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After-Action Report: 2007 Fort Lafe, AD 43

By T. Flavius Crispus / Dave Michaels

The latest edition of Fort Lafe AD 43, held March 22-25 2007, served up a full-immersion weekend filled with battles, betrayal, drills, fatigues, chicanery, and fellowship to all who attended. Though it seemed as if the gods were testing us at times, the Legio VI Expeditionary Force acquitted itself superbly and brought glory to the legion and the Empire.

Kick off

A year after sending only two legionaries out to the wilds of central Arkansas (see the article on the 2006 Lafe in the January Ad Signa), our contingent this year expanded to six participants: Mike Malin (Crixus), Kevin Goller (Pulcher), Arik Greenberg (Diogenes), Jared Fleury (Florentius), Alex Michaels (usually Julia, but this time portraying Epona the Celt), and your correspondent (Flavius). All save Florentius, who drove out from his Georgian villa, flew from LAX hauling enough gear to fill an oxcart, including our newly completed leather papillio tent. We hit an alarming hitch at the Denver-Memphis transfer when our plane came up overweight and three of our number were literally kicked off the flight (not our fault—an 800-pound electric wheelchair put us over the limit). Miraculously, the three orphans were able to catch the next flight and our full contingent met up at Fort Lafe early Thursday evening, just after sunset.  There we met up with our old friend and alumnus J.D. Fiegelson (Lucullus), resplendent in the armor of a Roman legate—and a wealthy, well-connected one at that! We also warmly greeted Florentius, our world-famous comilito, whose presence bolstered our numbers and whose tent gave us a lovely little two-tent encampment.

Fort Lafe had been much expanded and improved since the 2006 AD 43 event, with the circuit of walls now extended about 2/3 of the way around the perimeter and two impressive guard towers added at the front corners, flanking the gatehouse. Another welcome improvement was the “wine tent,” a large semi-permanent tavern set up in the civilian vicus adjacent to the fort. The host legion (Legio II Augusta) and event staff – Carl Steyer, Mark Saddler, Charles Foxtrot, and Dorne A. “Gunny Red” Millis had done a spectacular job of construction and preparation for 2007. They’d even gone so far as to cut tent poles for our leather papilio, hewing them out of a tree felled from their forest!

II, IX, et XXII

In addition to the Legio VI force, several other legionary reenactment groups from the U.S. and Canada sent away teams to the event. Our brother Left Coast unit Legio IX Hispana made a mighty effort and turned out 10 legionaries and a trailer full of tentage and gear, driven out 1,500 miles by Centurio Hibernicus (Sean Richards). Legio XXII Primagenia, led by Centurio Marsinius (Craig “Decks” Nordquist), brought a dozen legionaries, and Legio II Augusta (eastern Canada) brought their centurion and four legionaries. Centurio Gallio (George Metz) of Legio XXIV in PA attended as a one-man vexillation, and brought his magnificent scorpion bolt-thrower. Finally, arriving the second day (Friday evening) was the legendary Dan Peterson, with an impressive array of gear, including a huge leather command tent.  The total number of legionaries and centurios was about 35-40, a slight improvement over last year.

Our Celtic foes were once again led by Nate Bell, aka Brionnach, who brought a small contingent of his brethren with him. Their small numbers were somewhat bolstered by our own Alex and Mark Saddler’s daughter Chris, who both made a ferocious pair of Celtic warrior women.

The quality of the event, however, took a quantum leap, particularly the scenarios and role-playing. These were much more in-depth than in previous events, and the participants all got fully into character.

A highlight of the first full day of role-playing was Legio VI’s joint patrol with Legio XXII. Our patrol force was ordered by our Legate to determine whether the Celts were hostile or friendly. After departing the fort and entering the woodlands, Centurio Marsinius instructed Legio VI to swing around and approach the Celtic village from the side, while his men took an alternate route. When we moved in on the camp, however, we found Marsinius and his men having what looked like a friendly chat with the Brionnach and his brethren. Legio VI moved in warily and took up guard positions at the various approaches to the camp.

Betrayed!

Marsinius called me over and explained that he and Brionnach had discussed terms of an alliance. However, as he kept talking, he soon revealed that the “alliance” was actually a revolt! It seems the Legate hadn’t paid his men in months, so they had resolved to join forces with the Celts and seize control of the Fort to take what was due them. He asked if Legio VI would join in the rebellion. I, of course, refused (we’re Legio VI “Victorious, Faithful and Loyal” after all). But when I tried to shout out warnings to my men, I was cut down where I stood, and my men were immediately attacked and either killed or disarmed! The turncoat legionaries and Celts then marched back to the Fort, gained admittance, then attacked the garrison (Legios IX and II) and took control.

The whole “turncoat” scenario was brilliantly thought out and executed, mainly by Marsinius, Brionnach and the event staff, who realized the Celts would be badly outnumbered this year, and came up with a means of evening the odds. But even though we were all "playing soldier," the sense of shock and betrayal we felt when our comilitones of Legio XXII suddenly turned on us in the woods was very real. The "loyal" legions -- II Augusta, IX Hispana and VI rather shunned Legio XXII for the rest of the first day and there was a strong sense of "good riddance" when they cleared out of the fort and went totally Celt, even daubing themselves with “blue woad,” on Saturday. In retrospect, I greatly regret this sense of resentment, but such was being "fully immersed" in the moment.

Friday night brought a series of probes and feints against the Fort by the enemy, highlighted by a spooky torchlit “demonstration” outside the front gate. Hibernicus of Legio IX kept the garrison calm and ready to respond to all challenges. In contrast to ’06, when a brilliant Celtic night attack resulted in the slaughter of the whole garrison, all attacks were beaten back and Fort Lafe remained secure the entire evening.

Ambush Alley

The following morning opened with assembly, roll-call, issuing of rations, and physical training (“PT”). A terrific full armor training session led by “Red” Millis brought the garrison to fighting trim.

Later that day, however, came a chance to redeem ourselves and restore Roman honor. Before breakfast, I'd sent Crixus (Mike Malin) on a secret mission to determine whether Brionnach, leader of the Iceni warband, might be interested in coming to terms with Rome and helping us turn the tables on their untrustworthy allies, the "Primagenia tribe." When we returned from the morning slaughter, word came down from Pulcher, the erstwhile Legio VI member who had "gone native" overnight, that there might be a glimmer of hope. The negotiations were difficult and further complicated by the fact that Brionnach and his warriors had sworn an oath not to raise arms against Dex and his men. They also wanted Crixus to join them permanently-- and this proved to be the key: Since he had sworn no oath, he was free to attack at will. Also, a bag of Roman gold aurei ("a token of more to come from the Great Father Claudius in Rome") and a pledge that the Iceni would, as Friends and Allies of Rome, become leader of all British tribes north of Thames, helped to seal the deal: At a critical moment in the battle, the true Celts (Brionnach's clan) would simply stop fighting and would do their best to impede and confuse the turncoats while Crixus and Pulcher, neither bound by oath, went on the attack.

Crixus attacks!

Still, when we marched out of the fort under Centurio Felix's command for that great reckoning, I had butterflies in my gut because I had no idea whether the plan would work. I suspected that Marsinius, who had already proven himself a master of the game, had probably sniffed out my scheme and had an equally nasty surprise waiting for us. As we approached the Celtic encampment, bodies began pouring out the woods in clumps of three and four, including that dreadfully accurate crossbowman. As we held fast in our formation, they began positioning themselves to surround us. It was beginning to look just like the Morning Massacre... Suddenly, at the absolute perfect moment, Crixus whirled, his sword flashed, and woad-stained warriors began going down right and left of him.

Our formation split into two wings and attacked outward. Just as they had promised, Brionnach's men and women took up a blocking position at the head of the clearing, keeping the Primegenia tribe from escaping. As they stood about in confusion, our men plunged into them and hewed them down like wheat before the scythe. It was over within seconds. The last holdout, the crossbowman, retreated into the tree line and was still firing off bolts at us when Pulcher came up from behind and hatcheted him down.

We suffered three casualties-- Centurio Felix and two others. The Primagenians were wiped out to a man. This time, the march back to the fort was indescribably sweet.

Set-piece battles

Saturday closed with a series of set-piece battles pitting all of the Celts (plus Legio XXII) against the full Fort Lafe garrison. Leading these battles on the Roman side was Dan Peterson, who gave us all a quick and excellent primer in Roman battle tactics, then led us out of the gate to face the assembled Celtic foe. We formed a battle line just before the fort entrance, where our flanks were protected by the vallum, or ditch. Unfortunately, we’d neglected to notice that the Celts had positioned two of their number right next to the gate, against the wall, so that as we formed up to face the Hoard, they were behind us. Soon after the fighting commenced, these infiltrators came forward and started killing Romans from the rear. They’d killed about half our number off before anyone took notice and turned to deal with them. With that kind of attrition, we were soon swarmed under. Give Gate Battle I to those sneaky Celts.

We revived, reset and did it again, this time with no Celtic infiltrators. This time, the Romans ranks held steady and fought off wave after wave of Celtic attackers, including Crixus, who staged a spectacular “Braveheart” style solo attack on the Roman line before being cut down. Roman casualties were light and the Celts pretty much wiped out. Chalk up Gate Battle II to the Romans.

We did it one more time. This time, after an initial “wave” attack, the Celts held back and tried to entice us to break formation. The Romans resisted, being unwilling to move beyond the flank protection of the ditch. A stalemate descended, with the Celts hovering back just out of pilum range, taunting us, while the Romans kept their formation intact and invited the enemy to attack. At one point, the Celts seemed to be down to about three survivors, but word went out that dead Celts could no “resurrect” themselves, and so the strange, halting “battle” resumed. After a long while, with the sun going descending and the shadows lengthening, everyone simply declared a draw.

Laudes to Hib, Marsinius

The rest of the evening was one of fellowship and conviviality. At the awards ceremony, Hibernicus of Legio IX was declared “Top Centurion” and Marsinius of Legio XXII “Best Reenactor.” Our own Diogenes and Crixus of Legio VI were singled out for Centurion’s Awards, having been named by their peers as outstanding legionaries.

After one more night snuggled in our leather tent, we packed up, said our goodbyes and shipped out the following morning, returning to the 21^st Century. None of those who attended will ever forget the ’07 Fort Lafe, and we’ll be counting the days until next year’s event!