[RTW AAR] Through the ages - A Tale of bloodied steel
This AAR is for the AAR contest and is going to consist of 3 main parts.
It will be based on 3 eras - 3 linked stories.
The AAR will start with the first person account of a man (Appius Marcellus) serving in the Roman army around 50BC - 40BC. His story will be focusing on the conquest of gaul.
Im posting only the first part of the first storie so far, It will focus on how he is forced to join the army and his first attack on a gaillic village.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1 - Part 1
So it had begun, I was 17 and my father wanted me to join the ranks of my fathers and grandfathers for the glory of Rome, So i applied for the Army - I knew what I was in for when i signed up. I was raised on dicipline as my staple food and this army thing will be a breeze. My family name will be remembered throughout the ages. My name is Appius Marcellus, I was residing in Placentia and went on my first march the beginning of the september. The current month was February and my army training started in 3 weeks, I was to eat alot and muster my strength for the busy months afterwards.
*****
It was now September and I was awoken by the sounds of music from Placentia's town square, it was the time that i had been waiting for. I rose from my lumber and made my way to the gathering of the troops in the area. I could see men walking to the barracks and the armoury to collect their belongings and those with wifes bid farewell if they were not to return. Horses rode round the town to gather the men and I had just picked up my armour, shield and sword. Life would change from what i had once known it.
We stood in correct order and were checked by the commanding officer for anybody who wasn't stood properly, or if they had assembled their equipment falsely, or if they looked too ill to even be here. Alot of people had changed since their training and most of us were proffesional and able people, others were to weak to complete the training but forced to continue until they were fit like us, we were the models of fine soldiers, we were the finest, finest in the world.
"Romans!" a voice boomed across the square and silence occured like the lashing of a whip.
The great commander simply talked about our duty as roman soldiers, our tasks, and our enemies. The gauls, all he would talk about, the barbarians, about how they slit the throat of our ancestors, how they pillaged our trade, how they couldn't detect their own inferiority to our great peoples.
We then turned to our right and began marching out of the town and began the march to Gaul, It was time to take away the lands of our enemies as a punishment for their evils and to cleanse their dirty ways and implement our own into our new homes.
*****
Several weeks had passed and we had marched into our claimed lands, north of Rome. The night had crawled up the mirky slopes of time and had caught up to our legion. We rested in the nearby camp and I talked with some of the friends i had made, tales of great deeds, tales of the gods and tales of war. The fire burned calmly as we exchanged laughter and got to know each other, there was one man Numerius Albinus, who I got to know very well, and soon we became most noble allies.
*****
Horns could be heard as i put on my boots and armour and made my way to the march, we were about to attack a gailic town just about 2 miles north of our current position. We were on the Frontline of the Roman border and little was known of the targeted town. The commander selected few 50 men at random to scout the area, me being one of them. A man pulled over some horses and we saddled up and made ready for the exploration. We were told the town was over the hill and if there were troops there, they will have been alerted of our prescence by now. So we set off and above the hill with the town in clear site, all seemed clear, so we alerted the forces and described the surrounding area. The commander Vibius, stroked his chin for a breif moment and sounded the horn for the attack.
The horses were to be placed at the front, followed by the foot soldiers and archers, foot soldiers on the left flank, archers on the right.
The area was slightly downhill to the right, an advantage to the archers incase of any flanking forces sitting at the bottom. The march continued and all seemed still. It was then - A volley of spears could be seen being thrown near the front, a couple of horses went down, but then half the horses moved uphill the the left and the skirmishers, distracted - began focusing their fire up their. The cavalry then charged down the hill at rapid speed, at the same time, the other half of cavalry began charging into the back of the skirmishers and soon, the few we had left alive began to run away. Another horn was heard and a group of swordsmen began charging down the hill, again, the cavalry split into 2 groups and attacked from both sides.
Our infantry soon got involved and the poor gailic bastards were decimated, the remaining forces gathered in the centre of the town, only to be met by roman arrows.
We had taken the town for the glory of Rome. We settled into the town for the next few weeks before embarking on our next embarkment even further into the barren lands.
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Originally Posted by Cavalier
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