Post by martin on Dec 22, 2018 21:24:56 GMT
Seven games of DBA v3 on the eve of the Winter Solstice.
The theme was originally ‘armies which could have fought in the snow’, but then changed to ‘winter vs summer’. I had packed nine ‘winter’ options, so stuck with those, and got to use seven different ones (unused were III/40a Viking early raiders and III/62a Northern Sung Chinese).
1. Using Medieval Danish v Richard Pulley’s Early Russians on Russian home turf. A wood on my centre right was squabbled over by my swordsmen (3Bd) and opposing Russian light troops, but little transpired. To the left, a mixed spearmen and heavy cavalry assault on my main spear line was warded off, and then the Danish knights joined the counter attack for a 4-1 win.
2. A rather random encounter now, as my Picts defended against an invasion by Tamils, led by Colin O’Shea. The sea on my right, plus scattered coastal woods and a village, forced most of the fighting towards my left. One enemy elephant was downed by brave Pictish spearmen, as was a Tamil swordsmen unit, but things went awry on the left flank where the Pictish light chariots, the general among them, were despatched, and overzealous Pictish spearmen pursued too far and became surrounded, ending in a 2-5g loss.
3. Norse Leidang now, and I defended against Mark Skelton’s Early Polish. Some Norse axemen (4Bd) and thralls (7Hd) landed in the morning mist behind the Polish left flank, keeping Mark’s spearmen busy for most of the game. The Polish nobility crashed into the main Norse shieldwall in the centre with mixed results, while the Norse general led his knights up the coast road to assist the landers, tipping the balance against the Poles for a 4-2 win.
4. Richard’s Medieval Germans now defended against my time warping Thracians, who invaded a decidedly flat and featureless north German plain. A rapid advance on my right saw Thracian light horse take down a pair of German knightly elements, but then somewhat inevitably the hammer struck home, as the German nobles crashed through the exposed and lightly equipped Thracian foot for a 2-4 loss.
5. I now led Attila’s Huns against Colin’s Later Muslim Indians. The plan was to delay on my right with Hunnic light horse, and for my Gothic, Rugian and suchlike warband foot to close upon the Indian archers opposite, but high initiative rolls by the Indians saw their cavalry manoeuvre across the face of the army to fall upon the subject infantry. The enemy elephantry joined in, squishing horse-archers who were attempting to shoot them down, while the subject foot put up minimal resistance against the Indian horse, resulting in a 1-4 loss.
6. Crossing time and space, I now teleported with a (freshly painted Lancashire Games) Early German army into southeastern China, to confront Mark’s Wu (woo hoo). My noble cavalry deployed obliquely to face an expected enemy landing from the coast on my left, while the German foot warriors formed dense columns, hemmed in by woods on the right and friendly horse on the left. The Wu heavy chariotry landed away from my cavalry but then moved quickly across to ram into the dense Germanic columns of foot, while Chinese archers and pikemen advanced in support. The effect of the chariot charge was devastating, like a combine harvester through the close packed German ranks, the chariots driving deeper and deeper into the throng. However, the Chinese pursued too far, and a counterattack by German cavalry not only stopped the chariots (just in time) but also caught some archers unprepared, resulting in a VERY close 4g-4 victory. Heart pounding stuff...
7. Finally, in a Macbeth reenactment, Richard’s Anglo-Danish invaded my Pre-Feudal Scots, who called in an allied contingent of Vikings to assist. The Viking longboats landed near the Huscarls forming the English right, and the emerging sea-warriors set about them forthwith. Scots spearmen (3Pk), Galwegians (3Wb) and my cavalry general moved quickly forward to join the fray, the Great Fyrd (2 x 7Hd), tasked with defending the English left, falling faster than expected to this Scottish charge. However, the Viking ally was fended off far too easily by the Huscarls, and the Galwegians died in droves on Siward’s shieldwall, while an exposed Scots pike block was surrounded and crushed, leaving me with a 2 (+ 2 x 7Hd) to 4 defeat.
A fun day, with a great deal of variety, some challenging games, three wins and four losses, and all very entertaining.
The theme was originally ‘armies which could have fought in the snow’, but then changed to ‘winter vs summer’. I had packed nine ‘winter’ options, so stuck with those, and got to use seven different ones (unused were III/40a Viking early raiders and III/62a Northern Sung Chinese).
1. Using Medieval Danish v Richard Pulley’s Early Russians on Russian home turf. A wood on my centre right was squabbled over by my swordsmen (3Bd) and opposing Russian light troops, but little transpired. To the left, a mixed spearmen and heavy cavalry assault on my main spear line was warded off, and then the Danish knights joined the counter attack for a 4-1 win.
2. A rather random encounter now, as my Picts defended against an invasion by Tamils, led by Colin O’Shea. The sea on my right, plus scattered coastal woods and a village, forced most of the fighting towards my left. One enemy elephant was downed by brave Pictish spearmen, as was a Tamil swordsmen unit, but things went awry on the left flank where the Pictish light chariots, the general among them, were despatched, and overzealous Pictish spearmen pursued too far and became surrounded, ending in a 2-5g loss.
3. Norse Leidang now, and I defended against Mark Skelton’s Early Polish. Some Norse axemen (4Bd) and thralls (7Hd) landed in the morning mist behind the Polish left flank, keeping Mark’s spearmen busy for most of the game. The Polish nobility crashed into the main Norse shieldwall in the centre with mixed results, while the Norse general led his knights up the coast road to assist the landers, tipping the balance against the Poles for a 4-2 win.
4. Richard’s Medieval Germans now defended against my time warping Thracians, who invaded a decidedly flat and featureless north German plain. A rapid advance on my right saw Thracian light horse take down a pair of German knightly elements, but then somewhat inevitably the hammer struck home, as the German nobles crashed through the exposed and lightly equipped Thracian foot for a 2-4 loss.
5. I now led Attila’s Huns against Colin’s Later Muslim Indians. The plan was to delay on my right with Hunnic light horse, and for my Gothic, Rugian and suchlike warband foot to close upon the Indian archers opposite, but high initiative rolls by the Indians saw their cavalry manoeuvre across the face of the army to fall upon the subject infantry. The enemy elephantry joined in, squishing horse-archers who were attempting to shoot them down, while the subject foot put up minimal resistance against the Indian horse, resulting in a 1-4 loss.
6. Crossing time and space, I now teleported with a (freshly painted Lancashire Games) Early German army into southeastern China, to confront Mark’s Wu (woo hoo). My noble cavalry deployed obliquely to face an expected enemy landing from the coast on my left, while the German foot warriors formed dense columns, hemmed in by woods on the right and friendly horse on the left. The Wu heavy chariotry landed away from my cavalry but then moved quickly across to ram into the dense Germanic columns of foot, while Chinese archers and pikemen advanced in support. The effect of the chariot charge was devastating, like a combine harvester through the close packed German ranks, the chariots driving deeper and deeper into the throng. However, the Chinese pursued too far, and a counterattack by German cavalry not only stopped the chariots (just in time) but also caught some archers unprepared, resulting in a VERY close 4g-4 victory. Heart pounding stuff...
7. Finally, in a Macbeth reenactment, Richard’s Anglo-Danish invaded my Pre-Feudal Scots, who called in an allied contingent of Vikings to assist. The Viking longboats landed near the Huscarls forming the English right, and the emerging sea-warriors set about them forthwith. Scots spearmen (3Pk), Galwegians (3Wb) and my cavalry general moved quickly forward to join the fray, the Great Fyrd (2 x 7Hd), tasked with defending the English left, falling faster than expected to this Scottish charge. However, the Viking ally was fended off far too easily by the Huscarls, and the Galwegians died in droves on Siward’s shieldwall, while an exposed Scots pike block was surrounded and crushed, leaving me with a 2 (+ 2 x 7Hd) to 4 defeat.
A fun day, with a great deal of variety, some challenging games, three wins and four losses, and all very entertaining.