After some years of peace, our glorious leader is called upon by the Senate to gather his legions and auxiliaries together. His mission: to quell the barbarian tribesmen of the sinister land of Øl (pron. Ull).

But times are hard. He will have just one field army, with some reinforcements. And with this puny force he must quell unknown numbers of Picts (locally known as the Weedrams), Germans (the Riesling tribe), Bactrians (the Ouzos) and Palmyrans (Sher-betts). If he manages all that, then an amphibious landing on Goth Island followed by defeat of the appalling denizens of that place will be the crowning glory. Victorious, he will no doubt be hailed the next Emperor. Defeated, the Styx and eternal shame and derision await.

How far will he get? Watch out for the first battle report. We will be using the excellent Armati 2 rules. Bart will get a chance to play with his Romans - very powerful potentially under these rules. I will take on one of the barbarian tribes and attempt to do great damage.

For the geographically challenged amongst you, here is a copy of one of the early maps of the region:

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