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Post by diades on Apr 28, 2024 15:49:40 GMT
I that case I’m even more impressed that you escaped the “1 throwing curse” of all newly painted armies. …well, the army did for only half the time…😁
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Post by diades on Apr 28, 2024 15:05:17 GMT
Diades - what made you choose the (a) list for the Skythians, and why that particular combination? Cheers I used the Massagetae in Coventry because I had just finished painting them. This time I had just finished painting the three units of solid horde….
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Post by diades on Apr 28, 2024 12:15:12 GMT
Scythians in Jane Austen country…
Terrain choice, Irrelevant. Aggression of 4 meant they invaded six times out of six. They would have chosen two large gentle hills, a large edifice(kurgan) and a small bit of rough. The fear was narrow boards and/or lots of bad going filled with psiloi and auxilia.
My first encounter taught me a valuable lesson for the day. Up against John Saunders’ (and his double entendres) Golden….Hordes. My army had nine Light Horse including the general and three solid hordes. The base plan for the day was frustrate with the hordes and gang up on one side. The terrain was relatively open. I had few PIPs, so remained with the benefit of a gentle hill on my left as hostilities started with my forces very much in a line. Relying on my hordes to hold their ground nearly proved fatal as one was swiftly destroyed by enemy cavalry, allowing the golden horde general to tackle double ranked light horse with the benefit of a hard flank when the victorious cavalry pursued through the hole where the horde had been. I was much more careful about where I chose to place the hordes in later games. Thankfully in the meantime my light horse general with hill as help managed to gain enough success for the rest of his light horse to win the left flank. A close contest, four elements lost on each side, fortunately one of mine was a horde. Scythian win 4-3.
I then handed my Scythians to Marc Priest and invited them to attack Seljuk Rum. The Seljuk army had a large piece of rough going on their left, around which the scyths sent a party to threaten the Seljuk camp, but were dissuaded by the Seljuk general and some bow support, the latter rushing through the rough. Meanwhile the Seljuks advanced wide on their right and gradually picked off enemy elements, including at the end, the brave Scythian general trying to save the day. Scythian loss 4G-0.
Next I commanded the Scyths invading maritime neo-Hittites. A waterway down my left flank with a tight coastal road and two large pieces of rough, concerns for me about narrow field and no way to manoevre… General Richard Pulley landed his allies near my base edge and brought his mounted troops down the road, with his lighter foot troops advancing through the rough. The scyths turned for light horse and horde to counter. The obvious thing seemed to be to turn the axis of the battle, so the remaining scyths advanced up the right and wheeled to create a perfect left to right set of opposing battle lines with the hittites and friends in the rough with their backs to the waterway. The scythians initiated combat at the far end, light horse prepared to tackle auxilia and psiloi with front edges out of the rough, whilst hittite psiloi emerged to tackle Scythian horde nearer my base. In between the two bits of rough, the light horse faced the heavy chariot Hittite general. The hordes steadily pushed and fled Hittite psiloi and advanced after them into the rough. The far battlefield end was evens. Then lightning struck! The Hittite general with flank support 5-2 up on double ranked light horse was 6-2’d by the dice! I was so surprised a contact lens popped out…picture the general’s monocle being dropped! Richard then rolled a 6, so still had three moves, but the Scythians’ luck held. Scythian 3G-0 win.
After lunch I Used Stephen Etheridge’s littoral EMNAS. I deployed with a large steep hil on my right next to the waterway. Three units of fast auxilia in reserve to land. This caused the scyths to counter the landing threat by placing their hordes on that flank. The auxilia landed in column by the difficult hill and marched steadily through it in column to support the left, whilst the horde were stranded, advancing slowly only to be met by psiloi firmly entrenched on the hills. The real action happened on the left flank. The Scythians seized an opportunity to attack light horse on light horse with a slight double rank advantage on the extreme edge. Scores and PIPs were low all round and much swirling mounted action ensued. The Muslim bow managed to get a few vollies in. The mounted battle had become staggered. The Muslim left flank pushed back, their cavalry general mid way and the scythains pushed back to his right. A gap in the centre of the field let the Muslims close the door on the general’s right with success, before the Scythians did likewise,but with less success. Eventually the arrival of the Muslim auxilia to the left turned the day. Scythian loss 4-1.
My final outing with the Scyths was against Peter Phipps’ Early Byzantines. The Byzantines deployed in two rows on their left. The scyths advanced the hordes centrally and threw their mounted troops around the right flank of the Byzantines. This largely negated the Byzantine heavy foot and knights and allowed the scyths to grind out a light horse on light horse victory with superior numbers. Scythian 4-1 win.
In the last game Bill MacGillivray suffered the nightmare scenario, I had been lucky enough to avoid. The Shang Chinese deployed with a city and a large wood diagonally opposite with lots of auxilia and psiloi to make use of it. Bill deployed the Scythian hordes in the wood. I suspect he had thought they were fast and would emerge in front in time to prevent the Chinese from exploiting it. Unfortunately for the scyths that was not the case. The Shang waited until the scyths had almost made it and then charged in and carved them up. The psiloi were then able to exploit the wood to move unchallenged to crest flanks and threat zones, whilst the Shang heavy foot blocked Scythian mounted advances between the city and wood. The scyths, despite some losses, had enough PIPs to retire to their base edge away from the woods forcing Shang psiloi to pursue in the open. The Scythian general and mates came over to help, but were not lucky…too little too late. Scythian loss 4-0.
The venue was fine. The organisation smooth. The prize table superlative. Thank you to Martin for arranging. I know how tough playing and organising can be…to finish second under those circumstances…well done, sir!
Thank you to all for making it a fun enjoyable day. I think the own worst enemy format does well for bringing out variety and the low combat factor troop theme made for different games than some other tournaments. More variety, more interest, more DBA longevity!
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Post by diades on Apr 1, 2024 13:00:32 GMT
Trophies will be awarded to
the “Victor at the Victory Room”
and
“Best Presented Army” ….open to all who have painted their own army!
Places still available…
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Post by diades on Mar 24, 2024 18:06:17 GMT
Greetings, gamers… All the usual bumff about what , where and when will start being sent out after Steel Warriors is done, but in the meantime just a note to say:- Today I received the painted army prize from Colin. It’s an Alan army, very nicely presented, as one might expect with ‘a genuine O’Shea’ 😁. Some figures were donated by Gordon Frater, a few others by Colin. And to top it all, it complies with the Alton theme for this year, having 5 LH and a Ps. Someone’s going to be a very happy bunny… Cheers for now M Having just suffered a heavy defeat at Stannington yesterday, being allocated a genuine O’Shea Alan army to use for the next game put a grin on my face. What a treat!
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Post by diades on Mar 24, 2024 17:58:57 GMT
Huge thanks to Mark and Phil for a very enjoyable day.
Thanks too to a great bunch of competitors and armies.
I claimed the worst army, which was a shock, I had been worried they would be at the other end of the table, being all auxilia, amongst what I expected to be a plethora of psiloi and light horse. Thank you for the prize!
I can also claim to have lost using the strongest army. I wonder how many times they defended? I defended in the round where my opponent had choice of who attacked or defended. With three difficult hills and two woods, it was a tough gig!
An excellent variety of rounds…I particularly liked the “choose two armies”…I chose the two prettiest I could see left for me…and then your opponent chooses who plays with which. I ended up with 9 psiloi Lusitania vs the Popular front of Judea and managed a victory!
All good fun.
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Post by diades on Feb 25, 2024 12:59:16 GMT
Thank you to Pete and the Coventry Scimitars, one for your greatest hits…😁
I took Massagetae for no better reason than I had recently painted them. Cavalry x 2, Light horse x 7, fast bow x 2 and a fast auxilia A lot of fun they were too…just one major disadvantage…
First of all I took on John Saunders’ Chinese. John defended and placed two plough, which soon disappeared, and two roads, so fairly open. I advanced my left side. Much cagey missile fire often staved off by the brave Auxilia, followed by heavy chariots charging in with mixed success, finally the Chinese general succumbed to light horse attentions, a 3G-2 victory.
Next Kev Casey handed me Early Hyksos, fast blade and auxilia mix to invade. The Massagetae were a tad too adventurous in their initial advance, allowing fast blades to savage the fast bow, which provided enough of a head start for a 4-1 Hyksos victory.
Third, Bruce Williams’ Early Egyptians invited a Massagetae invasion. The Egyptians chose not to land literally and set back in marshes, difficult hills and a fort. Much sniping around the edges before the Massagetae charged in as the Egyptians combed off their hill. Nip and tuck for a 4-3 Massagetae victory.
After lunch, Colin used the Massagetae to invade Zanj territory. As he describes above, this was a challenging and entertaining game. The Massagetae general was destroyed, but PIPs were still reasonable. The final roll saw the Zanj fast blades finally get into Massagetae bow…Colin was ready to concede when the blade rolled a 6, but….so did the bow! A 2g-3 draw.
Now…the Massagetae got to defend against Paul Hodson’s Ghaznavid’s. I have until recently shied away from hills because of the lack of absolute clarity concerning their effects. Using a steppe army, they are unavoidable. Extensive debate in the UK has them resolved conically. That’s fine for combat. Due to the terrain issues I was looking to create, I used oval hills and proposed a sugar loaf, a cone cut in half and stretched….Cone or sugar loaf…the flanks of a cone are rounded, so pose a problem for shooting. For two element on that surface, geometrically there will always be a part of the slope higher than either element. Should that prevent shooting(indirect fire)? The debate took much of the time and remained unsatisfactorily resolved. A shame rules are not clearer. 3-2 up for the Massagetae at the close.
Finally, I used Pete Duckworth’s Western Franks…oh to have had some missile troops….to invade Massagetae territory. Pete did everything right, bravely threatening with the bow. The Massagetae charged first and their cavalry wiped Frankish milites out. Frankish knights retaliated destroying both bow, but were exposed. A healthy dose of PIPs allowed light horse to gang up on them for a swift 4-2 Massagetae victory.
Both my army and I managed 3 wins, 2 draws and a loss.
Good to see everyone!
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Post by diades on Feb 25, 2024 9:07:19 GMT
Ottomans, Early Egyptians, Hyksos, 1/32 other Chinese…
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Post by diades on Feb 24, 2024 23:41:54 GMT
For sure!
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Post by diades on Feb 16, 2024 9:10:45 GMT
The Cold Ash Clash will be held on Saturday 2nd November 2024.
Acland Memorial Hall, Cold Ash, RG18 9JH, Berkshire.
For those unfamiliar with the Scramble Format:
Each player brings any valid 12-element v3.0 army on 15mm base sizes (40mm frontage), camp (camp follower element optional), and terrain for a legal battlefield as the defender, which may include provision of a specific legal board size.
Note that the army will be used by other players. • Players will play AGAINST their own army only in the first round. • Players will use their own army only in the final round. • Players will be matched using Swiss chess format. • Armies will be matched as far as possible to maximise variety (of army used and fought against) for players. • The 12-element army and terrain choices may not be changed between rounds (hence no dismounting!). • Players must attempt to place all terrain pieces supplied.
The aim is to have 6 rounds, but may be revised on the day.
Depending upon the number of players and the time to arrange the pairings for each round, there is no guarantee of non-repetition, but priority order will be given to:
1. New opponent each round
2. New army used each round
3. New opposing army each round
There will be the usual trophies:
Top 3 players Strongest Army Slayer Most Challenging Army
In addition, new for 2023
Best Presented Army
Places will be capped at 24.
£7.50 secures a place.
Please PM me for payment details.
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Post by diades on Feb 10, 2024 17:17:01 GMT
Has anyone picked up on I/43b Scythian or Hu having I/14b European Bronze Age as allies? I/43b 300-19 BC and 400 BC - 70 AD I/14b 1400-701 BC Surely an error? Is there a confirmed list of corrections buried within this thread? Yes, Stevie grouped the list of corrections on page 5. Many thanks
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Post by diades on Feb 10, 2024 16:34:45 GMT
Has anyone picked up on I/43b Scythian or Hu having I/14b European Bronze Age as allies?
I/43b 300-19 BC and 400 BC - 70 AD I/14b 1400-701 BC
Surely an error?
Is there a confirmed list of corrections buried within this thread?
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Post by diades on Feb 8, 2024 17:33:30 GMT
Hmm…Cunaxa…401 BC.
I reckon the Greek contingent are best as II/5j Later Hoplite Greek overseas mercenary expeditions…
Or If you want the full army at Cunaxa including the 10,000, then yes, II/7 Later Achaemenid Persian choosing plenty of the mercenary hoplite options…
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Post by diades on Feb 7, 2024 19:29:38 GMT
Eligible armies are:
II/81d Strathclyde III/18 Breton III/19a Welsh III/21b Lombard III/24b Anglo-Saxon Army III/33 Early Muslim North Africa & Sicily III/34b Andalusian III/35b Feudal Spanish III/40b Viking III/45 Pre-Feudal Scots Army III/46 Norse Irish III/52 West Frankish or Norman Army III/53 East Frankish III/65 Nikephorian Byzantine Army III/66 Fatimid Egyptian Army III/72 Anglo-Danish III/73a Communal Italian Army III/76 Konstantinian Byzantine Army III/77 Papal Italian Army
Allies may be used, even if not themselves on the list above, but only if in effect somewhere in the 1016 to 1066 date range and only as allies, not as core army.
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Post by diades on Feb 5, 2024 17:44:24 GMT
So far have the following names: Mark Johnson Sol Tse Pete Duckworth Rob Rush Ken Gordon Paul Murgatroyd Martin Smith Paul Hodson tbc Colin Alcock Pete Davis Baldie Terry Mahon Tim Rogers John Saunders tbc Keith Murphy Andy Wheeldon Tom Whitehead 4 months to go! .. and two Myerses to add to the list please
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