FOG book : Rise of Rome
Pronunciation - well-it-ease (apparently!)
Description
Velites (singular: veles) were a class of infantry in the Polybian legions of the early Roman republic. Velites were light infantry and skirmishers who were armed with a number of light javelins, or hastae velitares, to fling at the enemy, and also carried short thrusting swords, or gladii for use in melee. They rarely wore armour, as they were the youngest and poorest soldiers in the legion and could not afford much equipment. They did carry small wooden shields for protection though, and wore a headdress made from wolf skin to allow officers to differentiate between them and other heavier legionaries.
Velites did not form their own units; a number of them were attached to each maniple of hastati, principes and triarii. They were typically used as a screening force, driving off enemy skirmishers and disrupting enemy formations with javelin fire before retiring behind the lines to allow the heavier armed hastati to attack. They were normally the ones who engaged war elephants and chariots if they were present on the field; their high mobility and ranged weaponry made them much more effective against these enemies than heavy infantry. An early Roman legion contained approximately 1,000 velites. Velites were eventually done away with after the Marian reforms.
Organisation and armament
Velites were the youngest and usually the poorest soldiers in the legion, and could rarely afford much equipment. They were armed with hastae velitares, light javelins with tips designed to bend on impact to prevent it being thrown back, similar to the heavier pila of other legionaries. As a backup weapons, they also carried gladii, relatively short thrusting swords 74 centimetres (29 inches) in length that were the main weapons of the hastati and principes. They fought in a very loose, staggered formation like most irregular troops and carried small round shields, 90 cm (3 feet) in diameter.
In the legion, the velites were attached to each maniple of hastati, principes and triarii. They usually formed up at the front of the legion before battle to harass the enemy with javelin fire and to prevent the enemy doing the same before retiring behind the lines to allow the heavier infantry to attack. In a pitched battle, the velites would form up at the front of the legion and harass the enemy with javelin fire and cover the advance of the hastati, who were armed with swords, and were the first line of attack. If the hastati failed to break the enemy, they would fall back and let the principes, similarly equipped though more experienced infantry, take over. If the principes failed, they would retire behind the triarii, heavily armoured, spear armed legionaries and let them carry on.
History
Velites were descended from an earlier class of light infantry, leves, dating from the Camillan legion of the 5th century BC, who had a very similar role to the velites. They were also the poorer and younger soldiers in the legion, though the rorarii and accensi classes were considerably poorer and were eventually done away with, having insufficient equipment to be effective soldiers. Leves were likewise armed with a number of javelins, but carried a spear rather than a sword. Like the velites, leves did not have their own units, but were attached to units of hastati.
Velites were first used at the siege of Capua in 211 BC, and were made up of citizens who would normally be too poor to join the hastati but where called up due a shortage of manpower. They were trained to ride on horseback with the Equites and jump down at a given signal to fling javelins at the enemy. After the siege, they were adopted into the legions as a force of irregular light infantry for ambushing and harassing the enemy with javelins before the battle began in earnest.
With the formal military reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC, designed to combat a shortage of manpower due to wars against Jugurtha, the different classes of units were done away with entirely. The wealth and age requirements were scrapped. Now soldiers would join as a career, rather than as service to the city, and would all be equipped as medium infantry with the same, state purchased equipment. Auxilliae, local irregular troops would now be used to fulfill other roles such as archery, skirmishing and flanking
Use in FOG
Velites are the standard skirmishing troops of the Mid-Republican Army. They are Light Foot, Unprotected, Average, Drilled. They are armed with Javelins (2MU range) and Light Spear.
4-8 bases per BG. 1 base per 2 Hastati / Principes on the field.
Velites can be upgraded to Protected for 1pt per base. This is recommended as it gives them an edge in melee when combatting other skirmishers (their principle role).
Velites should be used primarily for engaging other skirmish units. Their main problem is that they usually consist of a small number of bases (4) compared to their typical opponents (6-8). The way around this is to band your velites BG's together.
If they are Protected they can get +POA against most skirmish units - being armed with the light spear gives them an additional bonus in Impact.
Movement
They move at 5MU and are less encumbered in difiicult terrain than heavy troops (and so can be used to lure troops into a nasty piece of turf then skip away leaving the unit 'bogged down' - especially useful against 'shock troops').
This mobility - allied with the Drilled training - allows you to move them in all directions quickly and effectively.
Shooting
Velites are effective against elephants (where they get a + in shooting)
They are also effective against unarmoured cavalry where they get a ++ and against Protected cavalry where they get a +.
They also get a + against unprotected medium or heavy foot.
Their movement rate of 5MU's gives them a great opportunity to strike at medium and heavy infantry - run away then turn and strike again (presuming no other opposing troops can interfere, of course). But shooting at a - against armoured foot makes this a less effective option.
Impact / Melee
If Protected (and in numbers) velites have significant advantages over most skirmish troops. They will get a + against most skirmishers except those similarly armed in the Impact pahse, but by being Protected they also get a + against units such as Gallic javelinmen, Numidian javelinmen, Balearic slingers etc. in the Melee phase.
Being armed with a light spear makes them useful in the Impact phase with a + against most skirmish units
They are one of the few units that do not suffer a -POA when fighting elephants (although they do lose 1 dice in 2 in close combat, getting sufficient numbers around isolated elephants can negate this). They can certainly hold elephants up if the need arises - by shooting and then closing in on the flanks and rear for ++ POA.
As with most Light foot they fight at half-dice against most troops and so should avoid direct combat UNLESS they have the opportunity to attack a Fragmented enemy or if they have the opportunity to engage the flank or rear of an enemy already engaged in combat.