The Forest Road - Turn IX

Despite having lost a second legion, a breakthrough on the Roman left is distinctly possible

The start-of-turn-event die is a 2, but this only has an effect on falxmen in trees.

I begin by moving the commander into the gap between the Praetorians and my left-flank cavalry, which puts all Romans in command range, except for my extreme-right archers, who roll three dice, getting 4, 3, 1, which, consulting the compass, lets them advance to the north edge of East Hill. The unit's nearby colleagues advance diagonally left, as does the third unit of archers. This temporarily blocks all the retreat hexes of my left-flank cavalry, but advancing my legionaries will solve that problem.

The Dacian archers withdraw to the edge of the battlefield, and I leave my right-flank cavalry on East Hill, as advancing them off it would put them in peril.

The rearward Dacian cavalry advance diagonally right two hexes, putting them directly in front of the Dacian archers.

My Praetorians advance to contact the Dacian swordsmen, and my legion advances similarly, although this puts the legionaries in contact with two enemy units.

Finally, the Dacian warriors want to advance diagonally right, but their way is blocked by the Dacian swordsmen.

More crucial fighting to be resolved

The Forest Road - Turn VIII: Attack Phase

Two crucial cavalry-v-cavalry melees could decide the battle

My right-flank archers have no shot, thanks to the plateau effect of being on a hill, but the unit next to them shoots at the swordsmen, needing 8+. Modifiers for cover and for being on higher ground cancel out, but my roll of 7 is one short.

My archers beside the Praetorians shoot at the same target, but with no modifier for being on higher ground, and I roll 6.

My cavalry on East Hill attack the Dacian horsemen at the foot of the hill, needing 8+, but with a -1 for being on higher ground. I roll 9, sending the enemy back three hexes to the edge of the battlefield.

My other cavalry are in a similar melee, but without being on higher ground, and I roll only 5.

The Dacians counterattack, but with a +1 modifier for attacking into trees, and roll only 4.

My leading legion attacks the falxmen, needing 7+, but with a -1 thanks to support from the commander. However, I come up one short with 5.

The falxmen counterattack, needing 6+, but with a +1 for attacking into trees. However, the AI rolls 12, eliminating my unit.

The battle still feels too tight to call

The Forest Road: Turn VIII

Situation after seven turns

The start-of-turn-event die is a 5, allowing me to swop the positions of two adjacent friendly units that are in command range and not engaged in combat, but I pass.

I begin the movement phase by advancing two of my archer units diagonally right, and moving the third straight ahead to put it on East Hill.

The Dacian archers want to advance, but their chosen route is blocked by the Dacian swordsmen.

My right-flank cavalry advance onto East Hill and charge-attack the Dacian horsemen at the foot of the hill, needing 8+. but with a -1 modifier for being on higher ground. I roll a pairs of 1s.

My other cavalry advance straight ahead into the big wood.

One Dacian cavalry unit is engaged, but the other advances to make contact with my left-flank cavalry, although a charge-attack is not possible as my men are in trees.

The Praetorians advance into trees, and so do the Dacian swordsmen.

Both my legions advance a hex, which puts the leading unit in contact with the falxmen, and my commander advances three hexes diagonally left to support the legionaries in their upcoming melee.

The Dacian warriors advance diagonally right into trees beside the swordsmen.

The Romans are advancing steadily, but is it enough?

The Forest Road: Turn VII: Attack Phase

I have a decent chance to make significant progress

My forward archers shoot at the Dacian swordsmen, needing 8+, but with -1 modifiers for being on higher ground and for the swordsmen having Roman cavalry immediately to their front. The dice total 7, forcing the swordsmen to retreat two hexes.

My left-flank archers shoot at the warriors in the wood (friends do not block line-of-sight), also needing 8+. There is a +1 modifier for the target having cover, but three -1 modifiers for having Roman units next to the Dacians. I roll 10, eliminating the enemy unit.

The Dacians are being whittled away,  but many units remain between me and my goal of having three Roman units in the red-lined sector at the top of the map at the end of the 12th turn

The Forest Road: Turn VII

Situation at the halfway point

The start-of-turn-event die is a 6: Roman ballista. I get to make an attack on the Dacian unit furthest down the map, and, if, as here, there are two equally far down, then the first tiebreak eliminator is a unit in trees. That leaves the Dacian cavalry in the centre of the battlefield, and I roll two dice, needing 7+ (no modifiers) to score a hit. I roll 9, and in this case a hit always means the target retreats three hexes.

I begin the movement phase by advancing all three of my archer units. The Dacian archers advance diagonally to their left.

My commander advances diagonally left, and then straight forward a hex, putting him in command range of all my units.

The rearward cavalry advance diagonally right two hexes to contact the warriors in the wood, but a charge-attack is not possible into trees. My other cavalry advance diagonally left one hex into trees.

The forward Dacian cavalry advance diagonally left to the foot of East Hill. The other Dacian mounted unit cannot move as it has retreated this turn.

My Praetorians advance a hex.

The Dacian swordsmen leave the cover of trees to make contact with my leading cavalry.

One of my legions is already engaged in combat, but the other advances to also contact the warriors in the wood.

The falxmen withdraw diagonally to their left, while the rearward warriors remain where they are.

Plenty of attacks to resolve

The Forest Road - Halfway Verdict

I have nine units against the AI's seven ...

... and I have succeeded in largely defusing, if not entirely eliminating, the danger of losing quickly and horribly to the Dacian cavalry, there having been five such units at the start of the battle.

However, I am a long way from victory, which requires getting three Roman units into the red-lined sector at the top of the map.

There are six turns to go, and I feel it is time I started taking more risks, otherwise time will likely run out.

The Forest Road - Turn VI: Attack Phase

This half-turn could prove make-or-break for either side

I start with my archers in the trees, who shoot at the forward Dacian cavalry (line-of-sight is not blocked by friendly troops). They need 9+ to score a hit, and there is a +1 modifier for the target being in trees, but two -1 modifiers, thanks to two friendly units being adjacent to the enemy. I roll 10, two more than required, forcing the Dacians to retreat three hexes, which at least means they cannot attack this turn.

My forward archers have their line-of-sight to the other Dacian cavalry blocked by trees, but my rearward archers shoot at the same target, coming up short with 8.

My forward legion attacks the warriors in the big wood, needing 6+, but with a +1 modifier for attacking into trees. I narrowly fail with 6.

The warriors counterattack, needing 7+, but with a +1 modifier thanks to my unit having support from other legionaries. The dice total 4.

The attack phase proved something of a damp squib

The Forest Road - Turn VI

Am I really doing well?

On the face of it, the last turn was pivotal, ending the danger of my men being swept away by the Dacian cavalry.

But to win the battle, I must have at least three Roman units inside the red-lined area at the top of the map at the end of the 12th turn.

This is the sixth turn, so there are seven turns to be played, and in theory all of my units could reach the 'endzone', but in practice most - all? - of the slow-moving infantry are unlikely to make it.

That means my three most-likely units are the commander and the two bands of cavalry, so losing any of them to, say, an unlucky roll of the dice, could have catastrophic consequences.

Food for thought.

Anyway, the start-of-turn-event die lands as a 3 - Dacian war horns, for the third time. In other words, the AI's cavalry units get a free move. Thankfully, only two of them are left, but the forward cavalrymen advance diagonally left into trees, from where they are adjacent to my forward cavalry, but cannot charge-attack as that is not possible from trees. The other Dacian horsemen advance a hex.

In the movement-phase proper, I advance all my archers, so each unit can, if necessary. shoot at the leading Dacian cavalry.

The Dacian archers remain standing in reserve.

My leading cavalry sweep down off East Hill and contact the leading Dacian cavalrymen, but cannot charge-attack as the latter are in trees.

The rear Dacian cavalry advance diagonally to their left, but then veer back to their right, putting them beside their comrades in the trees.

The Praetorians advance a hex, as do the Dacian swordsmen.

I move my commander three hexes to the left, putting him in command range of the rearward legion. But first I roll three dice for the out-of-command legion, getting 6, 5, 4. I do not want them to move in any of those directions on the compass, and so leave the unit where it is. With the other legion, I take a bit of a risk and advance it directly forward, out of the wood.

The falxmen do not move, but the warriors next to them advance diagonally left to make contact with the legionaries who have just moved into the open. The other warriors advance diagonally to their right.

Another interesting attack-phase is in the offing

The Forest Road: Turn V: Attack Phase

This has the potential to be a significant turning point in the battle

I start with my rearward archers, who attack the cavalry ahead of them, needing 9+. There is a +1 modifier for bowmen shooting while engaged, but a -1 modifier thanks to the presence of legionaries. I roll exactly the 9 needed, and since the enemy unit cannot retreat to a square that is not adjacent to a Roman unit, the cavalry are destroyed.

I suddenly remember that in the movement phase I meant to reposition my commander so he would be placed to give a bonus to an attack by Praetorians, but somehow I forgot.

Never mind, on with the battle, and my next attack is by the rear archers of the two units close to the commander. It needs 9+, and there is a +1 modifier for being bowmen attacking at range one. However, there are three -1 modifiers, thanks to friendly units surrounding the Dacian horsemen, and I roll 9. Just like their comrades, the cavalry have nowhere to retreat to, so the unit is lost.

My furthest-forward archers shoot at the Dacian cavalrymen directly ahead, needing 9+. There are no modifiers, and I come up short with 7.

My cavalry are next to activate, and I begin with the rearward unit, which needs 8+ against Dacian horsemen.. I roll 10, causing the enemy to retreat three hexes.

My other cavalry attack the warriors on East Hill, needing 6+, but with +1 for attacking from rocky ground. I roll 8, inducing the warriors to flee the high ground and seek shelter in the trees to the north.

The danger of my force being swept away by the mounted Dacian hordes has largely evaporated 

The Forest Road: Turn V

Situation after four turns

The start-of-turn-event die is a 3 - Dacian war horns. This means all Dacian cavalrymen not engaged in combat receive a single move, with the ability to charge-attack at the end of it.

First to activate is the unit in front of my rearward archers, advancing to contact them, but unable to charge-attack in this instance as cavalry cannot charge into trees. The next Dacian cavalry also advance a hex, putting them in contact with the Praetorian Guard and another unit of archers, but a charge-attack on the former comes to nothing. The third unit similarly advances a hex, but without making contact, and the fourth unit advances diagonally right, keeping in the cover of trees.

The movement-phase proper now begins, and I advance my unengaged archers diagonally left, keeping them in trees, but putting them adjacent to one Dacian mounted unit and within line-of-sight of another.

The Dacian archers stand still.

My rearward cavalry pull back diagonally left two hexes and charge-attack the third Dacian cavalry unit, needing 8+. However I roll 3.

Only the rearward Dacian cavalry are not engaged, and on their first activation, move directly forward, but then, instead of continuing, veer to their left.

The swordsmen advance a hex.

My legions are well out of command range, so for each of them I have to roll three dice and consult the compass by the turn marker to see in which directions they can move. Unfortunately the forward legion rolls three 5s, which are completely useless. However, the other legion rolls 6, 5, 2, enabling it to advance diagonally right, remaining in trees but contacting the furthest-right unit of Dacian cavalry.

The falxmen retire a hex, but the warriors near them advance back into the big wood.

Some of the Dacian cavalrymen may prove to have advanced precipitately in their eagerness to get at the 'soft' targets of Roman archers