Book Notes: Barbarians Within the Gates of Roman: A Study of Roman Military Policy and the Barbarians, 375-425 AD (by Thomas S. Burns)

 

This is another book I read because it was recommended (or the author was recommended) in the bibliography presented in Guy Hasall's Worlds of Arthur.  

Burns examines in considerable depth and detail Roman military policy after the defeat at Adrianople in 378 CE.  As with Goffart, there is considerable discussion of the nature of the Empire's frontier, and this is the first work where I began to really think of the "invading barbarian armies" as more like refugees seeking to enter the Empire, wherein while the short-term intent of crossing the frontier and "invading" might be simply to scoop up undefended food stores, the long term hope was probably to be "settled" into the Empire either by being absorbed into the military (a choice assignment - army forts and camps are still supplied regular grain from Egypt and Africa) or the accommodation process described by Goffart.

In the post-Adrianople context, Burns shows how quickly the Empire was able to contain the Gothic army despite the destruction of a large Roman empire and death of the Emperor Valentinian.  The surviving emperor Valens and then Theodosius resolved the Gothic crisis by accommodation means. Burns then moves on to the situation thereafter, where "armies" of Goths have been brought into the Empire and are part of its military apparatus, but in a very secondary status as auxiliaries. There is an examination of the internal threat powerful Roman generals have come to assume in the empire - Stilicho, named guardian of Emperor Honorius by the dying Theodosius, leans heavily into recruitment of "barbarian" troops from the frontier zone. 

The Goth Alaric, dismissed from Roman auxiliary service, essentially becomes an outlaw general and an army of similar barbarian discontents rally around him. The Empire fails to confront this army, both because multiple competing internal usurper and rebel generals, and because Alaric's army is a useful counter to these threats.  Alaric jockeys for a "true" generalship and incorporation of his troops into the official Roman military system (and its regular meals), sacking Rome and creating a puppet usurper Emperor of his own. The Emperor Honorius freezes grain shipments from Africa to Italy and starves Rome and its occupier.  The Western Empire remains in flux with multiple usurpers and outlaw generals in competition and cooperation.  Finally, the Goth general Wallia and his people/army is settled in Aquitaine in 418 by the Emperor Constantius, to act as a buffer against the Vandals in Spain and as a reserve force in Gaul.  Most notably, however, for the first time ever, the Emperor acknowledge Wallia as King of the Goths inside the Empire.

Burns' point is that the process from Adrianople to Wallia was still process and one where Roman leadership was making the choices, so that "as long as Roman generals possessed forces to balance the barbarian auxiliaries, they called the tune."  That balancing involved the use of other barbarian auxiliaries, alliances with usurpers, or the arrival of eastern Imperial troops.  However, as seen in Goffart, the skeletal structure of the early medieval/feudal period has been put in place - where once there were Roman provinces, there are now "kingdoms" which will ultimately outlive the Empire of which they are supposed to be a piece of.

St. James Road

With Hook's Farm and Green Ridge played and resolved, it was time to try the third and final map from Featherstone's War Games (Trimsos River having been played back in 2020(!)).  The third map in question is the "Tank and Infantry Action on the St. James. Road" map/action report that accompanies the modern warfare chapter in War Games.

French starting positions.

There are of course no tanks in my Belle Epoque games, but, once again, the map from War Games is interesting to set up and play for any period. I even broke out and refreshed the foam hill pieces previously used in my Marston Moor game forever ago. Once the board was set up I diced to see which side each army was approaching from, and then used my randomized deployment table again.

British starting positions behind the embankment.

The British forces started entirely behind the embankment running their length of the table, while the French artillery was ideally situated on the French left but perhaps too much infantry was behind the thick woods atop the ridgeline.

French starting positions, mostly behind the woods.

The key positions were of course Copse Hill near the center of the board, which could both shelter troops within and and behind from enemy fire, and Red Farm, which was the sole "built-up area" on the board.

Looking towards French from behind the embankment.

Sides were exactly equal again (can't resist having more figures on the board), although I traded several British regular units out for Rifle Volunteers (King's Royal Rifle and Queen's Westminsters) and a company of Gurkas. In my head this reflected British bringing up reserve units due to heavy losses in prior two games.  I again used the same chance cards used in prior two games.

French infantry moves up into the woods.

Things got underway and the French moved infantry into the woods to defend the top of the ridge, and positioned their artillery neatly in a battery on the lower part of the ridge, facing Red Farm.

French artillery deploys at the edge of the hill.

The British mostly stayed behind the embankment (which was out of range of artillery completely), except for moving some regulars in to the Orchard.

British infantry moves through the orchard.

The Royal Foot Artillery attempted to deploy atop of the Embankment, while Maxim machine gun teams sprinted out to set up on Copse Hill.

British artillery deploys on embankment, while the infantry remains in cover behind.

As artillery unlimbers, British HQ surveys unfolding situation.

Early  ong-range French artillery fire is accurate however and pushes a British gun back behind the embankment, losing a limber in the process.  It took a turn for me to realize the British could simply use the second limber team to move both guns as necessary, and both guns were up and shooting from the Embankment in good time.

As the remaining limber repositions the other British field piece, the Westminster volunteer rifles move into support by the British regulars in the orchard.

Meanwhile the French had moved a Hotchkiss machine gun into Red Farm and were peppering the British regulars in the Orchard with fire.  The British field guns accordingly concentrated fire on Red Farm.

"Keep firing at that Hotchkiss in Red Farm."

First one hit and a lost SP, then another and the second lost SP, and the Hotchkiss gun was gone!

British artillery drops a casualty marker on the French Hotchkiss MG in Red Farm.

With the majority (4 of 6 companies) of the French infantry sitting in the woods atop the hill, the British sensed an opportunity, and so two companies of regulars and the Westminsters advanced to take Red Farm.  From behind the Embankment, the Gurkas started a march to over and up the road to Red Farm to act as an extra push.

French HQ observed the British taking of Red Farm...

When the French Hotchkiss was lost, the French moved one of the two companies on their left flank to try and hold or retake Red Farm (perhaps their field artillery, in each range and direct line of sight of the Farm, could offset British numerical superiority?).  However, the French drew a "Loss of Nerve" chance card (-2 on close combat rolls), so the British came at them hard, routing one French company and pushing the other before them to the base of the ridge.

A company of British infantry can now be observed at the base of the ridge itself while two more companies push forward from Red Farm.

Around the same time the Gurkas began shifting towards Red Farm the French had pulled a company of infantry out of the high-ground woods and had them move to reinforce the French left, which was now under a fairly sustained and concentrated assault.

The British kept lucking out, with the French artillery proving ineffective and a Rally card keeping the attack going as SPs started to mount up.

The British attack on the ridge at its most furious.

However, at this juncture, the French Hotchkiss on the ridge realized they were just barely in range of the Westminsters, and let lose several barrages into the Westminsters flank.

Gunned down and then routed, and the Gurkas not yet close enough to offer support, and the French reinforcing company almost close enough, the British assault seemed in danger of collapsing and perhaps turning victory into defeat. The remaining British limber had swung a field gun all the way across the field to the left of Copse Hill, and the Kings Royal Rifles and the remaining company of regulars had moved up behind Copse Hill.  In an attempt to put a squeeze on the French, both Maxim units dropped down off Copse Hill, putting them in range of the French infantry sheltered in the woods, and opened fire.

The Maxims open up!

This was enough to push the French past their exhaustion point but did the British have the strength to drop them to 50% losses and win the game outright? At first it seemed possible as two regular companies sandwiched a French company in close combat and routed it.

A French company is routed between an attack from two directions.

But although the could no longer advance towards the enemy, they were able to pour fire onto the weary units that had been attacking the ridge.

The regulars are routed under heavy fire.

Both sides were now exhausted. The British fired into the woodline some more, but the French fell back instead of losing SP, so that front ceased to be the source of possible victory.

British at the base of the ridgeline, but the French have fallen back.

At this point, no infantry was in range of enemy infantry whatsover.  The British artillery also had no targets.

The French Hotchkiss gun that stalled the British attack.

The French guns could still target a sole maxim gun before Copse Hill.  But the British simply moved that unit over a square, and that was it.  With both sides exhausted and unable to advance, and with no targets left for shooting, the game to a close as a draw.

French HQ at the end of the battle.

British command at the end of battle.

Something you may not realize from the above report: this game was an exhausting 24 turns long!  This is mainly because both sides kept the majority of their forces in reserve, and either in cover or out of range, for most if not all of the game.  Indirect and direct artillery fire was the main action turn after turn after turn. Long range rifle fire was mostly absent, with deliberate commitment of troops to close combat at specific areas (Red Farm, the the lower ridge) being the main role for infantry.  The whole thing felt more like the battle of Sedan as described in The Debacle rather than a quasi-Napoleonic linear affair. 24 turns was a bit long for my tastes but this was otherwise a very satisfying game! 

I am not sure what is up next. I want to add engineers, cavalry (that will fight as mounted infantry, basically), and signal corps that can direct artillery fire from a distance, to the mix, but that will take time. I also have a copy of Featherstone's Advanced Wargames on delivery soon and perhaps a map in there will jump out and inspire me.

Green Ridge

With a play of Hook's Farm from Little Wars in the books, the next game was a British vs French rematch using the Plattsville map from Featherstone's War Games.  The rules were again the gridded early-20th century rules (minus the 'Pinning' parts) from Developing the Portable Wargame.  The armies are 54mm homecast, recast, and converted Britains-style figures built up over the last two years.

British in starting positions.

I drew up a hasty 1d6 deployment randomizer, which spreads each army along its back line, with variation for more infantry to the left, center, or right, supported or not supported by artillery and machine guns. On some of the deployments, a flank might deploy one square further from the back line than the rest of the army. Machine guns and artillery are allowed to "stack" on squares with each other or with an infantry unit in order to fit everyone on the back line. After deployment, however, units cannot co-occupy a square unless allowed under the rules as written.

Looking across the board from the British side.

While playing Hooks Farm, I realized I was missing some key points on how Developing the Portable  Wargame is played.  I had been ignoring the "indirect fire" rules because they seemed overpowered but because the most "damage" a unit can take is 1 SP, and because there are no morale tests that might cause a unit to flee the board after taking its first hit, I decided to let them play as written, and the effect was not adverse. It even acts a nice incentive for infantry units to get a move on and close with the enemy as they will otherwise be slowly bombarded to death. For this game I also strictly adhered to the artillery phase being simultaneous at the beginning of a round, then rolling a d6 for each side with the winner going first. This created some nice ebb and flow with one side sometimes getting to go twice in a row.

I should add that in the Hook's Farm game and this one, I used Chance Cards.  These were drawn simultaneously for both sides before the Artillery Phase started.

Deployments were then randomized, figures placed, and the French won the toss and would move first.

Green Ridge is located directly in front of British positions.  On French side of the river, Rabbit Ridge is to the left and Mole Hill to the right.

Randomized deployment gifts the French a small flanking force on its extreme right flank, and finds the British artillery very out of position and behind Church Hill in relation to the main bulk of the French forces.

As you can maybe tell from the above photos, the randomized deployment was not kind to Army Red, with their artillery concentrated on the left flank when it needed to be at the right or center.  Infantry was in acceptable positions but Army Blue's artillery started quite close to the bridge and they also received essentially a flanking force facing Platts Woods with no one opposite of them!

French are also gifted by randomized deployment with tirailleurs and all artillery deployed close to the bridge and one square ahead of rest of French army!

French artillery.

The French flanking force began moving along the board edge towards Platts Wood in a way that kept the out of direct LOS of any British artillery.  In the center infantry moved up onto the back of Mole Hill and a field gun was unlimbered on Rabbit Ridge directly overlooking the bridge.

First moves and French tirailleurs are already at the bridge and French artillery is unlimbering on Rabbit Ridge!

With French tirailleurs already on the bridge, the British started sent a full half of their infantry in the directio of the bridge, with a maxim gun thrown in for good measure.  The British deployed a field gun on Church Hill and HQ situated there as well.

British infantry swarm towards the bridge, hopefully to overpower the tirailleurs and the French gun early on.

The tirailleurs pushed on and crossed the bridge, and the British engaged them.

The other French gun moves to take position atop Mole Hill.

French infantry starts to ford the creek, while British infantry engages the tirailleurs.

The tirailleurs try to hold the bridge, but they are outnumbered and not very well supported.

Outnumbered two-to-one with some close combats in the flank, the tirailleurs fell back across the bridge and the British pursued.  Maybe Army Red would overcome its poor initial deployments?

British infantry throws the tirailleurs back across the river and take the bridge.

Heavy fighting at the bridge.

The British get a maxim up on Green Ridge to deter river fordings.

In the center French infantry attempted to ford the river, and are met with maxim gun fire from Green Ridge and infantry fire from Rogers House and Hank House.

The French who have crossed the river come under heavy combined fire from Rogers House and Hank House.

The French finally unlimber their second field gun atop Mole Hill, however.

French deploy their second gun atop Mole Hill.

Heavy fighting in the Platts Wood by Church Hill.

Overall things look okay for the British.  They are holding a slightly larger French attack at Platts Wood at bay, stalling the attempts by the French to ford the river in the center, and have made their way across the bridge in the face of heavy rifle and artillery fire.

British brigade command, directing artillery fire.

French battery atop Mole Hill opens fire.

Then, some bad breaks.  A "Rally" chance card for the French, which strengthens the French defense of the bridge.  Then the maxim gun on Green Ridge is taken out by artillery and rifle fire. French infantry climbs to top of Green Ridge. A Hotchkiss gun is forded across the river as well.

The British maxim atop Green Ridge is dispatched. The French cross the river and climb Green Ridge and send a Hotchkiss machine gun across as well.  British have infantry in reserve behind the ridge, however.

In the center French infantry pushes through rifle and artillery fire and assaults Rogers House.

Fighting at the Rogers House.

More fighting in Platts Wood.

The rallied French left counterattacks at the bridge and sends the British back across the river with heavy casualties.

A well-supported French counterattack pushes British back across river and retakes the bridge.

The British infantry at the bridge is pretty beat up...

With good artillery support and fire from the Hotchkiss now atop Green Ridge, the French rout two British infantry units and swarm across the bridge.  On the opposite flank, British resistance at Platts Wood collapses and French infantry and another Hotchkiss emerge from the woods next to Church Hill and cause the British field gun and HQ to fall back.

Things fall apart. One British unit at the bridge routs, and the one at Green Ridge is caught in a horrible crossfire, and the British defending the extreme flank at Platts Wood rout as well.

As the British hit 50% lost SP and the game ends, the French are still not even at thier exhaustion point yet and closing in on the British around Rogers House and Hank House from three directions.

All that really remains is a salient of British situated in the center at Rogers House and Hank House, with French approaching from three sides.

Clearly and soundly beaten, Army Red (what's left of it) retreats.

British forces withdraw.

British HQ ponders what went wrong as they slip away while the French close in.

While the French benefited from some slightly more reliable artillery fire, the critical factor was probably French élan, in the form of their drawing Rally cards at key points during the fight for the bridge, allowing them counterattack with confidence against what a moment ago was an equally sapped British opponent.  The British artillery also ended up hopelessly out of position and did not support the attack on the bridge at all. This is also meant it was unable to support its infantry when the French counterattacked and then ultimately swept clean across the entire British right flank.

The victorious French packed up and marched on to the next battle.

"Restez immobile pour votre portrait."