Location: River Rhine, Near the City of Mainz.
Date: July 5, 55 BC.

Objectives:
- Resist the German onslaught.
- Capture the village of Mainz.
- Titus Labienus must survive.

Unit Control Points: 276/500.
Troop Control Points: 11/50.
Starting units: 2x Auxiliary Archers (30), Auxiliary Infantry (30), Balearic Slingers (16), Centurion (level 0), 2x Legionaries (30), 3x Noblemen (12), Titus Labienus (Centurion, level 1).
Available units: Archer Cavalry, Auxiliary Archers, Auxiliary Infantry, Balearic Slingers, Equites, Hawk Scout, Legionaries, Physician, Spearmen, Wolf Scout.
Available construction: Ballista, Battering Ram, Catapult, Defensive Tower, repair.

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| | = Village/barracks (may include various defenses).
 +  = Tower (free-standing from village).
. . = Path (minor pathways not shown).
~ ~ = River, sea or lake.
] [ = Bridge or location for bridge.
                                                                          

1 = Start location. Mogontiacum. Population 500.
2 = Mainz.
3 = Advanced ridged area.
4 = Central wooden bridge.
5-6 = Forest paths.
7 = Enemy ballistas.

A few minutes after the start of the mission, the enemy will cross the river and attack you. They may use all the bridges but favour the central wooden bridge (6 on the map above). Reinis writes: "The main secret of this mission is to not defend the bridges. Leave them and fortify your troops on heights on your side of the river." There are two distinct groups of enemy: (1) the 'onslaught', enemy who will seek out and attack your troops or village regardless of where you mount a defense, and (2) troops defending the western side of the river. Fight on the bridges and draw both these groups into the battle - rapidly one becomes overrun by enemy. By fighting away from the bridges you only engage the first 'onslaught' group, which is a manageable battle. This goes against the most obvious (ultimately flawed) strategy, which involves using Catapults to attack across the river while the enemy are trying to repair those wooden bridges.

It is possible to mount your defense very close to Mogontiacum, your starting village. From BobC: "Build 3 towers at your town, 2 just to the west of the town by the bottom of the ramp, and one at the top of the hill. Stuff them with your archers and slingers. Pump out a few troops of spearmen first from the town and set them on stationary to guard the two ramps to the hill and in front of the towers. I'd also keep one or two troops of Legionaries just sitting in the forest south of your town, because if you don't guard that the Barbarians just come in through the forest." Ensure your Legionaries remain in the forest, and do not get drawn out by bowmen in the shallow water. WhiteSkull suggests: "Put a scout in the woods to the left and one of the hill to the north." Loki comments: "I have also used a catapult (put it where the Gaul cavalry stands at the beginning of the mission) with great effect."

A viable alternative is to take the higher ground closer to the river (3 on the map above). This tends to allow enemy troops to be targeted earlier and allows you to use Legionaries effectively in open battle - this is more of a problem when fighting close to the village, because Legionaries cannot cross the shallow water. Care must be taken not to advance and start fighting on the bridge, or else you risk engaging additional enemy. Of the two approaches, the defense closer to the village seems to be the easiest.

The Noblemen should not be relied upon because they will mutiny once they start taking casualties. Reinis suggests using them solely to attack enemy war machines and archers. You can recruit additional Equites. Also recruit a Physician early on. This is the first mission where Balearic Slingers are available. These have greater range than archers, better defensive capability, and do slightly more damage, particularly against targets vulnerable to stoning such as siege engines. You will not be able to recruit them initially because each requires two honour points, which you must gain in battle first.

Once the 'onslaught' has finished you will hear "the Germans flee to their camp, routed". At this point start preparing to attack Mainz. There are three main routes of approach: (1) the main path straight across the map, (2) skirt the lakes on the northern side, (3) skirt the woodland on the southern side.

The first (direct) approach engages the majority of the enemy's troops in the field as a series of battles using melee ground troops supported by archers/slingers and cavalry. You will end up fighting almost all the enemy's regular troops, but no one battle is particularly unpleasant. Cross using the central wooden bridge (4 on the map above) to avoid engaging one of the enemy Ballistas (7 on the map above).

The second (northern) approach involves the hardest river crossing: the bridge is guarded by a Ballista, which in turn is supported by enemy cavalry, archers and a second Ballista. Once the area on the opposite side of the bridge has been cleared, stick close to the northern side of the map and advance towards the village (5 on the map above). A further battle occurs close to the lake. One can use a small ridged area just to the north-east of the village to launch a massive assault against the village garrison. This avoids the need to fight troops to the south of the village.

The third (southern) approach evades almost all enemy troops until you arrive at Mainz. Cross via the southern bridge, and then use the woodland track on the far western side of the map (6 on the map above). A large army is positioned on the ridged area just south of Mainz, which poses the main threat. As you move into the village itself enemy troops will attack you from the woodland to the east.

Written by timski