Location: The Cliffs of Dover, Britannia.
Date: September 5, 55 BC.

Objectives:
- Rescue Commius from the Catuvellauni Fortress.
- + Escort Commius back to the beach.
- Quintus Tulius Cicero must survive.
- Caius Crastinus must survive.

Unit Control Points: 327/700.
Troop Control Points: 18/50.
Starting units: 2x Auxiliary Archers (30), Auxiliary Infantry (30), Ballista, Caius Crastinus (Centurion, level 0), 2x Catapult, 2x Equites (12), Hawk Scout, 3x Legionaries (30), Physician, Quintus Tulius Cicero (Centurion, level 0), 2x Spearmen (30), Wolf Scout.
Available units (varies by method):
- Roman: Archer Cavalry, Auxiliary Archers, Auxiliary Infantry, Balearic Slingers, Equites, Hawk Scout, Legionaries, Physician, Spearmen, Wolf Scout.
- Barbarian: Bowmen, Druid, Hawk Scout, Infantry, Mounted Bowmen, Noblemen, Pikemen, Warriors, Wolf Scout.
Available construction: Assault Ladder, Assault Tower, Ballista, Battering Ram, Catapult, Defensive Tower, repair.

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

1 = Start location.
2 = Durovibrae (Atrebatean). Population 600.
3 = Durolitum (Cantiacum). Population 400.
4 = Catuvellauni Fortress. Commius of the Atrebates.
5 = Catuvellauni Tower and coastal defenders.
6 = Allied army and siege engines.
7 = Enemy Ballistas on ridge.
8 = Wooded island.
9 = Grassland ambush.
10 = Ridged area overlooking Durolitum's defenders.
11 = Cantiacum reserves.
12 = Catuvellauni/Cantiacum reserve cavalry.

Initially you have no way to replenish loses, so it is important to make landfall without significant casualties. Immediately to the north of your start position (1 on the map above) is a tower surrounded by enemy troops (5 on the map above). On each of the ridges either side of the tower there are enemy bowmen. A pair of enemy siege engines are positioned on the small island just to the west.

My strategy involved coaxing the majority of enemy melee troops into an ambush, then sending turtled Legionaries towards the towers, with Catapults and archers behind them. At the same time, the cavalry ran first to destroy the enemy siege engines on the island to the west, then to attack the enemy bowmen on each of the ridged areas. Such a strategy relies on good timing, but can succeed without a single casualty.

On the ridge just to the west of where the tower stood (close to point 5 on the map above), you will find the Atrebatean Messenger. The messenger offers an alliance. Initially the alliance makes the Atrebatean tribe neutral, however if you subsequently follow the Alliance strategy below, full control over their troops and village can be gained. You can ignore the messenger completely if you wish and take an Independent strategy. It is also possible to combine strategies.

It is unlikely that anyone can successfully storm the fortress with only the starting troops and no base. This strategy gains both a base and extra Barbarian forces.

Follow the messenger to his village in the west (2 on the map above). Deal with the various enemy ambushes on the route. The messenger seems immune from these ambushes - this is not true for you. Do not be concerned when your ally's village comes under attack - it is well defended at the start, and can deal with its attackers alone. Rushing your own troops into the defense exposes them to unnecessary loses.

At this stage the allied village is still effectively neutral - you cannot recruit troops there or control their units. Once you arrive at the village, the messenger suggests you follow him north to where the Atrebatean army are waiting (6 on the map above). From eccehomo: "There are more ambushes particularly in a patch of long grass [9 on the map above] along the way. So keep scouts ahead of you and be prepared to move slowly with some troops ready to clear the ambushes. You don't need to follow the messenger all the time; he can get you into even more ambushes by taking you the direct way." The worst ambush is in the grassland at point 9 on the map. A method of dealing with the grassland ambush is to fire flaming arrows into the grassland from the higher ground above and let the remaining enemy units lurch up the hill into a line of your finest Spearmen and Legionaries.

Once your forces have reached the allied army (point 6 on the map above), the Atrebatean village and all their troops come under your control. The northern Barbarian army includes Infantry (equivalent of Auxiliary Infantry), Pikemen (equivalent of Spearmen), and various siege engines - better than nothing, but not much better ;-) . The village allows you to recruit new Barbarian units. If you wish to recruit Roman units, you should select the village, order the Barbarian Chieftain to exit it, and then order a Roman Centurion to recruit at the village. An alternative is to remove all defenders from the village, then wait for the enemy to attack and destroy the garrison. Now kill the attackers and build your own (Roman) garrison, thus capturing the village as a Roman village, rather than an allied Barbarian village (from Dramaticus and eccehomo).

Once any new recruitment is complete you have the option of moving all the village defenders north to help attack the fortress, however the village will be attacked whilst you are away. Instead of immediately attacking the fortress, consider using your extra troops to attack Durolitum (3 on the map above) and follow the Independent strategy below.

Instead of following the allied messenger, attack and capture the village of Durolitum (3 on the map above). Build your own troops with which to attempt the final rescue. This is my preferred strategy. Although you may find the battle for the village tough, it gives more options when conducting the rescue.

Durolitum is well defended, and a direct frontal assault will probably fail or involve many friendly casualties. Instead make use of the part-wooded ridged area to the south-east of the map (marked 10 on the map above). Guard the southern entrance with stationary Spearmen, and the northern entrance with Legionaries. Place archers and Catapults towards the centre - the archers can be placed in woodland for added protection. Athos writes: "Have the archers assume stationary position and they should start picking off all the troops stationed outside of the town." Use your scout to locate enemy forces if needed, and hold your cavalry to the south ready to pounce on any poorly defended enemy units. Watch out for the two towers guarding the village - these are probably best taken at range using Catapults. Using this method it is possible to capture the village with no casualties on your own side. This is one situation where good tactics turn an 'impossible' battle into an easy battle.

Capturing Durolitum will allow you to produce additional Roman units. In particular consider recruiting Balearic Slingers, which are tougher than archers and so tend to be preferable during attacks against fortifications. Of course, having captured Durolitum, you can now follow the Alliance strategy if you wish. Maximise the size of your own army first, then when the Barbarian units join your total army will be far larger than otherwise possible. This initially leaves you with two separate forces with which to mount the final rescue. However, if you clear the enemy Ballistas at point 7 on the map above, you can march units between different approaches to the Fortress in relative safety.

To rescue Commius you must storm the Catuvellauni Fortress (4 on the map above) and kill the fortress's Chieftain. You should expect to kill all the enemy within the fortress. Once the Chieftain has been killed the majority of remaining enemy on the map will become active. The reserve cavalry at point 8 on the map will probably attack Durovibrae. The reserve army at point 11 on the map head towards the coast.

Depending on your intended escape route, you may wish to deal with these enemy reserves before they become active - before you start to attack the fortress. The group at point 11 is particularly easy to deal with if you have taken the Independent strategy - use the high ground to the west of them. Bond0bhave offers a method of dealing with the reserve at point 12, again assuming the Independent strategy. It utilises the small wooded island in the lake (8 on the map above), just to the south-west of Durolitum: "On the island in the trees there are some enemy archers. Get your archers and some Auxiliary Infantry to go kill them. Place 2 sets of archers in there. Get a Hawk Scout, Physician and Centurion into those trees with the archers. Now scout up above the raised land to the north. Use your Archer Cavalry to fire on some of the units. Retreat you Archer Cavalry into you base. Now your archers are in range to pop off a couple of them."

Most strategies for attacking the fortress seek first to draw the enemy cavalry inside the fortress into some form of ambush. The enemy cavalry normally ride out as soon as you start attacking the fortress with Catapults. Kmorg74 writes: "Approach the fort from the east. Send in wolves to have visibility against a cavalry sally. Build up two rams and five catapults. Place your archers on defensive on the safe side of the bridge and position a turtled legion squad on the bridge. Send in one catapult with fire-bombs on the gate. The enemy will sally with cavalry. Retreat the catapult to the bridge and intercept the sally with the legion. Hit back on the enemy cavalry with yours and wipe it out." If attacking from the east, position stationary Spearmen on the bridge and draw enemy cavalry into them. You may need to be prepared to accept the loss of a Catapult. An alternative is to position turtled Legionaries in front of the Catapult to soak enemy archer fire. When attacking from the west it is somewhat harder to ambush the enemy cavalry, since the approach is flat and open, providing no way of funnelling the enemy into an ambush. The enemy cavalry have further to travel to reach your forces, which gives more time to retreat and position units.

A variation on the previous strategy also allows the fortress to be stormed immediately. LordJohnDrinksalot writes: "Advance several legion testudos [turtled] near the East gate and, once there, quickly attack with four or five catapults against the bowmen on the East wall. The catapults cause the enemy cavalry to attack (it seems this is scripted and so they always do attack), the gates open, the legions enter, switch formations, and head for the enemy bowmen. If the gates close, have a ram or two hit the gates while your archers move in attack any remaining bowmen on the walls."

Once the enemy cavalry have been killed, you can advance on the fortress with only its walled defenders to consider. One option is to clear the walls of troops first. Use Catapults, but try and protect them by placing other troops in front - turtled Legionaries if you have them (support by a Physician they should be able to remain under fire for long periods without loss). Telemach writes: "I never throw away a catapult when I have enemy installations to attend to. I refer to the hundreds of Barbarian spearmen I found myself in control of at the North of the map. Dirty, smelly, and improperly trained. I kept the tower and catapult and sent the spearmen to 'scout' the borders of the castle."

Rather than methodically clearing wall defenders at range, you may either storm the gate or climb the walls. The former option is only practical if you have approached from the east: Bigfuzz19 writes: "Use siege towers and get on the walls of the fortress. You are going to loose a few troops and a tower or two but you will eventually make it onto the wall. Have any ranged units you have concentrate on the archers on the wall and you might not even loose any towers." This is a particularly useful tactic if the attack is being made only from the west using Barbarian units. Barbarian units naturally favour offense over defense, and so are very effective once on the walls, but will tend to die in droves getting to the walls. Alternatively send in a Battering Ram or two against the gate. Battering Rams will inevitably be set alight by enemy archers, but this can be countered initially using the turtled Legionaries tactic to soak arrow fire. Kmorg74 suggests supporting the Battering Rams with Catapults in order to maximise damage. If all else fails simply throwing troops at the problem may solve it. From najapi: "As a last resort I tried a full on assault, no great strategy just got the siege machines on the bridge, got all my troops together (selected them all) and double clicked on the gate... I lost very few men, maybe 2 or 3 units at most."

A two pronged attack can be quite successful. You are most likely to have this option if you have followed both the Independent and Alliance strategies above. From bond0bhave: "While my units were fighting in the south, I sent in an attack of all the Barbarian units I had from the north. These managed to take care of most of the archers."

Once inside the fortress, kill the remaining defenders - there are very few melee troops guarding the fortress, so this should be quite straightforward. Finally, kill the fortress's Chieftain to free Commius.

To complete the mission, get Commius back to the start location (1 on the map above). As noted above, if you have not dealt with the remaining Catuvellauni they will now be active, either attacking Durovibrae (2 on the map above) or moving south from point 11 on the map above towards the start location. This can be a serious problem if your only village is Durovibrae, you had stripped most of its defenders to help with the fortress attack, and the fortress attack went badly and you lost almost all your troops.

Written by timski