Big Battle AMW Game

I've just completed a mammoth Early Imperial Roman v Early German battle using
the AMW Rules.

I based this on an earlier game I played to try out my SIP amendments for
Ancients. I enjoyed that game so much that I decided that a big battle AMW game
was in order.

The game was based on the battle simulated in the Gladiator Film's opening
scene.

The Romans were deployed in a long line with a tactical reserve of two legionary
units: 8 Legionaries, 4 Auxiliary Foot, 4 Auxiliary Cavalry and 2 Artillery. A
total of 18 units.

The Germans ranged against them were sitting on a long ridge, flanked by dense
woods. They amounted to 12 Heavy Infantry, 4 Skirmishers armed with javelins and
4 Noble Cavalry. A total of 20 units.

The artillery made an early impression and showed that the Romans meant
business. With fireballs shooting overhead, the Roman line advanced at a steady
pace, the auxiliaries moving towards the wood line and the cavalry protecting
both flanks.

The Germans were deployed quite deep holding at least four infantry in reserve
just behind the battle line. The Skirmishers flanked the infantry, occupying the
woods with the cavalry lurking on the extreme flanks.

The German general showed a willingness to get to grips early and not be
pressurised by the Roman advance. Cavalry and Skirmisher v Auxiliary battles
flared up early. Mixed success for the Germans. Lighter armour was already a
factor and this became critical once the legions engaged.

Roman Heavy Infantry are remarkable. They showed a distinct superiority over the
Germans in one-to-one line-ups, however, the German general did use his reserves
to create flanking attacks and on the right flank they were actually prevailing.
However, with the collapse of the left flank, the Roman infantry started to
roll-up the battle line and it was only a matter of time before the Germans were
reduced to five operational units and lost the game. The Legions were supreme in
this contest. It felt very much as I would expect for an opposing force taking
on the might of Rome.

One area that I do feel that the Romans are a bit short changed on is the impact
of the pilum prior to charging. I know this is supposed to be factored in but
I've always liked a means to simulate this offensive fire during a charge. It
would have probably meant making the Romans invincible but I was considering
giving them the ability to roll two dice during the charge phase to represent
pilum throwing. Just an idea: I didn't try it out in this game.

One house rule I did experiment with was a push-back move during hand-to-hand
combat. I liked this feature in the older WRG Rules where units were pushed
about a bit during extended melees. Originally I decreed that the difference in
hits inflicted would mean the loser would be pushed back that many centimetres.
This produced some larger movements than I wanted so I looked a the loser moving
1cm if beaten in hits, finally settling on twice as many hits initiating a 1cm
retreat for the loser and associated follow-up from the attacker. It meant there
were some ripples in the battle-line which created a pleasing effect and
presented the commanders with more tactical problems to address in maintaining
cohesion. I'll continue to play test this in future games.