I finally got my Dacians on the table against their mortal enemy, the Romans [insert "boo" and/or "hiss" here]. I painted them specifically to counter the many Roman armies I face in our Field of Glory group. Now comes the test-will the Dacians beat the Romans and become my new favorites? Or will they suffer the fate of my other "barbarian" armies and get stomped? No pressure boys, win or go to eBay!
My friend Mark brought his Romans down for the test. Setup saw a village (by Lurkio) split his deployment in two. The Roman army is mostly drilled superior troops in armor, small but tough as boots! Being average and unarmored for the most part, the Dacians were nearly twice as numerous as the Romans. This was a classic Roman quality versus Dacian quantity match-up.
Dacians have a couple of good plays in their army. The first is their Sarmatian cavalry, some of the best in this era. The second is their superior falxmen, wielding two-handed swords. In melee, the falx neutralizes the Roman armor bonus and their superior rating means falxmen can stand toe to toe in combat.
My left wing was made up of falxmen and Sarmatians. My right wing was rubbish javelinmen supported by archers. Sarmatians lurked on the right wing too, looking for an opportunity to bolster or get stuck in.
Mark let my barbarians come to him as he looked for opportunities to get my army out of alignment. I sent both wings straight at the Romans. Mark was concerned about my column of skirmishers heading for his camp so he moved to cut them off. The skirmishers responded by veering into the village, where their movement was reduced.
A fierce charge by my falxmen locked up our lines and I threw both of my generals in front. With overlaps, superior falxmen and leaders, the Dacians bled out the Roman Lanciarii and auxillary. The Roman cavalry withdrew in the face of my Sarmatians, javelins and falxmen. Soon, it was just the legionnaires staring down my bloodied falxmen. Roman cries of "Put on a shirt!" and "No shirts, no service!" could be heard up and down their line. My falxmen yelled back "You're luck we're wearing pants!" and "You should see the Galatians behind us!"
On my right flank, I advanced at full speed. The birds were singing, and my Dacians too. We had twice as many warriors as the Romans. What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything! Fighting a legion straight up is tough. Fighting a legion backed by archers turned out to be impossible for my lads. My Dacian javelinmen didn't just lose in impact, they lost in spectacular fashion. In Field of Glory, combat is generally a grind with units slowly cycling down to broken. I suffered a double drop in morale in impact. I lost the ensuing melee and both units routed in a single turn! All was not lost. By running, I managed to get a nice shot of the Dacian shieldwork as they ran back towards me. Well done, that!
Insult to injury, Mark skillfully used his skirmisher to drag my Sarmatian cavalry into rough terrain and out of the game. Well played by Mark and poorly played by me.
Back to the left flank, a unit of falxmen charged and defeated the Roman cavalry in a straight up fight. This time it was Mark who suffered a double drop in morale and the loss of his cavalry cleared out the only unit supporting his legion's right flank. My falxmen charged into the legion, shedding bases in impact. Both sides locked up in a multiturn melee that went on and on. And on.
Just as the legion got the upper hand by routing half my falxmen, the Sarmatians got in a flank charge that broke the legion. I then sacked the Roman fortified camp with a roll of 6. With that, the Romans hit their break point and retired from the field. Victory Dacia!
It was a close run thing. My right flank crumbled in one turn and my archers were going to get rolled by Mark's fresh legion. My camp was completely undefended with the collapse of my right flank. Another turn and the Romans would've had the win. The Sarmatian charge saved the day for the Dacians. I must remember to hold my javelinmen back in future games as they're simply too brittle to go toe to toe. Maybe I'll put them on a hill, in a fort or hide them away for the game. The falxmen are as tough as I'd hoped. They're down to the Romans in the impact phase but fight even in melee. With numbers and a general up front, they look like a match for the legionnaires.
To celebrate my rare victory over Roma, here's Peter Murphy's paean to Dacian falxmen, "Cuts you Up."
If camps had titles, this would be "Mopping Up." I decided early on to use the ambush and annihilation of Legio V as inspiration for my Dacian camp. Luckily, I had just enough spare Xyston lead to pull it off. Two of the Roman shields are mangled to reflect damage from the dreaded falx. The downed legionaries and Dacians were doused with Citadel blood. A falxman is running around with the Legio V elephant standard.
Field Fortifications: I've had this resin kit for awhile. I painted it up in case it might be useful in a scenario with the Romans. Nice kit by Hovels, Ltd.
Command Stands: I used a spare Khurasan Miniatures Sarmatian horseman to represent my Sarmatian allied leader. That way, he won't get mixed up with the Dacian commanders. The dracos do pop nicely on the bases.
Dacians marched into the battle accompanied by boar-headed trumpets and the draco. The hollow dragon's head was mounted on a pole with a fabric tube attached. When filled with wind, the draco make a shrill sound. Proving once again the Romans never let a good idea slip by, scholars believe the Romans adopted the draco following their conquest of the Dacians.
To wrap up the Dacian project, I can think of no better finish than the picture below. King Decebalus lead his Dacian tribes and allies against Rome in multiple wars. When the end came, Decebalus took his own life rather than face a humiliating captivity and parade down the streets of Rome. In 1994, a Romanian businessman and historian commissioned a statute of Decebalus. 40 meters high, the monument is carved into a rocky bank of the Danube. The first time I came across this picture, I thought it was something from Lord of the Rings. Instead, it is magnificent tribute to an amazing figure from ancient history.
Painting shields for ancient armies can be a challenge, with the first question being "what should the shields look like?" For some armies, the painting trail is well established. There's a wealth of material on Roman shields for color and style. Iberian shields? There's a baseline for colors and geometric styles. There's lots of reference material for Greek and Celtic shields as well. Dacian shields are a different story. I looked at the Little Big Man Studios website for ideas, and also Trajan's column. What I found was unpaintable in 15mm.
Then I stumbled across an old post on the Iron Mitten blog. Secundus drew highly stylized animal figures for his Celtic shields, much like the Uffington White Horse. Animals were worked around the shield boss with an elongated neck, or legs, or antlers. Following the trail Secundus blazed, I painted one animal figure, then another and another. BINGO! It's simple but looks quite nice in 15mm.
Javelinmen: Medium foot javelinmen make up the backbone of my Dacian army. They're undrilled average impact foot. Like most "barbarian" foot in Field of Glory, they must disrupt the enemy at impact or else struggle in melee. Dacian foot is portrayed as javelinmen because archaeological evidence reveals many spearheads & javelins but not many swords. Then again, Emperor Trajan may have had his legionaries collect all the Dacian swords after subjugating them.
Skin tones for the shirtless lads was done with 2 highlights. The Dacians are one of Old Glory's best lines. Great sculpts, very little cleanup required and a huge variety of poses.
Skirmishing Javelinmen: Theseskirmishers have a crucial role in my Dacian army. Falxmen are vulnerable to missile fire as they carry a 2 handed falx and no shield. I'll need the skirmishers to protect the falxmen from missile fire until they're ready to go in.
Archers: Medium foot archers have a roll to play in my army as well. I'm going to run my javelinmen warriors in large 12 base units. 6 bases of archers can provide rear support to 2 large units of javelinmen. My javelinmen need rear support and a general leading from the front to have a prayer against legionaries.
During Trajan's campaign, it was reported that the Dacians placed well-camouflaged archers in trees to snipe Roman officers. I figured green was a good color for tree-sniping archers.
In Field of Glory, Dacians can take a Sarmatian ally to field the superb Sarmatian lancer cavalry. That gives the Dacians cavalry equal to or superior to anyone else in period.
My heart briefly sank at the sight of 36 riders without lances or holes in their hands for the same. Out came the Dremel and in less than 30 minutes, I was done. Note the superb Ancient Warfare magazine, vol VI, issue 2 featuring Trajan's Dacian wars. This magazine is a treasure which I find to be inspirational and informative! The artwork is superb as well.
Bastarne Cavalry: They're quite average for the period. If I field them, it'll be to provide rear support. These bright geometric patterns were my first idea for Dacian shields. I wasn't thrilled with the results here so I'm striking out in another direction.
Light Horse: There might be a place for light horse in my Dacian army. If so, these fellows are ready to serve, and swerve, when called upon.
I've been looking for inspiration in painting Dacian shields since the day I got this army from Old Glory. The Dacian shield patterns found on Trajan's Column are unpaintable in 15mm and I did not like my first try above. Looking for Plan C, I found inspiration at the Iron Mitten blog. Stay tuned!
I'm painting up a Dacian army for our next Field of Glory (FoG) campaign. Me falling for another lost cause is a bit predictable. "Barbarian" armies fare poorly in FoG but that doesn't stop me from falling in love with a new one every year. I loved the story of Sertorius in Hispania so I painted Lusitanians. I loved the stories of the Celts and painted 3 Gallic armies to prove it. While most of the Dacian's story is lost to time, what's left is riveting. That's how I knew that it was true love! Let's hope it's a love that lasts.
I'm using Old Glory figs for my Dacians. OG doesn't post pictures of all their ranges on their website so I was reluctant to put an order in. Out of the box, I was pleased to see the Dacians are one of their better lines. The figures are well sculpted with lots of variety.
Dacian Falxmen: Dacians can field up to 24 bases of falxmen in FoG so I painted up all 24. The downside is that they're unprotected Medium foot. The upside is they're cheap as chips for superior foot with a heavy weapon. If they survive the impact phase with legionaries, they'll be even in subsequent rounds of melee. Watch the face of your Roman opponent as you trade bases and he remembers falxmen cost 7 points a base and legionaries cost 14!
The falxmen were primed with Army Painter Brown Leather followed by block painting in an earthy and tight palette. Vallejo's sienna wash went over the base coat. Vallejo's wash is currently my favorite as it goes on thick and stays put. The last step is applying highlights. For shirtless fellows, I used 2 rounds of highlights on the skin as it did make them pop.
So about that backstory, the Dacians were a collection of up to 15 tribes in what is now Romania. Located in and around the Carpathian mountains, they possessed abundant mines and resources, including hordes of gold. In the lectures "Rome and the Barbarians," the Dacians are described as skilled stonemasons, metal-smiths and miners. All 3 skills were crucial in their wars against the Romans. Their kingdom lasted from 82 BC until the Roman conquest in 106 AD.
The story goes hot when King Decebalus assumes the throne and unites the tribes. Cassius Dio described him as "a man shrew in his understanding of warfare" who "judged well when to attack and chose the right moment to retreat." His raids across the Danube and into the Roman province of Moesia culminated in the Roman Governor Oppius Sabinus being killed in the field.
Emperor Domitian and his Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Cornelius Fuscus, traveled to Moesia to put things right. Fuscus drove the Dacians back across the Danube and followed them through the Iron Gates. At the First Battle of Tapae, he was ambushed along with Legio V Alaudae. The legion was annihilated and Fuscus killed. The Dacian king received his name Decebalus after this battle, meaning as strong (or brave) as ten men.
Domitian launched a second expedition in 88 AD. According to Dio, the Dacians slew a great number of Romans while suffering serious losses themselves. Facing multiple threats, Domitian offered terms that were stunningly generous. Decebalus became a client king of Rome with a stipend of 8 million sesterces per year. He was also provided Roman engineers, craftsmen, and war machines. Decebalus used the Roman stipend and engineers to build new defensive fortifications in the mountains and to reinforce existing ones.Clever man, that Decebalus, as the Romans wouldn't let him rest after such generous terms.
