Battle for the Hun Camp

Background

This is a fictional scenario set in the early 5th Century somewhere in the lowlands of Thrace. A large band of Huns and Alans crossed the Danube earlier and after ravaging the Balkans are now returning home taking their loot with them. This game was actually the second in a series I played with Dave Alan using the survivors of an earlier battle with a few reinforcements to have a continuing narrative and to add some colour to the game.
In the first game the Romans successfully stopped the Hun incursion. They now want to destroy any capacity they might have for coming back next season. They would also like to recover the loot.

The problem for the Romans is that the Huns have broken up into small bands and it is proving very hard to pin them down. At last Hagen the Dux Limitis (Commander of the frontier forces in the region) manages to catch the Hun Leader encamped. He deploys and sends for support from the Field Army.

The Hun leader calls in the bands from the surrounding countryside and prepares to make a stand believing he can easily defeat the frontier forces deployed against him. He is unaware of the fact that the Roman Field Army is also on its way.

We adjusted the morale and experience levels for some of the troops and commanders based on their performance in the previous battle where Hagen and the frontier troops had done much of the hard fighting. We also decided that the surviving Alans, who had been badly mauled in the first game, had concluded that fighting as mercenaries for the Romans was more profitable than staying with the Huns.

The scenario is written for playing with Comitatus and to suit the figures I had available. It can easily be re-worked to suit another set of rules and the figures you have in your collection. The idea was to have a game that had a high level of uncertainty with reinforcements arriving at different times and in different places. The general idea could be adapted to any period in history and need not be restricted to Huns and Romans

The Romans

General: Valentinian a young inexperienced junior member of the Imperial family who is nominally in overall charge of the operation.  2 Command Points. He directly commands the following:
  1 Comitatus of 1 Heavy Javelin Cavalry, A Grade, Exceptional Morale,
  1 Guards Cavalry unit of 2 Heavy Javelin Cavalry, A Grade, High Morale,

Frontier Contingent Commander: Hagen, the Dux Limitis. Dubious barbarian ancestry but a tough fighter and experienced leader. 4 Command Points. He Commands the following troops directly as well as having overall command of the whole Frontier Contingent
  1 Comitatus of 1 Shock Cavalry, A Grade, Exceptional Morale,
  2 Frontier Legions each of 3 Roman Infantry, B Grade, High Morale,
  2 Auxiliary units each of 2 Foot Archers, B Grade, Average Morale,
  1 Auxiliary unit of 2 Javelinmen C Grade, Average Morale,

Frontier Subordinate Commander - 3 Command Points. Commands the following:
  1 Comitatus of 1 Heavy Javelin Cavalry, A Grade, High Morale,
  1 unit of 2 Light Javelin Cavalry, B Grade, Average Morale,
  1 unit of 2 Light Horse Archers, B Grade, Average Morale,
  1 unit of 2 Catafractarii, Shock Cavalry, B Grade, High Morale, Partially Armoured. These are fully armoured lancers on unarmoured horses. There morale is high because they delivered the decisive charge in the first battle.

Field Army Contingent Commander. Aurelius, a highly competent and experienced Magister Militum. His task includes protecting Valentinian and keeping him out of trouble. 4 Command Points  He commands the following troops
directly as well as having overall command of the whole Field Army Contingent:
  1 Comitatus of 1 Heavy Javelin Cavalry, A Grade, High Morale,
  2 Legionary units each of 2 Roman Infantry, A Grade, Average Morale, Armoured,
  2 Auxilia Palatina each of 2 Roman Infantry, A Grade, High Morale,
  1 Auxilia Palatina of 2 Foot Archers, A Grade, Average Morale. Their morale is lower than the other Auxila Palatina due to poor performance in the previous battle.

Field Army Subordinate Commander – 3 Command Points
  1 Comitatus of 1 Heavy Javelin Cavalry, A Grade, High Morale,
  1 Foederati unit of 2 Alan Light Horse Archers, B Grade, Average Morale,
  1 Palatine cavalry unit of 2 Light Javelin Cavalry, A Grade, Average Morale,
  1 Palatine cavalry unit of 2 Heavy Javelin Cavalry, A Grade. Average Morale,

Roman Deployment
The Romans start the game with the Frontier Command deployed in battle line anywhere in the Roman deployment area as shown on the map.

Valentinian with his guards arrive turn 2 in column along Road A

The field army infantry start to roll an Average Die to arrive on turn 3 on either Road A or B (player’s choice) arriving in column along the road. Arrive on a roll of 4-5 (+1 each subsequent turn)

The field army cavalry also start to roll an Average Die to arrive on turn 3 on either Road A or B (player’s choice) arriving in column along the road. Arrive on a roll of 4-5 (+1 each subsequent turn)

Once the arrival of a contingent is known roll 1 Average Die to determine the table sector they arrive on. The number rolled corresponding to the numbers by the red arrows on the map

Finally determine how many troops they bring with them.

The actual game and aftermath

The Romans succeeded in their objective. Hagen and his men bore the brunt of the fighting and it was the lowly frontier auxiliaries who captured the Hun camp.

We decided therefore that Valentinian, who we increasingly pictured as a very young but vain member of the Imperial family would head back to Constantinople to celebrate a triumph having 'led' 2 armies to victory over the Huns. Probably Aurelius would have encouraged him to do this to get him out of his hair.

The end of the battle saw the Huns scattered and Hagen in control of their camp and booty. Using the captured Hun loot, we decided that Hagen would make a bid for power, signing up some of the defeated Huns to join him (better than the disgrace of returning home empty handed). He would also pull in local frontier troops to join his veterans.

Lacking cavalry, (due to casualties) Aurelius withdrew and raised a cavalry force by making a deal with Theodoric, an ambitious Gothic leader. Aurelius and his Goths deployed in a defensive position to block Hagen's march on Constantinople setting the stage for a follow-on game.

Objectives

The Roman objective is to decisively destroy the Hun army and capture their camp. The Hun objective is to prevent this.