Legion Battles

TERMS: UNITS

I A unit has three ratings.

II Who is what. Rate a Gallic War century or cohort Veteran or Trained. Rate a new legion Trained at Discipline 2. A Gallic or German tribal levy is Raw and a Gallic noble's mailed following is Trained.

III Leaders. Choose one leader to roll Discipline: a centurion for a century, a senior centurion or tribune for a cohort. If a player character commands the unit, use that character.

EXAMPLE: SEPTIMIUS'S CENTURY

The second century of Septimius's cohort has been in Gaul since 58 BC. The GM rates it Veteran, starting at Full Strength and Discipline 4 with a pool of 3 Mastery Dice and 1 Boon Die. Its commander Septimius rolls Discipline with his Charisma and Leadership. At Alesia he faces a Raw Gallic levy at Discipline 2.

TERMS: THE CLASH

I The roll. Both engaged units roll Quality with applicable Boon and Bane Dice. More net Successes wins. Subtract the lower net Success count from the higher for the margin. On a tie the unit holding ground holds, or both hold if both advanced. Change nothing.

II The loss. Drop one Strength step when beaten by 1 or 2. Lose 1 Discipline as well if the margin is at least 3.

III The Discipline test. Before each Clash, the leader of a unit at Half or worse rolls Average Charisma + Leadership. Add 1 Boon Die at Discipline 5 or 6, or 1 Bane Die at 2 or less. On failure, lose 1 Discipline. On success with at least 2 net Boons , regain 1.

IV The pilum and the sword. Add 1 Boon Die for pila in the first Clash. Win it by 2 or more and the loser drops an extra step, throwing away pinned shields. Use swords and shields in later Clashes.

V The relief. The first time a unit in a line of cohorts drops a step, fresh men advance through the gaps. Regain 1 Discipline and add 1 Boon Die for the rest of the battle. Do this once per battle. Gallic or German hosts, nobles' followings and horse-archer screens lack a line of cohorts and get no relief.

VI Several units. Each Clash, pair every engaged unit with the enemy unit it faces and roll one Opposed Check for each pair. A unit attacked by two units rolls a separate Opposed Check against each. The second attacker takes the Flank row if it comes at the flank or rear, or else the Numbers row for the two attackers together (Ground, Numbers and Supply). However many of those checks it loses, the defender drops at most one Strength step and loses at most 1 Discipline from them in one Clash; the pilum's second step (IV) still applies in the first Clash. Each attacker that loses its check to the defender takes its losses as usual. In a battle too wide to run whole, run the stretch the player characters stand in and roll one Clash for each other stretch in play.

EXAMPLE: SEPTIMIUS ON THE OUTER LINE AT ALESIA, 52 BC

At the outer works, Septimius holds a stretch with his Veteran century, Discipline 4 and pila. The finished line gives it 2 Boon Dice. A Raw relief levy, Discipline 2, comes on at four to one and gets 2 Boon Dice for numbers.

Clash 1. Neither unit needs a test because both are above Half. Septimius fights in the front rank with Might 3 and Melee 2: 2 Mastery Dice and 1 Ability Die against Average, 63.8 successes in 100. He succeeds and adds 1 Boon Die to his next Clash. His century rolls 3 Mastery Dice and 4 Boon Dice (1 Veteran, 2 works, 1 pila). The levy rolls 2 Mastery Dice and 2 Boon Dice. The century wins by 2. The levy drops one step for the margin and another for the pila, to Half.

Clash 2. At Half the levy tests. Its leader fails at Average with 1 Bane Die for Discipline 2. The levy falls to Discipline 1 and adds 1 Bane Die to the Clash. The century rolls 3 Mastery Dice and 4 Boon Dice (1 Veteran, 2 works, 1 Septimius). It wins by 3. The levy loses 1 Discipline, falls to Shattered and breaks. No one in the century's front rank takes a hit because it lost no step.

The relief army pressed the fourteen-mile outer works at several points. At any one, a Veteran century on finished works holds against a Raw levy at four to one 98.3 times in 100. Across many stretches and assaults a breach is likely. Send the player characters' century to that breach next.

TERMS: GROUND AND NUMBERS

TERMS: SUPPLY

I Start a campaign Supplied. As stores dwindle, go to Short and then Starving.

II The weekly check. Once a week, the quaestor or a player character rolls Average Negotiation to requisition from allies or Average Survival to forage. A failure worsens supply by one step. A success with at least 2 net Boons improves it by one. Spend Credits with an allied chief for requisition Boon Dice (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank).

EXAMPLE: BANONA AND THE AEDUAN GRAIN

In the spring of 52 BC the Gauls burn their own grain to starve the legions, and the army Septimius marches with falls to Short. Banona, an Aeduan noblewoman serving as an envoy to the general, asks her own people for grain: an Average Negotiation check. She has Charisma 3 and Negotiation 2, and her Dignitas 3 among the Aedui adds 1 Boon Die (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank, Dignitas III): she succeeds 70.6 times in 100. She rolls 1 net Success and 2 net Boons, and the army moves back to Supplied. Had she failed, the army would have fallen to Starving: every unit would roll 2 Bane Dice and start its next battle 2 Discipline down. A Trained unit on Short supply beats an equal enemy 32.3 times in 100; Starving, 13.7.

TERMS: YOUR ROUND

I Before the Clash roll, take one Action per player character in the unit (Core Rules, Structured Play, Actions):

• Fight in the front rank. Roll Average Melee (Core Rules, Structured Play, Attack Difficulty). On success, give your unit 1 Boon Die for the next Clash.
• Rally. Roll Average Charisma + Leadership. On success, immediately restore 1 Discipline. Regain at most 1 per unit per Clash from Rallies.
• Read the field. Roll Average Savvy + Perception. If you succeed, learn which enemy unit moves next and give your unit 1 Boon Die for its next Clash.

II The limit. Add up to 2 Boon Dice from player characters to one unit's Clash, the usual Core cap for help.

TERMS: HITS, THE BREAK AND LOSSES

I Hits in the press. When your unit drops a Strength step, take one hit if you fought in the front rank this Clash. Damage is 5 plus the loss margin, less Resistance. If your own check this Clash shows Calamity, take a Critical Injury as well (Era Rules, Calamity results).

II The break. If your unit breaks, roll Average Athletics to fall back in order, or Hard if enemy horse give chase. Fail and you're cut off. The GM chooses whether you're captured, left incapacitated among the fallen or carried off by your own men. Use only the Core Critical Injury rules for player-character death.

III Losses. Count roughly one man lost in ten for a unit that ends Worn, one in four at Half and one in three at Shattered. Most other men are wounded or scattered and return over the next few days.

IV After the battle. Raise Dignitas for a decoration or public victory (Era Rules, Patronage and Rank).

TERMS: TALENTS IN THE LINE

I Use the full talent entries in Skills and Talents. The table gives their effects in battle.

EXAMPLE: SEPTIMIUS AGAINST THE MAILED NOBLES

Septimius's century, Trained this time, Discipline 3 and carrying pila, stands in a line of cohorts against a Gallic noble's mailed following (Trained, Discipline 3) at two to one. Septimius has Might 3, Melee 2, Athletics 1, Charisma 3, Leadership 2 and Vine Stick, and wears a Mail Shirt: Resistance 4 (half his Might, rounded up, and the mail's 2), Wound Points 13.

Clash 1. Septimius fights in the front rank and fails. The century rolls 3 Mastery Dice and 1 Boon Die (pila); the nobles roll 3 Mastery Dice and 1 Boon Die (two to one). The nobles win by 1. The century drops to Worn, and Septimius takes damage 6 (5 plus the margin of 1), less Resistance 4: 2 Wounds. It is the century's first lost step in a line of cohorts, so the relief comes through: 1 Boon Die for the rest of the battle, and Discipline rises to 4.

Clash 2. Septimius fights and succeeds. The nobles win by 3: the century drops to Half and loses 1 Discipline, to 3. Septimius takes damage 8, less 4: 4 Wounds, 6 in all.

Clash 3. The century is at Half and tests. Septimius rolls Charisma + Leadership, Average, with 1 Boon Die from Vine Stick, and succeeds with no Boons to spare: Discipline holds at 3. For his Action he rallies, with the same pool, 70.6 times in 100. He succeeds, and Discipline rises to 4. The century rolls 3 Mastery Dice and 2 Boon Dice (the relief, and his fighting in Clash 2) and wins by 2: the nobles drop to Worn.

Clash 4. The test passes again. Septimius fights in the front rank and fails. The nobles win by 1, and the century drops to Shattered and breaks. Septimius takes 2 more Wounds (8 of 13) and makes his Average Athletics check to fall back, 58.4 times in 100. He fails. The GM chooses: his own men carry him off. After the battle the century has lost about one man in three; most of the rest come back to the standard over the next days.

A Trained century in this fight wins 54.3 times in 100. With a player character who wins his round about 60 times in 100, it wins 61.4.

TERMS: THE PILUM

I Binding the shield. On a pilum hit against a shield bearer, spend 2 Boons to foul the shield. It loses Defensive and Deflection until the bearer cuts the pilum free with a Maneuver or drops the shield.

EXAMPLE: THE PILUM AT CLOSE RANGE

Septimius throws his pilum at a Gallic noble at Short range. At Agility 2 and no Ranged, roll 2 Ability Dice at Easy, with 2 Bane Dice for the oval shield's Deflection 2. He hits with 1 net Success and 2 net Boons. He spends both Boons to bind the shield. It adds no Bane Dice against him until the Gaul cuts the pilum free with a Maneuver.

TERMS: THE MARCHING CAMP

I Each evening on campaign, dig a ditch, raise a rampart and drive stakes. The best-placed character rolls an Average Might + Athletics Group Check.

Apply three or more net Banes first, whether the roll succeeds or fails (IV). Otherwise use Success (II) or Failure (III).

II Success. Defend the camp as a fortified line with +2 Boon Dice. If your unit breaks within reach of the camp, rally inside at Discipline 1 instead of routing.

III Failure. The works are low: +1 Boon Die to defend them.

IV Three or more net Banes. Leave the works unfinished at dark. If attacked that night, defend with +1 Bane Die while still digging.

TERMS: SIEGE WORKS

I To build siege works, the engineer rolls a Hard Intellect + Craft Extended Check. Add 2 Boon Dice if a legion supplies the labor.

II Sallies. On each roll, the besieged can sally and fight one Clash against the guards of the works.

III Finished works are a fortified line against attack from the side they face.

IV Engines. Use Ranged to shoot the scorpio, catapulta or stone-throwing ballista from the works. Their lines are Scorpion, Ballista and Onager (The Heavy Armory; Skills and Talents, Melee and Ranged).

EXAMPLE: THE CAMP AND THE LINES

The camp. On the march to Alesia, Septimius performs his century's Group Check: Might 3 and Athletics 1, Average, a success 58.4 times in 100. Digging is raw effort, so the GM compares Might in place of skill rank (Core Rules, Types of Checks, Group Checks); the century's diggers are as strong as Septimius, so no Bane Dice are added. He succeeds: a fortified line for the night. Had he rolled 3 net Banes, his Marcher talent would have turned the result into low works.

The lines. At Alesia the legion's chief engineer (Intellect 3, Craft 3) rolls Hard with 2 Boon Dice for the legion's labor, one roll a week, toward a threshold of 8 for each line. The two lines take 5.8 weeks each on average. In the third week the town sallies against the stretch Septimius's century guards: one Clash, which the century wins, and the work goes on. A ramp against a Gallic wall needs 4.5 rolls on average, about 23 days; the ramp at Avaricum took 25.

TERMS: THE SCREEN

I The screen. Roll Clashes as usual for mounted archers who refuse to close. On a loss they ride away without taking losses. On a win, the infantry lose steps normally.

II Arrows. Give the screen 4 Clashes of arrows unless camels carry more in a supply train. When arrows run out, close and fight normally or withdraw.

III Locked shields. Choose to lock shields. The screen adds 2 Bane Dice against you while you hold formation, and you cannot advance.

EXAMPLE: A CARRHAE SCREEN, 53 BC

In a game set in Crassus's army, the player characters' cohort (Veteran, Discipline 4) stands in the square against a screen of Parthian horse archers (Trained) with a camel train behind it.

Clash 1. The cohort wins by 2; the archers ride off and lose nothing. Clash 2. The archers win by 1, and the cohort drops to Worn. Clash 3. The archers win by 2, and the cohort drops to Half; the front-rank player characters take their hits each time. The centurion orders shields locked. From Clash 4 on, the archers roll 2 Bane Dice, but the cohort cannot advance, and the camels keep the quivers full.

A Veteran cohort against a screen with a camel train breaks 63.5 times in 100; in the rest it is still standing after 12 Clashes. In locked shields it breaks 33.8 times in 100. Without the camel train the screen's arrows run out after 4 Clashes and it breaks the cohort only 5.0 times in 100. A Trained cohort on Short supply breaks 94.6 times in 100. If the player characters' horsemen break the camel train's guard in a Clash of their own, the screen has 4 Clashes of arrows left.