When Cunedda roamed, it was, by virtue of client states, on the southern bank of the Firth of Forth.

Boudica was part of a cultural and linguistic continuity that stretched from Ireland to northern Italy and beyond most which had recently been subjugated by Rome. She, famously, was having none of that. 

The concept that sovereignty might be associated with a living royal woman is a strong undercurrent in some Irish texts and one that’s clearly pre- Christian.  I have often wondered about Boudica, was she somehow a living representation of the Icenian Sovereignty Goddess?  Her people certainly reacted to her defilement with a fury that we in this modern age might characterise as religious.  

And what of Cartimandua?  She ruled in a polity constructed around the goddess Brigantia. Her divine patroness was part of a celestial pair with Brigans, likewise Cartimandua ruled with Venutius.  Despite massive Roman intervention Brigantian identity seems to have survived, the men of Bryneich, alongside whom Cunedda fought, and the Brigomaglos who held court on the Post Roman Wall both proclaim their Brigantian antecedents.  As of course in a different way does St Brigid.  A Brigantian continuity if you wish.

Gildas, many scholars think, characterised Boudica as “an unclean lioness” because she rose against Rome, maybe so.  Gildas certainly adhered to Rome but it may be that he additionally did his Christian duty in refuting an individual who symbolised the demonic pagan past.  A recent past for Britannia and an active present in neighbouring Ireland and among the Picts.

Post Boudica the Iceni seem to have had a rough time of it.  We don’t know how much land was confiscated or how many were enslaved, probably a lot of both.  Later, the Iceni, now in the civil zone of the Roman province were granted a civates. Even by the standards of Roman Britain it seems to have been a shoddy place.  Yet it tells us something important, enough high status Iceni survived for long enough to be given back a portion of their land by the Imperium.  Here too there was some continuity.

Up in the military zone Cunedda, who seems to have been a Late Roman military official, held a court that Boudica, druidic art permitting, would have instantly recognised.  Bards sang, Heroes boozed and the loot was shared out. A continuity.

2017

It’s a new year and I hope you all have a good one.

I’m going to be concentrating on finishing last year’s projects and hopefully getting a few more games in, all of which will appear on this blog.

Some folk have been kind enough to ask for copies of Have a Heart and At the Ends of Empire which is very gratifying.  

I want to do another test game for each of them and following that I will make a PDF and QRS freely available for both sets for anyone who wants them.  The Army Lists, and I will be adding new ones, will be on this blog should anyone wish to use them.

Sometimes you begin a project and lose interest-usually after spending a lot of money.  I thought my Seven Years War project had gone this way but as if by osmosis it revived itself.   So, with no further ado here are some Austrians.

Regiment Von Browne above and some Croats below.

Here is the redoubtable regiment Botta.

As ever thanks for reading and more very soon.

The Next Play Test

As you know I was happy with the last play test of At the Ends of Empire but I feel the need to try the mechanisms further before I’m fully satisfied.

The next play test will be another away game for the Romans this time against Sasanian Persia.  Getting a grip on how Persian armies worked is a bit tricky as academic opinion varies and changes.  Some things seem clear enough we are certainly talking about major missilery and lots of armour, more in fact than the Romans, nor were the Persians afraid of close fighting.  They also had elephants which the Romans loathed. 

To this we can add large numbers of very agile horse archers recruited from the nomad population of the Persian Empire.

The Persian cavalry had the edge on their Roman counterparts until the latter adopted the Hunnic bow and up armoured.

The Roman infantry was good and seems to have thought nothing of attacking the Persian cavalry.  The Persians had some good infantry but mostly they were not fit to stand up to the Legions in a close fight.

I’m inclined to think this should be a big battle with lots of troops on the table.  More soon.

Reflections

The purpose of a play test is to see how things work or don’t, as the case might be.  So how did it go?

Most pleasing for me was that the Drungus and Chariot rules worked, the latter less spectacularly than I might have wished, but it seamlessly delivered both a missile platform and battle taxi.  

The Drungus showed its strength, and the reasons for its longevity, when an unarmoured unit of Roman cavalry sent twice its number of Pict spear men reeling back at no loss to itself.  It showed its weakness when the same cavalry got emmeshed in a second group of Pict spearmen and lost half its fighting strength.

The Legions did what they were supposed to do and routed everyone in front of them-but they were trained and armoured and fighting unarmoured part timers.

Unarmoured Roman close fighters didn’t do as well but could still take on greater numbers and if not prevail at least hold their own.  The artillery wasn't ready but it will be there next time.

Archery worked but unarmoured archers were vulnerable to both Missilery and Melee.

Armour and luck allowed the Roman cavalry survive against twice their number of equally well motivated and skilled but unarmoured, and in dice terms unlucky, Drungus using Pict noble cavalry. I’m comfortable with that level of combat uncertainty.

The Picts won in terms of holding the field and achieving their own pre-declared battle objectives but they lost two units and had the Romans not ran out of steam (Army Morale Points) would have lost more.  

The terrain fought for the Picts as it should for any competent defending force.

Leaders had to work to keep their troops fighting and surprisingly none of them were killed.

The Romans did not lose a single unit but might have lost the Army had they continued beyond their last Army Morale Point.  As it was, a despatch home might have said something like “I Remain in the field having inflicted losses on the enemy”.

I’m happy with At the Ends of Empire so far, but the true test will be a much bigger expedition into Persia against a very different enemy.

End Moves

To continue with the Picts where we left off.

Card 3 Lull- no action. Card 4 Melee- Casno’s spear men wreak havoc among the embattled Roman cavalry causing shock and heavy losses before they can get out of contact. Fighting continues in Pict Centre with no clear advantage.

Card 5 Missilery- the Pict archers shoot at the retiring cavalry to no effect but the Roman archers receive sufficient casualties to drive them out of the line of battle leaving them in shock. The charioteers hurl javelins at the agile Roman cavalry who escape harm. The Pict cavalry have more success driving their opponents back with loss.

Card 5 Army Morale- no action. Card 6 Group Move- The Pict cavalry renew their assault the charioteers dismounting to fight at close quarters but the Romans grimly hang on.

Army Dice: Rome 2 v Pict 4. Two cards in play.

Picts: Card 1 Command- an attempt to rally the routing Pict war band fails. Card 2 Missilery- Pict shooting causes the retiring Roman archers to move out of bow shot.

Rome: Card 1 Melee- the Romans play their last Tactical Advantage Card and their cavalry drive back the Pict cavalry and turn on the charioteers, in the centre the melee continues. Card 2 Artillery- no action as it is not with the army.  

Army Dice: Rome 12 v Picts 4. 

Eight cards in play. Rome: Card 1 Group Move- the Legions roll high and even and hit the flank of the Pict Centre inflicting losses and driving their opponents out of position.  

Card 2 Command- The Romans have half of their units near to breaking point and need to rally and recover unit integrity. Falco begins and rallies his cavalry losses at the cost of 2 Army Morale Points. Another Roman cavalry unit is rallied at a cost of 2 Army Morale Points.  Card 3 Army Morale- no action. Card 4 Missilery- no targets. The Romans have no cards left unturned so both sides reshuffle their decks and a new turn begins.

Army Dice: Rome 9 v Picts 8.  Rome: One card in play. Card 1 Group Move. The Roman Centre advances, the archers shoot to no avail, one unit slaughters the Pict archers but the other is badly beaten by the High King’s warriors losing the last 2 remaining Roman Army Morale Points.  The Army must now disengage. 

Part 5 - Hand to Hand

The Romans get to turn 8 Cards and in order to maximise their chances will spend Army Morale Points where ever possible to inflict maximum damage on the more numerous Picts.  Doing so is a gamble but the commanders think it is their best hope of victory.

Roman: Card 1 Move- Poor dice for the Roman Centre and cavalry, there is not enough movement to reach the enemy so they remain in position. Marco rolls high and even, his cavalry forms Drungus and storms uphill into Casno’s fresh war band but comes unstuck and is held in melee.

Card 3 – Lull.  Card 4 Army Morale – no action. Card 5- Manoeuvre- no action. 

Card 6 Move- This is what the Roman General has been waiting for.  Falco’s troops rush the Pict centre but one Roman unit is driven back by archery. The other makes contact but is held by the Picts who enjoy the advantage of numbers and ground, Falco’s archers shoot into the Picts Shocking them.

The Legions roll high and even and turn to face and then assault the two Pict War bands that form the link between the Pict Centre and their flanking cavalry.  They throw their spears before contact routing one unit and driving the other into the safety of the forest.

The Roman cavalry roll low and don’t move.  Card 7- Manoeuvre, no action.  Card 8 Command – Falco rallies his unit.

Picts: Card 1-Lull. Card 2 Move. The Pict cavalry rolls high and even and envelops their Roman counterparts. The melee begins with missilery with both sides playing Tactical Advantage Cards and Army Morale Points for Specialist shooting. The Romans are outnumbered two to one and suffer the most losses but manage to drive back one of the Pict units.  The other Pict commanders roll low and cannot usefully move. The Picts have six cards left to play.  

More soon.

Part 4 – The Crisis of Battle

Picts: Card 1- Missilery No targets, Card 2 Melee-no contact, Card 3 Move The remaining Pict cavalry move out to form Drungus. Card 4 Melee-no contact. Card 5 Command, Casno fails to rally of the Unit Integrity losses from his warriors. Card 6 Manourvre -no action. Card 7 Lull- no action.

Army Dice: Rome 10 v Pict 5. Five Cards in play.

Rome: Card 1- Missilery. The Romans pay 1 Army Morale Point for Specialist shooting against the Centre Pict Warriors causing them to become shocked. Card 2 Lull.  Card 3 Missilery. The Romans pay 1 Army Morale Point for Specialist shooting against the shocked Pict Warriors causing them to retire out of range.  Card 4 Manourvre- no action. Card 5 Command- no action.

Army Dice: Rome 10 v Pict 5. Five Cards in play.

Rome: Card 1- Missilery. The Romans pay 1 Army Morale Point for Specialist shooting against the Centre Pict Warriors causing them to become shocked. Card 2 Lull.  Card 3 Missilery. The Romans pay 1 Army Morale Point for Specialist shooting against the shocked Pict Warriors causing them to retire out of range.  Card 4 Manoeuvre- no action. Card 5 Command- no action.

Picts: Card 1 Command. Casno finally fully rallies his battered war band paying 1 Army Morale Point. The High King rallies his shocked men and leads them back into the battle line. Card 2 Manoeuvre. On the other flank the Picts align themselves with the legions open flank. Card 3 Amy Morale – no action. Card 4 Move. The Pict cavalry out flanks their Roman equivalents and the archers move into range. Card 5 Manoeuvre- no action.

Army Dice: Rome 10 v Picts 2. Eight Cards in play.

The Romans now have all their forces in position and having seen the totality of the Pict army are about to launch a ferocious offensive.  The Picts have made the best of the terrain and their numbers and if they can hold the Romans they might win. This is the crisis of the battle.

More tomorrow and thank you for reading.

Part 3

Army Dice Roll Romans 7 v Picts 1.  Six Cards in play. Romans: Card 1- Manoeuvre-no action. Card 2- Command, archers rallied but the lost Unit Integrity remains. Card 3 Melee- no contact. Card 4 Artillery reload- no artillery. 

Card 5 Group Move, the cavalry, winning on even, form Drungus and move out to mark their Pict opponents. Card 6 - Army Morale- no action.

Picts: Card 1- Lull- no action. Card 2- Move-Casno moves his weary warriors out of the front line into the woods and brings forward another unit. The Pict archers retreat behind their spear men.  The High King moves to the Pict centre. The Pict cavalry form Drungus and the chariots appear. Card 3 Melee-no contact. 

Card 5-Missilery reload, the archers reload. Card 6- Command, Casno fails to rally off lost Unit Integrity from his battered war band.

Army Dice roll Romans 11 v Picts 4.  Seven Cards in play.  Romans: Card 1- Lull-no action, Card-2 Army Morale-no action. Card 3- Melee-no contact. 

Card 4- Move, The Roman flank cavalry roll low and so choose not to move. The Roman Centre crosses the boggy ground. The Legions roll high and even, changing formation and moving to secure the open flank. Card 5 - Melee- no contact. Card-6 Command- Some of the archers lost unit integrity is recovered. 

More next week and thanks for reading.

After a little delay we continue.

After a little delay we continue.  Army Dice Roman 6 v Pict 1-. Five Cards in play. 

Card 1- Move, On the Roman Right the Commander throws low but manages to get the slingers out of contact with the Picts. In the Centre poor dice prevent movement. The Legions move up. 

Card 2-Lull-no action. Card 3-Army Morale- no action. Card 5-Manouvre, The Roman Centre forms up in two deep units each flanked by a deep unit of archers in preparation for assaulting the Pict archers. The slingers retire through the cavalry. 

Card 5- Move, On the Left the Roman commander throws even on a winning dice.  His cavalry, in Drungus, assault Casno’s Picts on a roll of 12 to 3.  The Picts are sent reeling back, Shocked and with many casualties.  The flank of the Pict archers is now uncovered.

The Picts: Card 1- Group Move, The Pict cavalry moves out on the Roman flank. 

Card 2-Lull- no action. Card 3 Command, The High King rallies Casno’s men but fails to restore all of their lost unit integrity. Card 4 Chariots reload- no action. Card 5 Army Morale- no action.

Army Dice Roman 2 v Pict 6-. Four Cards in play. Picts: Card 1- Lull- no action. Card 2- Command, a failed attempt to restore all of the lost unit integrity of Casno’s men. Card 3-Missilery, three units of Pict archers each shoot twice at their Roman opponents.  

One Roman unit is forced out of the battle line taking many casualties and becoming Shocked. The other Roman unit is also Shocked. Card 4-Melee-no targets.

We’ll the battle’s developing and both sides are bearing up to some heavy blows.

Casno and his lads will need a lot of luck to stand another cavalry attack. 

The next installment is tomorrow by which time we’ll know his fate. Thank you for reading and I hope you are finding it as enjoyable as I am. 

And We’re Off!

The Romans being Comitatenses have a higher Army Dice (D12) than the defending Picts (D8) and throw a 10 versus 2. Therefore 8 Cards are in play with the Romans going first.

Card 1-Lull-no action, Card 2- Army Morale-no action, Card 3 Melee- No troops in contact, Card 4 Command-no action.

Card 5 Move- The Roman Left moves up to sling range, its cavalry forming Drungus. The Roman centre first line moves forward stopping when it reaches some boggy ground.   The Legions in the second line slowly move forward (bad movement dice).  The Roman right flank cavalry hold their position covering the army's flank.

Card 6 Melee- No troops in contact, Card 7 Command-no action.

Card 8 Missilery- The Roman slingers shoot twice at the Picts shocking the leading group of warriors.  In the centre both units of Roman archers shoot twice at their Pict counterparts causing one unit of Picts to become shocked.

Picts: Card 1 Command- The Pict leaders successfully rally their shocked troops. Card 2- Manoeuvre- no action. Card 3 Army Morale- no action. 

Card 4- Move- Casno commanding the Pict Left throws his Leader Dice in the hope of being able to charge and melee with the Roman slingers, he rolls poorly and on an odd number so can only move into contact. 

Card 5 -Manoeuvre-no action, Card 6- Lull-no action. Card 7- Move-no action.

Card 8- Melee- Casno’s warriors attack the Roman slingers who fight back with sword and buckler. Poor dice scores (3 Pict-2 Roman) results in one hit per side but the Picts hold the advantage.

So far, so good I think.  There are a few things to note.  The Roman missile troops are Specialist for Shooting but their commander thinks it wise to hoard his Army Morale Points until he can see the full size of the Pict army.  The Roman slingers, plucky lads though they are, have been very lucky and need to get out of the way of that Pict war band. We can also note that the Pict archers are holding their fire for maximum effect.

More tomorrow and thank you for reading.

Just a note before we get into it

Just a note before we get into the play test. 

The Romans are on a punitive expedition.  They intend to destroy the Pict army and then kill and burn every living thing they can find. This was standard practice on the Imperial frontier and seems to have happened about once every 25 years.

The Roman force is drawn from the field army and has 3 units of cavalry, two Legions and supporting troops, ten Comitatenses units in all 5 of which are elite.  There are four Roman commanders, the Romans have a total of 22 Army Morale Points.

Now to see if any additional Army Morale Points are available to Romans. The Romans throw two ones and so their total remains the same at of 22 Army Morale Points.  They will have to rely on superior equipment, training and command against the more numerous Picts. 

The Picts Are Ready - Tactics

The Picts have mobilised against a Roman incursion.  To maximise their chances, the infantry has formed in Big Units the better to absorb punishment.  Every effort will be made to make best use the ground to disrupt and slow the inevitable Roman advance.  

Once the Romans are committed against the spear men the Pictish cavalry will launch a hopefully irresistible flank attack.  

The aims of the Kings of the Picts are to halt the Roman advance and preserve the army for future engagements. The Picts have 4 elite units and 5 leaders and 14 units of warriors giving a total 28 Army Morale Points.

To see if any additional Army Morale Points are available the Pict player rolls a D6 versus a D12.  He throws a 5 v an 8 and so adds 3 additional Army Morale Points to their total making a grand total of 31.  

The Card Decks

Here are the Cards for At the Ends of Empire as you can see there are three Roman armies to reflect the Empire's options for dealing with opponents. All armies have the same number of cards but not all the same type of cards so we will see Persian arrows blocking out the sun and Celtic chariot warriors racing to death or glory.  I'm still thinking about British, Germanic and Hunnic Cards but they will follow in due course and benefit from the lessons of play tests. 

Card	Action	Pict at Home Army Dice D8	Irish or Pict Away or Limitanei Army Dice D10	Sasanian Army Dice D12	Comitatenses Army Dice D12	Palatinate Army Dice D12+1
Army Morale	Army Morale check	3	3	3	3	3
Artillery (Only loads with this card)	Artillery is loaded	-	-	-	1	1
Command	Commanders can move and rally	3	4	5	5	5
Lull	No action	5	4	3	3*	2
Manoeuvre	Change formation or facing	3	3	3	3	3
Move	Troops can move	3	3	3	3	3
Group Move	One command can move	1	1	1	1	1
Melee	Troops can melee	3	3	3	3	3
Asavaran Missilery	Asavaran are loaded	-	-	2	-	-
Missilery	All missile troops are loaded.	3	3	3	3	3
Chariot Missiles	Chariot troops are loaded.	1*	1*	-	-	-
Tactical Advantage	Up 1 Dice size for any action	2	2	2	2	3
Total		27	27	27	27	27

Here are some of the Card images.

After some indecision I went with an Irish image for the Irish/Pict 'away' deck .  This was because the warrior seems to have limed his hair which is very suggestive of a very old Celtic practice that interests me- and it is a colourful image. I will probably do a separate Pict 'at home' deck as well.  Anyhow I'm pleased with them and I hope you like them too.