Sunday 22nd May was the latest of the ever-popular DBA With A Twist Events here in Canberra. Over the past 19 years we have held a DBA Tournament in May where we modify the rules in some way. Over that time the most popular variant has been ‘Collision Course where the deployment rules are changed to simulate an accidental encounter between two marching armies, divided into three columns of four elements. The first column is deployed on the board within a 4 Base Width square centred on the baseline, the second column in the same area but with only the lead element on board. The third column can be brought on for a cost of 4 PIPs after the first bound anywhere along the usual deployment area.
Scoring followed the standard form that I have been using since the early 21st Century. The winner scores a flat 8 points, the loser scores 1 point plus 1 point per element killed (to a maximum of 3), with 1 extra point for killing a general and 1 extra point for capturing the baggage. An unfinished game scores the same as a loss, but without the first 1 point for losing. It is possible to score 6 points when losing – however I would love to see a game where a player killed 3 elements, including the general, and captured the baggage but still lost the game.
The interest showed during the lead up could have delivered 22 players if the stars aligned, but in the end we had 16 entrants a very a good turnout with two new players joining the ranks. We were limited to 5 rounds owing to the venue’s opening times, but they were 5 quality rounds. There was an initial hiccup when I did something to mess up the draw program when removing a late scratching, the players wisely stepped well back from the control desk until I figured it out. Nonetheless it was a pleasant event, with nothing but civilised banter, and most pleasing was the way the experienced players helped the new ones to learn the game. Once again proving that DBA is the wargame they play in heaven.
Round 1 saw a series of expected results with Mark Brandon-Baker making short work of Andrew Chicco’s Anglo Norman with his Burgundian Ordonnance. Austin Kenney’s Knight heavy Italian Ostrogoths steamrollered Jon Willacy and his Trojans. Greg Kelleher caused something of an upset taking down Brenton Searle, the Paekeche Koreans proving too strong for the Patrician Roman (East). Leigh Dunn with the Bretons schooled Guy Sheppard using the Avars. Adam Stone proved too strong for newcomer Thomas Rodgers in the Post Mongol Samurai civil war, whilst father fought son and Mongol fought Mongol as Peter Spitzkowski triumphed over his son Michael. Time was nearly up when Gary Moriarty and his Abbassid Arabs snatched victory from Phil Baldoni and the Māori. New player Brendon Baker with practice totalling half an hour and half a game fought well enough (ie refused to die by rolling high) to hold Nick Rodgers using Central Asian City States to a draw.
The big upset occurred in Round 2 when Brendon Baker managed to cut down Phil Baldoni by catching the Māori in the open with East Frankish knights, his ploy was to push forward with his general’s column and wreak havoc. Adam Stone and his Samurai made short work of Austin Kenney’s Italian Ostrogoths with the judicious application of pikes. Gary Moriarty proved too strong for Peter Spitzkowski as the Abbasids overran the Mongols. Nicholas Rodgers and his Central Asians redeemed themselves with a serious drubbing of Leigh Dunn’s Bretons. Mark Brandon-Baker continued his charge, with his Burgundians scraping a win over Greg Kelleher’s Koreans. Brenton Searle’s Romans surgically dissected Andrew Chicco’s Anglo Norman. Guy Sheppard with the Avars narrowly beat Michael Spitzkowski’s Mongols. Thomas Rodgers scored a convincing win over Jon Willacy with his Samurai proving too strong for the Trojans.
In Round 3 was where the field began to narrow, Adam Stone gave Greg Kelleher a schooling, and Mark Brandon-Baker narrowly got the goods on Gary Moriarty. Brenton Searle’s Patrician Romans proved too tough for Nick Rodgers and his Central Asians. Peter Spitzkowski picked up a narrow victory with his Mongols over Leigh Dunn’s Bretons. Meanwhile Jon Willacy broke his streak with a very convincing win over Michael Spitzkowski. Guy Sheppard’s Avars whitewashed Brendon Baker’s East Frankish and Austin Kenney did likewise to Thomas Rodgers. Andrew Chicco may have been hoping to catch the Maori with his knights the way his travelling companion had done in round two, but Phil Baldoni formed a better position and put pressure on the Anglo-Norman foot until they broke.
The showdown occurred in round four as Adam Stone’s Samurai faced Mark Brandon-Baker’s Burgundians in the battle between the two remaining unbeaten players. Whilst the battle was intense, Mark won an overwhelming victory. The other exceptional event was when Brenton Searle effectively wiped out Gary Moriarty with a single element of Light Horse. Austin Kenney took down Guy Sheppard and Leigh Dunn defeated Greg Kelleher. Nick Rodgers and his Central Asians fought long and hard against Phil Baldoni’s Māori and won a narrow victory. Brendon Baker was schooled by Jon Willacy’s Trojans. Andrew Chicco finally picked up a win with a high body count inflicted on Thomas Rodger’s Samurai. The Spitzkowskis were compelled to withdraw this round narrowing the field further.
Undefeated in four rounds, Mark Brandon-Baker had a lock on first place going into round 5 but the rest of the top few places very much depended on the outcome of three critical games. Mark Brandon-Baker was matched against Brenton Searle and sealed his position with a convincing win over Brenton. Adam Stone and Gary Moriarty fought tooth and nail for the full period to get a low scoring draw, knocking both of them out of contention. This opened up the field for the winner of Austin Kenney and Nick Rodgers, where the Austin’s Ostrogoths proved too strong for the Central Asians. Greg Kelleher and Andrew Chicco also failed to get a decisive result and in the fight for last place Thomas Rodgers and his Samurai scored a narrow win over Brendon Baker with the East Frankish, which put them both above Andrew.
The final tally saw the scores fall as:
1. Mark Brandon-Baker – IV/85a Burgundian Ordonnance – 40 points
2. Austin Kenney – III/3 Italian Ostrogothic – 33 points
3. Brenton Searle – II/82b Patrician Roman (East) – 28 points
4. Guy Sheppard – III/13b Avar – 28 points
5. Adam Stone – IV/59b Post Mongol Samurai – 26 points
6. Phil Baldoni – IV/12e Māori – 25 points
7. Gary Moriarty – III/37b Abbasid Arab – 23 points
8. Nicholas Rodgers – III/8 Central Asian City States – 23 points
9. Leigh Dunn – III/18 Breton – 23 points
10. Jon Willacy – I/26b Later Mycenaean & Trojan War (Trojan) – 23 points
11. Greg Kelleher – II/75 Paekhe and Kaya Korean – 20 points
12. Thomas Rodgers – IV/59b Post Mongol Samurai – 20 points
13. Peter Spitzkowski – IV/35 Mongol Conquest – 18 points *
14. Brendon Baker – III/53 East Frankish – 16 points
15. Andrew Chicco – IV/3 Anglo Norman – 15 points
16. Michael Spitzkowski – IV/35 Mongol Conquest – 7 points *
The Spitzkowskis scores are based on only 3 rounds – Peter was within striking distance of the podium before having to leave.
The Executioner Award for the most kills in a single game went to Andrew Chicco who scored 8 kills against the Post Mongol Samurai in Round 4.
The Magister Militum Prize (aka “The Maurice”) for the highest adjusted score went to Guy Sheppard and his low rated Avars who did well punching above their weight, moving from 4th in raw scores to 2nd in adjusted scores.
None of this would be possible without the support of a number of sponsors
• Nic Robson of Eureka Miniatures Australia -
www.eurekamin.com.au/ who provided vouchers for first, second and third place
• Brian Hall from Hall of Ancient Warriors - brianhallhaw@bigpond.com who donated the first place trophy
• Mick Sellman of Mick’s Metal Models -
micksmetalmodels.com/ who donated a DBA Armies for the Magister Miliutm Prize
• Dean Bedlington of Olympian Games -
www.olympiangames.com.au/ who donated vouchers for the Executioner Award, Magister Militum, and Last Place. Dean also engraved the trophy plates and donated the figures used on the trophies.
• Barry Scarlett of Leadbear’s Tufts who donated a voucher to each entrant. Leadbear’s has a Facebook presence and now sells his tufts on eBay as well so I urge you to search him up and buy tufts.
Please support these businesses that do so much to support us by ordering lots of product from them, and if you see them at a tournament – why not buy them a coffee or something.
Hopefully time will see more DBA events running by 2022
• Wintercon on Sunday 17th July in Canberra
• MOAB in Sydney in October and then
• Landwaster in Canberra the Vikings Club on 27th November.
• Then we are sailing into 2023 and Cancon.
So get the lead out – paint it and play DBA
Cheers