Post by aphooper on Dec 8, 2021 1:02:31 GMT
Seems like a month since I’d played any DBA battles, and indeed, the last session was on Halloween! Craig Steed joined me for another afternoon of games on Saturday the 4th, and once again I got out the 3-foot “Big Board” so we could play with some new armies in 25mm scale. After buying from several large estate collections on eBay, I have rebased a set of older figures by Hinchcliffe, Minifigs, Ral Partha, Custom Cast and other vintage makers into several DBA army projects. Today, I put out some options for Army list I/48, the Thracians and II/5b Later Hoplite Greeks from Athens. Craig started out in command of the Hoplites and I controlled the Thracian tribesmen.
In the first game: Craig’s initial deployment created a huge wall of hoplites dominating the Center and Right of the field. On the left, he had his lighter troops and cavalry, and I decided to concentrate on them, hoping to make the main body of the Greek army come to me. I rolled well for movement points, and was able to use my speed to make flank and rear attacks on isolated stands of spearmen, which included the Athenian General and his bodyguard! But I rolled poorly in combat, and Craig was able to muscle his way out of the trap each time. The Athenians prevailed by a score of 4 to 2.
We switched sides in the second game, and this time the Thracians suffered from poor initiative dice. The three Thracian light horse elements stood like statues as two stands of Athenian Hoplites drove them steadily back toward their camp. With the Thracians most mobile threat bottled up, the Greeks were able defeat their infantry in the center with no fear of a raid on their camp. They won easily, 4-1.
In 25mm scale, even plodding solid infantry seem to fairly glide across the table at two 60mm base widths per bound. Cavalry and light horse, moving twice as fast, seem to cross the board in a series of sudden blinks.
Despite this wealth of large-scale fun, we decided to revert to the more standard 15mm scale figures for the last two matches, and brought out the standard 2’ by 2’ board. Craig pulled out two of his more active armies, the Early Bulgars (III/14a) and the Magyars (III.30a) These two neighbors have been fighting battles against each other since Craig painted them, now more than 15 years ago. We’ve recorded 97 matches for the Bulgars, so three more would put them over the “Century mark.”
We played two more games – both were quick and exciting matches, given the high movement rates of both armies. In the first, I made a dramatic ride around Craig’s line with a quartet of light horse stands, and set about attacking his camp. But some of Craig’s cavalry pushed me out of the camp again, and then stubbornly resisted all my efforts to get back in. The Bulgars barely won by a tally of 4-3G. In the last fight, the Magyars made a more conventional advance on the Bulgar line, and enveloped the light horse on the Bulgar left flank. Craig had crummy combat rolls, and the Magyars won handily, 4-1. And the Bulgars stand at 99 games played – we have to find an exotic foe for their 100th battle!
It was fun putting some larger scale figures on the board in the first two games, With the 3rd Edition of the game adopting a deeper base for heavy infantry, some figures with large “feet” are much easier to work with – there’s more room for them on the deeper base. Likewise, figures with lowered spears are a bit more attractive, as they can be made to “stick out” less in front of the base, which makes them easier to put into contact with other stands.
My next project is rebasing my 25mm Vikings and Saxons, which have not seen the field for over a decade. When I was typically traveling to a game store or community center to play the game, it made a great deal more sense to use the smaller scale figures, since they weigh very much less than the large ones. But now that most of my games are played on the dining room table (or on the picnic table in the summer), I can trot out the heavyweight models without having to load them in the car. Prepare to feel the ground shake when I get to debut my 25mm Sassanid War Elephant!
One more time, our scores:
II/5b Later Hoplite Greeks/Athens over I/48 Thracian, 4-2
II/5b Later Hoplite Greeks/Athens over I/48 Thracian, 4-1
III/14a Early Bulgars over III/30a Magyars, 4-3G
III/30a Magyars over III/14a Early Bulgars, 4-1
P,S, This is my first post in years. It appears we are unable to attach files; Ill have to work on a photo host. It's like 2002 all over again.
In the first game: Craig’s initial deployment created a huge wall of hoplites dominating the Center and Right of the field. On the left, he had his lighter troops and cavalry, and I decided to concentrate on them, hoping to make the main body of the Greek army come to me. I rolled well for movement points, and was able to use my speed to make flank and rear attacks on isolated stands of spearmen, which included the Athenian General and his bodyguard! But I rolled poorly in combat, and Craig was able to muscle his way out of the trap each time. The Athenians prevailed by a score of 4 to 2.
We switched sides in the second game, and this time the Thracians suffered from poor initiative dice. The three Thracian light horse elements stood like statues as two stands of Athenian Hoplites drove them steadily back toward their camp. With the Thracians most mobile threat bottled up, the Greeks were able defeat their infantry in the center with no fear of a raid on their camp. They won easily, 4-1.
In 25mm scale, even plodding solid infantry seem to fairly glide across the table at two 60mm base widths per bound. Cavalry and light horse, moving twice as fast, seem to cross the board in a series of sudden blinks.
Despite this wealth of large-scale fun, we decided to revert to the more standard 15mm scale figures for the last two matches, and brought out the standard 2’ by 2’ board. Craig pulled out two of his more active armies, the Early Bulgars (III/14a) and the Magyars (III.30a) These two neighbors have been fighting battles against each other since Craig painted them, now more than 15 years ago. We’ve recorded 97 matches for the Bulgars, so three more would put them over the “Century mark.”
We played two more games – both were quick and exciting matches, given the high movement rates of both armies. In the first, I made a dramatic ride around Craig’s line with a quartet of light horse stands, and set about attacking his camp. But some of Craig’s cavalry pushed me out of the camp again, and then stubbornly resisted all my efforts to get back in. The Bulgars barely won by a tally of 4-3G. In the last fight, the Magyars made a more conventional advance on the Bulgar line, and enveloped the light horse on the Bulgar left flank. Craig had crummy combat rolls, and the Magyars won handily, 4-1. And the Bulgars stand at 99 games played – we have to find an exotic foe for their 100th battle!
It was fun putting some larger scale figures on the board in the first two games, With the 3rd Edition of the game adopting a deeper base for heavy infantry, some figures with large “feet” are much easier to work with – there’s more room for them on the deeper base. Likewise, figures with lowered spears are a bit more attractive, as they can be made to “stick out” less in front of the base, which makes them easier to put into contact with other stands.
My next project is rebasing my 25mm Vikings and Saxons, which have not seen the field for over a decade. When I was typically traveling to a game store or community center to play the game, it made a great deal more sense to use the smaller scale figures, since they weigh very much less than the large ones. But now that most of my games are played on the dining room table (or on the picnic table in the summer), I can trot out the heavyweight models without having to load them in the car. Prepare to feel the ground shake when I get to debut my 25mm Sassanid War Elephant!
One more time, our scores:
II/5b Later Hoplite Greeks/Athens over I/48 Thracian, 4-2
II/5b Later Hoplite Greeks/Athens over I/48 Thracian, 4-1
III/14a Early Bulgars over III/30a Magyars, 4-3G
III/30a Magyars over III/14a Early Bulgars, 4-1
P,S, This is my first post in years. It appears we are unable to attach files; Ill have to work on a photo host. It's like 2002 all over again.
