Commentarii de Bello Gallico

[AggonyDuck]

Sounds good.

[Arjos]

No problem here aswell ^^

[Franconicus]

deadline this friday, alright?

Just some items to remember:

Please make your orders as detailed and clear as possible. Keep in mind that motivation of your troops may be as essential as tactics and that food may be even more.

Also, forget all that 20th century stuff about motivation. Your men are farmers and hunters, not professionals (except Romans). They have to feed their families. If one dies from a clan, the rest of the clan may take care. If a dozen or more will die, the women and children will suffer from hunger and propably die too. Therefore, your men will hardly be motivated by that last man standing nonsense. They may fight to death, if they are trapped, that is all. And forget all that nationalistic nonsense: fight for your country etc. We are not in the Napoleonic era or 20th century.

[Kagemusha]

Sounds good.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Fine with me gentlemen .

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Should have my orders in on Thursday when hopefully I get all my information back from everyone!

[SwordsMaster]

Sent, Franc The Remi are at your disposal

[Kagemusha]

Declaration of SPQR

Alpine tribes Veragri and Seduni are hereby declared enemies of the Republic. Attacking Roman citizens is cruel violation towards the good will,The Senate and Republic of Rome have shown towards you. Immediately stop your vile attacks or face consequences. Rome will show mercy for those who repent.But those who will not will be punished with extreme measures.

Julius Caesar

[Ignoramus]

OOC: I need to recruit messengers - I've already sent my only message for this turn.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Declaration of SPQR

Alpine tribes Veragri and Seduni are hereby declared enemies of the Republic. Attacking Roman citizens is cruel violation towards the good will,The Senate and Republic of Rome have shown towards you. Immediately stop your vile attacks or face consequences. Rome will show mercy for those who repent.But those who will not will be punished with extreme measures.

Julius Caesar

So much troubles around my lands! May the gods help my tribe this upcoming season!


Artv. of the Suebi

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Fran,


I'll get my orders in first thing tomorrow (Friday) morning!

[Arjos]

I'll get my orders in first thing tomorrow (Friday) morning!

And then you complain that turns aren't faster! Thanks for holding us down :D

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

And then you complain that turns aren't faster! Thanks for holding us down :D

You are welcome!!

[Franconicus]

I received a lot of orders, including the Romans. Some are still missing (like King Kurt) but I will start right away. However, it will take some time. I will contact you if I got questions.

So please be patient!!

[King Kurt]

Franc - sorry I thought they had gone on Friday - computer glitch - I will resend straight away.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

I received a lot of orders, including the Romans. Some are still missing (like King Kurt) but I will start right away. However, it will take some time. I will contact you if I got questions.

So please be patient!!

I'll try.

Franc - sorry I thought they had gone on Friday - computer glitch - I will resend straight away.

EXCUSES EXCUSES!!!!

[Franconicus]

I received orders from:
Rome
Eburones
Arverni
Sequani
Venetes
Remi
Catuvellauni
Suebes:
Suessiones
Allobroges

Still missing: Aedui

[Kagemusha]

Gah! I thought we had em all already.

[The Celtic Viking]

Hm. Although I may not be the smartest pea in the package, I think to call my intelligence "artificial" as per the list on post #2 is uncalled for.

I think that's more for Warman's Suebi now that he went and got himself permabanned.

[Franconicus]

What happened to warman?

[Kagemusha]

Permabanned. I guess there will be changes in the leadership of Suebes.

[Arjos]

Everyone lost his fighting spirit? :D

[Kagemusha]

Not the slightest.I guess it is just taking longer then expected for Franc to write the chapter.

[King Kurt]

Everyone lost his fighting spirit? :D

With Warmann gone, who is there to attack?

[Franconicus]

Well, I have to tell you , that Ariovistus passed away. He died as real barbarian! Now he is is gone and he will not return nor one of his reincarnations.

That does not have to mean that the future will be more peaceful, just the opposite. I have so many combats and battles to simulate, that it may take a while.
Further more I may need some more decitions, in this case I will contact you directly.

So enjoy the break and drink a beer to the ones passed away and to te health of the host! :cheers:

[Franconicus]

To be continued - soon!

[Franconicus]

Spring 57


Britannia

At Britannia, the Bren tries to improve the administration of his realm. He lures wise men, like the Greek philosopher Poseidonios to benefit from their wisdom. Furthermore he personally leads a campaign against the 3,000 marauders in his country. The hunting is not very successful, only few bandits can be defeated and forced to give up. During the hunt, the Bren also arrives at the capitol of the Trivobantes. Glen welcomes him friendly. During night, a big meal is done, with lot of meat and beer. Late at night, there is a dispute between some of Glen’s followers and the Bren’s personal guard. In the end, two men of the guard are wounded, three of Glen’s men dead. Hearing this, the Bren hurries furiously to Glen’s house. He blames his cousin for planning to assassinate him and to calls him to a duel. However, Glen goes does to his knees, offers his cousin his sword and declares his undivided loyalty for the Bren. The Catuvellauni leader gives Glen the order to leave the country immediately and to never come back. At the same day, Glen leaves the country on board of a foreign merchant ship.


Southern, Central and Eastern Celtica

The Battles of the River Moseal and the Hunsrück

At Eastern Celtica, war continues and the Treveri still have to fight simultaneously several invasion. During spring, patrols report of an invasion army of about 11,000 Eburones, coming from the north. A second army of about 20,000 Suebes approaches from the South, while a third army of about 15,000 Suessiones comes from the west. Patrols keep on shadowing these three armies, while the warlord of the Treveri works out his operational plans.
At first, he is sending out a small fore of about 5,000 infantry and 900 cavalry to slow down the advance of the Eburones. The Eburones, pure infantry led by Sobieskius and the warlord himself, soon find themselves bothered by permanent raids of the Treveri cavalry. Under these conditions, Sobieskius does not try to force a battle, but moves slowly southwards.

At the same time, the Treveri warlord gathers 21,000 warriors in the south in the area of the River Moseal. Among his men there are 2,000 riders. While the army gets ready for combat, a small detachment is sent to contact the Suessiones, to find out, if they come as enemies or as friends. The Suessiones attack the small Treveri force immediately, killing almost 200 men. The Suessiones set camp on the left bank of the River Moseal, obviously waiting for the Suebes, which are marching through the Hunsrück. The Treveri warlord decides to deal with the Suebes first. The Treveri army and the army of the Suessiones have almost the same size, but the Treveri has a significantly stronger cavalry.

As the Suebes march through the mountains, they find themselves ambushed by small bands. Usually, theses raids come from the forested mountain tops or under the cover of the night. The Treveri throw javelins or stones and then disappear again. Commander Warman8 decides to send his cavalry to call the Suessiones for help.
When the Suessiones learn about the trouble of their allies, they decamp. It takes some time for the army to cross the river, but the Suessiones cavalry together with the Suebes cavalry march in advance so that they can bring immediate support to the Suebes in the mountains. This advanced troop, 500 Suessiones and 100 Suebes, follows the valley of the River Dhron, a side arm of the Moseal, which comes from the Hunsrück. After a march of six hours, they find the valley blocked by barriers, built and defended by 100 Treveri. After a short break, the combined force decide of attack. The Suessiones ride towards the enemy and throw their javelins over the barricades. At the same time, the Suebes dismounted and approach the enemy from the side. When the leader of the Suebes shouts out his war cry, the Suessiones and the Suebes assault the lines of the Treveri. Soon a hard close combat starts. The Treveri begin to shake, but then cavalry comes from behind and supports them. At the same time, the leader of Suessiones notices, that two hundred warriors come from the forested hill on their left flank. He gives order to retreat and regroup. However, he soon is faced with another 500 Treveri riders, which come north western entrance of the valley. Cut off and encircled, the allied cavalry is massacred. Although this skirmish was rather small, the allied forces lost all of their cavalry.
When Warman8 learns about the defeat, he decides to dig in on the top of the Erbeskopf and to wait there for the next assault and the arrival of his allies. He waits three days, then he sends out patrols to find out, that the Treveri are gone.
In the meanwhile, the Suessiones reach the place, where the Dhrone meets the Moseal. And they also meet the army of the Treveri. The Treveri warlord changed his mind and decided to beat the Suessiones first. The Suessiones find themselves outnumbered. They are on the right bank of the River Moseal, with the river at their backs and the Dhrone at their left flank. The two rivers give the Suessiones good protection against the Treveri cavalry, but it also could turn into a deadly trap. While both sides deploy, the Treveri send messengers. They offer peace, if the Suessiones agree to make peace and return home, pay compensation for the killed Treveri warriors and give hostages.

The Suessiones warlord does not reply and says some words to inspire his men. He orders his best men as a reserve to uncovered right and waits for the enemy to come.
The Treveri sacrifice to the God of War and ask the augurs. Then they begin to attack.

The Treveri army forms a phalanx with a small reserve on its left flank. When the phalanx meets the Suessiones, this reserves tries to bypass the enemy. Immediately the Suessiones warlord also orders his reserve to attack and soon the most intensive fighting happens on this side of the battle line. The Suessiones are slowly pushed backwards towards the river. The Suessiones warlord tries to encourage his men to stand and hold the line and hurries to the right to lead there. When he arrives, his men shout the war cry and turn again against the enemy. The Treveri are taken by surprise and their left flank begins to retreat. The Suessiones' right flank is taken by bloodlust and chases the running enemy, while the main armies are still in an even fight. The Suessiones right wing almost reached the enemy's camp, when it find itself confronted with the cavalry of the Treveri. Stretched over a wide area and cut off from the rest of the army, the Sussiones cannot stand the cavalry charge. Most of them are slaughtered. Among the few which are able to escape is the warlord of the Suessiones. We manages his army, now chosen by the Treveri cavalry. The Suessiones are not able to build a line against the new threat and are pushed into the River Moseal. Many die in the water, but some escape, due to the fact that the Treveri do not try to follow them.

Instead, the Treveri warlord gathers his army and leads it against the Suebes. Ariovist makes his men hurry because he wants to assist the Suessiones and he does not know that those are already out of the campaign. Due to the fact that all his cavalry is gone, Ariovist does the reconnaissance together with his personal guard, the last mounted men in his army. Behind him marches his army in a long column through the valley of the River Dhrone.

At the heat of noon, Ariovist meets the first troops of the Treveri, a horse patrol. It is too late to turn and so Ariovist decides to charge. Although the Treveri have twice the numbers, the combat stays even until a second Treveri patrol arrives. The Suebes King is hit by a sword and falls from his horse. The rest of his guard turns around and tries to reach the infantry.
As the Suebes hear about the fate of their King, they take position to block the valley. Both sides are covered by the flanks of the valley and so the Treveri could only try a frontal charge. Yet, they hesitate. So the two armies stand face to face. When night comes, the Treveri retreat. The Suebes keep on holding their position for the rest of the night. Then, as there is no trace from the enemy, they begin to return to their homeland.

Having repelled the Suessiones and the Suebes, the Treveri hurry north to meet the remaining enemy, the Eburones. Those, still unaware of what happened to their allies, are still moving south, where they expect to meet their allies. They avoid any big settlements and are only shadowed by some Treveri cavalry.

One noon, the Eburone’s army finds itself confronted with a superior Treveri army. Even worse, behind its back substantial Treberi cavalry pops up. The Eburones have nothing to put against that threat, as it does not have any cavalry at all.
Sobieskius positions the army of the Eburones o top of a forested hill, where the hostile cavalry can hardly make a compact charge. However, Treveri archers can easily use the cover of the wood to shoot their arrows at Subieskius’ men. The Terveri deploy at the bottom of the hill, but hesitate to charge. Posts report that the Eburones are encircled. Then they see a messenger approaching. He tell Subieskius, that the Suessiones and the Suebes are defeated and whipped out completely and demands him to lay down his arms, because there is not the slightest chance that his army can leave the place. Sobieskius asks for a pause to discuss this item with his warlord. So a cease fire is agreed.

Romans

At the beginning of spring, the Roman Proconsul sends orders to the VII, VIII, VIIII, and XI to decamp. 20,000 Roman soldiers march from Narbo along the River Rhodanus to build a new camp at Vienna. From there, Caesar sends out patrol into the lands of the Segusiavi.

Soon, the Roman army is reinforced by an Arverni army of some 20,000 warriors and 2,500 riders under the command of the young chief Vercingetorix. As soon as the two armies unite, they begin to follow the Rhodanus into the land of the Segusiavi. Soon they receive the message that, while the main part of the Arverni army is supporting the Romans, a Aedui army invades its homeland. This causes unrest among the Arverni warriors, but Caesar and Vercingetorix decide to continue their campaign.

Their goal is the Segusiavi capitol Lugundum. When the allied forces reach it, they offer the garrison terms of surrender. Due to the massive superiority of the Roman numbers, Lugundum decides to lay down its weapons and rely on the mercy of Caesar. His conditions are hard, the people from Lugundum have to pay half of all their valuables and belongings including half of their lands, but they keep their lives.
Soon, J.C. is told, that a Segusiavi army is approaching. The Segusiavi have called their allies and with the support of Aedui, Mandubii and Senones they are able to field 10,000 men. Caesar immediately alerts his legions. However, this mean turns out to be unnecessary. As the Segusiavi notice that Lugundum is already taken by the Romans and that the Roman army has four times the size of their own, they decide to return home as fast as they came.
While the Romans and Arverni beat the Segusiavi, the Aedui invade the homeland of the Arverni. They quickly defeat the Averni cavalry, which had just tried to raid the Aedui territory. Then the Aedui marches against the capitol of the Arverni, laying siege on it and pillaging the area around. 20,000 Arverni are caught inside Gergovia. The besieging force is about twice as big.
The Averni are not prepared to stand a siege, and their food magazines are not full. Yet, they decide to stand until Vercingetorix and the rest of the army comes to their rescue. However, they do not appear. Therefore, the leader of the garrison has to negotiate with Aedui. It is agreed, that the Arverni may leave the town, but they have to leave all their weapons and gold and they have to give hostages to guarantee that the Aedui will not start aggressions against the Arverni. Gergovia is marauded, then the Aedui return home.

The Roman X. Legion under Titus Labienus is sent out for another expedition. It marches together with 7,000 auxiliaries from the Allobroges into the province of the Helvetii. Those welcome the Romans and provide them with food.
Labienus sends out messengers to the Germanian provinces to hire mercenaries. He also sends a force of 1,000 legionnaires plus auxiliaries into the land of the Sequani.

The Sequani warlord has already gathered his army and is able to send 14,000 men against the Roam invasion. When the Romans realize that they do not have the chance to win against the Sequani army, they quickly retreat and return to the main army.
At the same time, the Sequani have to fight a small raid of the Suebi, 1,000 men in total. The Sequani intercept the Germanians, which are defeated completely.




Belgica

The Remi to set up a fortified camp up the river, obviously making ready for war, gathering supplies, weapons, and beginning scouting into Ambiani, Viromandii, Atrebates, and Eburones territory. Small bands are raiding against the Viromandii and Atrebates.

Also the Remi begin to fortify the capital with earthworks and wooden stake walls, as well as a ditch.

The chiefs of the Attrebates, Viromandii and Nervii meet to discuss the strategic situation.


Aquitani, Western and Northern Celtica


At the west, Venetes invite the leaders of the Namnetes and their followers to a conference. When the guests arrive, many of the Veneti nobles are still on the way, but the warlord of the Veneti welcomes them and arranges a big feast. At midnight, when most of the Namnetes are drunk, the missing Venetes arrive with their guards. They penetrate the hall and kill the guests. Next morning, the Venetes army decamps and invades the territory of the neighbour. It then swiftly raids their lands. The Namnetes, taken by surprise and without their leaders, have to surrender.

[Kagemusha]

Thanks for the update Franc.

[Arjos]

Epic chapter Franconicus!
Awesome battles ^^

The Katuwellaunoi mourn for Lugdunon...

OoC: How ruthless the Venetes! XD

[AggonyDuck]

So I did not have that 15.5k tons of grain in Gergovia? It would be worthwhile to tell your players that grain isn't stored centrally and needs to be gathered when it comes to stuff like this as I was under the assumption that food would not be a problem.