Late Imperial Roman, 307AD to 425AD
Book 2, List 78
This is my all time favourite army; I just love the history of the period and beyond, to about the Byzantine reconquest of Italy. It was always a real problem under previous sets of rules as it was considered a super army (and was due to the way these rules worked) so people assumed you had it for that reason. Whilst still very good DBM has put it in its proper place, especially in relation to its historical opponents, and it now needs much more thought to use effectively.
This is the most flexible of all the Roman lists with the possible exception of the Patrician, but that is a different kettle of fish entirely, and represents the most evolved state of the Roman infantry based army resulting from hundreds of years experience. As you might expect from this it is extremely good at fighting it's historical enemies. However, as it is also a varied combined arms army it is very effective out of period as well, and really only struggles when fighting Kn heavy armies in relatively open terrain.
Unlike the earlier Roman armies you are not over-burdened with a high Bd minimum (4), and both they and the Ax(S) Auxilia Palatina are allowed Ps(O) supports making them very resistant at a low AP cost. The mounted arm is fairly substantial and also has good variety with LH(O) & (F), Cv(O) and Kn; some (F) early on in the east and then (X), although limited to 2 in the west. Other supporting troop types available are Ps(S), Bw and Art including up to 4 (F). These latter are very popular with a lot of players who often take all 4 available. However, my experience is that 1 or 2 is all that is needed as the main use of the Art is to cause disruption and PIP drain rather than outright casualties, these are a bonus. Despite all this choice you must remember that like most Roman armies it includes few troops able to inflict a quick kill and so you will need to work on destroying enemy elements. However the presence of the additional, cheap, support for its foot make it much more formidable than earlier armies.
The list includes a number of allies, but I feel that they should be used with caution as the base army is so versatile that inclusion of allies can weaken it. In the west Franks, Alans and Visigoths are available, although there are period limitations on when they can be used. The Franks are obviously powerful as Wb(S) but do provide a control problem so can be a bit double edged, and have a contingent maximum of 15. The Alans are my best bet as allies as LH(S) are just so useful. I cannot think what the Later Visigoth ally would add to the army and have never considered it. The eastern allies are different, being mainly mounted - Armenians and Arabs - but Visigoths are also allowed. The Armenians provide Cv(S) and so may be quite useful, but the numbers allowed are limited. The Arabs are small but maybe useful - but if you take them you lose out on other troops - and as with the west I'm not too sure what the Visigoths offer, especially as you can have Wb(O) under Roman generals as part of the main army if you really really want Wb(O), although I think you'd be made to.
In use it is important in, my opinion, to remember that this is a combined arms force. The mounted arm is varied and effective but is not going to win most battles for you on their own, ditto the foot. Obviously with powerful Ax(S) terrain is no problem for this army and can be a great benefit, and so should be utilised to maximum effect. It is developing the correct application of both mounted and foot, using the right troops for the job, that will win you the game and I don't think there is a standard plan you can use with this army. However, as with any combined arms army you do need to practice with it - you will probably lose a lot of games at first, I did - but then it rewards your patience. That said it is very resistant even when losing and is rarely run over in short order.
Here is an account of my exploits with this army at the 2002 IWF Championships - this appeared as a Slingshot article.
lir450ap.txt - pre 354AD eastern army.
theodosian500ap.txt - an army based on the army of Theodosios circa 390AD.
lir400AP.txt - a 400AP army, as used to good effect by Graham Briggs.
lir400apwithart.txt - a 400AP army based on the above with Art(F) as well.
The next series of lists trace my development of the above army to the armies used at the 2002 IWF and BHGS Challenge:
LIR400APIWFList1.txt - the final list 1 for the IWF
LIR400APIWFList2.txt - list 2 for the IWF
LIR400APBHGSList1.txt - revised list 1 used at the BHGS Challenge
LIR400APBHGSList1v2.txt - a slightly revised version of the above
lir400apv7.txt - another version of the above with a better command structure that doesn't put the C-in-C's command in so much risk
lir400apv8.txt - a Reigate Patrician version of the Late Roman army
And a 500AP doubles version:
lir500apv2.txt - the Colchester 2002 version.