Reading Group--Caesar's Legion

[mmadsen]

Chapter XV -- The North African Campaign

Caesar was feeling more confident now. He had two of his four best legions with him, plus another seven legions. And the young Spanish recruits of the 5th Legion had sent their tribunes to him to say they wanted the honor of taking on Scipio's elephants when battle was finally joined. Caesar didn't hesitate to accept their offer, which made the men of the other units feel a whole lot better about what lay ahead.

Another adventure seed -- the PCs volunteer to take on the enemy's elephants, giants, golems, whatever.

 

[Maldur]

The training for the fifth was also kinda involved. Six elephants shipped in to train with( and they had about a year of constant drilling in anti elephant techniques, before they met about 60 of them in combat).

An additional 2000 slingthrowers.

These elephants were taken seriously.

That combined with the intention not to use his own elephants in combat. => Ceasar did not like elephants and thought them not fit for battlefield duty.




ps: sorry it took me a while to get back again, but im back with comments. mmadsen do you know where SHARK is?

 

[mmadsen]

The training for the fifth was also kinda involved. Six elephants shipped in to train with( and they had about a year of constant drilling in anti elephant techniques, before they met about 60 of them in combat). An additional 2000 slingthrowers. These elephants were taken seriously.

Wow! A year of training against shipped-in elephants!

That combined with the intention not to use his own elephants in combat. => Ceasar did not like elephants and thought them not fit for battlefield duty.

If it takes that much effort to counter elephants, how can they not be fit for battlefield duty?

ps: sorry it took me a while to get back again, but im back with comments. mmadsen do you know where SHARK is?

SHARK's busy cranking out his gi-friggin'-gantic epic-level adventure right now.

 

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Hey there mmadsen and Maldur! LOL! Yeah, I apologise, lately I have been quite busy, and not able to contribute as often as I would like to the threads here. I miss you all as well.

Chapter XV

I really liked how the 5th Legion adopted the elephant as an emblem for their unit banners. That is so cool! Indeed, elephants were a danger to use on the battlefield, but the fact that they were used successfully throughout warfare in Africa, the Middle East, and India for hundreds of years testifies to their impact on the battlefield. In classes on Ancient History, my professor, Dr. Chrissanthos from USC, explained that even though Alexander the Great in his conquest of Persia and parts of India defeated opposing forces that deployed elephants, he also was quite eager to enlist hundreds of elephants into his armies as he marched onward, gathering new armies, and conquering new lands. War Elephants were a welcome part of Alexander The Great's army, and they were welcome because they were effective. No unit is *unbeatable* in any kind of circumstances, but all units can contribute in whatever ways they can to the overall victory. Such is the view that I think Alexander had, and even in Roman times, War Elephants were still effectively used in warfare. The fact that the Roman 5th Legion trained for a whole year in special anti-elephant tactics is a stark testimony to the terror and grim effectiveness that elephants could have on the battlefield.

And, the fact that the 5th Legion was allowed to use the elephant as part of their banner after defeating them in battle is evidence that it was a heroic accomplishment, because, had fighting elephants been easy--because elephants were lame and ineffective in battle--then there would be no compelling reason to decorate a unit with such an honour, and celebrate the accomplishment as anything particularly heroic or special.

Obviously, though, even though Caesar personally opted to not use elephants in battle, he as mmadsen mentioned, had an immense respect for their capabilities and the threat that War Elephants posed in battle, even to veteran Roman Legions.

I'd say that that is quite a testimony to elephants skills and abilities in warfare. That is one reason why in my own campaigns, I often make use of trained elephants as mounts and war beasts.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[Rashak Mani]

Certainly elephants werent very compatible with the Roman tactical style... still doesnt hurt to know how to handle these Ancient Battlefield "tank" units....

 

[Maldur]

the threat of a amok elephant,rampaging through friend and foe alike, sounds very scary.

And those recruits of the 5th volunteerd, to fight them.

Also I like the fact the 5th send their officers to volunteer, like an officer is a kind of communication device

 

[mmadsen]

I really liked how the 5th Legion adopted the elephant as an emblem for their unit banners.

Yes -- but "elephant slayer" doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "giant slayer" or "dragon slayer".

 

[Maldur]

Well units can always adopt giant or dragon emblems, same way as the 5th adopted elephants.

There should be Vallorean Legions with emblems in the same style.

 

[mmadsen]

Chapter XV -- The North African Campaign

For hour after hour, 130,000 men stood glaring at each other under the North African sun, with neither commander, not Caesar, not the bearded, severe Scipio, wanting to be the one to make the first move.

Now that's a standoff.

They stood there from morning until late afternoon until finally Caesar began to withdraw his troops to his camp, unit by unit, in formation.

That seems like a potential morale hit, pulling away from a standoff like that.

 

[mmadsen]

the threat of a amok elephant,rampaging through friend and foe alike, sounds very scary.

I can't be the only one here looking forward to seeing the rampaging "oliphaunts" in The Two Towers in a few weeks...