28mm Marian Romans in Plymouth 2025
2025's PAW competition in deepest Devon, aka Plymouth was a chance to put a brand new army on the table in the shape of a 28mm post Marian Reform Roman army in a Roman themed event. These were the figures painted and trailled on my blog in previous months including all of these legions.
That did mean the list design was more about fitting in as many of the new figures as possible, rather than planning for possible opponents, but hey, with that many LBMS transfers having been applied I felt justified in not being overly competitive !
The list therefore had 2 near-identical commands based around 4 armoured Legions and some skirmishers to screen them. One of these also had a couple of gladiators, as they too were spectacular figures, and both Legion commands has included Commanders, as they do really need to be in the front line for aesthetic purposes.
The third and largest command had a Roman Mediocre elephant, two Thracian Peltasts, 2 more Legions (including one recently recruited one - Mediocre) and a half-hearted cavalry wing of 1 Cavalry and 2 Numidian Light Horse. The cavalry, and the lone elephant, would almost certainly have a lot to do if the Legions didn't do the business for them.
The lists for the Romans and all of the other armies in these reports from PAW 2025 can be seen here in the L'Art de la Guerre Wiki.
Game 1 Romans vs Parthian
In this game the textbook classic Roman army was facing a textbook Roman enemy - the Parthians
I'd used Parthians myself at the Kegworth Codgers event the previous October, so really I should have known what would be in it.
The secret would be to try and get enough terrain down to neutralise the Parthian Cataphracts, or at least force them into a narrow corridor of open terrain where I could gently feed them some of the Legions, and ideally an elephant as well, while keeping them as far away from as many of my legions as possible.
Of course, the Parthians (especially given they were under Harry "In The Navy"'s command) might well have their own thoughts and plans too.
Game 2 Romans vs The Kushans
The Kushan army is rather similar to the Parthians, in relying on a mass of Cataphracts.
They do also however have access to Indian troops - elephants and massed archery
The Mediocre Roman elephant would therefore need to find it's way towards some Cataphracts in this game, and avoid the Indian troops of the Kushans as well.
Game 3 Romans vs Graeco-Bactrians
The Graeco-Bactrian matchup opens the possibility of Legions vs Pikes, the classic matchup of the Ancient World.
Unfortunately it also opens up the possibility of yet more Cataphracts riding down the hapless Legions.
The Romans certainly had their views on which textbook matchup they would prefer if given the choice!
Game 4 Marian Romans vs Early Imperial Romans
The Romans were now pitched into a time-travelling vortex in which they had to take on their immediate descendants
Would Lorica Segmentata prove better than chain mail? Would the use of Scorpion artillery outweigh bringing along an elephant?
Either way, at least in this battle they could be sure than Rome would emerge triumphant !
Hannibal's Post Campaign Analysis
Ah, the mighty Roman Consul—strategist of figs and fishmongers, tactician of wine amphorae and stray goats! Was it not obvious, even to a blind temple augur staring into a cracked dish of burnt barley, that you would face cataphracts? Yet you marched your men into battle as naked as a senator's dinner plate after a feast of oysters!
Thrice! Not once, but three times you dared to clash against those iron-clad horse-beasts without so much as a plan. Did you think they would simply topple over after witnessing your mighty, sandal-shined bravado? You have the tactical sense of a street mime pretending to be a statue—rigid, clueless, and utterly useless in a storm of spears.
And what of your ‘victory’ in the civil war? What a triumph! You overwhelmed your opponent not with skill, but with numbers, like a baker crushing grapes beneath his sandals to make vinegar. Your ‘victory’ tastes just as sour.
Had I been in command, I would have sent forth a wall of elephants. Yes, elephants! The kind that would send those iron-clad fools careening into each other like drunken revellers at a Bacchus festival. My elephants would have trampled your cataphracts, their riders, their horses, and the very earth beneath them until even Pluto himself wept for mercy.
But no. Instead, you led your soldiers to be skewered like olives on a banquet tray. Was it bravery? Or did you lose a wager at the bathhouse over a bad throw of knucklebones?
Ah, but credit where it is due: your shield designs are truly lovely. Lovely! Fit for display in the temple of Venus, all polished and gleaming—no doubt so the enemy can admire their own reflection before cleaving your men in half. At least they will die in style.
In conclusion, Consul, I pray you consider retiring to the countryside, where you may strategize your next great campaign—perhaps against a flock of sheep. Though even then, I fear the sheep might prevail.
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
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