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Post by martin on Feb 3, 2024 22:06:50 GMT
Anyone want to take a set of 3 useless and redundant d6s off my hands. One careful owner who was tragically let down by the numbers they decided to roll! Seemed to be working OK when you beat me 4-2, Paddy 😁. Crackin’ game 🙂👍🏼 |
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Post by martin on Feb 3, 2024 22:09:04 GMT
Managed a full set -2 losses, 2 draws, 2 wins.] Interestingly, that was enough to claim 5th place out of 14… P Possibly it was the kills in the draws and losses which pushed up my score? 3 kills in each draw, 2 kills in each loss. Didn’t go down without a fight ⚔️⚔️😁. |
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Post by paddy649 on Feb 3, 2024 22:44:38 GMT
Anyone want to take a set of 3 useless and redundant d6s off my hands. One careful owner who was tragically let down by the numbers they decided to roll! Seemed to be working OK when you beat me 4-2, Paddy 😁. Crackin’ game 🙂👍🏼 GG! Could have gone either way! Good, enjoyable tournament as well - Thanks Steve! |
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Post by colinthehittite on Feb 4, 2024 7:00:37 GMT
I had an excellent day of gaming in the stone vaulted crypt of The Bennett Centre in Frooome yesterday. I shall miss playing in such a wonderfully atmospheric setting but wish allnewstevie well in his new venture. He came up with a complicated game management system that added a new twist to the game but thanks to a huge amount of preparation and his trusty pinboard it all seemed to run itself very well.
40 minute games meant we seemed to finish the day early and those who suffered draws might well have wished for minutes 41 to 50 which are often needed to decide a game.
It was a game and conversation with Stephen Finn At the Cold Ash Clash tournament that prompted me to take Armenians, not having used them before. I already had the figures but hadn’t considered them tough enough for tournament play. They were having a great day yesterday until their general died early in a game on a very poor die roll (you know which number I rolled!) after which a wall of pikes and heavy chariots incrementally chewed its way through my static, leaderless army - the dice god giveth and the dice god taketh away!
So, thank you allnewstevie for a great day. Whilst the DBM players upstairs were still counting links in their mail in their first game of the day we were moving on, resurrecting generals, playing games three, four…
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Post by martin on Feb 4, 2024 7:50:17 GMT
Whilst the DBM players upstairs were still counting links in their mail in their first game of the day we were moving on, resurrecting generals, playing games three, four… 😁🤣 |
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Post by allnewstevie on Feb 4, 2024 10:41:36 GMT
Many thanks to the brave generals who descended to the cloisters of the Bennet Centre in Frome yesterday. The runners and riders were: Name Army Brian Shipp II/22 Characene Colin O'Shea II/28 Armenian Connor Truby I/29 Philistine Ian Pain I/18 Minoan & Early Mycenan John Saunders II/32 Later Carthaginian Martin Myers II/25 Later Bosphoran Martin Smith I/29 Later Philistines Paddy Green II/49 Marian Roman Paddy Myers II/5 Athenian Paul Hodson II/55 Blemmye. Paul Murgatroyd I/50 Lydian Pete Duckworth II/49 Marian Roman Richard Pulley II/48 Mithridatic Stephen Finn II/33 Polybian Roman
It was a very closely fought competition with the result eventually going to the third round of count-back (net elements killed) to get to a worthy winner. The results were: Name GamePoints Martin Myers 46 Colin O'Shea 46 Pete Duckworth 33 Ian Pain 30 Martin Smith 29 Stephen Finn 27 Brian Shipp 26 Paddy Myers 24 Paul Murgatroyd 23 Richard Pulley 22 Paddy Green 22 Paul Hodson 20 John Saunders 15 Connor Truby 12 All the competitors were, as always with DBA, gentlemen (well.........okay.........) and that made my swansong as a DBA organiser a pleasure to run. I know that Martin S. took pictures and I am sure they will appear in due course. |
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Post by hodsopa on Feb 4, 2024 10:49:10 GMT
It was indeed a good day. Like Colin I liked the venue and admired allnewstevie's organisation of the tournament. 40-minute games took me back to the good old days at PAWS in Portsmouth (35 minutes add-a-bit-on) - I'm not sure I made the mental shift needed, though. I also liked it that the stentorian shout of Last Bound meant no more PIPs dice.
My army was the early Blemmye of Nubia. This is a desert army that looks longingly across the Red sea at its Arabian neighbours because they have already invented the camel - but does not do so itself until a century or so after the tournament's end date of 0 AD. Even so they field a nice combination of cavalry, spears, fast bow and fast auxiliaries. Their poor results (W1D2L3) can be blamed neither on the army nor the dice but on the skills of enemy commanders and the mistakes of their own. Among other things, another time I'd take different terrain (fewer dunes) and do more to avoid my troops getting out of command range.
As an innovation, we could bring two variants of our army and decide which to deploy when we knew that army (but not the variant) we were facing. I would be interested to hear other players' reactions to this. My own first thought is that it added quite a lot of preparatory agonising without making much difference on the battlefields. But I'd be happy to try it again.
Paul H
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Post by diades on Feb 4, 2024 14:21:44 GMT
A huge thank you to both Stephens for conceiving and running an excellent event yesterday. Stone vaulted ceilings…at one point a surprise Miss Muffet moment and a good theme attracting a competitive set of players and armies. I think the format was fun. I brought two versions of Bosporans and used each three times, a combined arms variant coupled with a mounted-dominant version with Sarmatian allies.
Forty minutes felt like a lot of pressure to get a game finished. I gather we had an extra 10 for the final one, which I had not realised from the outset…it meant I was lucky enough to complete all six games. By the end of the day I felt exhausted and hence the relative surprise, despite the victories, at the podium placing.
My first game used the balanced force defending against Ian’s Mycenaeans. My psiloi landing largely neutralised the enemy pike, but the following heavy chariot landing did for me. Whilst two of the landers were regularly backed onto the waterway, they proved resilient, whilst my general was pushed back against his camp. The camp followers had already sallied to his rescue, so in one combat the Mycenaeans picked up 3 elements (general plus camp). My next roll of 1 for PIPs did not help…a valiant fight back, but a solid 5-2 defeat (3 elements including general plus camp to 2).
Second up, again defending against another littoral army, Paddy’s Athenians, I took the mounted version. We both avoided a landing. I charged the right wing knights in early. Whilst the early Early Macedonian knight allies repelled them, the spears succumbed. The Athenian general bravely turned to address the break through and should have prevailed, but Lady Luck was not with him. A3G-1 victory.
Third up the combined arms unit invaded Brian’s Characene territory. Bosporan artillery and knights in the centre meant that the Characene knights stayed put between two large dunes and the action was largely between light troops on the flanks. Bosporan archery was successful against light horse and camels and eventually free to support Bosporan Psiloi struggling with Characene auxilia and bow in the dunes.
After lunch, the mounted variant attacked Paddy’s Marians. The Bosporan general made a hash of deployment, forgetting a large hamlet on the right, meaning it took ages to rebuild the knight line. In the meantime Bosporan Psiloi and Roman auxilia had faced off in marshes on the left. Ultimately the knights charged home and did what they do (sometimes)!
Yet another six for terrain left the Bosporan mounted invading Mithridatics. Richard avoided the knight on knight action and took advantage of a small wood on the Bosporan left advancing auxilia through it and advancing mounted around it to support. I was lucky to get just enough PIPs to plug the gaps. An exciting and tense game, ultimately turned with the loss of the Mithridatic commander.
Finally, defending against Paul H’s Blemmye, back with the combined arms force. The Bosporan artillery picked off bows at start and finish, meanwhile Blemmye bad going troops advanced into an edifice on the Bosporan right, with cavalry in support and bows gradually moving over, dictated the battle was on the Bosporan right. The Blemmye auxilia drew first blood on Bosporan Psiloi, but were then held up. Bosporan spear got in amongst the enemy bows and despite the attentions of the cavalry, ultimately prevailed.
Thank you everyone for a great day.
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Post by menacussecundus on Feb 4, 2024 16:51:57 GMT
............ My army was the early Blemmye of Nubia. This is a desert army that looks longingly across the Red sea at its Arabian neighbours because they have already invented the camel - but does not do so itself until a century or so after the tournament's end date of 0 AD. Even so they field a nice combination of cavalry, spears, fast bow and fast auxiliaries. Their poor results (W1D2L3) can be blamed neither on the army nor the dice but on the skills of enemy commanders and the mistakes of their own. Among other things, another time I'd take different terrain (fewer dunes) and do more to avoid my troops getting out of command range. .............. Paul H Which is my current painting project (and which may succumb to exactly the problem you describe). I haven't gone for all the options, as I don't think I'd ever want to field six 3Ax; similarly two Ps should be ample for my needs. I am using figures from Alternative Armies. Which company did you use? |
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Post by Baldie on Feb 4, 2024 18:37:34 GMT
It was indeed a good day. Like Colin I liked the venue and admired allnewstevie's organisation of the tournament. 40-minute games took me back to the good old days at PAWS in Portsmouth (35 minutes add-a-bit-on) - I'm not sure I made the mental shift needed, though. I also liked it that the stentorian shout of Last Bound meant no more PIPs dice. My army was the early Blemmye of Nubia. This is a desert army that looks longingly across the Red sea at its Arabian neighbours because they have already invented the camel - but does not do so itself until a century or so after the tournament's end date of 0 AD. Even so they field a nice combination of cavalry, spears, fast bow and fast auxiliaries. Their poor results (W1D2L3) can be blamed neither on the army nor the dice but on the skills of enemy commanders and the mistakes of their own. Among other things, another time I'd take different terrain (fewer dunes) and do more to avoid my troops getting out of command range. As an innovation, we could bring two variants of our army and decide which to deploy when we knew that army (but not the variant) we were facing. I would be interested to hear other players' reactions to this. My own first thought is that it added quite a lot of preparatory agonising without making much difference on the battlefields. But I'd be happy to try it again. Paul H Fewer dunes, the irony😀 |
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Post by skb777 on Feb 5, 2024 11:19:18 GMT
Anyone want to take a set of 3 useless and redundant d6s off my hands. One careful owner who was tragically let down by the numbers they decided to roll! Nah - I say keep them |
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Post by martin on Feb 5, 2024 14:20:11 GMT
I took arable Later Philistines, with a Phoenician ally (for the HCh pair allowed, plus a Sp, ally being littoral 🙂). My games- 1. vs Stephen F., commanding Polybian Romans who had invaded. The Phoenicians landed on the coast near the Roman camp and a long scrap ensued, while the rest of the Philistine force advanced to contact. This was closely matched, ending 3-2 at sunset (close of play/timed out). 2. v Connor Truby, another Philistine from just up the coast. We invaded, and met Connor’s army inland, near steep hills and a village. A touch and go battle, with my right flank threatened by Goliath and other charioteers, this went to 3-2 at sunset again. 3. v Paddy G., Marian Romans, we invaded via a road across an almost featureless plain. Philistine skirmishers entertained the Roman elephants in the centre, and the Phoenician ally (unsuccessfully…) held off on our right. Meanwhile the main Philistine attack went in on the left, and was doing well, then stalled. The Romans now countered, and a Philistine defeat followed (2-4). 4. v Paddy M., who used Athenians with a Macedonian ally. The Phoenicians landed in the Athenian rear right and went for their camp, but the main Athenian line pressed straight ahead, causing consternation in the Philistine ranks. The Philistine commander came very close to being slaughtered, but dodged that metaphorical bullet. Meanwhile the Phoenicians had taken the camp and then had the better of a few combats, winning the day for the Philistines, 3 + camp to 2. 5. v Pete D., who invaded with Marian Romans, initially clinging to a convenient gentle hill near the coast. The Phoenicians landed and attacked, hoping to crush the Romans in on themselves, BUT they had mixed successes, and a counterattack on the opposite flank secured a Roman win, by 2-4. 6. Last game, v Ian P.’s Minoans, who invaded near a fortress in the Philistine homelands. Spears scrapped with pikes in the centre, stalemate, while a swirling, confusing chariot clash took place in front of the fort. This latter proved decisive, and a Philistine win followed when the Minoan general was downed (4g to 2). An enjoyable day, with plenty of variety in armies provided. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Pics now on facebook AND on the groups.io DBAList group, for those not of a fb persuasion groups.io/g/DBAList/album?id=292848 |
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