"...As Winter's snows and cold rains blew across the Mediterranean, most warriors gathered around the fire raising cups of mead rather than spears. Of the barbarian kingdoms, only the Vandals had more than one army on the march. Pitted against the might of the Byzantine Empire, and at war with the Ostrogoths, Winter brought no drowsy slumber. Marshaling their hosts, they marched on Rome and in North Africa. In the East, the Byzantines took advantage of the cooler weather to attack the Persian capital. Far to the north, another Byzantine army forded the semi-frozen Volga and made war on the Slavs. Meanwhile, the Slavs themselves sent columns of tribesmen beneath the snow-decked pines into the lands of the Thuringi. Horses steamed in the chill air of the hills of Central Europe as the Lombards and Gepids continued their war. And as bitter rains swept in from the Atlantic, the Franks kept up their struggle for survival against the Visigoths..."
"Young Hero Out duels Veteran"
Perhaps it was Italy's milder weather, but armies were on the move rather than in Winter quarters in the peninsula. The young, Vandal hero Ammatas maneuvered back and forth against the old veteran, Theodoric the Ostrogoth. He slipped past the Ostrogothic scouts and seized the road to Rome. Theodoric was forced to backtrack to protect his capital. When he finally brought Ammatas to battle, the veteran was once again outwitted by his younger foe. Theodoric himself was wounded as the Vandal troopers drove his Ostrogoths from the field. His bodyguard carried him to safety. Rome found itself besieged as Winter's lean times set in, but she endured stoically.
"Aged, but no Infirm"
With Narses' Byzantine army in disarray, the Vandal warlord Gelimer insisted the time to strike was now. Autumn had seen the old eunuch suffer an embarrassing defeat. The Byzantine soldiers HAD to be demoralized. So, Gelimer persuaded his lords, and the army rode south into Tripolitania. The Byzantines were ready, though, with a wall of spearmen in the center and cavalry on the wings. Gelimer's troopers hammered away, but could find no chink in the Byzantine armor. Eventually, Vandal losses forced Gelimer to order a grudging withdrawal. Tripolitania would remain in Byzantine hands awhile longer, it seemed.
"A Bid For Glory"
Although his family had warred against the Persians for generations, General Bessas knew the court at Constantinople saw him as an Armenian, a foreigner. However, he mused, if he captured Ctesiphon, the Persian capital, who knows what heights he might attain? The Winter's coolness would make the march across Mesopotamia's oven more bearable for his soldiers, too. So, he ordered the Byzantine army out of Armenia into the Mesopotamian plains. The Persian general, Nabedes, did not calmly await the onslaught though. Instead, he launched a fierce assault. The battle raged back and forth along swampy river banks, but eventually Bessas knew his army had suffered too much. If he did not withdraw, they could be annihilated. Glory and promotion would have to wait for another year, he sighed.
"No Icy Barrier"
Another Byzantine army toiled against the elements, but this was far to the north, against cold -- not heat. General Diogenes drove his men hard as they struggled to cross the icy Volga river. Once safely across, he gave them a few days rest, before they marched on into the snowy plains. He knew he'd given the Slavic warlord Moravus plenty of time to roust his tribesmen from their scattered villages, but this was how Diogenes wanted it. One battle for control of the province, not endless skirmishes throughout the Winter. Perhaps the Slavs never recovered from the shock of the Byzantine attack, because Diogenes' men quickly routed them. As the beaten Slavic warriors streamed west towards the Dneister Forests, Diogenes sent detachments to chase them and also to bring the villages under his control.
"No Sleeping Foe"
As snow weighed down the branches of the Raetian pine forests, the Slavic chieftain Santilaus had his warriors on the march. He'd been eying the lands of the Thuringi for quite awhile, and now, he figured, would be a good time to seize them. Their warriors were doubtless dozing around warm fires. The aged Thuringi king, Hermenefridas, was no fool, though. He'd seen Saxon and Bavarian lands trampled by the Slavic migration. His scouts' eyes were open and his army ready for Santilaus' Winter visit. When the Slavs advanced upon his army, their wings sweeping wide to envelop his shorter, denser line, he countercharged. With his royal guard in the middle, they drove through the Slavic battleline like a spear in the midriff. Santilaus' center collapsed before his wings could fully close. Smarting from a rare defeat, the chieftain withdrew his warriors back across the border, cursing.
"Gepid Gamble"
The Lombard warlord Ildigisal felt the Gepid kingdom weakening. They had lost two provinces last season. Rather than give them the Winter to recover, he forbade his men to return home, leading them instead into the Dardanian Hills. Both sides were traditionally excellent scouts -- the difference in this meeting was the Gepids were on their home territory. The Gepid warleader Thorisin was able to watch Ildigisal deploy for battle. He noticed his foot warriors were stretched thin on their left. He also knew somewhere in the hills was a force of Lombard archers and cavalry waiting to fall upon one flank or the other. He gambled that he could crush their infantry before the flanking force arrived. Massing his cavalry to outflank and overwhelm the Lombard foot warriors, he fell upon them like a rock slide. Thorisin's own skirmishers and infantry hung back in the center, watching for the flank force. Thorisin's gamble paid off as they finally arrived -- on the opposite flank. By the time they'd hurried to the battle, it was over. He had ridden down their infantry and routed their horsemen from the field.
"Frankish Effort Not Enough"
The Frankish warlord Clovis steamed as his men marched into the freezing rain blowing in from the Atlantic. Damn the Visigothic confidence! He'd found no army massed on the border of the lone Frankish province, ready to stamp it out. Obviously, they felt they could wait till Spring and finish the Franks off at their leisure! Clovis vowed to make them pay. As his army swept into Lugdunensis, burning stockpiles and scattering isolated troops of Visigoths, his men's spirits warmed. When the Visigoth Vortigeric finally assembled a force to meet Clovis' men, the battle raged on all day. Clovis watched the Visigoth cavalry split out onto the wings to try their customary envelopment. Although the wings never closed, Clovis felt his army being driven back. Eventually, he had to break off the battle to preserve his kingdom's lone army. He could not risk it all -- Frankish warriors were so few and the enemy so many. The Visigoths retained control of Lugdunensis, and returned to Winter quarters.