Collaborative Campaign Year 15: Part 1

 I'm just back from a short holiday and have a great deal of blog reading to catch up with! But first, the next post in the Collaborative Campaign... Year 15 of the Campaign (the Year of the Ostrich) witnesses a good deal of action, so without further ado, here's a Naval battle from Mark Cordone (all text and photographs are Mark's intellectual property).

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Events in the north:

The early months of the year of the Dog (Campaign Yr 14 - Ed.) saw a two-year truce negotiated between Picenia and the Pentapolis as both sides had good reasons for wanting a pause in hostilities. The Picenians to refit and rebuild, and Anaxander of Sentis so he could consolidate power.  The city states of the Pentapolis were also hopeful the truce would lead to a more permanent peace.

Summer of the year of the Dog saw the deaths of both Senator Galenus and the hero Multiflavus.  A period of bloody political upheaval followed which saw senator Marcus Cassius Longinus emerge as the first man of the Republic.

Political reforms and the splitting of the conquered territory of Luss into two provinces (Lussatia minor in the north and Lussatia major in the south).

Military reforms and expansion were a!so pushed through.  The dishonored 8th legion was disbanded and the survivors used to form the nucleus of the new 13th, or penal legion.  Men with discipline problems were transferred to the legion, and petty criminals and debtors were allowed to pay off their debts to society by enlisting in that formation.  The legion eventually grew to double the strength of A normal legion and was assigned to guard the mountain frontier with the Wend.

The legions were also reformed by transferring most of the Limitari into a new 11th cohort of archers and a 12th cavalry cohort was also added to each legion raising their strength to 6,000 men.  In practice armies still tended to group the archers and cavalry into separate units.  In addition, four new legions were raised, with some of the manpower obtained by offering citizenship to Luss who enlisted.  The addition of the 14, 15, 16, and 17th legions raised the strength of the army to 100,000 men, who spent a solid year in extensive training and drill.  The fleet was expanded to 200 triremes, all trained in ramming tactics and numbering some 50,000 sailors, rowers and marines.

At the end of the two-year truce Picenia felt she was ready to resume the struggle and attempts to extend the treaty by the Pentapolis were rebuffed.

The Picenians planned a three-pronged offensive with an invasion of Therissa and two armies advancing on Sentis, one along the coast to pin the enemy in p!ace and hopefully defeat them in battle and the secret sweep around the northern flank to take the city by surprise and trap the Pentapolis army between two fires.

For their part, the leaders of the Pentapolis city states met in Kartos where it was decided the Picenians didn't pose a serious threat by sea and therefore would attack Sentis by land.  Learning of the Picenian troop concentrations along the border two armies were assembled to oppose them.  However, the war would begin at sea...

The battle of the Sirens Tower

At the end of the two year truce between Picenia and the Pentapolis that followed the battle of Cyllene hostiles resumed with the newly reformed and expanded Picenian fleet under Claudius Livius Salenator spearheading an invasion of the island of Therissa.  Their mission was to destroy the Therissian fleet thus allowing the landing of an army commanded by Gaius Epidius Matullus which would take the port city of Potedia on the northern coast of the island as a base for the conquest of the Therissians.

The Therissians did not take the naval threat posed by the Picenians seriously, especially after their crushing victory over them at the battle of Uliarus several years before.  Also, they were possessed of the finest, most skilled fleet to sail all of the middle sea.  Upon learning of the departure of the Picenian fleet at the end of the 3rd month of the year of the Garrulous Ram the Navarch Aristrates assembled his fleet at Potedia to await the invaders.  The battle was fought using the Dominion of the Ram rules which appeared in the Fourth Portable Wargames Compendium.

The two fleets meet on the 3rd day of the fourth month of the year of the Garrulous Ram off of the northern coast of Therissa by a massive rock formation known, because they were often sighted there, as Sirens Tower. The weather was breezy with a mix of sun and clouds as the fleets formed up for battle.

The Picenians had some 120 triremes grouped into 6 squadrons, half in the front line and half in the second.  All were classed as regular rams.  The Therissians had 80 triremes in four squadrons, three in the front line and one in reserve.  All were classed as elite rams.

he Therissians opened the battle with an attack in the right sector, closest to the shore, but to their shock, were bested by the Picenians opposite them.

Aristrates led his reserve squadron to replace them and destroyed the Picenian squadron.  The Picenians sent a reserve squadron forward on the right but they too were defeated.  Meanwhile battle had been joined on the left as well as the Therissians implemented their plan to crush both wings of the Picenian fleet. 

After a prolonged engagement the Therissians were victorious, but their exhausted crews then fell victim to a Picenian reserve squadron.  These ships then moved to take the Therissian center squadron in the flank and were eventually successful in destroying them.  The survivors, only about 20 ships in all, then managed to escape and made for Sentis, but the Navarch Aristrates was captured along with a dozen or so Therissian galleys.

For the loss of some 40 ships Cladius Livius Salenator had destroyed the vaunted Therissian fleet and earned his Triumph.

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Thanks very much (again!) to Mark for his contributions to this Campaign. A rather surprising result to this battle, given the usual Therissan dominance of the waves. We will see if Picenia is also successful on land...