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I have spent a lot of time on Vassal over the past 9 months, playing lots of C&C: Ancients. In that time, I have made the acquaintance of a few good men and they have become, to varying degress, regular opponents. Of these, the pairing of Samuel and I have become noted by many for the viciousness of the banter, as well as the bloody nature of our battles. With that in mind, I recently challenged my erstwhile opponent to a campaign of all seven battles from the Third Servile War. The campaign was to be played in its 7-battle entirety, with the final banner counting determining the victor.
In order to ensure balance as best possible we instigated a handicap whereby, after tallying the banners for the battle upon completion, the player with the least cards would receive bonus banners for each he found himself short. So, for example, in the first battle where the Slaves have 6 Command Cards and Rome 4, the Romans would receive an extra 2 bonus points at the end, regardless of the result. This would not change the victor in each given battle but it did mean that, in theory, a player could lose a battle and walk away with a slight advantage overall. Much like real warfare.
And with that, it is my honour to scribe for you the annals of war, where the legendary Spartacus challenged the might of Rome...
Mount Vesuvius - 73 BC
The greatest slave revolt against Rome was led by a gladiator named Spartacus. He was a Thracian slave, trained as a gladiator by his owner, Lentulus Batiatus, at a gladiatorial school near Capua. Spartacus escaped with 78 fellow gladiators...
The roll of a blue on 1d gave me the honour of leading the Slave forces as the defended their mountain base on the slopes of Vesuvius from the encroaching Roman forces. The battle began well, with an Order Medium allowing the assault of a horde of Warriors from both directions. Although Varinius was able to survive the initial onslaught, his lieutenant Glaber was struck down and his camp ransacked before Rome was able to strike a blow.
Reeling from this daring strike, the Romans frantically sought to fend off the Slave hordes and defend their remaining camps. Although a grouping of Warriors was struck down by the Roman Auxiliary, in turn they were weakened by the remaining hordes and soon, fresh troops entered the fray to swiftly end the battle.
The day ended with a glorious victory to the slaves and as the one-time Slaves ransacked the Roman camp and feasted the surviving Romans fled the battlefield to spread word of their defeat. Their commander, Varinius, likewise managed to survive - hiding in nearby woodland and sneaking away under the cover of night. His shame, though, was never to be lived down and he was not to see the field of battle again during the campaign...
Final score: 5-1 to the Slaves. With the handicap bonus, this was revised to 5-3 and the Slaves took away a 2 banner advantage.
Campaign score: 5-3 to the Slaves
Mount Garganus - 73 BC
Spartacus was an able strategist, and he knew that his rag-tag army could not expect to defy Rome indefinitely. Spartacus planned to escape from Roman territory over the Alps, and headed north through Apulia. He divded his ever-growing army and placed his lieutenant, Crixus, a Gaul, in charge of 30,000 German and Gallic slaves...
Seeking to press their advantage the slaves were keen to assault the Roman forces, keenly aware that they would quickly be overwhelmed if not able to swiftly defeat their foes. Unfortunately, Crixus was not the equal strategist of Spartacus, and he quickly found his forces suffering probing attacks while the Slaves dallied, desperately searching for an opportunity.
Finally, an opportunity presented itself, and Crixus himself surged forward, leading his army of thugs in a murderous charge against the Roman line. At first the momentum went with him, and the Roman infantry buckled, yet it was not break and soon the tide of battle turned. Nonetheless, Crixus identified a weakness in the Roman line and, as the legions sought to finish him off he sent force his cavalry to strike down the Romans. The odds were stacked against them and yet they were not ready to die that day. In a glorious feat of arms, the Light Cavalry defeated the Medium Roman Cavalry to win the battle...
Or, as we later discovered, not! We made a mistake here and played to include the 1-banner handicap towards victory. This was wrong and, in hindsight, I offered the victory to Sam as it was not feasible I would score another or avoid him doing so in the following turn. Despite this, the 1-banner handicap did nullify any advantage to Sam, and the Slaves’ advantage remained at 2.
Final score: 6-5 to Rome. With the handicap this was revised to 6-6, although the glory of victory went to Sam.
Campaign score: 11-9 to the slaves.
Picenum - 72 BC
Following the defeat of his lieutenant Crixus, Spartacus continued north for the Alps, passing through Picenum. Two Roman armies moved against him...
Foolishly, Consuls Gellius and Lentulus were arrogant and vain men with little military wit, intent on securing glory for themselves. Allowing themselves to be split into mutually exclusive forces, with the Slaves occupying the heights with their secret weapon (rolling logs of flaming death) defeat was surely to be theirs.
Nonetheless, this battle was to prove difficult and hard fought. Spartacus, despite his reputation, proved to be quite timid and sought to gather his forces for an overwhelming strike. The ineptitude of the Roman consuls, however, prevented them from punishing this hesitancy and as they sought to gain an advantage the Slaves were able to pick off several units at range.
Soon, though, Spartacus was happy with his disposition and, seizing his moment, unleashed an unstoppable charge with his infantry. These swept aside the forces of Lentulus with ease and, despite the approach of Gallius, they were to arrive too late. The battlefield was strewn with the bodies of brave legionnaires...
Final score: 8-3 to the slaves. With the handicap this was revised to 8-4 and a crushing victory to Spartacus.
Campaign score: 19-13 to the slaves.
Mummius’ Defeat - 72 BC
In the autumn of 72 BC, Marcus Licinius Crassus was chosen by the Senate to lead the war against Spartacus’ slave army. Crassus assigned two of his legions to his deputy, Mummius, and gave him the task of harassing the flank of the slave army
Battle was joined as Mummius sought to capture the Slave camp, guarded only by a few light forces. Foolishly, though, he advanced up the centre, ignoring the threat of Spartacus’ Warriors on each of his flanks. This was to prove costly as in short order the sallied forth, charging from the hills on the Roman left and engaging the Roman forces to the rear. As the Roman legions sought to break into the camps the Slave light units valiantly repelled both Roman assaults giving Spartacus time to wipe out Mummius’ reserve.
Crassus’ faith in his lieutenant was misplaced as Mummius was found to be wanting in what proved to be Spartacus’ greatest victory!
Final score: 5-0 to the slaves. This was revised to 5-2 offering the Slaves a tantalising glimpse of the unthinkable - victory over Rome.
Campaign score: 24-15 to the slaves.
Bruttium - 71 BC
Spartacus retreated through Lucania into Bruttium and toward the sea. He encamped at Rhegium where he attempted to gain passage to Sicily with the help of some Cilician pirate ships...
Tragically, Spartacus was to be betrayed by the treacherous pirates and as they sailed into the sunset he found his army pinned him against the coast by the vanguard of Crassus’ forces. Intent upon starving the Slaves into submission, they erected a 30km wall and ditch and repelled two Slave attempts to break though. Spartacus, though, was not to be undone in his moment of glory and, with food and morale running low, he sought one last time to save his valiant men.
At first the battle went in the Slaves favour and some judicious fire and movement allowed two Slave light units to escape beyond the wall before the Romans were able to do anything. Quickly, though, they identified the weakness in their lines and the slower, heavier infantry found their path to escape blocked. Realising that survival depended upon a clash of arms, Spartacus vainly sought to create an exploitable gap in the Roman defences. Alas, this was not to be, and reserves were quickly brought in before a breach could be formed.
With time running out, Spartacus bowed to the inevitable and ordered a general advance, towards the ditch and the Romans legions behind their defences. The battle was hard fought and the momentum swung several times. As the day drew to a close, final victory seemed to be in the grasp of the Slaves, and they gleefully ordered forward their medium infantry to smash the Roman auxiliary and open a path to freedom. The Roman commander, however, had other thoughts, and in a moment of desperation he ordered forward the auxiliary to attack the Slaves unprepared with a daring first strike. It was not enough, though, to deny the Slaves ultimate victory and, as the sun set, the army of Spartacus escaped beyond the wall and, unbelievably, on the verge of victory over Rome...
Final score: 6-4 to the slaves. After the handicap revision this became 6-5 to the Slaves.
Campaign score: 30-20 to the Slaves, who were now on the verge of victory.
Camalatrum - 71 BC
After Spartacus escaped the Roman siege in Bruttium, the Gallic section of his slave army moved separately under the command of Cannicus and Castus. Marcus Licinius Crassus was now in a race, not only with the enemy, but also with his rival, Gnaeus Pompey. The Senate had recalled Pompey and his army from Spain to reinforce Crassus. However, Crassus felt he had nearly won this war, and now wanted to complete it before Pompey could arrive and steal any of his glory...
The battle started at a frenetic pace, as the flanking force of Marcius sought to engage Cannicus and capture his camp. Despite occupying defensible heights, Cannicus was bold and confident and quickly charged forward to defeat the Romans. The proved to be a tragic mistake, however, as, despite Marcius quickly falling in battle, the veteran Romans were to prove the match of his Warriors and quickly put them to the sword. Valiantly, though, Cannicus fought on, and as he called forward Castus to his aid, with victory seemingly in his grasp, an audacious move by Marcius’ remaining forces saw them capture his camp and, advancing against his weakened force, both they and Cannicus were put to the sword.
The war appeared to be approaching its climax and, although reeling from a succession of defeats, the leaderless legions of Marcius executed a legendary victory over the Slaves, giving hope to Roman salvation...
Final score: 6-3 to Rome. No adjustment for handicap.
Campaign score: 33-26 to the Slaves, and victory to Spartacus in his campaign. Nonetheless, the Romans were not done, and they sought to inflict maximum retribution for their injuries.
Silarus - 71 BC
Spartacus found his army trapped between the armies of Marcus Licinius Crassus to his front and Gnaeus Pompey, approaching from the rear...
Spartacus, confident from his earlier successes, encouraged his commanders to be bold and aggressive in order to further heap humiliation upon the Romans. Taking to heart these bold words from their General one of the commanders led the Slaves’ light cavalry in a mounted charge against the Roman ramparts, even as the bulk of the legions advanced upon the ridge line.
Barely able to contain his glee at the folly of his enemy, Crassus quickly ordered his cavalry, albeit leaderless, to intercept the slaves and put them to the sword. This they duly did but a gap in their line allowed the chastened leader to escape back to his own lines and ultimately avoid an ignominious fact. Over-extending his cavalry in search of the commander as a prize, the Romans were quickly left wondering if they had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as missile fire the Slaves routed the Roman cavalry from the board.
Seeing that now was the time for ultimate glory, Spartacus charged forward from his hilltop, seeking to retain the momentum and push onwards to victory. As his forces charged into the Roman extreme left, they sought to break the line and wreak havoc amongst the auxiliary. Alas, the Romans were not to be denied their prize and as they valiantly fought on Crassus brought his legionnaires into the fray. One last death or glory charge by Spartacus found his infantry isolated and cut down around him, Crassus revelling in his glory.
Magnanimously, terms were offered by Crassus, and Spartacus was offered a return to slavery as a gladiator in his service in exchange for surrender. Not to be denied his freedom, Spartacus charged forward single-handedly, and as his army withdrew from the field of battle bloodied but victorious, their valiant leader was cut down...
Final score: 6-4 to Rome. With handicap 6-5 to Rome. I offered Sam the 1d Leader Check against Spartacus, despite his having already won, as I thought it would make a great end to the campaign. He didn't get a banner for the kill but he certainly got some small measure of revenge.
Campaign score: 38-32 to the Slaves.
Neither of us are certain if this is a balanced campaign but the handicap system sought to even things out, particularly early on, where the advantage is with the Slaves. If it isn't balanced, though, I think it is not too far off and certainly as close as could reasonably be expected giving that we essentially invented the campaign on a whim. Ultimately, the Slaves won 4 battles to the Rome’s 3, yet their victories proved to be quite crushing while the Romans were bled in theirs.
This campaign took us 7 days, with each battle averaging approximately an hour. Sam and I intend to swap rolls in the near future and another session report will follow, to discover if this rewriting of history was a one-off fluke or an inevitability borne by the early Slave momentum. I will post up on 2-3 weeks when we are finished and let you know if the handicap system is ultimately able to balance out the campaign.
Hope you enjoyed this and I leave you with a final comment to my favourite C&C gaming companion...
Sam - you are crap!
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Dan Cavaliere
United States
Littleton
Colorado
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Great report CJ
I like your campaign variation with the cards/banners - cool idea.
I also enjoyed the history you provided coupled with the idea of using the 3rd Servile War as circuit for the campaign.
Excellent!
p.s. - now you need to play BattleLore too 
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Gamer DC wrote: Great report CJ I like your campaign variation with the cards/banners - cool idea. I also enjoyed the history you provided coupled with the idea of using the 3rd Servile War as circuit for the campaign. Excellent! p.s. - now you need to play BattleLore too
Kind words but if you think you can lure me to play that pile of cuss you are sorely mistaken.
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Piero S. P.
Italy
Florence
Tuscany
"If our gods and our hopes are nothing but scientific phenomena, then it must be said that our love is scientific as well." - L'Eve Future
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Wonderful campaign CJ that deserved gold
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I still prefere Battleground Fantasy Warfare as a game, but the aint no damn Vassal module for it. 
Keep on the good stuff. 
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Gorgoneion wrote: I still prefere Battleground Fantasy Warfare as a game, but the aint no damn Vassal module for it.
As do I. As do I.
Now, if you fancied making a vassal module I would happily give you a game anytime...
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Randall Shaw
United States
Kennesaw
GA
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Same here (and I love CCA).
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Posted Fri Jul 9, 2010 10:49 pm
