Hi all, I’m finally back on the list after an extended Christmas
break due to server problems.
Let’s see how much I remember about the legionaires off the top of my
head.
> Sorry to go off-topic here, but recently i began,and still am in the process of, creating a campain
> with a Roman genre.
> The point at hand is that i need more detail on the setting, esp. concerning the Roman army’s rank and tactics
> system.
> Soooo..if there are any budding historians out there, or if anyone has run a Roman campain before, please
> help me out.
Sooo, here we go.
The legions were the backbone of the Roman army, even if a lot of
auxiliary troops were used.
Keep in mind I’m talking about the Roman legions after the military
reform made by Marius (ca 90 BC). This reform unified the legionaires
gear and introduced the occupation of a professional soldier. The
legionaires where also called “muli mariani” (“Marius’ mules”)
because they had to carry all their gear, including rations, parts of
tents…
A legionaire was armed with a gladius, the Roman short sword, and two
pila (plural of pilum). He was armored with a lorica segmentata,
basically a banded mail shirt and the scutum, a large, square,
slighly curved shield, and a helmet.
A centurio had an ornate breastplate instead of the lorica, and leg
guards.
A legion was divided into centurions, consisting of 100 legionaires
led by a centurio. This basic unit was divided into ten smaller units
(can’t remember the name), each led by a decurio.
Upwards, the legion was grouped into cohortes, with one cohors being
5 centurions. Ten cohortes made up a legion. Sometimes a group of
cavalry (about 100 strong) was added for scouts. The whole legion was
led (during the time of the empire) by the legatus (which roughly
translates to “the one who has been sent (by the emperor)”). He was
advised by five tribuni.
Other important persons in a legion were the aquilifer (standard
bearer) and the centurio of the fists centurion of the first cohors
(can’t remember his title), who was the second commander of the
legion.
All in all, a legion was a good 5000-5500 men at full strength, which
would suggest about 25 war cards for a single legion. If you consider
the fact that sometimes up to three or four legions were dispatched
to quell a revolt, you know why the Roman empire lasted that long.
Tactics: The basic formation of a legion for field battles was a kind
of carree formation.
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Each square represents one cohors, and this is the way it must have
basically looked like. When entering a field battle, the legion set
up in loose squres. When the enemy drew close, they threw their first
volley of pila. Shortly before engaging in melee, the threw the
second volley, and then closed ranks and set up a shield wall. The
third rank of soldiers was kept back as reinforcements to close gaps.
When under enemy missile fire, the romans set up in a special
formation know as “turtle”. In this formation, the shields were set
up and interlocked in a way to shield front, flanks and heads from
missiles. Movement was possible, but not very fast. This formation
was mainly used to approach walls and other fortifications defended
by archers.
The pila were constructed in a way to get stuck in the enemy’s shield
and to bend upon impact so that it could not be thrown back.
> Also, why did the Roman army have such a mish-mash of armor types,
> including leather, studded, chain, banded and Plate. Also they
> seemed very fond of short swords, and knowing how PC’s love maxing-o
> t on damage how do you get PC’s to use them?
The mish-mash armor was used during the time of the republic. The
legionaires gear was standardised, as I explained above.
The reason for using short swords is easy. Stabbing weapons are much
easier to use in close formation combat than hacking ones. They were
used to stab through the gaps between the shields.
The legion as I described it above was probably that most powerful
fighting force of its time. In addition, the legions were augmented
with auxiliary troops from conquered nations, such as archers and
cavalry. One of these auxiliaries was the Dracian cavalry. While the
Romans had developed the saddle, they did not have stirrups. The
cavalry’s main weapon were spears and the spatha (a longsword
variant).
Another thing the Romans excelled in was siege warfare. They knew how
to build great catapults and scorpions (ballistae), siege towers
protected from fire with metal plates, sappers… AFAIK, they took
most cities by storming them, not by starving them out.
So, this is as far as I recall now. Hope this has helped. Comments,
as always, welcome, flames cancelled by resist fire (blood ability)
Kai