Re: Rule of the Verrix
Eine echte Kriegsmarine" (aka "A true Kriegsmarine")
It's autumn in Gaul. Geraint still hasn't heard of the death of Troinos and the subsequent loss of Bocchoris, but even if he had, he would've had more pressing issues to worry about. A new, 20 000 strong army of Roman soldiers are approaching, with a scouting party of 11 000 in front of them. Geraint stands alone with only 23 000 soldiers to defend Massalia with.
The question was: should he advance and attack the scouts, even though his troops were tired from marching and fighting, and risk being too tired when the main army arrives, or should he let his men rest and wait for the main army to join the scouts, and fight them all together? Both had it's dangers, but eventually he chose to attack. What he hoped for was that the scouting party would retreat, so that he could then hold the bridge leading to Massalia with his Massalian allies.
His plan was successful, though not optimally played out. The Romans did retreat, but to the wrong side of the bridge. He had to make a new decision: to chase after them, fight them uphill and then tire his men out even further when walking back to the bridge, or wait by the bridge and make ready to be attacked from both sides? This time he chose to wait.
It would appear that not everyone from the scout party ran the same way. The Romans' main army reached Geraint much quicker than they likely would have if they had been unaware of Geraint's presense. It thus came to pass that, just before winter came, Geraint and his 23 000 men plus 2500 allies from Massalia, led by the good king Tregemlos were up against 31 000 Romans, coming from both sides of the river.
The task to hold the bridge was given to the Massalian allies he already had with him, who would form a phalanx and hopefully hold the enemy long enough for them to be throughly shot down by Geraint's experienced slingers. If the phalanx was broken, Noricenes in their linothorax armour and beutiful, oval shields would be ready to rush in and fill the gaps. Geraint, along with his Gallic swordsmen and Eathomos with his charioteers would make up the rear guard, to meet the scout units.
As soon as the enemy closed in, the hoplites moved into position. The Romans put their elite allies in the front, hoping they could cut a way through the unexperienced levies making up the phalanx. Behind them were regular, Roman soldiers along with their general, Sextvs Cornelivs Blasio, and Greek mercenaries. At the same time as the Romans started rushing over the bridge, Geraint made contact with the Roman scouts, who were mostly comprised of lightly armoured to not armoured at all local allies. This meant that a lot of them fell to the javelins of the Transalpine Gauls under Geraint's control, and with Eathomos there to ruin their morale, they quickly routed, even faster than Geraint had thought or hoped they would.
But back at the bridge the Romans were still fighting on, heedless of their casualties, determined to get through the phalanx. At two points, both near the flanks, they had actually succeeded to a degree. In response, the Noricenes had rushed in to fill up the right hole, and the allies from Massalia, led by Tregemlos himself, filled up the left one. Unfortunately, he was eventually killed in the thick of the battle, but with Geraint having returned, they were still reassured of proper leadership and thus did not waver.
This went on for a long time. The Romans kept on pushing and pushing, but they just couldn't break the Celtic-Massalian line. Eventually, Sextvs Cornelivs Blasio was pierced by a spear from the Massalian phalanx, which caused chaos and distress amongst the Romans, who finally broke and tried to run. They were promptly surrounded and quickly cut down to the last man.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
- Phew! I have never seen so many men wasted so badly! What a carnage! Where they trying to build a wall of corpses, to block us out?
- One might think so, Eathomos. There's no sense or reason with the Romans. They can afford it, though. (Sighs heavily) Mark my words, Eathomos: there will be a lot more battles like this one. They will never stop coming.
- So let them come! We'll kill them all - every last soldier they throw at us!
- Then they will send their oldtimers.
- No problem! We'll kill them too.
- Then they'll send their women to fight.
- Fine. We kill them, and then rape them. Or whatever order you prefer.
- Then they will send their children.
- To hell with them! They'd only grow up to fight us, anyway.
- Well... then they'll finally have to send, uh, go to fight themselves. Then they'll be no more.
- Ha! Wouldn't that be the dream!
- Not really. Think about it: who would we then laugh at, and call weak?
- The Germanics...?
- Yeah, but it's not the same thing. People don't show them the same undue respect that they show the Romans. There's just not enough fanboys of them to make them as good a target as the Romans currently are. Besides, there's this "special relationship" we have with them, what with Vercingetorix and all...
- Who?
- Vercingetorix. Lead, or will lead, a great and glorious uprising against the Romans and Caesar, you know? Vercingetorix.
- Caesar who?
- Bloody hell, Eathomos! Are you really so ignorant of the historical happenings in this area of the world in the covered time period that you've never heard of these guys?!
- I... uh... sorry sir, but... what?!
- Never mind. All I'm saying is that it's not as fun to, well, make fun of the Germanics as it is to make fun of the Romans. Besides, if we did make fun of the Germanics, we'd have Blitzkrieg on our asses! And you know what that will do here in about 2000 years from now... Trust me, it would not be pretty.
- Geraint, my friend, my lord... sometimes you really scare me. Seriously.
- Ha! You don't say. Ah well, gather up what loot you can from the dead, and then have some slaves clean up the mess. We need to open up this road for trade again.
- Yes, sir!
- Oh, and while you're at it, tell the men that they can rest the next three months with wine and women if they can raise a fort before nightfall. The Romans won't come again at least until spring. If they're not here by then, we'll retake The Eagle's Nest.
- Will do, sir!
Out on the high seas, admiral Verucloetios is steering his freshly built fleet to intercept a Carthaginian invasion force, including three elite phalanx units, headed towards Tolosa. He outnumber the enemy and expects to win.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
However, after that battle, another Carthaginian fleet moves up to attack Verucloetios. This time, the Carthaginian fleet outnumbers Verucloetios, who is a slight underdog. Despite hard fighting and couragous moves, he loses and has to retreat back to Tolosa for repairs and reinforcements.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Spring comes, and yet no Roman army has come. Geraint makes his move - west towards the Eagle's Nest, which only has a small garrison, which won't be able to withstand his own forces. He plans to either starve them to death, or force them to leave the walls in a sally. But before he leaves, he orders another navy to be built in Tolosa. It is clear that he wishes to establish a Celtic presense on the sea as well - a true Kriegsmarine worthy of a Verrix is to be built! If only he could get a Luftwaffe too... but sadly it's a few years too early for that. A Kriegsmarine will have to do.
With the repairs finished, and reinforcements arrived, Verucloetios prepares to, once again, confront the invasion force. He must win, or they will land and then Tolosa is surely lost. Of course, when he outnumber them almost 5:1, there shouldn't be any problems... and there weren't any, either. Verucloetios is victorious, the Carthaginian fleet destroyed, and a lot of Carthaginian soldiers, including the three elites, find themselves on the bottom of the ocean. Sagen Sie hallo zur Kriegsmarine!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
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