Roman Invasion of Britain AD 43 - Hail Caesar Campaign

Roman Invasion of Britain AD43 - Campaign Map


These campain rules are only in note form for playtesting so far. They are designed for Hail Caesar but could be adapted for any system, or war come to that. Imperials (Rome) versus Orks (Celts) anyone?

Key: The numbers represent locations where battles are fought and British armies raised. They are named after the British living in the region. Most of the southern and eastern tribes were Belgae. The lines indicate permitted movements from one location to another. The arrow indicates the first Roman move which must be an invasion of Kent, the Cantiaci.

1. Cantiaci, Resist on 6+, Revolt on 9+, Roman Invasion starts here
2. Regni, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+
3. Atrebartes, Resist on 7+, Revolt on 9+
4. Belgae, Resist on 5+, Revolt on 8+
5. Durotriges, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+
6. Dumnomii, Resist on 8+, Revolt on 10+
7. Trinovantes, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 8+
8. Iceni, Resist on 10+, Revolt on 7+
9. Dobunii, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+
10. Cornovii, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+
11. Corieltavi, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+
12. Catuvellauni, Resist on 6+, Revolt on 8+
13. Deceangli, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+
14. Ordovices, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+
15. Mona, Resist on 2+
16. Silures, Resist on 2+
17. Demetae, Resist on 9+, Revolt on 10+

Battle Terrain Notes.
Any battle may take place in open gaps between forests, except at Mona
1. Battles at locations 1 & 2 tend to take place at river fords
2. Battles at locations 7 & 8 tend to take place amid swamps, lakes, streams etc.
3. Battles at locations 3, 4, 5, 6 tend to occur at hill forts
4. Battles at locations 14, 16 & 17 ten to occur in mountainous terrain
5. A battle at location 15, Mona, is an opposed landing

Army list deviations from Hail Caesar.
1. South Eastern tribes may be cavalry and chariot heavy.
2. Welsh tribes are infantry only with limited light cavalry
3. A Mona army is fanatic heavy

Troop Scale

Romans
The Roman army in this period was organised in legionairy cohorts of around 500 men (at full strength, which they were not) and non-Roman auxiliary battalions of 500 (or sometimes 1000). One point of troops in the campaign game equals around 1,500 men (three cohorts or auxiliary units).

The Romans started with Four Legions, the 2nd Augusta, 9th Hispana, 14th Gemina and 20th Valeria Victrix. They would have been accompanied by an equivalent number of auxiliary alae (cavalry) and infantry units of various typess.

The Roman player can break up or recombine his army to garrison different locations as he sees fit. Keep track of how many points of troops are in which location and where Vespasion is located (unless he is killed).

Roman generals are rated as 8, except for Vespasian who is a 9.

Exactly how many troops is represented by a stand on the table is up to the players: however...

I use a stand of ten Roman infantry models with a 10cm frontage to represent 3 cohorts or auxilliary units, i.e.  one point. The Roman player may take a single scorpion model for free for every three legionaire stands in his army. An auxillary medium cavalry stand has six models on a 75mm frontage and is also worth one point. For every two light cavalry unit chosen the player may take a small light cavalry unit for free.

A legion would normally three legionaire stands and three auxilliary stands and is worth six points. The  Roman force starts at 24 points.

The Roman player must keep track of troop losses due to the total destruction of units in battles. Roman losses are a military and political issue for the Roman player and cannot easily be replaced.

A Celtic warband stand on a 10cm frontage (10-12 models) and is woth one point. The Celtic player may choose a free small skirmisher unit for every three warbands in his army. An medium cavalry stand has six models on a 75mm frontage and is also worth one point. For every two light cavalry or chariot units chosen, at one point each, the player may take a small light cavalry or charot unit for free.

The British had no standing armies so every time a Celtic army is raised roll a dice and consult the table below for the number of points of troops available.

Die Roll   Troop Points
1            2
2            4
3            5
4            6
5            8
6            12

An army can only be raised from each location once, so if a location resists then in cannot ever revolt, and it can only revolt once.

All locations start as British. They immediately become Roman once a Roman Force is the only army at the location. Similarly a Roman controlled location reverts to Celtic control immediately if a Celtic army is the only army at the location.

There has to be a battle when Celtic and Roman army occupy the same location.

A player only has twelve points available no matter  how many points of troops he has avaiable at the location. The player who loses the battle must retreat to a friendly location along a line. His whole army (including unengaged troops) is destroyed if no friendly location is available to retreat into.

Game Sequence.
Roman player moves a single Roman force along a line to a location. If the location contains a Celtic army then there is a battle If the location is Celtic controlled and has not yet raised an army then the Celtic player rolls two dice and compares the sum to the Resist Number for the tribe at that location. If the tribe resists then roll a die to see how many warriors turn out and fight the resulting battle.

The Roman player gets a second turn as above.

If the Celtic has an army (ar armies) on the table he may select one to move along a line to a new location fighting a battle or taking control of a location as necessary.

The second turn of the Celtic player is slightly different. The player may select a single region under Roman control that has not yet raised an army and try to persuade it to revolt. He rolls two dice and cosults the revolt number for the tribe. If successful roll one die to see how many warriors turn out.

Celtic generals are rated at seven except for  Caratacus of the Catuvellauni, and Boudicca of the Iceni, whoare rated as 9. Unless Caratacus is killed in battle he is moved to any available Celtic controlled location by the Celtic player if his army is destroyed. Boudicca is destroyed with her army, as is Vespasian.

Play for ten turns and then count who has the most locations to assess victory, one point per location. Mona is worth three points.