The Will of the Senate - Battle reports

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The battle of Massila ford, Winter 261

The man and his army:



The enemy army:



The enemy general:



The first wave of Gauls attacks:



The Gauls make it across the ford before the Romans can deploy:



Manius enthusiastically throws himself into the Roman counterattack, slaughtering the isolated Gallic lead elements:



The battle soon develops into a confused affair, with Manius pushing on deep into the first wave of the Gallic attack. For some reason, half the Gallic army remains on the other bank with their general:



Ultimately, the Roman defenders rout the first wave of the Gallic assault, thanks to the Roman infantry acting as an anvil and Manius’s own cavalry being the hammer:





However, the battle is not over yet: the second wave of the Gallic army advances across the ford:



and throws itself against the hastati:



On the Roman right, a lengthy duel begins between the Manius and the Gallic general:



Gallic slingers charge into the rear of Manius’s escort and for a moment, he thinks he is done for. But then he realises - those are his slingers; mercenaries!



Now, it looks like Manius will surely prevail over the Gallic cavalry:



However, Manius withdraws from the melee and the Gallic cavalry massacre the mercenary slingers:



The Gallic general then pursues Manius and engages him in hand-to-hand combat:



Manius is severely wounded and unhorsed, assumed dead by the Gauls and Romans alike:



Flush with their triumph over Manius, the Gallic cavalry charge into the flank of the Roman infantry holding the centre against the Gallic warbands:



The Gallic flank charge, so soon after the news of the loss of their general, causes a chain rout amongst the Roman centre:



Soon, the Roman army is falling back in disarray with only a handful of brave triarii protecting the eagle:



The Gallic general is filled with bloodlust and wades into the triarii, slaying them left and right around him:



Until the triarii too, run, desperately trying to take the eagle back to safety:



In the distance, a strong cohort of principes can be seen. They are the only formed Roman unit left on the battlefield. These are fine troops - among the best heavy infantry in the entire ancient world.



By their delaying action, they buy time for the some of the rest of the army to rally and regroup:



However, the principes themselves are isolated and soon surrounded:



The morale of the rallied Roman units in the centre remains fragile and they slowly dissolve. The triari defending the eagle rally but then are cut down, with the eagle being claimed by the Gallic general:



The principes on the Roman left are surrounded and outnumbered:


Shamefully, they break:



With the flight of the principes, the heart goes out of the Roman army and it dissolves in a general rout: