Isara River - 121BC

It was a wet ol day here yesterday, and a great day for a game..... so my friend Ralph and I re fought ISARA RIVER - 121 BC Gallic vs Roman  Middle republican up in the Rhone valley of Germania.

A little background..
 The Romans had been campaigning on behalf of their Massiliote allies against the Saluvii tribe of Gauls in the Rhone Valley. When the Saluvii King fled to the Allobroges tribe, the Romans sent an army against them commanded by Gnaeus Domitius. Domitius achieved a stunning victory against the Allobroges at Vindalium in early 121BC. The remains of the Allobroges were then reinforced by the Averni tribe led by their King Bituitus, and the combined army reportedly totalled 180,000 warriors, but looking at similar figures for other Gallic armies a fighting force of 40-50,000 is probably more realistic.
The Romans now sent out a new army of approximately 30,000 men commanded by the Consul Quintus Fabius Maximus.The Gauls and Romans met next to the Rhone river where it is joined by the Isara river from the east. Bituitus, scornful of the Roman numbers, suffered a massive defeat which became even more catastrophic when one of only two bridges he had thrown across the Rhone collapsed under the weight of his routing army.

The Rhone sits at the back of the Gallic army, the river on their left is the Isara.

Looking from the river

Early initial approaches

The centre makes contact first.....crash and the Gauls are getting the better of it.

Romans struggle in the centre having to commit the reserve ( the elephants ). This doesn't go much better for them, and they also get thumped by a war band getting pushed back and looking rather fragile.

Roman right also not going so well.

The Romans kill King Bituitus who is attached to one of the centre war bands. Quintus Fabius Maximus's centre however is done for.

Roman left also breaks in the same turn, leaving what's left of the centre wide open for the Gallic cavalry to sweep around and clean up.
A Gallic victory, but they lost Bituitus......so the bulk of their army also routed.....a very bloody affair. Damn good game !!

This is the map we used for initial deployment, from Command & Colours.