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Post by colinthehittite on Nov 13, 2022 16:30:04 GMT
With a great venue and positioned well to attract players from all points of the compass, Tarrington Tourney has successfully morphed into the Cold Ash Clash. Well done, Diades. I won’t bore you all with my dice rolls story… it brings back painful memories of a Northern Cup.
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Nov 11, 2022 14:42:53 GMT
Haven't received an invitation to the coronation, so... I'm free!
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Nov 11, 2022 14:40:59 GMT
I'll bring 3 play mats.
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Oct 31, 2022 7:49:20 GMT
Not a great turnout at Fort Cumberland in sunny Southsea yesterday but a select few did battle in the final event of the English DBA League – still, it made it easier for us all to fit into the casemate. The arched tunnel room was an even stranger place to play as it had been decorated recently for a Halloween event with a near life size witch hanging above the entrance, forcing me, for one, to duck every time I went through.
What to take to an open tournament? Thought I would try one of Claudius’ favourites which he has successfully used at two recent competitions - Medieval Spanish IV/68e with a IV/61 ally – heavy metal exemplified. The Venetian ally gave me a littoral option which if used would give my opponents another thing to worry about.
The group stage gave us five games and although I played four against a variety of later armies my first game was against a player from the ‘early’ group with Palmyrans. Massed dunes and other bad going stuff came at me and I was forced to play in a corner. Low PIPS didn’t help but finally the Palmyrans arrived. One bow element did most of the damage as my elements were being caught without recoil room because of the lack of PIPS. I struggled on to a losing draw.
The next three games brought victories but a hard clash against a Free Company army with maximum knights just took a win. I finished the group stage one point above all others in my group which sent me into the semi-final. Here we chose from a fixed list of Hindu and Muslim elephant armies with the most successful player from the group stage having first choice. With Tamils I struggled with low PIPS against Rajputs and was heavily defeated. Winning the playoff for third and fourth place meant I ended well placed in the English DBA league – more from Bill soon, I hope. A day of fun, hard fought games.
After struggling out through the jammed eighteenth century forts twenty first century security gate in pitch black darkness I eventually drove home with an attractive little trophy, a chariot model pack that will nicely fill a gap in my collection and a plastic model which will be perfect for my Chimu army. One happy gamer!
Thanks to the PAWS team, the SoA and to Magister Militum who donated an army which went to the winner – more from Bill…
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Sept 24, 2022 19:50:29 GMT
Thanks to Simon for organising and running today - he is probably asleep now having had no sleep last night followed by organising today, playing and umpiring.
I enjoyed meeting some new opponents and in seeing Phil Steele back on the circuit.
Congratulations to Paddy - two tournament wins in a row now!
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Post by colinthehittite on Sept 11, 2022 6:21:19 GMT
It was good to see DBA being played at Colours at last - a much overdue addition. With more space and daylight than we are used to and an excellent show for wargamers, I hope we will be returning next year. You wouldn’t know it was Mark’s first tournament as organiser because all went very smoothly, with a fun theme and system that allowed show browsing. The perfect balance.
I was surprised to meet only one elephant in each of my four games and only one artillery piece. I also played against two pike armies - how often do we see these at tournaments nowadays? I hope to see a list of competing armies posted here at some point.
Two wins, a draw and a loss did not get me into the finals, so I left early with other commitments pressing and the finals just beginning. Results should appear soon…
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Post by colinthehittite on Aug 28, 2022 6:28:38 GMT
I’m not a regular HotT player and I didn’t give my opponents much of a challenge yesterday (2 wins and three loses) but what a joy to play with some of Pete’s beautiful fantasy armies. During the day I must have played with every type of HotT element, some for the first time and I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time grinning and chuckling during a tournament.
The matched pairs themes were ingenious; the selection and conversion of figures astonishing, the match of characters to HotT element types inspiring and some of the strongholds stunning. It was a well organised and brilliant spectacle with themes from literature, film, TV and historical events that showcased HotT at the highest level.
‘Allo ‘Allo is an old popular sitcom series in the UK about a French café owner during the German occupation of WWII. It still makes me laugh when I see repeats on TV and Pete’s army had me in hysterics – the British airmen disguised as nuns (lurkers)… lieutenant Gruber in his ‘little tank’ (behemoth)… Von Smallhausen the Gestapo officer and Helga his attractive assistant (sneaker).
In the 1980s UK politics pair, rioting miners as warband and flying pickets as flyers was hilarious. Remember ‘Gis a job’ an iconic phrase from 80s TV evoking memories of the pain of unemployment - this was plastered on a miners’ banner – riotous! My Arthur Scargill striking miners’ hero general was well and truly crushed by a police vehicle (behemoth), overlapped by mounted Police officers (knights) and with a door closed by some riot Police (blades) - pun intended. Much damage was also inflicted by a Norman Tebbit magician whilst a Margaret Thatcher hero directed from behind the line, firm faced and clutching her sturdy handbag. Listening to Pete describe how he made some of the strongholds was an education. Great stuff!
A fantastic feast of fantasy fun; fanks Pete.
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Jun 12, 2022 7:07:51 GMT
The new format works for me. With the armies on show today games were likely to be decided quite quickly but, on another occasion, with more terrain and more manoeuvre options, 50 minutes would be very welcome. 50 minutes means you do not have to take the hard hitting army to get a game decision and so a wider range of armies turn up for the competition. 50 minutes dramatically reduces the number of drawn games. And anything less than 5 games in an afternoon session isn’t worth putting the paint brush down for and struggling through the Portsmouth traffic. Who needs lunch when you can play DBA?
I took a Sea Peoples army; light chariot general and three Ax. Think I painted it a couple of lifetimes ago just before Covid hit and this tournament was cancelled, so it was good to give the army an outing. I expected it to do well against non-HCh armies but, of course, a line of HChs could burst right thought. So, I expected some good wins and some complete slaughters. However, where were the heavy chariots? Half the other players brought Sea Peoples! In my first group game (against Midianites – who were expecting HChs) I threw an embarrassing string of 6s and in the last (against Midianites) a disappointing string of 1s. In another game I managed to drag one HCh into a marsh when it pursued and then disposed of it – imagine the scene, very satisfying! In the final game I met Sea Peoples again and in such a situation it all rests on who gets the breakthrough first… and it was my turn for the luck.
Thanks to Bill and the PAWS team. It’s good to have you back in action – and what a fantastic setting for a wargames tournament! If you do not know it look up Fort Cumberland, a Victorian star fort. Playing one game outside was so atmospheric – we should do that more often. What about an ‘armies that fought in Portsmouth’ theme – Romans, Saxons… didn’t Henry V embark his army for France in 1415 from Portchester Castle? It was a huge army, encamped over a wide area, and they must have been constantly brawling!!
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Apr 28, 2022 12:49:19 GMT
GREAT story David - so atmospheric. Good to hear from you.
You might like to know that some of your unpainted figures donated at Tarrington went into a prize Bosporan army I painted for the Alton DBA tournament last year.
More war stories welcome. I hope you are amusing yourself and keeping well.
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Apr 26, 2022 13:57:45 GMT
Just remembered to order my pie - thanks for the prompt.
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Post by colinthehittite on Apr 24, 2022 16:09:01 GMT
How could I not be interested in such a theme... but still haven't updated my Hittites from version 2. Put me down for a place please.
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Post by colinthehittite on Apr 24, 2022 7:22:04 GMT
For this tournament, with a fixed army list and playing with my own army for half the games I chose IV/21c Anglo-Irish, with a hamlet, a wood and two difficult hills. The figures were recently painted and have never been to a competition, which was a driver for me; but the army offered a balanced force, not over strong and with good fast moving light elements.
A lot of terrain you say, well it served me well in several games: breaking up enemy attacks, ensnaring opponents and allowing me to pounce on unsuspecting elements from unlikely directions. My Irish bog hoppers, two Auxilia and Psiloi, covered a lot of ground and were the heroes of the day.
Interestingly, one of my games was against Anglo-Irish c. I deployed, badly, my opponent manoeuvred well; but when the crunch came, he couldn’t win the combats… his blade element twice failed to destroy my bow element. I always say, you need to play well, but you also need to be lucky.
The players enjoy Martin’s eccentric and esoteric, paper and pencil based system; none of these new-fangled compooter thingys here! His tried and tested method enables them to see everything; tournament specific rules, scores, player match-ups etc in the idle minutes before facing their next victim. One more perusal of the extensive prize table and they can be on to their next game. Six games in a day is possible with good planning and slick organisation. I say, forgo the continental extended lunch and give those players who have travelled a long way more reason to attend.
Thanks for a great day, Martin. I’ll miss this venue, it’s shocking increase in charges at the last minute has forced this move. Hopefully, in another place we can continue table-top battling in honour of the long history of Hampshire warfare.
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Post by colinthehittite on Apr 3, 2022 7:29:03 GMT
Very nice to visit “the sixth coolest town in Britain” although we did not see much of it apart from the gorgeously Victorian Gothic Bennet Centre. The heavy dark wood ceiling soars and the stone arched crypt is very atmospheric – a great setting for gaming. Perhaps next time we should wear pith helmets and toast the queen… to the sound of Zuluuuuuuuu!
I expected my Celtiberians to be steamrollered by the hordes of Parthians that turned up, but the only time I faced them all day I did the steamrollering (6G-1) – DBA!! My worst defeat came at the end when I seemed to develop a knack for throwing ones after a very promising start. So, I drove home with the winner and the runner up and more lead in the boot than we arrived with!
Thank you, Stephen for a great theme, venue and day of gaming. I look forward to returning to Zummerset. Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Mar 6, 2022 17:35:31 GMT
I would like to add my thanks to Paul and Tony for the huge amount of work that goes into a day like this and for the faultless management of the day. Nobody else on the UK circuit makes as much effort in producing a tournament, adding the production of armies and terrain to the already time consuming list of pre-tournament tasks. The system for running the day and the results management are deceptively simple and made very visible for all to see. Casual show observers must have been impressed – and their seemed to be even more visitors than usual.
And, for someone like me who enjoys the visual spectacle of wargaming it is such a joy to be able to handle their beautifully painted figures and terrain. I am only disappointed that my performance on the day did not do the spectacle justice with my usual poor placing but added, this year, with complete brain fog in the last game (sorry Tom). Oh, and having to play my travelling companion of nearly 200 miles in the first game was a dastardly cruel beginning!!
Colin
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Post by colinthehittite on Feb 13, 2022 13:01:36 GMT
Great venue, theme and organisation and everyone went home with a little something from the prize table.
Apart from a couple of Early Imperial Roman armies all were from book III and IV with nothing later than Feudal English; so, lots of cries of “SHIELD WALL!” I took III/40a Vikings with the berserker option. My terrain choices were: compulsory waterway, with a hamlet and two medium sized marshes. This combination was placed once by me and was reasonably useful and once by an opponent which caused me some deployment issues as all my elements were close formation foot.
My cunning warband plan worked against me in that I was expecting some horde elements which are quick killed by warband, but the only time my warband element attacked and killed a horde element was when I fought against my own army!
In my first game my III/40a Vikings fought against another III/40a Viking. This could easily have been a draw, but the game ended with much work for the Valkyries. In one game I played Feudal English and quickly sent my knights in against the fast blade Vikings – my general died on a draw and the rest of the knights were swiftly hacked down. In the next game, this time using my Vikings, I did the same to some Sarmatian ally knights. In fact, my Vikings were rarely troubled by any knight contact all day – the one element Vikings fear. I didn’t once make a useful littoral landing, but the fast blades enabled me to dance around in front of several opponents causing some satisfying mayhem. Slightly shorter game time in the morning was frustrating, but it was a great day of DBA against mainly skilled and experienced opponents. Thank you everyone, especially Pete (organiser).
Colin
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