Ostrogoths Ousted! Refighting the Battle of Verona (489 AD)

Friday 13 February proved auspicious for Richard (G.) who staged an enjoyable debut club wargame at Northfields community centre. It was a Dark Age clash between the Ostrogoths and Italians in northern Italy using Midgard rules and Richard’s nifty 3D-printed 6mm figures.

The Battle of Verona was fought on 30 September 489 AD between the Ostrogothic leader Theodoric the Great and the king of Italy, Odoacer. Following his invasion of Italy and backed by the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno, Theodoric personally led his troops in battle, and achieved a decisive victory. What would happen in the refight?

The battlefield was open apart from a few scattered trees, and two small built-up areas. Richard’s nice painted polystyrene woods decorated the lush green mat.

This was a straight fight between two armies, although the Italians had to retain the buildings, while the Ostrogoths had to keep hold of their baggage train. Heroic deeds and casualties would affect the total of reputation tokens allotted to each army.

Doug (left), Rob (centre) and Philip (right) were the Italians,

while Ian (right), Patrick (centre) and Paul (left) were the Ostrogoths.

TURN ONE: EXCHANGE OF JAVELINS

Paul began the game by moving his cavalry on the Ostrogothic left

Doug advanced on the Italian left with his infantry and skirmishers, facing Ian and Patrick

Philip’s Italian cavalry on the right attacked Paul’s horsemen, who lost a stamina point. Failing a command test, two of Paul’s cavalry units retired half a move

Ian’s cavalry now advanced, shooting at Doug’s skirmishers

TURN TWO: THE ITALIANS ADVANCE

Paul moved up a unit of cavalry on the Ostrogothic left, and began to advance with his infantry to their right. Rob’s skirmishers evaded

Doug’s skirmishers also evaded two of Ian’s attacking cavalry units

Philip engaged in further cavalry missile fire against Paul’s cavalry but missed. Paul fired on Philip’s cavalry but missed.

Rob and Doug began to advance with the main infantry body on the Italian left. Rob engaged with the Ostrogothic right flank…

Ian’s cavalry lost a melee against Doug’s infantry as well as one stamina point

Rob advanced further, and engaged Patrick’s Ostrogothic infantry in melee. A series of fights ensued, leading to Patrick losing one unit destroyed, one falling back, and leaving one still in combat. The Ostrogoths had put their weaker infantry in the front rank, and divided their better infantry between their wings.

TURN THREE: OSTROGOTHS ON THE BACK FOOT

Paul charged two cavalry units against Philip’s cavalry, which evaded on both occasions

On the Ostrogothic right, Ian and Paul pushed up the second line of (better quality) infantry to face Rob and Doug

Unfortunately for Theodoric’s Ostrogoths, Patrick lost two more poor infantry units. Meanwhile, Ian’s cavalry moved around the Italian left flank to attack Doug’s men from the rear, but their missile fire was ineffective

In a series of melees, Rob attacked Patrick’s infantry, one unit of which retreated in the face of Rob’s battle line…

…and Philip advanced on Paul’s cavalry, which ended in a draw. Now Philip, taking charge of 4 Italian infantry units near the villa, advanced on Paul’s 3 infantry units, but the close combat was indecisive

TURN FOUR: ITALIANS VICTORIOUS!

The massed cavalry skirmish on the Italian right continued. Philip advanced again against Paul’s cavalry, which led to two indecisive results and one heavy cavalry loss for Paul’s Ostrogoths (despite an attached hero)

Ian rounded the Italian left flank, as Patrick committed the three good Ostrogothic infantry units to the fight against Rob’s main battle line…

Paul directed an Ostrogothic infantry unit in the centre to attack the flank of Rob’s battle line, which led to one Italian unit falling back…

Elsewhere, Philip forced back one of Paul’s infantry units in the melee and another was soon destroyed

While Rob now had two units pushed back from his battle line, Doug wheeled a unit into the flank of one of Patrick’s good units in contact (it was eventually destroyed). The Ostrogoths were disintegrating…

A couple more cavalry melees took place between Philip and Paul, with Paul losing another two units.

The Ostrogoths had three reputation tokens left!

Philip again mullered Paul’s infantry which lost a unit. And nearby, Paul’s infantry which had attacked Rob’s flank was soon destroyed.

The Ostrogoths had lost! Turning history on its head…

CONCLUSION

A well-umpired, action-packed game with a clear result, using some very nice figures and terrain. The Ostrogoths seem to have lost by not establishing a solid battle line of their better troops, and relying on piecemeal attacks, while the Italians concentrated their force on the left and centre to good effect. Many thanks to Richard for hosting, and a warm welcome to the club. We hope to see more 6mm action soon!