C. S. Grant with the fourth in his new series of wargames scenarios and their solutions.

T he Ancient British and Roman scenario suggested as one of the options in teaser two was well suited to the
armies of several members of the Dover covent. For this reason the wagon train was set in motion across the
much fought over Grant wargame table last August. The Roman relief column was commanded by those two
illustrious Romans, David Matthews and Robert Waldron. The barbarians gathered three chiefs, Andrew Green
(sometimes known as "Andred the Berserker"), Peter Sheppard and Chris Spickett. All were sworn enemies of
the Roman invader.
The format laid down in the teaser was followed in almost every detail, the one exception being the
addition of one extra cavalry regiment for the Ancient Britons. This slight change engineered by our worthy and
farsighted umpire proved fortuitous for the Ancient Britons and went some way to counter their late arrival on
the table. Of this, more later. The only other change worthy of note is that as a keen eyed reader will see, the
maps accompanying this account differ slightly from those shown in the teaser. The reason is, of course, that
one must use the terrain one has available; thus small changes have occurred in the shape of some of the terrain
items without changing the essence of the overall battlefield.
The initial preparations for the arrival of the Ancient Britons provided the Roman relief column with a good start
as these results show:
 Map reference number unit entry point period of arrival
1. light cavalry (Brigantes) C 2
2. light cavalry (Cantii) E 5
3. light archers A 7
4. war band Silures) A 7
5. light cavalry (Trinovantes) A 8
6. war band (Iceni) C 10
7. chariots C 11

A fortunate result for the Romans both in the distribution of the entry points and in the time of arrival, I think you'll
agree. But what of the might of Rome? The column entering the table from the West was composed as follows:
(letter relating to the map) (name of unit)
A light cavalry 1
B red cohort
C green cohort
D light medium infantry
E light archers
F light cavalry 2 (in the fort)
W wagons

The Roman column was

approaching the eastern road
junction when the Brigantes
light cavalry, who had appeared
at C and moved rapidly east,
charged the Roman light
cavalry. However, the Romans,
who were scouting ahead of the
main column, evaded and the
Brigantes fell back. Despite this
early encounter, by the seventh
period it was clear that with the
Ancient Briton's forces only just
beginning to arrive on the table
in strength, a lot of time had
been lost. The Roman column
was making good progress
towards the fort.
Once again, the Brigantes
charged and the Roman light
horse counter-charged, routing
the unfortunate barbarians, who
fell back to the east, coming
under catapult fire from the fort.
Shortly after this, the Roman
light cavalry crossed the centre line of the table and were seen by the troops in the fort. Again luck smiled on
the Romans. It had been decided previously that one die would determine how long it took to inform the
garrison commander of the approach of the wagon train. A throw of a six being an immediate response. A six
was duly thrown. A further die was then thrown to determine the number of moves it would take to prepare the
cavalry to leave the fort. The result was a two, i.e. two periods — how lucky can you be! The wagons were now
approaching the small central wood on the middle road.
In period II (see map) the last Ancient British force, the chariots, arrived on the table almost at the same time
as the Cantii, who had been lurking in the southern wood, emerged. The Roman light medium infantry (D)
were now looking to their rear, watchful of the growing barbarian force. In an attempt to gain time for the
wagons, they tried most bravely to charge the Trinovantes light cavalry (5), but were unable to reach them
before running out of steam.
On turning to rally they were
themselves charged by the
Trinovantes and routed.
Things were now building
up. The Cantii were pushing
up from the south as the
Iceni closed from the north.

By period 15 (see map) the

Cantii were pressing the
Green cohort protecting the
tail of the column. The Iceni,
reinforced by the chariots,
now charged the first
Roman light cavalry
regiment who broke, but not
before dealing almost
crippling casualties on the
chariots. At this time, the
threat from the fort was seen
and the Brigantes moved
east towards the
approaching Roman cavalry.
Clearly, the big assault was
about to begin; the question of whether the wagon train could survive was very much in the balance. The
Ancient Britons required a
coordinated assault if they
were to prevent the train from
reaching its goal. Almost at
once this began to unfold. The
Cantii brushed aside the
Roman archers and fell upon
the rear three wagons,
hamstringing or destroying
their oxen and effectively
immobilising them. Elsewhere,
however, the Britons were
less successful. The
Trinovantes, unwisely,
attacked the Red cohort in
columns of two, and meeting
them in such an unsuitable
formation were routed and
fled west. To the north, the
second Roman cavalry
charged the Brigantes who,
having been already involved
on the battlefield, were unable
to face the fresh troops from
the fort and broke. Meanwhile,
the first Roman cavalry, who had fared less well, were still routing back through the Red cohort (see map for
period 18).

The Ancient Britons had now shot their bolt, and with several units in rout, the chariots too weak to attack and
the Silures and Iceni too far away to prevent it, the remaining three ox carts, covered by the two cohorts, made
all haste over the last stretch to the fort. The result was a close game resulting in an honourable draw. The
garrison of the fort survived, perhaps to feature in another teaser, and the barbarians faded back into the
woods and hills to await a more auspicious day.