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Post by Simon on Jun 16, 2018 20:13:23 GMT
Thanks to all who turned up today to make the Midland Open in Bakewell a great event. There were 28 players playing 84 games during the day. The winners were all gracious and the losers gallant! Arnaud walked away with the first prize of a Nikephorian Byzantine army kindly donated by Tin Soldier UK. Arnaud would also have won the prize for doing the best with a light army - ie total score divided by total combat factors of army. However, as you can't win both prizes this was passed to Craig Allen. I have out a photo of the packed hall on my blog at derwentgamer.wordpress.com/ I am sure others will have photos to share. The rankings were as follows: 1 Arnaud Marmier Tamil 2 Martin Smith Tamil 3 Tony Green Lydian3 Martin Myers New Kingdom Egyptian5 Scott Russell Late Tang6 Craig Allen Ariarathid Kappadokian 6 Phil Johnson Palmyran8 Colin O'Shea Zanj Revoly9 Paul Murgatroyd Hindu Indian9 Tamara Fordham Italian Condotta11 Phil Steele Timurid12 Richard Pulley Palmyran12 Patrick Myers Lydian14 Graham Fordham Early Achaemenid Persian14 Mark Skelton Wu16 Keith Murphy Italiot17 Tim Kohl er Late Achaemenid Persian 18 Philip Donald Late Roman18 Keith Brown Mongol Conquest20 Simon Wilson Early Polish21 Reese Bettison Later Carthagenian22 Baldie Storey Ancient British23 Dale Needham Norman24 Tim Rogers Alexandrian Macedonian25 Rob Rush Hatra25 Nick Wright-Carter Post-Monol samurai27 Tris Gale Marian Roman28 Andy Wheeldon Norman
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Post by martin on Jun 17, 2018 8:43:19 GMT
Thanks for a grand day out, Simo.
It’s a long way to (Tipperary/) Bakewell, but was worth the drive! Excellent turnout, great to see so many new (to me) faces from the frozen north, and six crackin’ games (seven if I include vs Tim pre-tournament...his second EVER game of DBA! Brave man.....and he did ok, too). All my games were fun and challenging. The losses felt winable, the wins felt extremely lose-able (if that word exists). Good atmosphere, and general ‘feel’ to the day.
Congrats to Arnaud for his convincing win 👍. Comgrats also to Philip Donald and Colin O’Shea who both demonstrated how to slaughter my elephants 🙈🙈🙈 🐘 ⚔️ 🐘 ⚔️ 🐘
Many thanks to you, Simon, for a very well run tournament, and to DC for assisting with the admin.
Cheers all
Martin
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Post by scottrussell on Jun 17, 2018 14:35:05 GMT
Martin,
An extraordinary last round game. If the last throw has gone the other way we would have entered another bound with my six remaining elements against seven of yours (less a general). Not sure how many elements would have been left on the table at the end. Still, good for the point count I suppose!
Scott
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Post by martin on Jun 17, 2018 16:45:06 GMT
Heart-stopping game, I thought, Scott. The WHOLE game hinged on that El(g) vs supported 4Kn clash at the end.......DBA at its best. My dice were very kind (or cruel, from your perspective, I guess).
***Photo album now on Yahooooooooooooo. Please add if you can.***
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Post by arnopov on Jun 17, 2018 20:35:49 GMT
Thanks Simon, as usual, a very very well run tournament. Great atmosphere too, and it was so nice to meet some fanaticii from up north (I really enjoyed hearing Baldie's ManOWar (mis?)adventures) Thanks also to the sponsor, Tin Soldiers: the Nike Byzantine army is pretty sweet, and timed to perfection for Britcon in August. My die were really hot, and my opponents' very poor. In 12 years of DBA, I can't recall such consistent luck on a day. On top of that, the match-ups were always very favourable, so I think that was the last outing for the Tamil grand circus: it often must be a horrendous army to face. Oh, and I liked the new scoring sytem, motivating enough.
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Post by paulisper on Jun 17, 2018 20:47:34 GMT
My die were really hot, and my opponents' very poor. In 12 years of DBA, I can't recall such consistent luck on a day. On top of that, the match-ups were always very favourable, so I think that was the last outing for the Tamil grand circus: it often must be a horrendous army to face. So, you not only loaded the army, but you also loaded the dice...you really are a cunning Frenchman, my friend P.
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Post by martin on Jun 17, 2018 21:22:10 GMT
Well done, Simon....28 players at this one!
Six excellent games of DBA v3 at the Midland Open (plus a pre-tournament warm up vs Tim Rogers, who was playing his second ever game of DBA before launching straight into the event...a brave, but also a very capable player).
For those of us in the south of England the distance to Bakewell makes this a two + day trip. With that in mind I decided to go for a tough, heavyweight army in the hope of some good results (rather than the tongue in cheek dodgy choices I sometimes run out as a challenge). I went for Tamil Indian, with a balanced and flexible mix of elephants, swordsmen and archers (II/42b in the lists). They had been good under v2.2 of the rules, and now I had the chance to test them out in v3. First two games were set up against players one rarely meets, so first was a guy from Cheshire and then a familiar face from the Coventry Scimitars. Thereafter it was 'Swiss Chess'.
1) v Keith Murphy , using Italiot Later Hoplite Greeks (spearmen, light and heavy horse). Invading, I found the sea on my right flank and a wood on my left. Tamil swordsmen blocked the beach, and were assailed by a landing by three Hoplite elements. This got messy and protracted, dragging on until the main Greek line, advancing along the coastal plain, hit mine, while a cavalry outflanking move around the wood was simultaneously seen off by Indian archers and warband. After a stiff fight, a 4-0 win to the Tamils.
2) v Philip Donald, using Late Imperial Romans (East), a heady mix of legionaries, cataphracts, Auxilia Palatina and Equites. We invaded, on a relatively featureless plain. Touch and go from the start, the right flank Tamil bowmen traded blows with Roman cavalry, while on the left a running fight developed between more Roman cavalry under the C-in-C and the Tamil cavalry, swordsmen and skirmishers. The crunch came in the centre where my Elephants successfully drove in the Roman foot but then pursued to exposed positions, whereupon they were despatched by Roman auxilia, psiloi and light horse, my general perishing with them (a 3-5 loss, but a tight, tight game).
3) v Phil Johnson's Palmyrans, I defended . A fort guarded my left and a gully my centre-right, while a wood sat in the Palmyran rear centre. Phil's nomadic Arab ally moved towards my extreme right, at which my right flank troops retreated behind the gully, out of reach of his camels and horsemen. On the left and centre the elephants, with swordsmen in support, engaged the Palmyran archers, successfully steamrollering their Palmyran opponents for a 5-0 win.
4) Invading Persia, I now faced Graham Fordham's Early Achaemenids. On the first bound the whole Tamil line set off, and were met with a hail of arrows from Immortals and Sparabara, one elephant vaporising on the spot (dice roll 1-6.....). Graham counterattacked my right with levies and cavalry, and a messy struggle ensued, with quite a few Tamil losses. Meanwhile my left and centre continued into contact, and managed to destroy enough of Graham's infantry to clinch a win (5-3), before the Achaemenid counterattack could work its magic.
5) I now defended against Colin O'Shea's Revolting Zanj force, deployed between enclosed fields and a village. The Zanj stood firm to receive the Tamil advance, then sent stone throwing youths (psiloi) to draw the elephants on. A few Zanj archers fell to Tamil blades in the village on my right, but in the centre my elephants were surrounded and slaughtered, a 3+general to 2 loss.
6) Last game, and I invaded Scott Russell's T'ang China. Scott had allied Tibetan cataphracts to assist him, and a very useful mix of native Chinese troops, too. The Chinese crossbowmen in a village to my front attracted the attention of a detachment of Tamil swordsmen, but most of the action took place just right of that. T'ang pikemen and swordsmen traded blows with Tamil swordsmen while the elephants pressed forward, to be countered by skirmishers and Tibetans. Recoiling elephantry despatched one element of my own archers, foolishly close to the recoil area of the nellies. The Tamil elephant general did better, and pursued, which led him into contact with a group of skirmishers and cataphracts, which he then (per the rules) lined up with. This produced a crucial situation in which the general's elephants could either win, and destroy the Tibetans to their front, or lose, recoil and destroy not just themselves but the Tamil elephants now just to their rear, too. The game hung on that one dice throw, but fortune favoured the Tamils, who crushed the cataphract unit to its front, leading to a 6-3 win.......a supremely close game, despite the apparent difference in scores.
Great day out, and a very well run event.
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Post by arnopov on Jun 17, 2018 21:48:34 GMT
My die were really hot, and my opponents' very poor. In 12 years of DBA, I can't recall such consistent luck on a day. On top of that, the match-ups were always very favourable, so I think that was the last outing for the Tamil grand circus: it often must be a horrendous army to face. So, you not only loaded the army, but you also loaded the dice...you really are a cunning Frenchman, my friend Well, it would have to be a dozen of loaded die, as I like to cycle through precisely to avoid the risk of dodgy dices and suspicion. I have a little yellow dice that I fear a bit, as it has often been at the wrong end of a poorly timed 6-1, but yesterday even it was spectacular. My collection is quite eclectic, and a ramshackle lot compared to your own ultra-stylish alternating two tone die (white and purple, or where these C. Gothicus'?). Super pretty, in keeping with your army board and terrain. Really inspirational (and I'm not being sarcastic)
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Post by peteduckworth on Jun 18, 2018 7:32:05 GMT
Well done, Simon.... Great day out, and a very well run event. Thanks for the beautifully detailed game reports. Almost like being there...
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Post by martin on Jun 18, 2018 8:07:47 GMT
You were missed, Pete. Saw Tony Green from the Scimitars....was doing well (and came 3rd).
Where will we run into you next?
M
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Post by paulisper on Jun 18, 2018 11:22:52 GMT
[quote author=" arnopov" [/quote]My collection is quite eclectic, and a ramshackle lot compared to your own ultra-stylish alternating two tone die (white and purple, or where these C. Gothicus'?). Super pretty, in keeping with your army board and terrain. Really inspirational (and I'm not being sarcastic) [/quote] Alternating yellow and blue, my friend... Glad you liked the board and terrain - pretty proud of it too, I have to say 😄
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timr
Munifex
Posts: 33
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Post by timr on Jun 18, 2018 13:45:03 GMT
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome to the fold, thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thanks for the kind words Martin, I wonder how long it’ll be before you see how capable I actually am . regards Tim
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Post by paulisper on Jun 18, 2018 16:13:25 GMT
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Post by colinthehittite on Jun 19, 2018 11:38:11 GMT
Thanks for an excellent day of table top mayhem, Simon, in the perfect setting of a drama studio. At 28 the number of entrants is probably a world record. Half my games were against people I had not played before, which is always a pleasure. Well done Tim for entering even though you had never played a game of DBA and for gaining two wins.
The frustration of a first game draw faded for me as victories followed until I met Arnaud in the final game. He only needed to engage one of his five elephants in combat to easily sweep away my disjointed line. Another win and a glorious tournament victory for Arnaud's elephant horde.
I'm very glad I made it to Bakewell this year and it is good to know there are so many DBA enthusiasts in this part of the country.I hope to play against more of you at Britcon in August.
Colin
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Post by Simon on Jun 20, 2018 7:23:38 GMT
Thanks Simon, as usual, a very very well run tournament. Great atmosphere too, and it was so nice to meet some fanaticii from up north (I really enjoyed hearing Baldie's ManOWar (mis?)adventures) Thanks also to the sponsor, Tin Soldiers: the Nike Byzantine army is pretty sweet, and timed to perfection for Britcon in August. My die were really hot, and my opponents' very poor. In 12 years of DBA, I can't recall such consistent luck on a day. On top of that, the match-ups were always very favourable, so I think that was the last outing for the Tamil grand circus: it often must be a horrendous army to face. Oh, and I liked the new scoring sytem, motivating enough. Arnaud, I am glad you like the Tin Soldier Byzantines that you won. I look forward to seeing them painted on the gaming tables! I am tempted to buy that same army for myself. Regards, Simon
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