Reunification: a Marcomanni AAR (updated chapter 25)

[Bramborough]

Agree that it's disappointing the Iceni didn't put up a better fight. On to some hopefully meatier opposition with Octavian! Nice leg-sever pic, though.

The horizontal-striped barb trousers always make me think of the Hamburglar from those 70's/80's McDonalds commercials (I guess I'm dating myself here, aren't I?).

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Twenty-four

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Nevelung passed from this world after falling ill during the winter. He was seventy-one years of age. He accomplished much in his reign as leader of our people. He took the war to the Britannic tribes and expanded our lands in Gaul. No longer will we suffer the Brtiannic attacks on our shores, and no longer will we have to live in fear of them. Under his leadership, we have subdued many tribes, both Britannic and Gallic, and now that we are stronger than ever, that list is only going to increase now that we can fully concentrate on the Romans.





I am his appointed successor, Leudagar. I fought with Nevelung in the Britannic campaign. Together we defeated the Caledones and the Iceni, and assisted with taking the last Iceni town of Elbana. I have learned many things from that great man, and I hope to continue his legacy of making our people even greater than they were before! With no threat towards our northern border, we could put our full might upon the Romans





After a bit of rest in our Gallic territories, we headed south, towards the Roman port town of Burdigala. Our scouts reported a strong Roman presence in the town so we brought over ten thousand men with us to assist in taking the town. I elected to have my cousin Fulbert lead the assault with his army, called the Wolves of War. They were seasoned besiegers, whereas my army was much less so. While he would be taking the principle glory in this battle, it was better for our people overall to have someone in command who knew what he was doing.





But when we arrived at the city, we learned that there was no fortified Roman garrison, merely a barebone forces to patrol the streets. Very disappointing for our men, who wanted a proper fight after being denied one by the Britons for years now.


For a year we besieged them, cutting off their supply lines while keeping ours intact. For them it was a brutal siege. Stories came out of cannibalism within the ranks of the Roman Garrison. Finally, as winter was preparing to set in, we began our assault, mainly to put them out of their misery, as for some reason they refused to surrender.





A couple of Roman units tried to flee the city on ships, but the Gods were on our side, and blew the ships to shore before they could escape. Stranded on the shore, the malnourished Roman units tried to flee back into the city, but were cut down by our overwhelming numbers.





Our siege equipment blew a hole through the walls, and Fulbert prepared to send our men into the city. We had built eight siege ladders to scale the walls with in addition to the artillery. His plan was to wipe out the garrison with half of his force on the walls while the other half stormed the city through the breach and took the gates. Afterwards the two halves would meet up and take the rest of the city.








As our men stormed the breach and climbed the ladders, our archers sent a hail of arrows upon the defenders crowded on the walls, waiting for the impending assault.





And when our men finally climbed those walls, they were met with furious resistance. The Romans knew they were doomed, and wanted to take as many of us as they could with them before they were slain. They fought bravely, but it was not enough.





Even the bravest of men can get overwhelmed, and all that remained of the defenders on the walls were bodies and puddles of blood.





There were not many defenders left. The hunger and desperation of the siege had taken over half of the original garrison, so only a couple of units stood against us after we slaughtered their brothers on the walls. We could tell they were terrified as we barreled down the road towards them.





Knowing the armor of the Roman units and how large their damn shields were, Fulbert sent units around to flank the Romans who were blocking us from entering the city center. Watching our units go through the light forestry in the city, I was saw the beauty of the city we were about to conquer. It was truly a gorgeous city, with a wonderful view of the sea and the surrounding area. The Romans had been privileged to have this city for so long, shame for them to lose it!





Back at the city center, we easily broke through the first line of Roman defenders. Initially we had thought the battle won, but many more Romans appeared at the far side of the city center, and we charged to meet them. Their resistance, though, was much more dogged than we had experienced up until now.





They put up a good fight...





But in the end they were no match for us.





The city was ours, We had taken light losses in the assault, with most of our casualties being from the archers in the towers rather than Roman swords. I felt almost bad for the Romans, who on the surface seemed so powerful and terrifying, but just like an egg, once you broke their outer shell they were soft and easily destroyed.





With the northern Roman stronghold in our hands, the soft underbelly of Romans lands were exposed. Taking advantage of that, we rushed towards the breadbasket of the region, taking the town of Tolosa effortlessly.





But as Roman towns fell to us, we could only expect the Romans to strike back, so even as we were celebrating our recent victories, we had to ensure we remained on guard. For as every hunter knows, an animal is most dangerous when it is wounded...

[Hooahguy]

Chapter Twenty-five

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

They say that hubris is the downfall of everyone. And for a man named Meginhard, it was.


After a string of victories over the seemingly weak Romans, a dangerous way of thinking arose.


"These Romans are no threat! We have been met with only victory! Every time we have encountered these Romans we have soundly beaten them!"


People seem to forget that every time we have fought the Romans so far, we were on an equal or higher footing. We had yet to fight them when we were at a disadvantage.


And so we embarked on a dangerous road. I sent out an order among our generals to keep scouts on patrol and ensure that one did not enter battle unless one was sure of victory, but my words fell on deaf ears. A number of our generals split from the main force and went deep into the Roman-held countryside in Iberia, looking for a fight.


One of these generals was Meginhard, a senior member of another family. A seasoned general from the campaign in Britannia, he and his experienced group of soldiers, which he named the Bear-Sons went alone through the northern part of Iberia. Wrecking a couple of small Roman forces, their arrogance took hold of them. With great fanfare, I received a message from him, proclaiming that he was marching on the Roman town of Aracillum, which at the time seemed undefended an an easy target.


But it was a trap. Waiting within the city were over three thousand Roman soldiers, waiting for Meginhard to get close enough to attack. Normally, a single army of ours would have no problem taking on a force of three thousand Romans, especially since most of them were levies drawn from the city. But a Roman army had been following Meginhard. The Roman Legio VII Herculia, led by a man named Faustus Silius Vetus, shadowed Meginhard for over a week, skillfully avoiding detection by our scouts. And then at the worst possible time, he struck.





Meginhard was surrounded. He knew it too, as he rode around, shouting words of desperate encouragement to the men who knew they were doomed.





The artillery got to work, desperately trying to inflict as many casualties as possible before the Romans got too close.





But the Romans were not just coming from the front. From our rear a large group of heavy Roman cavalry began to flank us.





Following them were hundreds of heavy Roman infantry, determined to surround and slaughter us.





Our cavalry rushed out to intercept some of the Roman auxiliary cavalry on the left flank, and fought an embittered battle with them.





In the center, Meginhard and his bodyguard charged to meet the heavy Roman cavalry that was trying to hit his army from behind. He knew he was charging to his death, but he rallied his men valiantly and charged anyways, killing many Romans, among them one of the generals who was a senior aide-de-camp to Faustus Silius Vetus.





On the outskirts of our formation, our men clashed with Roman cavalry who were harassing us in any way they could.





Eventually the main body of Romans under General Vetus got close to our main formation. Meginhard ordered a counter-charge in an effort to break up the momentum of the charging Romans.





But Roman infantry were coming from our rear flank as well. Meginhard sent the only forces remaining who were not currently in combat, a mere three hundred men to face a force of over three times their size who were barreling towards them. They bravely stood and fought to the last man, eventually being overrun. Meginhard turned the artillery towards the rear in an attempt to assist our beleaguered warriors, but it was of no use.





The Romans forced a gap in the line, and pushed their cavalry through it to our soft targets like our archers and artillery. They stood no chance against the Roman cavalry.





Having been slaughtered by Roman cavalry, the few survivors from our archers fled the field.





Seeing their brethren fleeing the battle was disheartening to our infantry who were still fighting, but they did not lose heart themselves. They fought tooth and nail to take down as many Romans as they could before they fell themselves, an act worthy of the bards to sing of for generations to come.


Meginhard, who had lost most of his men already, sent out the order to recall the cavalry, who were still on the far side of the battlefield, tenaciously fighting the Roman cavalry on the flanks. He ordered them to charge into the rear flanks of the Romans in an effort to relieve some of the pressure.





For a short while it seemed to work, but then Meginhard was killed, felled by a Roman spear through his chest. Determined to fight to the death, many of those who remained pledged to die to the last man, taking as many Romans with them as they could.
And die they did, the sheer number of Romans overwhelming them.





With no leader and their comrades dying by the hundreds around them, who could blame the soldier who decided to flee and attempt to survive?





And so the battle was lost, our dead strewn across the field like seeds flung by farmers planting their fields.





Of the almost three thousand warriors who set out with Meginhard over three months ago, fewer than two hundred managed to flee to safety. It was certainly a crushing loss, losing an experienced army along with a very experienced general.








News of the defeat spread like fire across our lands. I sent out an order immediately to all of my generals: nobody was to venture into Roman lands unsupported again to suffer the same fate that the Bear-Sons did.


But while this was a defeat, and a bad one at that, we would be able to easily recover from it. Already the Bear-Sons were resurrected back in the homeland under a new commander, and they would get their revenge on the Romans some day.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Author's note: I will be gone for the next month, so expect a new update in July!