Battles are decided by the counter loop and the ground, not by quick fingers. Read the wave coming out of the mist, then send the squads that beat it.
The right match hits much harder and takes far less. In battle every man stands on a ring in his class colour, so a wave reads at a glance. Rome fields no horse of its own: the Gallic cavalry is met with spears.
You keep an army of up to nine squads of six men and send up to five into each battle. Every squad starts as militia; in camp you train it, for gold, into one of three types and then into one of that type's two branches. A squad that falls is gone for good.
Raw levies with short swords, and where every squad starts: the first two of a campaign and every recruit you raise with gold. Weak infantry, but they still beat missile troops.
Beats Ranged · weak to Cavalry
Fight on their tile and the eight around it, and strike on the march. Even with other foot.
Beats Ranged · weak to Cavalry
Shields locked into a box: arrows and stones barely hurt, on the march too, but the squad moves slowly and strikes no blows. A second tap ends it.
Heavier armor. Testudo: 70% less ranged damage while standing still.
Faster and much deadlier, but fragile.
Shoot on the march. Weak in melee: keep the enemy foot off them.
Beats Spear · weak to Infantry
The archers loose far faster until their next order.
Stronger volleys and longer range.
Faster shots that knock enemies back and break their stroke.
A pike wall: they fight on their tile and the three in front, never on the march, and still strike flankers on the other sides, more weakly.
Beats Cavalry · weak to Ranged
A short charge along their front, shoving and striking every Gaul in the way. No orders until it ends.
Sturdy veterans. Triple damage against cavalry.
Throw javelins at enemies before they reach the line.
A trained squad buys its type's skill in camp, keeps it when it takes a branch and loses it only with the squad. Each skill is ready when the battle starts and needs a rest after use. The Gauls have none.
Field medic
One man who never fights and only heals. You hire him in camp, one at most; he is not one of your nine squads, marches on top of the five you send and draws no extra Gauls.
At rest, never on the march, he heals the most wounded Roman on his tile or the eight around it, kneeling at the edge of his tile nearest the man. He heals the wounded, never the dead. The Gauls can kill him, and then he is lost for good, though a new one can be hired.
Every victory a squad is sent to and survives counts toward its ranks: I, II and III. Each rank offers a pair of small bonuses and you pick one; the picks stack. In battle the squad's standard shows its rank: plain, bronze, silver, gold.
Winning each stage of the campaign map brings a real centurion: seven in a campaign, drawn from a pool of ten. Each brings one fixed bonus: more damage, health, armour, speed or attack speed. Place him with any squad, militia too, for good: he takes the right end of its front rank under a crest set sideways, stays through promotions and is lost only if the whole squad falls.
Gallic waves mix their classes, and each region brings its own: fanatics in Belgica, slingers in Armorica, light horse in Aquitania, noble cavalry in the Great Revolt. A village's briefing shows its waves before you choose your five squads.
Legionaries stand even with Gallic foot; take the high ground.
Legionaries: swords run down slingers and skirmishers.
Archers: arrows thin a spear line before it reaches you.
Spearmen: a pike wall breaks horsemen.
Neither beats nor fears a class.
Nine named leaders of the Gallic War, each at the head of one battle.
Twenty-five battles, each with its own mix of warbands. Free to start: the first three battles are free.
