Rome At War: Fading Legions - Board Game
Avalanche Press
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The Barbarian Invasion
At the close of the 4th Century AD, Rome faced its greatest danger in over 500 years. To the east, the Sassanid Persian Empire presented a powerful challenge to Roman dominance in the Middle East. To the north, German tribes pressed against the Rhine frontier. To the northeast, Gothic tribes also stirred. And rival Roman would-be emperors faced off against one another.
Fading Legions covers these battles, when the last of Rome’s legions faced hordes of enemy horsemen. The Romans are in a state of military transition, adding more and more mounted and missile-armed troops to their forces while retaining the heavy infantry that had formed the army’s backbone for centuries.
Despite Rome’s undoubted cultural and scientific superiority, the empire’s enemies have a decided edge in military technology. The Persians, who face the Romans in five of the game’s scenarios, have war elephants, but their real advantage comes from their “cataphract” cavalry: big men on big horses, both protected by chainmail armor. The Persians usually have large numbers of infantry, but these aren’t very good.
Barbarians come in several flavors: Germans, Visigoths and Ostrogoths. Ostrogoths (known as Greuthungi at this phase of their history) are almost exclusively heavy cavalry, with some allied peoples tagging along as light cavalry and mounted archers. The Visigoths (known as Tervingi in those days) are primarily heavy infantry, with some mounted archers, light cavalry and foot archers in support. And they have their famous wagon-forts to wheel onto the battlefield. The Germans are also most heavy infantry, but bring some heavy cavalry to the battlefield as well.
Rome’s striking power is in her legions, disciplined heavy infantry, but these are vulnerable to arrows and heavy horse. There’s a whole legion capable of missile fire, plus some auxiliary light infantry and light cavalry capable of loosing arrows. Rome has but a handful of armored cavalry, and only one of these units is as good as their Persian counterparts. But they do have one unit of camel-mounted archers.
There are 11 scenarios, or game situations, included in Fading Legions.
Argentoratum (Strasbourg). August, 357 AD
A Roman army led by the future Emperor Julian the Apostate and 13,000 men face and defeat Chnodomar and his 35,000 German warriors.
Crossing the Tigris. 29 May, 363 AD
Julian seized the Imperial throne and enacted a series of reforms ensuring religious tolerance in the Empire, earning him the hatred of fanatic Christians. Turning next to the Persian threat, he determined to replace the King of Kings with a puppet. Marching on the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, the Romans made a daring nighttime assault across the river Tigris.
Ctesiphon. 29 May, 363 AD
With the Romans across the river, the King of Kings’ viceroy gathered the garrison and all available troops to stop them outside the city. A quick Roman charge broke the Persians before their superior missile capability could wear down the legions, but the Persians managed to bar the city gates before their enemies streamed through.
Maranga. 22 June, 363 AD
Julian did not besiege the Persian capital, instead seeking a showdown with their field army. After the Persians tricked the Romans into marching aimlessly about the desert, the Romans caught on and headed out of Mesopotamia. The Persians finally offered battle, and saw their infantry slaughtered by the hardened Roman veterans.
Phrygia. 26 June, 363 AD
Despite winning all the battles, Julian was losing the war. The Persians continued to harass his army, and at the village of Phrygia (not the province of the same name) attacked the Roman rear again. Julian led the counterattack personally, leaving his breastplate behind, and fell with a spear in his side. It may have been hurled by a Christian legionary — but regardless of the source, Rome’s last pagan emperor died soon afterwards.
Sumere. 28 June, 363 AD
Learning of Julian’s death from a disgruntled deserter, the King of Kings attacked the Romans again. For the first time, the Persians committed their elite royal heavy cavalry. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, and the new Emperor, Jovian, made peace with the Persians to allow him to solidify his power in Rome. Despite their undefeated record on the battlefield, the Romans clearly lost the war, turning over key territories to the Persians in exchange for peace.
Nacolia. Spring, 366 AD
Jovian soon died under mysterious circumstances, and the army proclaimed Valentinian as Emperor. Julian’s cousin Procopius seized Constantinople and made his own grab for the throne. Bribing Roman units and hiring barbarian mercenaries, he marched to meet Valentinian’s brother, Valens. The Germans had not yet arrived, and without them Procopius’ Romans defected to Valens and the usurper was put to death on the spot. This scenario explores the battle that would have been fought had the Germans made it in time.
Ad Salices. Spring, 377 AD
Invited to settle within Roman territory, the Visigoths led by their Christian chieftain Fritigern soon fell victim to famine. Corrupt Roman officials sold them rotting grain at inflated prices, forcing the Goths to sell their own children into slavery to stay alive. Infuriated, they rose in revolt, smashing the first Roman forces sent against them. At Ad Salices near the mouth of the Danube, they met the Roman general Richomer’s forces sent from the Western Empire. A furious but indecisive battle followed, with casualties so heavy that for years the battlefield would be described as “white with bones.”
Dibaltum. Summer, 377 AD
After breaking away from the Romans at Ad Salices, the Goths split into several raiding bands. One of the larger bands made for the town of Dibaltum. There, they surprised part of the Eastern Empire’s army making camp. Barzimeres led his Scutarii heavy cavalry in a mad charge against the Goths, saving his force at the cost of his own life.
Adrianople. 9 August, 378 AD
Spurning Fritigern’s peace offers and declining to wait for the Western Empire’s army, the Emperor Valens deployed his army for battle. The Roman left swept forward, but Gothic cavalry crushed the right wing and rolled up the army. Valens and 35 senior officers lost their lives in the worst Roman defeat since Hannibal’s time.
Adrianople Revised. Mid-August, 378 AD
Ah, but what if Valens had waited for the Western Army? A different version of the scenario above, more to the Roman player’s liking.
Fading Legions includes:
- Three maps
- 88 large, 1 1/3-inch x 2/3-inch rectangular playing pieces
- 154 2/3-inch square playing pieces
- 11 scenarios
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