Episode 3 Time Commanders

June of the year 451, and the forces of the crumbling Roman Empire

are battling the whirlwind military might of the Huns

in a field in France.

Tonight, a team of kick boxers...

Don't get hit by the charge. Pull back, Joe, pull back.

..take on a team of karate experts.

-They're flanking you.

-Whoa, you've smashed into them.

The teams will take on each other in one of the greatest historic battles

between Rome and Attila.

Let's get the artillery in.

Matt, you've got Romans flanking to the right.

It's a virtual refight of one of the most important battles

ever fought in Western Europe.

Can the barbarian horde bring the Roman Empire to its knees

once and for all? Or will the Roman military machine

put an end to their invasion?

Find out on Time Commanders.

Hello and welcome to Time Commanders,

the show where the pages of the past are ripped up and rewritten,

as we refight the greatest battles of all time.

We've brought together a crack team of hands-on experts in ancient

weaponry and a military strategist who calls herself the War Doctor.

At the heart of it all is the engine that brings our ancient battles to

life. Based on rigorous historical research,

it's accurate down to the smallest detail.

Let's meet our competitors.

Tonight, we have a team of kick boxers.

Mac, Joe and Chris, are you battle-hardened and ready to fight?

Absolutely. Ready to go.

And keeping with the fighting theme, a team of karate veterans.

Welcome to Time Commanders, Chris, Alan and Laney.

I love this.

Karate experts versus kick boxers.

-Yep.

-And looking into their eyes, do you see fear?

-Well, they look fitter.

-We see fear.

Nervous? ALL: No.

-Ready to go.

-You should be.

Ooh!

Fighting talk from the vets.

Tonight, you'll be fighting the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains,

sometimes known as the Battle of Chalons.

You look a little bit blank, actually.

-You look a little bit blank. You know?

-I have no idea.

No idea? No idea?

Rome takes on the Huns in what is widely considered to be the last

great battle of the Western Roman Empire.

We've tossed a coin to decide which team will take to the field

as each of these incredible fighting machines.

Team Karate, you will be the army of the Roman Empire,

an army that draws soldiers from across half of Europe,

with a fighting tradition that stretches back centuries.

Yes.

Team Kick Boxers, that means you will be the army of the Huns.

Their very name struck fear into the hearts of people in the fifth

century, as city after city fell to their lightning strikes.

Romans, that means your general is the man known by some

as the last of the Romans, Flavius Aetius.

Aetius was master of the Western Roman Empire,

and effectively ruled as king of Gaul, now modern France.

Which of you is up to the task of stopping the Huns?

Which of you is going to be our Western Roman general?

-That's me.

-And you're hoping to keep your rabble in line, right?

Oh, I don't know about that.

I expect a coup at some point.

-Would you?

-Yeah, they've all got the fighting spirit in them.

Well, you know them and you know their fighting spirit.

If you are going to be Flavius Aetius,

-then of course you are the captains.

-Yep.

Huns, that means one of you will be the man

whose name is synonymous with the word barbarian.

He was a canny commander and tactician.

This, of course, is Attila.

Attila was the fearsome leader of the Hun empire

in Central and Eastern Europe, but he now has designs on the West.

-That's me.

-Are you going to be our Attila?

I'm apparently going to be Attila the Hun.

Forgive me, but you may be the least Attila-looking Atilla I've ever seen.

Well, looks can be deceiving.

Well, Attila, you are our general, of course,

which means that you are Attila's captains, OK?

We've met our teams.

Now let's meet our two resident experts -

Doctor Lynette Nusbacher and Mike Loades.

Hello, Time Commanders. A little bit of background.

So we're in 451, and by this stage the Roman Empire

is split into two - two autonomous parts.

You've got the Western Empire, still controlled from Rome,

but you've got the Eastern Empire controlled from Constantinople -

modern-day Istanbul.

Now Attila, until this point,

has concentrated all his efforts on the Eastern Empire.

Attila turns his attention to Europe,

which is ripe for rich pickings.

Europe, at this point,

has become a patchwork quilt of tribes

that have migrated from Central Asia into Europe.

The Goths and the Gepids and the Alans and the Huns.

And both the Romans and the Huns are in the process of building up

coalitions of these wandering tribes,

to do battle against each other.

There's a little twist to this story, because Flavius Aetius,

the Roman general - that's you, Karate Chris -

Flavius Aetius is a friend of the Huns.

He was originally a hostage at the Hunnic court, so he grew up there.

He knows their customs, he knows their language,

and he knows how they fight.

And now Attila, the old ally, has come to face him there.

You got that, guys? Empire's in two.

East, West on Rome. OK. The Huns are on their way.

There is an amalgamation of different tribes and Romans,

and a battle is about to happen.

Now it's time for the teams to take it in turn to have a practice fight

in a skirmish. To ease them into the challenge,

they'll start by using just one captain at a time.

The outcome of their skirmish won't affect the main battle but what they

learn here will help them hone their military skills.

First, an opportunity to learn more about the soldiers and the weapons

that they wielded at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains.

Huns, please pay particular attention to this,

because your skirmish will depend upon it.

It's over to our field team, with some help from Mike here,

to introduce you to Attila's most fearsome warriors.

Archers were always important on the battlefield

but imagine if they could shift faster than anybody else

and become shock troops.

And that is exactly what the Huns did.

Horse archers were highly mobile. They shot from the saddle.

-What's the secret?

-The first secret is to shoot from the other side

of the bow. You were shooting on this side, which is what European

archers do, and they shoot with their fingers.

The trouble with that is, if you're galloping along, this happens,

and that's really embarrassing on the battlefield.

So the first thing I do is do it on the other side of the bow

and I shoot with my thumb. Now you see,

if I shoot with my thumb and lock it with this index finger,

how that is pushing the arrow on the bow, so now when I'm in motion,

the arrow is entirely stable.

Also, now I'm shooting on that side of the bow,

look how ergonomic it is to bring from the quiver onto the bow.

So I can shoot much more quickly.

And rate of shooting becomes very important.

In fact, another thing you can do with the thumb draw is have three

arrows in your hand.

So now I can get a quick loading technique, you see.

I just fold this arrow down, push, pull, it's on the string.

And I can draw and shoot.

Bring the next one down, draw and shoot.

Because when you're galloping along, arrows per metre is what counts.

So all of these techniques help the horse archer get a volume of arrows

into the enemy at speed.

So you could deploy them and they could lay down volleys of arrows

from that static position, or they could become hit-and-run troops.

Yeah. Hit-and-run was really their strong point.

So they would ride up to an enemy and they'd be shooting

into his ranks as they went forward.

But then, as they got close, they would turn,

often luring the cavalry to follow them.

They would then turn and shoot over their shoulders.

And this is what's known as the Parthian shot.

The Hunnic horse archer is one of history's most iconic

and most lethal warriors.

Huns, most of your army are horse archers,

so I hope that information really sunk in.

And I don't know whether you recognise this Hunnic archer.

He was on the horse.

He is going to explain what your skirmish is going to be.

So here you are.

Here is your Hunnic horse archers.

The objective is this town.

And it is the objective for these Romans.

Can you see, there are some units of Romans over there?

So you have got to use your speed and mobility

to stop those Romans,

slaughter those Romans, before they can get to the town.

Guys, you understand this, that's the town

that the Romans are heading towards. This is you.

You have to get there and stop them getting in.

Simple as that. Time to pick a fight.

Let the skirmish begin.

Right, get on your horse, the Romans are coming.

Take up your positions.

In their skirmish,

the Huns must get to the town before the Romans and stop their enemy

by any means. First up, as front line commander, Joe.

-What's happening?

-Right, let's get these horse archers up and block off

the town from the Romans. So get them out there quickly.

We need to get over there and block the space between the town and stop

-the Romans from getting in there.

-So at this stage, this is a race.

Who's winning the race?

Well, Chris certainly appreciates the nature of the problem.

Chris has made it very clear that they've got to start hitting

the Romans as soon as possible and they've got to

keep on hitting them with those

Hunnish horse bows until the Romans aren't there any more.

I think we should split into three groups -

one in the middle and one either side,

so we can block and go round the corner.

OK, captain taking charge.

I'll take that, I'll take the intelligence.

-All right. General...

-Let's do that.

General, are you going to do what the captain tells you?

-Yep.

-How many units have you got there?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

-Eight.

-Eight.

Can we peel off possibly a couple of units to harry the Romans,

-kind of slow them down?

-Yeah, yeah.

Send over two from the right side to go straight to the Romans

-and try and distract straightaway.

-I'll tell you what,

you are moving with some rapidity here, aren't you?

The Huns have speed on their side as they race towards the town from

the south. But the Romans coming from the north-east are even closer.

Actually, yeah, can we pop over to the Romans?

There they are.

-Dead ahead.

-Yeah, get a bit closer to the Romans if you can.

Get in front of the town and take these three...

So do you have a plan, General?

For this, basically using mobility.

Harry the Romans and try and slow them down and try and not stay still,

just because I think the cavalry are better on the move.

Captain, you look like you've got complete charge of this and don't

actually need a general. Is that right?

It's a micro skirmish, so I thought I'd just try and get this one done.

Let's save the town first.

Micro skirmish. All right. Micro skirmish.

The Huns are making good headway towards the town

but the Roman cavalry have other ideas.

Joe, we've got cavalry coming into the town fast now.

Are you sure that cavalry's heading for the town?

It looks like it's heading to you.

Heading for our full cavalry, so send off one unit

-to take the cavalry.

-What Chris has to do is get his people shooting

Romans as soon as possible.

Every minute that those Hunnish horse archers

are not killing Romans is a minute wasted.

-Just keep moving forwards.

-OK.

Try and pull that unit away.

That's good.

Do you think the captain's actually doing what you ask him to do?

-I don't know if he is.

-Joe, is the captain doing what I asked him to do?

I'm trying to but at the same time I'm trying not to make our people die.

So with four units you're trying to stop the infantry,

-and with the rest you're fighting the Roman cavalry.

-Yeah.

So the Huns have got a barricade now.

They've put their cavalry between the town

and the Roman infantry coming.

Now the Roman infantry and the remains of the Roman cavalry

are coming straight at them.

OK, so be careful. Don't get hit by that charge.

Don't get hit by that charge.

Don't get hit by the charge. Pull back, Joe, pull back.

Don't let them get at the city.

-Aw! I'll bring the cavalry closer.

-OK.

Is it going to plan? Is there a plan?

Crush the enemies. That's the plan.

OK.

SIREN WAILS

All right, Captains, swap over.

Next, Captain Mac.

-OK.

-Close in, Mac.

-Close in.

-Try and separate out those two cavalry at the top and close in

with the four units of cavalry we've got at the top.

The Huns' strategy is to completely surround the Romans,

close in on them and break up their units to weaken them.

-These guys...

-Too melee horses in the middle not doing anything.

Can we get them charging in?

Get them charging in and get them cutting off the whole unit

at the top, to the north, which isn't doing anything.

That one, attack there.

Keep putting pressure.

Let's get those, the infantry.

Can you hear the instruction from the general?

-I can hear him.

-Fine.

-Literally everything in and close in.

They're right in the centre of us and they're

-cutting that one unit apart.

-Get those guys in.

The Huns have surrounded their enemy.

There's only one thing for it.

-Circle of death.

-OK, yeah, circle of death.

Circle them in. Circle them in. Harrying with arrows.

Are you charging them?

Charge them. Oh!

They're keeping good formation.

The Roman infantry broken there, look.

Wow! Look at them scattered and running.

Good shooting from the Huns.

How do you feel about Mac doing a full frontal charge into them?

They're wavering. Go for it.

Yeah, do it.

Push, push.

Tell him, tell him what you want!

-Mac, push, push in.

-I don't think he knows what you...

Melee, melee. Get in.

Is that the right thing to do? Is that working?

I think we've got the numbers advantage and we'll be fine.

-Yeah, we're done. That's it.

-They've nothing left.

-Have you done it?

-That's game over.

That's just a taste.

Wow! OK, well done.

Well done.

So, victory for the Huns,

whose deadly horse archers and infantry crushed the Romans

before they got to the town.

They will be a force to be reckoned with in the main battle.

You did terrifically.

Dead Romans all over the field.

There's nothing better than dead Romans all over the field.

THEY LAUGH

You're so partisan, aren't you?

There's nothing wrong with going out there,

standing off, running circles,

literally running circles around a Roman operation there.

They tried to get where they were going,

they had no chance because you just massacred them.

You kept your people moving, and you kept your people shooting.

What was required here was speed and violence,

and you gave us both.

I would just put a...

question mark over the chain of command here,

and the communication.

I think to a certain extent, the captains looked like

they might have been running this on their own.

Micromanaging everything from up here can lead to confusion.

He sorts the strategy, we do the tactics.

I think a bit of information from both of you guys back would be good,

so I get what's going on,

cos I can only see this big view and I can't see

what's going on there, how the units are, so...

But that's what a skirmish is for.

Well, you did very well.

Romans, you've been waiting patiently

and hopefully learning a thing or two along the way.

Please pay close attention to the field team

as they introduce you to a rather deadly piece of Roman artillery.

This is a cheiroballistra,

a bolt-shooting machine.

Roman state-of-the-art artillery.

Cheiroballistra actually comes from the Greek, meaning hand shooter,

and you can see, one man can shoot it on his own.

You do look like you're at the gym.

It's taking an amount of time. Is that...?

That's because of the gearing?

-It is.

-You have to operate the gearing.

-It can only go so fast.

-With each pull,

you're gathering more and more energy.

You can feel the string tightening.

Absolutely.

And now we're ready for the bolt.

Well, that's fantastic.

That's a tremendous amount of power.

Where does it come from?

Well, it's best to actually look at this earlier machine

to explain how it all works.

This is a Xanten machine.

It works on the principle of torsion,

you see these skeins of rope.

Torsion means twisting.

The arms of the machine are pulled back by the string,

so tightening the tension of the twisted ropes.

More twist, more power.

We pull the trigger.

And not only can it be operated by one man,

it can be carried by one man...

..and easily set up.

Well, that's an immense battlefield advantage

over its larger predecessors, which were slow to manoeuvre,

and they required a team of men.

With this technology,

they could field hundreds and hundreds of bolt shooters,

which they did.

The secret to packing a big punch with a smaller machine

was improved metal technology.

You can now move the springs further apart,

which of course means now, when you draw the bowstring back,

the arms can be pulled back even further,

which gives you increased power.

So as long as you've got a plentiful supply of ammunition,

you've got a very formidable weapon.

Cheiroballistra gave the Romans a huge advantage.

It gave them great hitting power,

but it also gave them a weapon that even a raw recruit could use.

Now, of course, we're on the other side of the battlefield -

the Roman side.

Can you imagine the carnage that those things would cause?

Time to see those artillery pieces in action against the Huns.

Lynette, could you show us the scenario, please?

You Romans have got a piece of vital terrain to look after.

You're on a hill.

On that hill, you've got some Roman artillery.

You've got some cheiroballistra, and you've got onagers -

great big stone-throwing machines.

And you've also got a bit of infantry

and a bit of cavalry down here, alongside the hill.

And as you can see, not too far away,

we've got some Huns.

So you've got to worry about them coming up here

and knocking over your ballistas and taking that hill from you.

If those Huns get on top of this hill,

they'll kill the engineers working those artillery pieces,

and you lose.

Look, basically, guys, this is your hill.

That's your artillery pieces.

All right? You've got a little cavalry, bit of infantry.

Those are the Huns.

Right, time to get a taste of it.

To your positions.

Right, can we get the artillery, Elaine,

across the ridge of the hill?

General Chris sends Elaine into battle first.

What's your plan? What's your plan?

Well, I want to get the artillery to defend the hill,

and then I want the horsemen to go round the back, if possible, of the Hun,

cos the artillery would be useful against the horses.

Look at this. The Romans, our team, are being very clever.

They're bringing their Roman infantry up onto the hill,

and it looks like they're going to put them

right in front of all of those artillery pieces on the hill.

Chris, have we got any side defences?

Get the horsemen either side and take the horsemen round.

-They're not horsemen.

-Oh, right.

Have we not got horsemen?

You've got one horseman on the right-hand side.

That's your horsemen. They're infantry.

Right, OK.

The Huns are coming!

Right into the horses.

We need to take down as many as possible.

The Roman artillery are starting to shoot at the enemy Huns.

Your artillery's done brilliantly.

-Come them back.

-Are you taking orders,

or are you doing your own battle plan?

I'm doing a bit of both, really.

We're getting the horses.

-Are you two mates?

-Get the horses.

-We're sisters.

-You're sisters?

-Yes.

You're sisters! You've got a sister on the ballista.

Let's go. Let's go.

Go get those...

Get those stones, as well.

The Huns are starting to flank to the left.

The Romans need to stop them with their cavalry.

What's happening on the left?

On the left. Bring them here, over here on the left.

Round the front. Round the front if we can.

Don't get our horses in front of the artillery, Elaine.

-No.

-Get the horses round the back.

Whoa, you smashed into them!

The Roman cavalry have hit the Hunnish cavalry

that are trying to flank.

Now, they need to get their infantry on board.

See, the Roman infantry should be preparing for this Hun attack.

They're not prepared.

Oh, my goodness, that's going to be rough on the Romans.

Make sure the infantry don't get in the way of the artillery.

No, that's it, march them forward.

-Take them forward.

-They need to hit those Huns.

They can't wait for the Huns to come to them.

Come on, infantry. Go, go.

Turn them. If you can turn them towards these guys.

The Roman infantry are now clashing with the Hunnish infantry.

Start attacking these guys here.

Take out as many as we possibly can.

Massive sword fight going on.

-Can we use the ballistas at the top?

-Yes, ballistas.

Right, captains, captains, turn round.

And now, it's Alan's turn.

Take the horsemen. They're coming at the centre.

Take the horsemen from the left, and take out those from the centre.

The Huns are coming up the hill.

Keep shooting.

Come on.

Let's get those ballistas going.

-The Huns are coming up the hill in the middle!

-Throw stones at them.

-Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

-Aim properly. Right.

Take the army from behind now, Alan.

Try and run up behind.

-Come on.

-Hun infantry are now up on the hill.

You can see that the Huns are starting to slaughter

the Roman engineers with their artillery pieces,

and the Roman cavalry are doing nothing to protect them.

The Huns have got the upper hand.

The Roman cavalry need to step up and help their artillerymen,

but they're just not getting that order.

We've got some more soldiers over there to the left.

Bring them back in behind.

Use this weaponry here, at the front.

-Look at them standing around.

-Nobody knows what to do.

So they are standing around, isolated pockets.

Do you think the actions aren't actually happening as fast as you want?

No, they're not. We've got to get them...

It's a pity we're not on horseback.

Come on, get them running.

I think you're doing it, though.

Finally, the Roman infantry are coming to help.

We've got some horses as well.

Bring them over to the right-hand side.

Take our horses over to the right-hand side

and take out any more Hun.

So we enclose the Hun.

Are you struggling to understand what...

I'm just trying to find my way around here, I...

She wants you to get the horses. Do you know where your horses are?

Come from behind...

That's them. He's found them for you.

They're your horses.

Oh, them lot. OK.

There's the Roman cavalry.

They are about to make a Hun sandwich.

They just might pull this out of the bag.

Hun in a bun.

Hun in a bun.

-CHRIS:

-Nice stuff. Moving in on the Hun, quickly.

You've done it. You've done it.

The Romans toughed it out,

utilised all their assets and made the terrain work in their favour.

It's a great result to take them into the main battle.

Let's pick over what we saw, shall we?

Well, they won,

but it was more expensive than it should have been.

Especially because you had cavalry

sitting around doing nothing while they came in and killed your people.

Command structures.

A lot of chatter going on down here.

Was everybody talking and nobody listening?

Well, I actually got lost in there, really.

I couldn't see where the horsemen were, and

her blasting it away, wasn't sure.

I've got a habit of saying go over there,

instead of go left, or go right.

-LYNETTE:

-So communication's going to be really important

for you guys to work out.

And that's saying meaningful things to each other in all directions.

What I learned was how devastatingly effective your artillery can be,

but how vulnerable they are if you leave them undefended.

I think you all need to have a very clear idea

of what troops you've got AND where they are.

-Yes.

-But I think you did sterling work.

I can't see one single Hun.

Well done.

Teams, you've actually now watched each other in combat.

So I'm going to ask both teams, the pair of you now,

what do you think of your opposition?

I think we've got it. I think we'll be OK.

I think that I saw one of their units kind of out there

not doing, really, a lot.

Whereas we had all of our units moving at once.

We had everything charging in and constantly moving,

constantly doing something.

I don't feel like we had anything wasted.

And I feel like that might carry it for us, really,

cos we've got that control.

Ooh! All right.

And what do you make of them?

I think we're better communicators.

-You think?

-I think so.

-You think your communication was better?

Isn't it interesting how you teams perceived the battle?

Cos I perceived it very differently.

Oh.

THEY LAUGH

You did both win, though,

so I think we go into this big battle pretty even.

Are you sure, both teams,

that you've got the right general?

Chris has got a great overall strategy of the situation.

In this first skirmish, it was a bit difficult to really...

..oversee the big picture. Cos we've had that battle,

we've got a little bit of confidence on our side cos we've won a battle,

and I think that should carry through.

A little bird tells me you were actually born in Rome.

Yes, I was. So it's kind of hard fighting Romans,

seeing those all dead Romans around.

-Kind of tricky.

-CHRIS:

-Come on our side.

I just now need to check, do you want to step up and be general?

I think she should hold,

she should be the general and I'll take the front.

And she needs to be more direct.

-Yeah, I do need to...

-Not go over there with this, that.

Well, if you think there's a communication problem,

now's your chance to change it.

-No.

-No, we'll stick with.

-I'm comfortable with her.

Fair enough, fair enough.

So, teams, it's June in the year 451 CE,

and Attila has retreated as far as the fields of the Catalaunian Plain

in what has become the Champagne region.

The armies are like a who's who

of the barbarian tribes of the late Roman Empire.

Lynette, can you throw some light on this, please?

We're on a field that's not far from

the city that is now called Orleans in France,

and the Huns have been besieging that for a while.

And they've left that place to come here and fight the Roman army

that's come to drive them away from the town.

This is a field dominated by one feature - a significant hill.

And the army that is able to control that hill

is going to be able to control the surrounding low-lying countryside.

It's called the Montgueux Ridge.

The result you want is to annihilate the other army.

You've got to drive - one or the other of you

have got to drive the others from the field.

The ridge could be useful in that,

but it depends what sort of army you have.

Now, Aetius, you do have a predominantly infantry army,

although a third of your army is cavalry,

so you've got a mixed army.

But you've got your artillery.

That will suit well on a ridge.

So Romans, look, if you want know your position, you are roughly...

..here.

And here. OK?

Now, that means, Huns,

you are about there.

Roughly. OK?

So, Romans, as you can see, you've got the hill to your left.

Huns, you've got the hill in front of you.

Lots to consider here, I think.

So there's a different distance that you've got to cover.

And Romans, you've got artillery.

Huns, you've got fast horsepower.

So there's a trade-off with those distances.

So you really have a number of things to balance, but remember,

your ultimate objective is to drive each other from the field,

or to annihilate each other.

You are in contest for who will now rule Europe.

Two very different armies there, with very different weapons,

which leads us nicely into the last of our field demonstrations.

By the third century, the pilum, the iconic Roman javelin,

had disappeared from a legionary's kit,

and been replaced by this throwing dart known as a plumbata.

Compared to the more heavily armoured armies at the height of Rome's power,

the late Roman army was unrecognisable.

Their kit and equipment was lighter and they had become a more agile

and mobile fighting force.

Nothing characterised this more than the plumbata.

But what was the best way to throw it?

Right, let's see.

Reasonable accuracy.

Yeah, but no range.

This time, as a stick grenade.

Righty-ho.

It's probably a bit like axe-throwing.

At this sort of range,

you need to know how many turns it would need to execute before it hits.

Giving the plumbata enough height allows the lead to do its work

and the head to strike home.

It hangs for a moment and then it rights itself and comes down point first.

And it's out of vision as well.

You're thundering forward.

-You don't expect it to rain from the sky.

-Absolutely.

They are nasty. Very effective.

Like it a lot.

The plumbata was an ingenious weapon which gave Roman infantry useful

options for fighting at range, both in defence and attack.

So the Romans have sophisticated weapons and the Huns have expert horse archers.

Both are deadly.

Before battle commences,

the teams have the chance to do some vital reconnaissance.

Right, guys.

Now, learn about your troops now.

Get a good view of what it is you're controlling.

The Romans' key strength is their artillery,

but they also have infantry and heavy cavalry.

And they are not all Roman.

Now, Romans go into this fight with a lot of barbarian tribes.

What is a barbarian? Someone who doesn't speak Latin or Greek.

And these tribes are excellent fighters,

and they're fighting in return for land for their wandering people.

You have got the Visigoths under King Theodoric and his son Thorismund.

All these wonderful characters.

For Aetius, the Visigothic cavalry are the best units he has to take on

the Hunnic horse archers.

So horses means they are cavalry.

Axes mean they are men standing there with axes,

and the bow and arrow means they are archers.

Here's the plumbata troops.

So they are potentially going to be key.

Those plumbata against cavalry, thrown up in the air,

and it's just a rainstorm of barbed shafts.

-You can see their horses.

-The horses, yeah, cavalry, cavalry.

-Brilliant.

-So we want to keep some in reserve and some go in, but...

Fine. And can I ask you what these are here?

Artillery. And, then, these are the slingshots.

General, I think you may have it.

Are you comfortable about communication?

Um...

It's hard to say, really.

I mean, obviously, the general's going to be controlling the communication.

And I'll just have to take what she gives me.

You've got Romans, you've got Visigoths.

The Romans at least know what troops they've got this time,

but what about their enemies?

The Huns have their swift, highly skilled horse archers.

They also have infantry and some sword-wielding cavalry.

The lines of communication, you've got some ideas about that, have you?

I think we're good on that.

I think, also, the other thing is, as well,

inevitably, there's probably going to be some degree of autonomy once you get going.

-Sure.

-But, at the same time, too,

that's not such a bad thing with a mobile force because you can keep it moving and the initiative going.

I think the other thing as well is,

as we are doing our thing down there, it's good to report back.

We'll actually say what we're doing to somebody who's got an idea what

we're doing rather than us doing what we think is right,

what we think we've heard but not actually communicating back that orders

have been received and actually actioned.

They really have to understand the land they are going to be crossing.

They've got to understand the ground and they've got to understand who's

going to try to stop them.

Teams, now you get a chance to recce your enemy's position, all right?

Send some scouts out there, have a look, see what you can find out.

Obviously, if you get close, you may well get shot at.

Go and have a look, see what you can find out.

Can you take some cavalry?

-Chris, we want to move our scouts up to the...

-A small group of cavalry over...

-All right, OK.

OK, Mac, what are you...?

I'm not doing anything. I'm going to keep my...

You're going to hold there, OK. Right, we'll get Joe to scout out, then.

I'm moving my scouts into the left side of the tree line.

It looks like the enemy scouts are trying to come in.

Are the Hunnic scouts looking for squirrels?

There must be a reason you're in those trees, right?

The Hunnish cavalry now have an appreciation of where that high ground is,

where the ridge is that they're going to have to fight for.

The Huns don't hide.

Huns are big and tough.

-They are small and tough.

-Small and tough.

Like our mate here.

Now, behind, behind the...

that clump of trees is the...

is some Huns.

Right, OK, we've got Roman scouts and Hun scouts hiding in the trees.

Go a bit further and take them on.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Whoa!

-Let's have a skirmish.

Send a message to their general, "Don't mess with the Romans."

She's completely obsessed with one little scouting party.

She's not looking at the big picture.

-20 seconds more of observing.

-Right, going now.

To the right. No, to the right.

I want them out of the way.

To the right, please. To the right.

We can see where they...

Keep going straight down.

Right, that's it, that's it, that's the end of the scouting.

-That's it.

-I think both Time Commanders wasted that scouting time.

I would love to have asked them, "What three troop types and positions did you find?"

and I don't think either of them could get more than one or

two that they identified.

Things are going to get harder now for both you generals because you have

to control both of your captains.

OK.

But if you need it, you can call for a time-out whenever you want,

and that's a chance to get your captains together and get the advice of the experts.

But you can only do this once during the battle, all right?

So make sure you call your time-out wisely.

The Kickboxers and Karate Vets both claimed victory in their skirmishes.

Now the enemies will face each other in battle.

With important territory to gain, as Huns and Romans,

they've got everything to play for.

Can Aetius and his coalition Roman army stop the tide of Attila?

Or will the Huns completely overrun the whole Roman Empire?

It's June, 451 CE all over again.

Time to refight the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains.

Oh, yes!

There is woods on the left. We might be able to move our infantry into the left, so they don't get shot at.

-Right, OK.

-And then we can move the horses around as we want, maybe.

Right, OK. Just keep everything with Mac. Keep with the plan and go for the hill.

Yeah, tell me your overall strategy, please, Attila.

So we're basically looking at moving...

..the foot-mounted units onto the hill to take the hill.

-Foot-mounted units?

-Sorry, the foot-mounted units.

The foot units onto the hill to take the hill.

Because we feel like the spear troops and the archers will be able to put

a big - a good base down basically to stop the enemy from taking that.

And the cavalry are screening them at the moment.

The cavalry are screening, so they're going to be -

the mobile archers are going to be doing slashing attacks and harassing them.

And we're going to get the other cavalry to deal with the artillery

-cos I think they're going to steam-roll them, to be honest.

-Are you?

Hun general, Chris, is Attila,

and he's got infantry captain Mac

sending his forces straight for the hill in front of them.

He's also splitting his cavalry, controlled by Joe, into two flanks,

each a mix of horse archers and swordsmen.

They'll protect his infantry from both sides.

Those Hun horsemen are going quite slowly because they're protecting your foot troops.

-Is that right? Is that right?

-They shouldn't be, they should be going flat-out in there.

Our Hunnish commanders are being so slow.

Don't they know it's a race?

All right. OK, well why don't you move them up?

Joe, can we get the cavalry going a bit more flat-out?

The Huns are giving the Romans the chance to steal a march.

But are they taking it?

Aetius.

We'll keep the three back units of cavalry back and take two forward to engage,

to slow them down, so that we get towards the hill.

What are your overall plans, General?

Overall plans is to guard that hill.

To protect that hill.

So I want the whole army to move towards the hill and then spread out

to protect the hill.

So you've got the army at the moment moving up to the hill.

Yes, moving up to the hill.

What are these cavalry over here doing?

I want them to go forward and engage.

So Roman general Chris is Aetius,

moving her infantry and artillery, controlled by Laney, towards the hill,

ahead to their left.

But it leaves them unsupported.

Because she wants her allies, the Visigothic cavalry,

led by King Theodoric and his son, Thorismund,

to fight the Huns who are coming in from their right.

Alan is in charge of these forces.

Clearly, the Visigothic cavalry are not going to be great on the hill

but they are going to be great if they can entice the Huns to try and take

that hill, sweep round and smack them in the flanks.

Let's see what happens.

There's a group there and I want you to engage them,

because they're going for the hill.

They are going towards the hill, so I want the cavalry going,

engaging there.

Alan, I want yours to go in and engage.

-Alan, listen. Alan, listen.

-Alan, I want yours to go forward and engage...

..the group that's on the right-hand side.

-This right-hand side, you're talking about?

-Yes.

-Or is it them lot?

-Engage...

-OK, stop, turn them round.

The Roman infantry and artillery are still advancing slowly upwards

towards the hill.

But their Visigothic cavalry are about to clash with

the Huns in the woods to their right.

Because they are going up against these excellent, fast horse archers,

they've got to make sure that they hit them with something that's really going to give them a whack.

Oh, yeah. The Huns don't respond well to tickling.

-You've got to really get in there and thump them.

-Absolutely right.

The fight has begun.

You've got a battle going on in those woods, Alan.

You've got a battle going on in those woods.

The Romans are seeing what their Visigothic allies are made of,

but they still don't have any artillery on the hill.

And the Huns are determined to win the woodland cavalry battle on their left wing.

How are your cavalry units looking?

We've got them pinned on either side and I'm moving the horse archers around to shoot them in the back.

-Chris, I'm moving my field men to come and join you there.

-Good stuff.

Huge cavalry battle in the woods on the left bank.

While the battle continues in the woods,

another massive fight has started beneath the hill.

The right flank of the Hunnish cavalry are now closing in on the Roman artillery.

And the Romans have had to send more cavalry to defend their siege equipment.

OK, the cavalry battle on the right-hand side is not going too badly at all, it seems.

Joe, there's an enemy cavalry unit sitting in the middle and it looks

like your cavalry on the right are moving away from them.

Can you get them back in?

-Yeah, they are on fire at will.

-OK, great stuff.

So you've got two cavalry battles going on,

different sides of the battlefield, right?

Yeah, it's all very, very confusing.

-It is, isn't it?

-Charge these round the back into these.

Finally, the Hunnish cavalry are starting to use their mobility as an advantage.

So, while captain Joe directs both cavalry battles,

infantry captain Mac is sending two of his units, armed with spears,

straight for the woods,

where the cavalry battle against the Visigoths is in full swing.

OK, Mac, you've got the spearmen going towards the cavalry. That's cool.

And keep the foot units moving up to the right like that.

Joe, you've got three cavalry units on the left doing nothing, sitting in the woods.

-We need to get them into that main battle.

-They are all shooting at them.

-OK, cool.

The Huns are annihilating their enemy on the edge of the woods.

And then deal the Romans and their allies a crushing blow -

killing horse commander Thorismund.

The Prince of the Visigoths is dead.

Romans, you want a time-out?

-Yes, time-out.

-Time-out. Time-out here on the Romans.

With one of their commanders dead on the field,

their cavalry under attack and their artillery in danger of being wiped

out before it's even fired a shot,

I think Chris and her Romans need some expert help.

Right, what do you want to find out?

What do you want to know?

Well, we're a little bit spread out at the moment,

so we're pretty well scattered.

What I want to try and do is try and bring the army forward,

because the artillery, we're moving too slowly into it.

And the horsemen, of course, are a lot faster.

Who's in charge of your horsemen?

Well, we've got a split.

We've got two horsemen.

I knew where I was.

You've lost your commander.

The Visigothic horse commander is dead, so that's not good.

-Yes.

-So far, you're getting upset about your artillery.

So far, you're fighting just a cavalry battle,

and the cavalry battle's going wrong.

What are you going to do with the rest of your troops?

Thorismund, who is commanding all of your Gothic cavalry,

is being borne off the field by his family members,

who are singing a sad song.

You need to get everything on this field mutually supporting rather

than standing around doing nothing, which is what they're doing now.

So, basically, given your expert advice, what is it you want them to do?

I think you lose this obsession of getting your artillery on the hill.

You should have had it there by now, but you haven't got it there by now.

You've got a battle to fight and you've got to get your troops together to fight that.

Right, I think the basic advice there is, "Don't worry about the hill, get everybody together."

Let's get it back in play.

Aetius and the Romans are in trouble but they could still emerge victorious.

Their main challenge is getting their units into any sort of order,

and the Huns are still on the move.

Alan, all the rest of your troops, I want all this lot to engage,

to go forward towards the Hun on your...

on your right-hand side.

See the Hun in the centre...

towards the right, I want you to take your army towards them.

Can you all move towards it, there?

-That's it.

-Can you see the cavalry?

They are flanking you.

The Huns are creeping around behind the Romans.

They are creeping around behind the hill and it's entirely possible that

they will be able to encircle and destroy the Roman force.

They are flanking you, so I want you to go over.

What about using your artillery?

Let's get the artillery in.

Right, let's get the artillery in.

And let's start using the artillery.

The slow-moving Roman artillery has made it as far as the foot of

the hill and is starting to fire.

It's not the best vantage point to deploy their weapons but they have

little choice.

Right, we'll get the other melee units up from behind them.

There's another melee unit sitting there doing nothing. Can you get them up supporting them?

-Yes.

-Yeah, we don't want to get separated out too much, we're taking a risk.

This is going to be really timing sensitive.

The Huns have got to put their attack in and then get out of the way

before they can be smashed to bits.

What are they doing? Those three units of horse?

Joe, there's three units of horsemen doing nothing that could be

-supporting over on the right-hand side.

-You're being pushed back on the right-hand side here now.

-Time-out.

-Time-out here. Time-out.

Now it's Chris and the Huns who need some thinking time.

Their right flank is being pushed out and away by the Roman cavalry.

They are being threatened by the Roman artillery,

and the Visigoths in the woods are still putting up a fight.

What's bothering you?

What can you see? What do you need?

Right, so we had an initial plan to try and get there and everything is changed now.

So I want to secure this flank, basically,

because I feel like we're going to get separated there and destroyed piecemeal.

What does secure the flank mean?

Essentially, make it so I feel like our biggest threat to our cavalry is

going to be their mounted cavalry, as well.

And we can't mount a good offence against their artillery without a decent cavalry charge.

So we need to secure that so we can charge them.

These artillery pieces here are now undefended,

so we can bring these through.

And then, for here, I can still slow them down with the horse archers,

maybe bring them back together, because we are isolated.

And they are probably going to win cos they've got more infantry.

Do you want some help? You sound like you've got a plan.

Just voicing ideas.

They just wanted time-out to chat. They just wanted to pause the game.

-Nothing wrong with that.

-Nothing wrong with that at all.

-Where's your infantry?

-The infantry's just here.

I think we're waiting for the horses to come in and attack that, so we can push the infantry.

-OK, we've only got a little bit of time.

-You've got 30 seconds.

You haven't used your experts. That's your call.

You seem to know what you're doing. Have you now got a plan?

-I think so.

-Could you quickly tell each other? General, tell them what the plan is.

-So that we know!

-Right, then, guys.

So this horse unit in here over into the artillery. Grab the artillery.

That will give these guys the opening to move in and start attacking this

side of the force over here. And then I want this side, basically, flanking

and harassing over here.

If we engage with the infantry, they're going to die, so we either bring them back -

I can bring the horse archers forward to slow them down.

And I'll try and sort this out.

Right, right, OK. Experts, brilliant input.

-Weren't we good?

-Brilliant input.

Fantastic.

You used the experts as a windbreak.

Fantastic. Brilliant. Let's go.

Attila and his captains plan to bring their forces together

and take out Aetius' artillery before it can make a real impact on them.

Can they press home their advantage?

Why are you so concerned about that artillery?

It's going to absolutely annihilate our infantry if it gets them stuck there.

And our infantry's doing absolutely nothing over here,

whereas they could be going through and wrecking this entire battle.

Joe, we've got an engagement going on on the right between your cavalry guys.

Get the other two cavalry units that are doing nothing and support them.

They are shooting, Chris. They are doing it.

They are obsessed with just using horse archers.

They are versatile, they're terrific,

but the infantry are the ones who will actually hammer it home.

They called a time-out and didn't ask you a single thing.

That's all right. They're going on there own steam.

I think that's great. And I think it's really important to note that

what they are planning to do is start to move their combat power together,

which is going to make it more mutually supporting,

which is going to help them hold that ground if they can get it.

-You heard their plan.

-I like it.

-Do you like their plan?

I do. I think they're on the right track.

The Huns' right flank is charging towards the Roman artillery,

including the cheiroballistras which have barely fired a shot.

Can we get a cavalry shot on the left-hand side? Cos you've got these axe guys and sword guys coming down.

OK. I don't have any heavy horse, though.

-I'll walk around the side.

-Yeah, you need to do it because otherwise we are wasting time discussing it.

-OK.

The Roman artillery is being systematically destroyed

before it even got properly up and running.

Your artillery is gone.

The Huns are all over it.

The Roman artillery has been taken out by that well-handled Hunnish cavalry.

They should have got that artillery up there in the first few minutes.

You've got loads of units here not doing a thing.

Yeah, let's get them moving.

Elaine, these are your soldiers here.

-Get them in.

-Can we get them in?

Wow! You've got Huns charging all over the place.

Elaine, this one here.

Elaine, keep an eye on the swordsmen.

The swordsmen are about to be swamped.

Can we get the swordsmen in?

Take the swordsmen.

-Move them.

-We have got Huns on the rampage.

This is all-out war.

The Roman artillery has been picked off by the Huns.

Their cavalry is being destroyed in the woods.

And, now, Roman general Aetius isn't just fighting for territory,

he's fighting for his life, protected only by his infantry,

armed with plumbata and swords.

Elaine, take the swordsmen in now to the battle.

-Look at this.

-Into the battle.

-Engage quickly.

-Look at that.

I'll tell you what, it was supposed to be like a cavalry battle.

Now, nearly every bit of enemy foot soldiers are engaged, aren't they?

Yes, let's get them, let's keep them...

-Keep them going.

-You so want this hill.

You're still fighting for this hill.

We're going to get it. We're going to get the hill.

Finally, the infantry are on the hill.

The Romans are trying to fight uphill because the Huns took that piece of ground first.

Joe, what's going on on your side?

We're trying to kill the general and then we're going to charge the infantry in the back.

Good stuff.

Kill him.

Attila's Huns have found Roman general Aetius.

It's checkmate.

A Roman general has died.

They called Aetius the last of the Romans,

because he was the last great Roman field commander.

It's very sad for the Romans. Of course, it's great for everyone else.

With General Flavius Aetius and horse commander Thorismund both slain,

the remaining Romans and Visigoths are in crisis.

Has Alan got any troops left?

He hasn't got many. Alan, you've got one lot of cavalry.

I need that in, I need that engaged.

-Bring them up where, Alan?

-Up to there, and that one up.

-Where are they?

-All right.

There's more Huns tearing in. There's more Huns tearing in.

The Huns are giving them a thrashing but the dogged Romans are refusing to give up.

We've got cavalry everywhere.

You want a Roman sandwich on Hun bread.

Look at that. The Romans... What's this? Is this Romans coming back down?

Mac, you've got Romans flanking to the right.

Can you see this Roman cavalry bearing down on you?

Yes, I can.

-Can you?

-Yeah, can we get those archers to chase that unit off,

come back in and deal with what's going on on that hill?

The Huns are just taking the Romans to pieces.

Who is this coming up the hill now?

-It's more Huns.

-Is that more Huns?

Oh, my goodness.

Wow!

Still engaging there. That's good, good pressure.

Are you shooting arrows, or are you engaging them with knives and clubs?

I'm doing both. I'm doing both at the same time.

The Huns are fighters.

They just happen to also be horse archers,

but they can get into this close combat melee, finishing-it-off situation,

and really mix it up with those few Visigoths that are left.

There's only a few units left. Straighten these out.

-Shoot these bad boys.

-We can get the rest of the force around and crush them.

-Keep moving those archers. Keep them mobile.

-There's very little Romans left.

OK, Joe, move everything else you've got and just crush that unit there that's going in.

Time's running out for the Romans and their remaining Visigoth allies.

The Huns are determined to finish them off.

Circle and squash.

Oh, right, we're finished.

Oh.

Woo!

-Done.

-Done!

-Thank you.

It's game over for the valiant Romans, but victory for the heroic Huns,

who saw off their enemy in a blistering and co-ordinated attack.

Wow! What can we say?

Well done, Kickboxers and Huns.

Commiserations, Karate Experts and Romans.

What went wrong?

I think we didn't really use the artillery, did we?

No, we didn't use the artillery.

We should have started using the artillery.

The artillery is the only thing we've got - a really strong weapon against

the horses, and we didn't do that.

We did move the artillery, but kind of forgot about them when we started

-engaging in the battle, so...

-Cos you had a race to win.

You had a race to get that artillery on the hill,

and if you didn't get it on the hill in time, you've lost that race.

And you were on the back foot all after that.

Do you know who, actually, historically, won that battle?

I think the Romans did.

-The Romans did.

-Oh, did they?

-I'm only guessing. I'm only guessing.

The Romans did.

So you actually rewrote history, Huns.

Wow!

What do you think you did? What was it that clinched it?

I noticed at the start that a couple of units were coming in to charge us,

and most of our entire force was coming forward.

And then, I suppose once we took out the artillery,

it was all just a bit of a nightmare on that hill.

It became a bit of a mess, and we just sandwiched them and it just went well from there.

-Killing the commander was pretty good, as well.

-Captains, what was it like on the ground?

I knew having an infantry would have to be a game of patience.

So as soon as I saw the horsemen engage the artillery and we basically

marched full steam ahead and just went in and tried to take out as many units as we could.

These Commanders had a means of command and control that worked really well.

We had a general who was willing to let his subordinates get on with their jobs.

He kept his eye on the big picture.

He didn't lose track of what his people were doing.

And as a result, they rode roughshod over their enemy.

Well, that was our Time Commanders battle, but, historically,

what actually happened?

Well, the Romans did manage to get the ridge.

So they did get their artillery up there.

The Huns smashed their way into the middle of the Romans and their allies,

and once they did, they discovered that they were surrounded by the Romans and their allies.

And as a result, the Huns got absolutely mullered.

They gave up their advantage of mobility and, as a result, they were trapped

and the Romans kicked them up and down the field,

gave them a serious shoeing.

And at the end of the day, Attila the Hun got a big hump on,

went back to his camp,

built a big fire and said he was going to throw himself on it

because he was so embarrassed at losing to the Romans.

Well, there you have it, folks,

the last great battle of the Western Roman Empire,

and the day that Attila the Hun got his comeuppance.

But not in our battle. Thanks to both of our teams.

Thanks for playing Time Commanders.