Queen of the Celts
Scenario X
By Dave Murray
June 2012

We will fight them on the beaches…….
Summer, AD 43

In the summer of AD43 four Legions with auxiliary support under the command of Plautius, governor of Pannonia (a Roman province located in present day Hungary) were ready to launch an invasion of Briton. As Caratacus and his brother Togodumnus, rallied the British tribes awaiting the Roman arrival, events took a strange turn. The Roman soldiers refused to board the invasion boats, having heard stories of magic and fearsome creatures. Lacking a supply infrastructure the delay caused the British tribes to disperse and return home and so when the delayed Romans arrived on Britain's shore they were unopposed.

This hypothetical scenario examines what could have happened if Plautius’ invasion force had not been delayed in Gaul and they had met Caratacus’ Britons waiting for them on the Kent coast. The Romans landed at three sites along the Kent coast and presumably the Celts would have been slightly scattered to cover all the potential landing sites. In this hypothetical engagement Plautius' XIV Legion with some auxiliary support have landed and are awaiting the arrival of the rest of the Roman invasion force. Caratacus, seizing the opportunity, attacks with his available forces and sends word to the other tribes nearby. As news of the battle reaches the other British tribes waiting along the coast some rush to support Caratacus while others delay, unsure on which side their loyalty lies. All the while the Romans continue to land and move to support Plautius' XIV Legion. The fate of the whole Roman invasion is in the balance!

Map
The exact location of the invasion landing site is unknown, although widely considered to be at Richborough on the Kent coast, although there are some minor dissenting voices who claim it could have been near Fishbourne in Sussex. Use map 1. The beach is just a few areas away from the 241-254 edge.

Army Setup
Because this is a hypothetical engagement the players have wider options in setting up their forces on the map. Only the location of the formation commander is stated below, any forces they command can be set up within command distance, but no closer to the enemy board edge than the formation commander.

In this setup the Caratacus has sent his chariots to his left flank
(top right of the picture)

Roman Setup - the Roman board edge is 241-254

Formation 1: XIV Legion of Plautius (Army Commander)
Area 206: Leader Plautius
XIV Legion 1, XIV Legion 2, XIV Legion Artillery, Thr Heavy Cavalry, Thr Light Cavalry 1, Thr Light Infantry 1 & 3.

Formation 2: Auxiliaries of Sentius
Area 203: Leader Sentius
Batavian Auxiliary, Illy Auxiliary, Gaul Light Infantry 1 & 2, Thr Light Cavalry 2.

Roman Reinforcements
There are 2 reinforcement groups available to the Roman Player, starting on turn 3 these reinforcements will randomly arrive.

Formation 3: II Legion of Titus Flavious Vespasian.
Leader Vespasian, II Legion 1, II Legion 2, II Legion artillery, Crt Light Infantry 1 & 2, Pann Light Cavalry 1 & 2.
They will enter along the board edge between areas 185-245

Formation 4: XX Legion of Hosidius Geta.
Leader Geta, XX Legion 1, XX Legion 2, XX Legion Artillery, Bal Light infantry 1, Thr light Cavalry 3.
They will enter along the board edge between areas 198-252

Use the following table for Roman reinforcements – roll 1 dice at the start of the stated turn:

Roman special rules
New Leaders: If Plautius is killed, Vespasian becomes the new army commander, and a lesser leader (18.22) takes his former command. Other leaders will be replaced by a Tribune if eliminated.
Special command rules: Vespian and Geta are automatically in command on the first three turns after entering the map.
Exiting the Board: Roman units and leaders may only exit the board due to army collapse (18.3) – they have nowhere else to go!

Briton Setup – the Britons' board edge is 101-114.

Formation 1: Infantry of Caractus (Army Commander)
Area 149: Leader Caractus
Catu & Trin Elite Barbarian, Catu, Trin, Dobu & Dumn Barbarians, Trin light Infantry 1&2, Catu Light Infantry 1&2.

Formation 2: Chariots of Segovax
Area 153 OR 145: Leader Segovax
Dobu, Duro, Trin, Corit, Atre & Catu chariots.

Britons reinforcements
There are 2 reinforcement groups available to the Briton Player, starting on turn 2 these reinforcements will randomly arrive.

Formation 2: Infantry of Togodumnus.
Leader Togodumnus, Cant, Atre, Duro Barbarians, Dobu light infantry (use Cale. Lt. Inf. counter)
They will enter along the board edge between areas 105-143

Formation 4: Celtic infantry
Leader minor tribe leader (use Venutius' counter)
Minor tribes represented by: Atr & Cale Barbarians, Corn & Cale Chariots.
They will enter along the board edge between areas 110-170

Use the table below for British reinforcements – roll 1dice at the start of the stated turn:

Briton special rules
Special command rules: Togodumnus and the minor leader are automatically in command on the first three turns after entering the map.
New leaders: If Caractus is killed, Togodumnus becomes the new army commander, and a lesser leader (18.22) takes Togodumnus former command. Segovax will be replaced by a lesser leader if eliminated.
Exiting the board: There is no need for units the exit the board. If a Briton unit exits the board it cannot return.

As Plautius and Caratacus clash in the centre, reinforcements
from both sides rush to battle

Victory conditions
The scenario ends when the Britons have amassed 75 victory points. If at that point the Roman player has less than 75 VPs the Britons win the scenario, if the Romans have more than 75VPs when the scenario ends they are victorious.

The Romans score 2VP for every Briton long barbarian step or leader eliminated, and 1VP for every other Briton step eliminated.

The Britons score 3VP for each Roman Legion step or Leader eliminated and 1VP for any other Roman step eliminated.

Steps brought back through recovery (18.1) are not considered eliminated.

Historical Result
Of course historically no such encounter took place. The Romans landed unopposed and the only fighting that occurred was a few skirmishes before the major clash on the Medway. Details of the events around the invasion are somewhat unclear. The only two sources available are the accounts written by Cassius Dio, some 150 years after the events and limited archeologically evidence available.

To play the real battles of the invasion pick up Queen of the Celts
and change history.