The Wicker Man - Angelsey 60ad

We attempted a big game of Hail Caesar at the club a few weeks back, my late posting is due mainly to personal matters resulting in me putting the blog very much on the back burner of late.  But I digress; with so much time passed since the event, I'm not going to attempt a lengthy narrative of the battle, but the aim for the Romans was to make it to the Wicker Man in the centre of the battlefield and stop the pagan cults that would give so much psychological advantage to the Celtic hordes.  Myself I played as the Celts, one of several commanders who found our troops to be far from enthusiastic for the coming fight.

Initial dispositions.  Also pretty much final dispositions for some of the Celts!

Rome began from a very limited deployment, but had the advantage of effective command

Some Celts advance, but scarcely enough to worry the Romans

None of which serves to stop the Roman advance

There was no denying the threat of the Celtic masses.  But it was all bluff and little bluster...

Celtic cavalry led the half-hearted early attack

The Richards, one for each side, fought out the bulk of the action in front of the Pagan effigy.

The rest of the Celtic army remained reticent, happy to watch its cavalry being destroyed.

A small number of light troops began to reach the Roman lines, and one in particular case, humiliated the Praetorian Guard in a protracted engagement.

Slowly the extreme right flank of the Celtic army advanced on the Romans, who were closing on their target in the centre.

Finally, rashly, the Celts on the right charged the Roman line they gambled may be over extended. The lead Roman elements proved to be; but the second line fell on the Celts and destroyed untold numbers.

With time short, the Celts arriving late did at least save their numbers from greater loss. The Romans arrived too late at the flaming statue; an effective draw.

A game hamstrung by a lack of time; sharing billing with the club AGM, we only had a couple of hours for game play; another hour would've helped loads but the poor command rolls of the Celts meant they never really stood a chance of getting involved before Rome was in a position to beat them with ease.