CHRISTMAS WARGAME - Struggle for Kerantrech (Part One)

Saturday 23rd December 2017 saw me travel over the Peak District, although with all the mist and fog I didn't see much of it, to the Oracle of Andrevia's house in the wonderful village of Storrs for another Christmas Wargame. This is the third year in a row I have managed to get over and it is a highlight of my wargaming year as the games are always interesting and usually something different to what we play the rest of the year. This year Mr C had excelled himself with an outing to 5th Century Armorica (modern day Brittany). The game featured the civitas of Kerantrech (a villa with an associated farming settlement) in eastern Armorica beset by multiple claimants to ownership, wandering mercenaries, druids, hermits and a fair amount of religious disputation.

The Villagers working the fields

The Apple Orchard

The Hermit

The Watchtower

The Village

The Villa

The Ruined Temple

A Mysterious Visitor

Malgwyn the Druid

Bishop Severinus

The Table in all it's glory!

The rules to be used were 'Argad' a French set of Skirmish rules that also encourage a touch of roleplaying between the players. These are available free from http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html along with a load of reference sheets and links to AAR's.

My briefing for the game......

Ellifer the Centurion – Richard P

Ellifer and some of the Limitanei

Kerantrech is a civitas (district) in the lands of the Gaullish tribe known as the Coriosolitae.  Lying on the coast of the British Sea, Keratrech is in the northeastern corner of Armorica. 

For ten years, since the Armorican bacaudae rose up and threw off rule from Rome, the province of Armorica has retained a shaky independence though Romans, Irish, Franks, Saxons and other foreigners are a constant threat in these uncertain days.

You are playing Ellifer the Centurion – leader of the Limitanei, the part-time citizen-soldiers of the civitas. 

Ellifer is the military leader of the Limitanei, the part-time citizen soldiers of the civitas. In most matters, though, he defers to the magistrate Syagrius. 

At any one time a group of the men will be stationed in the watchtower overlooking the sea (on the lookout for Irish or Saxon raiders).  The remainder of the men can be called by sounding the horn kept in the tower for the purpose (though doing this when there isn’t an established threat would lose Ellifer considerable status as no-one wants to be dragged from his personal business for no good reason).

Ellifer nominally follows the Christian faith but has a strong respect for the pagan traditions of the Coriosolitae.

At the start of the game Ellifer has been notified that Bishop Severinus is arriving in the civitas.  The druid Malgwyn is already here and Ellifer wants to him bless the apple orchards but can’t afford to offend Severinus. It’s Important to keep the two of them from bumping into each other.  

Stay tuned for Part Two .....