Saturday 9 November 2024

The Third Battle of Temeshvekovar

‘But I cannot just give you the money.’

‘Why not, my friend, you don’t need it. All you are doing is stockpiling it.’

‘I know. We don’t live in a cash economy. But that is not the point.’

‘What is the point, then, my friend?’

‘The point is that the Romans want it, and I’ve got it, and that upsets them.’

‘But now, my friend, I want it, and I’m not a Roman.’

‘No, but you are someone who wants to give it to the Romans.’

‘Just so I can get somewhere to live, my friend. You can loan it to me as a mortgage. Money is supposed to do something, you know, not just sit there and be admired.’

‘No, really. I can’t just give it to you, nor do the other thing, whatever that is. Are you trying to make me a subscriber to the Tempus Oeconomicum?’

‘Well, if you won’t give it to me, I shall have to take it.’

*

Well, this time the Germans, who drew with the Romans in the last battle, you recall, are attempting to take the money from the Dacian stronghold of Temeshvekovar, to give to the Romans to buy some land so they can settle within the Empire. Even though the Dacians do not use money per se, they are not too keen on this idea, so will resist. As their tactics against the Romans in the previous two actions have proved successful, I shall try again.



The table is, as near as I could get it, as before. The river is fordable. Temeshvekovar is in the far right corner, and the playing cards show the likely locations of the Dacian forces. These were revealed either on German troops coming within 4 base widths of the feature, or getting line of sight behind a hill or wood. The Dacian commander could also choose to reveal his troops, on payment of a 1 tempo point penalty.

The action proceeded smoothly, with the first reveal of the Dacians in the enclosures, nearest the camera. There were no forces there, so the German cavalry pressed on to reveal behind the first hill. This is where the Romans tended to get ambushed and defeated, so I approached with caution.


As it turned out, there were only two Dacian light horse and a tribal foot base there. Clearly, the Dacians had decided to hold only lightly their positions on the far side of the river. The Germans deployed their skirmishers and then six bases of tribal foot against the threat, as well as the cavalry. The Dacian light horse made a mess of the German skirmishers but were no match for the combined foot and horse counter-attack. As they tried to cover the retreat to the river they were charged by the German cavalry and put to flight, as was the foot base.

The Germans pushed on, pausing on their left to reorganise after the fighting. The main German foot block crossed the river at the ford and deployed to threaten the Dacian foot on the hill across the river, led by Dubolwhiskos, the Dacian general (the sub-general had been lost with the light horse).



The Dacians deployed their archers and skirmishers to threaten the newly arrived Germans, while Dubolwhiskos summoned the remaining troops from their positions in Temeshvekovar and behind the woods as reinforcements. A lot now depended on the timing.

It all went a bit pear-shaped for the Dacians after this. More German tribal foot arrived and started to surround the hill, while a cautious advance (and some lucky tempo rolling) meant that some other German foot advanced into the skirmisher and archer bases, routing both of them. Humbug, as the Romanians might say if they spoke colloquial English.

This caused the Dacian army to waver, which meant that the columns advancing from the far end of the table stopped their advance temporarily. This allowed a number of things to happen. Firstly, the German cavalry, regaining the road, zipped through the lines and started to threaten the Dacian marching column flanks. Secondly, Dublowhiskos was rather stuck on his hill, as he dared not charge the victorious German foot, although he could catch them in flank, without exposing his own flank to the rest of the German foot.

The upshot of all this was that Dublowhiskos was more or less surrounded on his hill, as well as being heavily outnumbered, while his own reinforcements were stymied some distance away. This caused the generals some thinking. The Germans were not really interested in defeating the Dacians totally, and nor was Dubloswhikos particularly interested in a glorious death defending money he had no use for.



The picture shows the final positions. Temeshvekovar is just out of shot to the right, while Dubloswhiskos is on the hill in the centre left. It would be almost certain that the Germans would get him before his relieving columns arrived. The most advanced will almost certainly be attacked by the cavalry, while the other column although it is on the road, is a bit further back and the Germans would have even more foot, who have just forded the river, to face those. Dubloswhiskos therefore offered terms.

That was fun, and a different battle from the previous Temeshvekovars. The ambushers were deployed further back. Perhaps if I had launched the rearmost columns forward sooner things might have been different. On the other hand the Germans got across the river in force, and that was always going to be a bit of a handful. I thought the Dacians could hang on to the hill just across the ford, but that was probably a mistake. If Dubloswhiskos had retreated he might have had a better chance, but I thought he was pretty impregnable on the hill and dangerous if he charged off it. But the Germans worked around his flank and left him exposed.

*

‘Here you are. Three chests of Rome’s finest coins. I hope they bring you much pleasure.’

‘Thank you, my friend. I knew you would see sense. As your new neighbour I offer you the hand of eternal friendship, of course.’

‘Hm. Let us see. The Romans could order you to attack me. They are like that.’

‘What makes you think I would obey their orders?’

‘Living in the Empire. You would not have much choice, after all. Anyway, now you have to transport these crates to the Romans without losing it. I wish you well.’







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