I think it would be more prudent, at least on the first day, to adopt a more defensive posture. Have outriders and scouts harry the enemy and draw them in, where we can bang them up against our defenses and clamp down with some spirited cavalry maneuvers. Of course, assuming that Alaric is as able a tactician as we've heard, it's doubtful that this'd have any real effect; rather, we both need to send out feelers and see what the other is capable of. He'll be expecting a strong defense and deep entrenchment, which will make any aggressive moves we take all the more surprising. However, at least until we know the full extent of what we're up against, I don't think that sallying forth would be the wisest thing to do. It's not like on the first day much is going to get done anyway.