Battle Report  #4: MITHRIDATES vs. ROME

 

 

The opposing forces.

The Mithridatic hopes had been placed on the combination of heavy Cataphracts and Pike phalangites plus a huge number of lighter troops who were expected to hold the line long enough for the heavier units to break the legions.

 

On his left wing, the Mithridatic player had two taxeis of pikemen, the one on  the right trained, but the other one green (Untrained). They were supported on their extreme left by a small unit of Peltasts who, however, were left behind early on in the battle to guard the baggage. To their right, the pikemen were supported by large numbers of light troops with a few Peltasts and Bowmen interspersed amongst them to strengthen the line. In all, some 5,000 archers, javelinmen and slingers were deployed on the crest of a line of hills. Their general was hoping that their shooting would hold the Romans back. To their right, in the centre, were placed 2,000  Armenian Cataphracts, in two units, but not of exceptional quality. They were protected and screened by two equally strong units of shock Light Horse. To their right, and anchoring the centre were some 10,000 Peltast foot of indifferent or low quality, in very deep formation. Their position was along a second line of hills stretching across the battlefield and the sight was awesome. These were oddly supported from behind (!) by the Pontics’ secret weapon, the Scythed Chariots, which, however, found it almost impossible to find a gap through any friendlies to do anything useful. To their rear, on the foot of the hills, were 2,000 Pontic Heavy Cavalry, with their C-in-C. This was a force to be reckoned with even if it had seen better days. The extreme right wing was covered by a strong band of about a thousand exceptional Skythian horse archers, who were more than eager to attack the Roman left.

 

romans

 

pontics

 

 

The Romans had two full-strength legions, totalling over 12,000 men, only one of which was of professional grade. They did, however, have their full complement of War Engines, plus 1,000 cavalry troopers each and a few hundred skirmishers in support behind the legionnaires. In the centre were two good units of allied Light Horse armed with javelins, providing a link between the two legions. The veteran legion was on the right wing, facing the enemy skirmishers and pikemen, while the catapults were in the centre, supporting the weaker legion, opposite the Cataphracts and Pontic Light Horse. The Roman horsemen were behind, protecting both extreme flanks. The Roman left was also protected by rocky ground to its left and rear, which forced the enemy Skythian archers to come quite close through a venturi, to pick off the Roman cavalry and hit the legion’s flanks.

 

 

The Battle

Along with the rash opening moves by the Skythians on their right, the Pontic Light Horse decided to take advantage of the disorganized deployment of the legion in the centre and suddenly attacked the War Engines. This would have removed the main threat to the Cataphracts and allowed them to attack at will. It was a rash move which almost worked. The legionnaires threw pila in support of the engines, along with the engine bolts, but only managed to diminish the enemy threat, not stop it. A melee developed around the Engines with the crews fighting for their lives and surviving only just. The few remnants of the Pontic Light Horse fled the field. Now the advantages were reversed: the Cataphracts were wide open against the Engines and, slow moving as they were, they succumbed to the powerful bolts. In a matter of minutes the right unit had been almost annihilated, the survivors fleeing, while the other unit attacked, totally unsupported, the extreme left of the veteran legion hoping to make an impact and hide from the terrible bolts. The Romans held only just, but held they did and the exhausted Cataphracts were surrounded from three sides by the allied Light Horse and the legionnaires. They succumbed to a man. All this time, the Pontic heavy horse had been manoeuvering uselessly behind the hills on the right, turning first to support the Cataphracts when they became exposed, but, being too far away, found their position compromised when the Cataphracts were destroyed and moved back behind the hill. The Mithridatic army, having lost its main striking force, was effectively split in two.

 

On the left wing, the trained pikemen had begun to close with the Roman veterans and the clash was going to be decisive. The Roman line had extended towards the centre (where the Cataphracts had attacked), opposite the multitude of light foot and bowmen and attacked them as well, completely oblivious of their desperate shooting. In covering the centre, however, they had exposed their right to the second taxis of pikemen, who were trying to take advantage and hit them in the flank. The Roman commander threw in the legion’s cavalry to stop them. They failed to make any impression on the phalanx, of course, but they did slow them down, interdicting their effort to help their fellow phalangites. Furthermore, the Roman pila had disordered the trained phalanx and for a moment all appeared to be lost for the Pontics. But this was not to be a one-sided affair. The phalanx held on and fought doggedly, while the Roman horse on the right made the one cardinal mistake of the day. They manoeuvered too close to the pikemen and broke immediately when the latter charged into their flanks. The legionnaire right flank was finally exposed. As the second phalanx charge came on, the Romans, out of pila, had only one hope: that their comrade cohorts would chase away all the light foot on the right of the pikemen and provide some relief. They were one step behind. The pikemen crashed into them with such fury that the whole line shuddered. The expertly trained legionnaires could do little to stop the mass of pikes and started recoiling with losses. The hill to their left was being cleared of the enemy, but the Romans fighting for it were still being showered by all sorts of missiles and were beginning to suffer the odd casualty. The green pikemen on the extreme Roman right were beginning to count, only their lack of training stopping them from exploiting their early success.

At that crucial moment, the Mithridatic C-in-C thought he saw his chance and threw everything into the fray. He ordered the Skythians to destroy the Roman horse and attack the exposed legionnaires on the Roman extreme left from behind. He also ordered the huge wave of Peltasts to charge the Romans frontally. Down the hill came no less than 10,000 screaming Asian tribesmen. They were faced by four cohorts of citizen Romans, with little combat experience, who were being menaced and shot at from the Skythians on their left. It was as brazen as it was magnificent. At that moment, the Roman commander knew that he could not win the battle with his victorious, but slow-moving centre, nor his collapsing right. He needed victory on his embattled left.

The Roman heavy horse had had enough of Skythian arrows and taking losses suddenly charged them. The two disasters struck simultaneously: the Skythians, oveconfident perhaps, timed it wrong and were caught trying to evade. They were slaughtered and the remnants fled the field. The legionnaires at the bottom of the hill had their own party. Wave after wave (4 of them!) of ill-trained peltasts crashed into the Roman line only to be slaughtered by the Roman gladii. The field ran red. When they saw the Skythians’ demise, the rest fled up the hill carrying the scythed chariots with them. The Pontic C-in-C, behind the hill, suddenly saw the summit full of panicked infantry running for dear life. All was lost and he retired saving his precious heavy cavalry which could have decided the battle if used properly (or at all). The pikemen, seeing the rout from afar, with their right gradually being exposed, turned and left the Roman veterans to lick their wounds and thank their Gods.

Losses were excessive for the Mithridatic army, no less than 6,000 Asian foot lost against the legions, plus a good number of the Skythians and almost all the Armenians, Light Horse and the Scythed Chariots. The pikemen, however, came off quite well with only a few casualties and their reputation intact. The Romans suffered some 500 legionnaires and 500 cavalry lost, plus the reputation of their veterans dented.

All in all it was a good affair, with the Roman commander pondering on the need to develop lighter, all terrain foot plus heavier cavalry to support the legion more effectively.