The Trinovantes
The Trinovantes were an Ancient British tribe who lived in the North Essex – South Suffolk region of England. At the time of the Roman invasion they were one of the larger and more powerful tribes, although their ruling family were originally from the nearby Catuvellauni tribe and seem to have taken power shortly before the Roman invasion.
This was one of the first armies I created at 6mm and has gone through a number of expansions and changes over the years. Hopefully it has now stabilised and reflects the likely real size of the Trinovante tribe and its mix between nobles, warriors and peasants.
The Trinovantes are ruled by their king, Cunobeline, who is royal and a strong and reliable leader.
The tribe is split into three clans. The first and major clan forming the main tribe is directly led by Cunobeline and his sons. The two smaller allied clans are led by their own chieftains who owe allegiance to Cunobeline, although possibly not willingly, and have some degree of independence. Hence their Forced Ally classification.
The Army consists of five Corps: - Cunobeline’s warriors from the main (red) clan. - Togodumnus’ troops. - Caratacus’ troops. - The Coastal (blue) clan. - The Canonium (green) clan. Corps 1 – Cunobeline’s Warriors
This Corps is directly commanded by Cunobeline and represents the main part of the main clan of the Trinovante tribe.
It consists of 6 Divisions.
The first Division is led by Cunobeline and is formed of 250 of his closest warriors. They are of Noble quality borne on Celtic chariots. They have 300 Warrior quality light cavalry to support them.
The second Division is the first warband which is a single Unit of 2,000 Warrior quality unarmoured troops armed with light spears. Corps 1 – Cunobeline’s Warriors Continued
The third and fourth Divisions are each formed of a warband of 1,500 Warrior quality unarmoured troops armed with light spears. Each warband is supported by 200 skirmishers with sling.
The fifth and sixth Divisions are each formed of a warband of 2,000 Peasant quality troops armed with light spear and also unarmoured. These resperesent the lower echelons of the tribe. Corps 2 – Togodumnus’ Troops
Togodumnus is one of Cunobeline’s sons and acts as second in command of the tribe and leads the second Corps. He is also a strong leader, but rash.
His Corps consists of 3 Divisions. Togodumnus leads the first Division with a Unit of 200 Noble quality chariot borne troops. They are supported by 400 Warrior quality light cavalry. Corps 2 – Togodumnus’ Troops Continued
The second Division consists of a Unit of 750 Warrior quality slingers and a Unit of 450 javelin armed Warrior quality peltasts. All unarmoured.
The third Division consists of a warband of 1,000 Peasant quality troops armed with light spears. They are supported by 400 Peasant quality skirmishers with javelin. Corps 3 – Caratacus’ Troops
Caratacus is another of Cunobeline’s sons and possibly the more famous. He is also a strong leader but not so rash. His Corps is an attempt to represent the guerrilla tactics he used during his career fighting the Romans.
His Corps consists of 2 Divisions. The first Division consists of cavalry. Caratacus commands a Unit of 450 Noble quality javelin armed cavalry, some of which have light armour. They are supported by 500 Warrior quality light cavalry.
The second Division consists of Warrior quality troops fighting as foot skirmishers. 600 of these are javelin armed and the remaining 200 with sling. Corps 4 – Coastal (blue) Clan
The Coastal (blue) Clan is theoretically based near or along the Essex coast. Whilst part of the overall Trinovante tribe, its chieftain – Cartivelios – has a degree of independence but is still effectively subservient to Cunobeline.
Cartivelios is reasonably reliable but cautious. His Corps consists of 1 Division.
The Division contains all elements of the clan that will be mustered in times of war.
Cartivelios leads the clan with his 100 Nobles who fight as light cavalry. The main force of the clan is its warband which consists of 1,000 Warrior quality troops armed with light spears. There is a further Unit of 300 Warrior quality slingers and one of 100 Warrior quality light cavalry. Corps 5 – Canonium (green) Clan
This clan is supposedly based at Canonium (about 15 miles south of the main tribal centre). Again although part of the overall tribe, they do have some independence.
Their chieftain is Dumnovellanunos, who is cautious but a strong leader. His Corps consists of 1 Division.
The Division contains all elements of the clan that will be mustered in times of war.
Dumnovellanunos has 50 Nobles who are chariot borne. His warband consists of 1,000 Warrior quality troops armed with light spears. They are supported by 200 Warrior quality light cavalry and 150 Warrior quality slingers. This makes the Army 18,300 men strong and currently the third largest in my collection.
The Trinovantes have taken part in over 28 battles so far, making it one of the most used in my collection. However, the majority of these were in the early years when their army was small and they formed part of an alliance. They have a low success rate but whether this is due to their own characteristics or a result of their alliances is not clear.
Certainly, Cunobeline does struggle to get his unruly barbarians – including his sons – to follow his sometimes too complex plans. Depending on the terrain, Cunobeline’s preference is to hold in the centre with his warbands, whilst his sons try to compromise an enemy flank. His allied clans are typically used to either extend the other flank or split either side of his main warbands.
The Trinovante chieftains and nobles seem to have a very short life expectancy which appears to come with leading charges of unarmoured men. Certainly the lack of armour seems to mean that although their warbands are very resilient in terms of morale, they tend to lose men quite rapidly if melees drag on and leads to small remnants hanging around until the very end of most battles. Death and honour seem to outweigh running away.