Tactica 2 at ENFILADE 2019

 On Saturday May 25th, 2019, Memorial Day Weekend, I put on a Tactica II game at the NHMGS Enfilade Convention in Olympia, WA. The contenders were some Trajanic Romans vs a Barbarian Warband German Army. The Army Lists are shown below. I had to make some substitutions to flush out he armies, the Germans outnumbering the Romans by 354 points.

Having used all my Roman figures, I had no extras to even up the points with. So I added some allied Armenian Cataphracts and lower grade Auxilia armed as Legionnaires(using my Pontic imitation Legionnaire figures). The Germans outnumber the Romans slightly in Heavy Cavalry, but the Romans are better quality and they have some Light Infantry Auxilia to help out. The Germans have over one and a half times as much Heavy Infantry as the Romans, but again it will be a battle of quantity vs quality. Also the German warbands get Impetus, which can give them double dice in melee if they pass their Control tests.

 German players discussing strategy. Both sides made three rolls for terrain per the rules. Germans got a small rise(which they deployed in the middle), a flank piece of Rough ground which they discarded and a patch of Clear terrain. Romans rolled up two patches of Clear terrain and one Gentle Rise which they chose not to use. Rules say you only need to take one of the rolls.

 View from the opposite of the table. Germans out two HC and a LC on one side and 2LC and a HC on the other. Romans have a HC, a LC and a LI on each flank plus the Cataphracts on this near flank shown below. Romans are shown deployed in individual Cohorts. They elected to deploy them "reinforced" before the game started

Chris Leach att the far end graciously helping out with coaching the players. He played in a Greek vs Persian Tactica game the previous period. Roman Cohorts are shown "reinforced" in this photo. Neither side wanted to advance, electing to use their skirmishers to try and whittle down their opponents before committing their main force. The Germans eventually did advance with their cavalry wings, more so at the far end where they had an advantage.

This photo is almost two hours after the previous one. I was too busy running the game and forgot to take pictures. The game had been fairly even to just before this point. At the far end the German heavy cavalry are just about to rout the last Roman flank unit at that end. At this end, the opposite is true. There is one German Heavy Cavalry unit left being ganged up on by Roman HC and the Cataphracts.It held on surprisingly long. The big story is further down the line where there is a gap in the units. See next picture for explanation.

Here you can see a big gap in the German line. What happened is this. The German player attached his General to a unit to bolster his dice(you get two extra dice for an attached General, but there is a risk). His unit took three melee kills. When such an event happens you roll for the General and anything but a six and the General survives. He rolled a six! Then you roll a Control Test and he failed that leaving the Unit disordered. Being disordered you only roll half your dice and if out scored in any melee area you roll another Control test, a failure resulting n unit routing. Of course he failed forcing the adjacent units to test morale the one to the right of the gap failed.

Meanwhile on the Roman left flank we see the German Heavy Cav about to rout the remaining  Scythian Horse Archers. Onre of the Roman Cohorts has routed leaving a gap in the line, but the Cohort to its right has apparently failed its Panic Control Test and is Disordered. The Roman Auxilia Cohort is still alive at this point and you can see one of the German Warbands has been flanked by a Roman Cohort from the gap created by the demise of the German General's routing unit.

Looks bad for the nearest Roman Cohort being flanked by German Heavy Cavalry, but the cavakry unit ended uo 1/8" short of contacting. This was the last move of the game as the game ended after the melee phase.

This is a marked up photo to show the remaining units. Legion 1 has losy four Cohorts, Legion 2 has lost two. The Germans have lost three Warbands.

The shows the Roman right Flank. The German HC Unit is gone, its loss pushing the Germans over their BreakPoint the loss of their General also contributing 10 points toward breaking.

A clear Roman Victory, but it was closer than it appears. Many of the Cohorts were near breaking having survived some Warband attacks with Impetus. Lesson to be learned, don't attach you General early on in the battle. Save him for later on when he might make a critical difference.

If you think you would like to try Tactica II, the rules are available from On Military Matters
http://onmilitarymatters.com/pages/dfcatalog.php?period=0900
Item 1-16660 Conliffe, Arty

Tactica II, Romans vs Parthians

 We've been play testing Tactica II for Arty Conliffe for a long time (over ten years), but this was our first game with the now published set of rules. Arty had asked us to try out some mods for horse archer type armies so here we were again, pitting Romans against Parthians.

It was a struggle to come up with enough Parthians as they are comprised almost entirely of Cataphracts and Horse Archers. By combining units from some of our other Armies (Armenians, Seleucid, Pontic, etc) and substituting some light Cavalry with Javelins for Horse Archers, we were able to come up with enough Parthians for 1800 points per side.

The Romans should be of the Trajanic kind and they can have a lot more cavalry and Auxilia including Cataphracts and Light cavalry. But it was a struggle to get 1800 points of Parthians and the required basic two Legions costs 1440 point themselves. With only about 400 points to work with, the Romans didn't get as much support to truly reflect a Trajanic Army. Since this was a playtest for Horse Armies, not Romans, we went ahead with what we had, although in retrospect, we should have given the Romans the one extra Cataphract unit I had left in the box plus whatever other Cavalry we could scrounge up. Although it can't be considered to have evened things up, the Parthians didn't get the Camel Unit in their list as we didn't have enough figures to make up a complete unit.

So we met at Blue Sky Hobbies in Bremerton, WA on January 6th, 2019 to play our game. Kevin Walker( with assistance from his son, Kyle) and Tom Condon played the Parthians. Gary Williams and I took the part of the Romans. I assumed we were playing on one of the 4' x 6' tables there and brought only my reliable green Army blanket of the same size o play on. The guys however, had put two 4" x 4" table together to give us an 8ft wide by 4ft deep playing field. So that's why in the picture below the the table cover doesn't go all the way to the end. As Tactica is meant to be played on an 8ft by 5ft table in this scale, we went with the uncovered portion and did away with the six inch baseline zone on each side.

I've used Battle Chronicler(http://battlechronicler.com/index.html) to recreate the battle, but its a tedious process and its almost impossible to get the units exactly where they started out. That combined with trying to recreate what happened from photos, results in some errors cropping up, but one gets a good idea of what occurred from turn to turn.

Below is the deployment at the beginning of the game. We each get up to three rolls for terrain before the game starts. You have to take at least one which is what the Parthians did, getting a flank hill piece. The Romans took three rolls, but two were "Clear Terrain". They rolled one hill which they placed in their right center.

The Roman plan was to hold with the left flank and attack with the right. We hoped to shorten the frontage so we wouldn't be too spread out and subject to getting flanked. It didn't work out as wellas we planned. The Parthians wanted to force the Romans to come forward in the center by superior missile fire and evading and push their open terrain flank(right flank) to turn the main Roman line. Their plan didn't work out so well either, but they made up for it elsewhere.

First Turn and Romans are swinging right and holding on the left. Parthians advance boldly with their numerous horse archers.

A lot of Horse Archer and Skirmisher fire going on as both sides maneuver to get into position. Roman cohorts on the right deploy into line to prevent being flanked.

 

On the Roman left, the Parthian Cataphracts have passed through the Horse Archers in order to contact the Roman Light Cavalry. This is the Mod we were play testing. This rule permits a tighter coordination between the shock and missile fire components of these armies, across the same tactical space and time on the tabletop, reflecting a coordination of troop types that existed, even if we do not precisely know all the details of how. The rules are meant for Parthians, Huns, and Mongols, but scenario conditions could open up for other armies.

The Roman Light Cav don't last long and are soon routed. I forgot to take some pictures around this time, so I have a gap in the action. I know the LC were routed, I'm just not clear what else happened. There may have been an intermediate move after the melee showing the Parthian Bonus move.

At any rate, the next group of photos show the Cataphracts advancing to melee the Roman Heavy Cavalry and an Auxilia LI unit.  Roman LI unit, L12 has been destroyed by missile fire from several horse archer units. Also, Parthian LC units LC9 and LC14 can be seen falling back through LC 13 and LC10. The Interpenetration Mod also works for Horse Archers moving through each other, giving them a lot of flexibility to retire units near break point. On the hill on the Roman right, the Horse archers fallback through the Cataphracts to force the Romans into melee with the more difficult opponent.

Roman Cohorts COH1&2 on the right charge the Cataphracts on the hill after having stopped two inches away last turn( A restriction all infantry units in Tactica have when attacking mounted units). On the left,the last Roman LI is routed and Cohort COH9 moves to prevent the Roman Line from being Flanked.

 

 The Roman HC unit is defeated and Routes. Cataphract Unit CAT6 fails its Pursuit test and must pursue a full move straight ahead and gets stuck at the table edge. The other victorious Cataphract unit passes its test and wheels toward Roman COH9. On the other side of the table, Roman COH2 is wiped out. The Parthian Cataphract unit received Impetus(Double Dice) and made a good roll of dice against the cohort which was already weakened by missile fire. The Parthian players begin moving their last two Cataphract units up

Cataphract units continue to move up and some slight repositioning of some units is all that happens this turn.

Some Roman successes this turn.  Cataphract unit CAT5 is defeated as is LC unit LC3 on the Roman right. Roman Cohort COH1 however, is also routed.  In the Center, the Parthians execute their pass through maneuver and the remaining Cataphracts charge into the Roman line.

Although another Parthian LC is routed,  things are looking bad for the Romans. Elite Cohort COH20 is routed as well as cohorts COH15&16. On the right Cohorts COH3&4 advance to keep from getting flanked.

Another three cohorts are routed. COH19 being only eight figures was reduced by constant missile fire from the Parthian horse archers. COH7&8 on the other side were taken out by the cataphracts. On the far right parthian LC1 evades to avoid being caught by the Roman cohorts. With only four cohorts remaining in the Legion on the right, the end is near for the Romans. When a total of seven cohorts are Routed the Legion will break.

Romans manage to break another Parthian horse archer unit. All the remaining cohorts of the Legion on the right are now engaged by Cataphracts.

Cohorts COH9&10 break in the center putting that Legion over break point causing the Roman Army to reach its Break Point. Game over with Roman losses at 148, 30 over Break Point.  Parthians lost 54, no where near their Break Point of 138.

 A view of the Roman line at Deployment.

Romans slowly advancing about a third of the way through the game. The Roman Cavalry and Light Infantry on the Left Flank had just about been wiped out by this point.

Melees on the roman right. Roman COH2 has already been routed from the hill.

Parthian commanders looking smug just about halfway through the battle.

The Parthian 18 figure Cataphract units normally break at 66%(12 figures killed). This one at 15 figures killed, passed a "Fates Test" (a roll of 11 or 12 on 2D6) and went another round. It was routed the next turn however,the only Cataphract unit to be routed.

Looks like a good roll from someone. As there are 18 dice total, it must have been from one of the Parthian cataphract units that got Impetus(double dice). Seven hits(5's & 6's) that probably routed the cohort in melee on the right. (third from last map above)

A view of the final turn. Parthians victorious. Next time the Romans need to bring more cavalry

Tactica II retains all the fun and tension of the original rules while being easier to play and build armies for. The Points system allows you to play smaller games than the original. The old Battle Line deployment restrictions have been replaced by a Division Command Radius system similar to what was used for Marian Legions in the original rules. The movement is therefore much more flexible, but players will find themselves hindered once they get into charge range due to Combat Threat Zone(CTZ) movement restrictions. Missile fire and melee combat are essential identical to the original rules. The Morale Chart of the original is gone, replaced by Control Tests for Missile Halt and Morale tests. When a unit reached its break point, it now gets a"Fates Test" to see if it remains fighting. On a modified die roll of 11 or 12, it continues fighting. This retains some of the drama that was experienced in the original rules when a unit passed its Melee Break test.

I hope you found this report informative. If you leave a comment, I would be happy to answer any questions about the rules. There is also a Yahoo Group where info is posted although activity there has been light:  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/TACTICA/info

Romans have a bad day in Armenia (or how not to deploy cohorts)

Another battle of TacticaII(playtest rules), this time Marian Romans vs Armenians. Game was played at Blue Sky Hobbies in Bremerton on Sunday, November 15th. Gary Williams and Tom Condon handled the Romans While Kevin Walker and myself played the Armenians.

The Romans consisted of two Legions plus supporting Cavalry, Light Infantry and Skirmishers. Total Points value was 1754. Army Breakpoint= 110  Legion Break Point= 59. Their composition was as follows:

Legion 1:
9 Cohorts of 8, Veteran, FV5-6
1Senior Cohort of 16, Elite, FV5-6
Legion 2:
9 Cohorts of 8, Veteran, FV5-6
1Senior Cohort of 16, Elite, FV5-6
12 Heavy Cavalry(HC), Veteran, FV5-6
8 Light Cavalry(LC), Veteran, FV3-6
12 Allied Light Infantry(LI), Veteran, FV3-6
12 Auxillia LI, Veteran, FV4-6
9 Arab Archers, Veteran, FV4-6
9 Slingers, Veteran, FV4-6
12 Javelinmen Velites, Veteran, FV5-6

The Armenians, sometime allies to Pontus, were very Hellenized. Total Points value was 1753, one less than the Romans. Army Breakpoint= 128. The Imitation Legionnaires had done so well in the last few battles that I upgraded them to FV5-6, paying the appropriate points cost for doing so. Composition of the Armenian was as follows:

18 Cataphracts HC, Veteran, FV5-6 with Impetus(I)
18 Cataphracts HC, Veteran, FV5-6 with Impetus(I)
 8 Armenian Light Cavalry(LC), Veteran, FV3-6
 8 Skythian Light Cavalry(LC), Veteran, FV3-6
32 Pike Phalanx Body Guard, Veteran, FV5-6
48 Pike Phalanx, Veteran, FV4-6
48 Pike Phalanx, Veteran, FV4-6
24 Imitation Legion(Azaku Mardig), Veteran, FV5-6
36 Spear Foot(Nizagamartik), Veteran, FV4-6
16 Iberian LI, Veteran, FV4-6
9 Armenian Archers, Veteran, FV4-6
9 Armenian Slingers, Veteran, FV4-6
12 Armenian Javelinmen, Veteran, FV5-6

For this Battle, we used a deployment screen(a big long piece of a cardboard box). This was to allow each side to deploy without knowledge of the other sides deployment. We hadn't done this before and I think it led to a more interesting game. On the Armenian side, our plan was to attack with the phalanxes on the left of the main battleline while holding back slightly with the right. One Cataphract units was to protect the left flank of the Phalanxes and the other was to assist the Light Cavalry on the right flank. I was hoping to be able to hold the wooded hill on the left flank with out sole Light Infantry unit.

I don't know what the Roman plan was, but they put all their cavalry and light infantry on their left flank, leaving the right bare except for a single unit of Arab archers. Gary on the Roman right had all his cohorts in column while Tom on the left had all but two deployed in line.

View from the Armenian Main Battle Line

View from the Armenian Right Flank

First couple of turns were uneventful, both sides cautiously advancing. The slightly more numerous Roman Velites with Javelins hot diced the Armenian archers and soon reduced them to Break Point.

End of Turn 1

Romans advancing in what looks like Acies Duplex formation.

My Armenian LI reach the wooded hill on our Left Flank. Roman Slingers clash with Armenian Javelinmen in Right Center. Lots of maneuvering by Cavalry and LI on the Armenian Right, both sides trying to gain some advantage.

End of Turn 2

Cavalry and LI maneuvering on Armenian Right Flank

On Turn 3 things start to heat up. My LI occupy the wooded hill. My Cataphracts plow into Gary's Cohort#8. They get Impetus, but Gary's Pilum throw gets 3 out of 4 hits. In the main line Gary's cohorts meet two of my Phalanxes and the slugfest begins. His Cohort#5 had previously taken a missile hit from my now absent archers. With depth advantage, I get 10 dice to his 4 and manage to get 7 hits! OUCH! One cohort gone. While my other rolls aren't as good as that one, the single cohorts in column are taking a beating against my denser phalanxes. Elsewhere the Armenian Javelins and the Roman Slingers reduce each other to BreakPoint and they leave the field.  On our far Right the Armenian Cataphracts contend with the Roman Heavy Calvalry.

End of Turn 3

Cohort#2(with Blue Shields) shown disorder due to failing Control test when Cohort#5 routed

Gary, not wanting to send his lead cohort into the woods, decides to use his Arab Archers to whittle down my LI. He sends Cohort#7 to help Cohort#8 fighting my Cataphracts. His Cohort #9 reinforces Cohort #6 fighting my Phalanx(B). Cohort#10 charges in to replace Cohort#5 which routed last turn. Cohort#3 reinforces Cohort#2 against the BodyGuard Phalanx. Tom sends in his Cohorts 9 and 10 to help them. Tom's Cohorts 3,4,5,6 and 7 attack the Imitation Legion and the Armenian Foot(Nizagamartik). His Cohort#8 catches my Phalanx BG with a Wing Attack. On the Roman Left Flank, Tom sends in Cohort#1 to help his HC against the Cataphracts, but the HC has had enough and breaks. His LI try to catch the Armenian LC, but end up taking a lot of missile hits. In the Center, Cohort#4 disordered last turn, is outscored in melee and fails its Control Test. It therefore breaks and causes Control Tests on all the adjacent Cohorts within 4". Since the Cohorts are all deployed in column( about 2.3" wide) they end up having to take 4 Control Tests. The inner ones pass, but both outer units fail.

End of Turn 4

The two outer Reinforced Cohorts fail their Control Test and are now Disordered. Not good for the Romans while the Phalanxes having only 9 and 6 hits respectively are in good shape

A view toward the Roman Left from their side of the field.

Turn 5 and my Cataphracts finally break, but Phalanx A is there to fill the gap. Three more of Gary's Cohorts break as does one of Tom's fighting Kevin's Imitation Legionnaires. Toms Auxillia LI breaks having been shot up by Kevin's horse archers and Slingers. A quick count shows Gary's Legion is getting close to break point.

End of Turn 5

View ofCenter right from Armenian side. Armenian Foot(the Nizagamartik) are struggling against Tom's Romans. The Imitation Legion having broke one Cohort are holding their own.

Armenian Foot (Nizagamartik) cannot withstand Tom's Cohorts and his LI which charges in this turn. They break, but it is too late for the Romans. Two more of Gary's Cohorts break putting his Legion over its Break Point. Combined with Tom's losses, that results in the Romans reaching Army Break Point. It looks like a decisive Armenian Victory.

End of Turn 6

View from the Armenian Right

View from the Roman Right.

This battle was more lopsided than usual. The Armenians only lost two main Units, one Cataphract unit and the Armenian Foot. The main reason for the Roman debacle I think was the use of cohorts in column against the Armenian Pike Phalanxes. This is especially true when the Cohorts are not reinforced(i.e single cohorts). An eight figure Cohort in two ranks melees with only four dice needing a 4,5 or 6 against the Armenian Phalanx. Generally you can get three Cohorts against one Phalanx. So starting with full units, a Phalanx would have two rank bonuses against the Cohorts in each melee area. That's a total of ten dice against the four Roman dice although the Armenians are only hitting on 5 and 6's. The reinforced Roman cohorts(16 figures) do a little better, but they loose ranks pretty fast.

The other problem for the Romans was that I was hot dicing them fairly often in this game. Combined with their deployment disadvantage in melee, they were doomed when one Cohort broke and they failed several critical Morale rolls. The Gods were just not with the Romans this day.

Tom's Romans deployed in line seemed to do better on his side of the field, but battle was lost before they had much impact. Both sides enjoyed the game, but the Armenian side definitely was better blessed with good die rolls. The use of the deployment screen may have influenced the outcome a bit but it also seemed to add some level of excitement to the game. For that reason, I think we will use it again.

If you are not having fun wargaming, then you are doing it wrong. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Mitch