Post by kaiphranos on Nov 29, 2020 4:01:35 GMT
Got together with a couple of friends from college today for a virtual paint-and-play day. We ended up playing three rounds of DBA using some of the Bronze Age armies I have been working on this year. The two of them had played HotT before, but this was their first time playing DBA. Since I was the one with all the figures, I set up the board, arranged things so that they'd be visible over webcam, and moved the figures around as directed. (This was my first time trying Discord for this - I've used Google Hangouts in the past. Discord seemed to provide better image quality, but we had some issues with audio dropping out.)
For the first game, my two friends faced off, and I refereed. The armies picked were the I/22b New Kingdom Egyptians and the I/28 Sea Peoples. The result was a 4-3 win for the Egyptians that saw both sides sack each other's camps! The Sea Peoples had some initial success in the center, where their Heavy Chariot general punched through the Egyptian line (and went on from there to sack the camp), but it then devolved into a shoving match between two lines of Blades. Meanwhile, on the right flank, the Egyptians sent their chariots around to get at the Sea Peoples' camp. The Sea Peoples attempted to ambush them with some fast Blades popping out of the woods, but this backfired rather badly, and both the Blades were destroyed. The Egyptian chariots carried on for a game-winning sack. After that, the Egyptian player decided to rest on his laurels and get a bit more painting done, but my other friend and I set up for another round.
This time my friend wanted to try something with Bows, so I set him up with the I/22a version of the New Kingdom Egyptians, while I decided to try out my newest army, I/6a Early Bedouin. I was expecting to be the underdog, but I managed to pull out a 4-3 victory. He lined up a pair of chariots on his right flank, solid Bows in the center facing across a marsh, a solid Blade, Psiloi, and then more chariots, with his remaining fast Blades kept in reserve. I managed to line up fast Auxilia vs his chariots, Psiloi across the marsh from his Bows, and my Warband general across from his Blade. I had my own Bows in a patch of woods on my right flank. I started off bringing these forward to try to get a shot at his chariots, but these retired and he brought up his fast Blades instead, which went badly for my archers. However, I had better luck in the center, where I was able to rush across the marsh with my Psiloi led by my general, who broke the opposing Blades on the first attack. Some lucky rolls let my light troops in the center hold their own, while I brought up my Auxilia against his chariots on my left. With some careful timing of overlaps I was able to take down his general to clinch a win.
We had time for one more, so my friend morphed the I/6a into I/6c Early Aramaean (to try out the camel) while I pulled out I/20b Syro-Canaanites. I set up most of my troops in a line with Psiloi on my left facing some woods, Auxilia and solid Hordes in the center, my single unit of fast Blades, two chariots on my right flank, and two more in reserve. My friend's line was a mix of Psiloi and Auxilia, with his Warband general anchoring his left flank on a difficult hill, and his Camelry initially in reserve. Unfortunately for me, my line extended through some ploughed fields, and these turned to rough going when I rolled a 1 on the first bound. Despite some successes here and there, I was not able to break through his line, and his Psiloi in particular did some yeoman work in holding off my Hordes. My fast Blades pursued some more Psiloi up onto the difficult hill, where they were cut off and surrounded. My attempt to plug a gap with my general also went badly, and he got some revenge for the previous game by killing my general to finish up a 5-1 win. (Alas, the camel saw no action.)
A good time was had by all, so perhaps we will find time to do it again - maybe once I finish the next army I have in progress...
For the first game, my two friends faced off, and I refereed. The armies picked were the I/22b New Kingdom Egyptians and the I/28 Sea Peoples. The result was a 4-3 win for the Egyptians that saw both sides sack each other's camps! The Sea Peoples had some initial success in the center, where their Heavy Chariot general punched through the Egyptian line (and went on from there to sack the camp), but it then devolved into a shoving match between two lines of Blades. Meanwhile, on the right flank, the Egyptians sent their chariots around to get at the Sea Peoples' camp. The Sea Peoples attempted to ambush them with some fast Blades popping out of the woods, but this backfired rather badly, and both the Blades were destroyed. The Egyptian chariots carried on for a game-winning sack. After that, the Egyptian player decided to rest on his laurels and get a bit more painting done, but my other friend and I set up for another round.
This time my friend wanted to try something with Bows, so I set him up with the I/22a version of the New Kingdom Egyptians, while I decided to try out my newest army, I/6a Early Bedouin. I was expecting to be the underdog, but I managed to pull out a 4-3 victory. He lined up a pair of chariots on his right flank, solid Bows in the center facing across a marsh, a solid Blade, Psiloi, and then more chariots, with his remaining fast Blades kept in reserve. I managed to line up fast Auxilia vs his chariots, Psiloi across the marsh from his Bows, and my Warband general across from his Blade. I had my own Bows in a patch of woods on my right flank. I started off bringing these forward to try to get a shot at his chariots, but these retired and he brought up his fast Blades instead, which went badly for my archers. However, I had better luck in the center, where I was able to rush across the marsh with my Psiloi led by my general, who broke the opposing Blades on the first attack. Some lucky rolls let my light troops in the center hold their own, while I brought up my Auxilia against his chariots on my left. With some careful timing of overlaps I was able to take down his general to clinch a win.
We had time for one more, so my friend morphed the I/6a into I/6c Early Aramaean (to try out the camel) while I pulled out I/20b Syro-Canaanites. I set up most of my troops in a line with Psiloi on my left facing some woods, Auxilia and solid Hordes in the center, my single unit of fast Blades, two chariots on my right flank, and two more in reserve. My friend's line was a mix of Psiloi and Auxilia, with his Warband general anchoring his left flank on a difficult hill, and his Camelry initially in reserve. Unfortunately for me, my line extended through some ploughed fields, and these turned to rough going when I rolled a 1 on the first bound. Despite some successes here and there, I was not able to break through his line, and his Psiloi in particular did some yeoman work in holding off my Hordes. My fast Blades pursued some more Psiloi up onto the difficult hill, where they were cut off and surrounded. My attempt to plug a gap with my general also went badly, and he got some revenge for the previous game by killing my general to finish up a 5-1 win. (Alas, the camel saw no action.)
A good time was had by all, so perhaps we will find time to do it again - maybe once I finish the next army I have in progress...
I would have felt a little bad to win the last one, but fortunately the dice took care of that!