66 AD - Rebellion in Judaea

Protest against excessive tax measures brought Judaeans to the point of rebellion.  The Roman governor Gessius Florus issued orders for the various garrisons to suppress the insurrections in their districts. A vexillation of one legion encountered a number of rebels gathering across a river. 

The standard game was played and using the battlefield cards, the random selection produced a battlefield with a road intersecting a river and difficult hills to one flank.

 

Rome moved first to quickly seize the bridge forcing the defending Zealots back. More legionnaires supported the assault with the ballistae rendering support fire.

The rebels countered by crossing the river hoping to put the Romans off balance. Anticipating this, Rome sent reserve cavalry and auxilia to deal with the threat. This scattered the rebel skirmishers, but did not deter a second column from pressing forward.

The Zealots, forced further back allowed Rome to expand their foothold across the river. Reserve legionnaires engaged nearby enemy regulars sending them recoiling. On the Roman right, auxilia units threatened to cross the river, holding enemy units to hold their position across the river. 

Roman drill overcame enemy resilience to earn a narrow victory, 4-3. 

Finding a common strategy among rebel leaders proved difficult during the early stages of the revolt. One such faction encountered the approach of a Roman column. Seeking the shelter of nearby hills, the rebels deployed for battle. 

Advancing in two columns, cavalry on the Roman right would pin the enemy left, while the main column would assault the enemy formed at the base of the hills. 

Rebel formations withdrew to higher ground giving Rome no other option than to follow. Rome approached the enemy in two columns, the left supported by archers and the right by ballistae, their missile fire kept the rebels dancing. Roman equites on the right caught rebel troops before they could reach cover in the hills.

In an attempt to catch Rome off-balance, the rebels launched suicidal attacks against isolated units. This failed leaving the rebels no option but to flee the field. 

Observation.

Both were close games and could easily have ended with a rebel victory. The Zealots (3Wb) made little impression on the legionnaires and found themselves consistently pushed back in both games.

The Jewish Revolt is not a tournament winner, but can make a legato’s life a miserable one.