Mercian DBA 2024 - saturday 24th February
Feb 24, 2024 20:29:16 GMT
Haardrada, martin, and 4 more like this
Post by hodsopa on Feb 24, 2024 20:29:16 GMT
The formula was to play three times with the army you brought, three times against it. I brought the later Ghaznavids (III/64b). It was interesting to see, for example, how some people would use the army's elephant assertively while I would skulk with it. In total my army won two games, drew three and lost one – a worse record, then, than the Nabataeans.
In my first game my Ghaznavids attacked Steve Etheridge’s Melanesians – who had ten auxiliaries and two psiloi, good grounds for my elephant to skulk. It took a while for my cavalry to get in amongst his littoral landers. Eventually that battle on my left was a 2-2 draw. On my right, my two LH made a rash attack in column on his two psiloi. It failed; they hard flanked me; I had the luck to survive that and then to ride them down for a 4-2 win. Could easily have gone the other way.
The second was a winning draw, close-fought, (3-2) in which I defended with Tony Green’s Sassanids against my Ghaznavids. Our elephants fought each other and mine won. If we’d had five more minutes we’d have had a winner, I don't know who. Both in this battle and the previous one, the Ghaznavid’s opponents’ camps incorporated pigs.
In my third game I attacked Chris Kemp’s early Polish army with my Ghazavnids. Both these armies have 4 cavalry and 4 bows. While the Ghaznavids then have an elephant, a fast blade and two light horse, though, the Poles have four Sp. Defending, they put woods down in each corner of the battlefield; this meant we were both cramped; he was crampeder. His Sp didn’t get into the battle and I scraped a 4-3 win.
In the fourth I attacked my Ghaznavids with Tim Rogers’ Bosphorans. Despite the Bosphoran knights’ foolish valour, I held on for a 3-3 draw. This time the bell may have saved me.
In the fifth I fought against Martin Myers’ Massagetae. LH and gentle hills all over the place. I don't understand the rules on how gentle hills affect shooting. This lack of understanding (which persists) slowed us up; the battle ended in a 2-3 losing draw.
Finally I deployed Martin Smith’s renowned Nabataeans (6 Bw, a couple of useful fast auxiliaries and other stuff including a camel which, it seems, hardly saw combat the whole day long) against my Ghaznavids. The Ghaznavids’ elephant advanced and had the bad luck to die at the hands of an auxiliary; their fast blade advanced and advanced and advanced and had the bad luck not to kill the Bw it faced; the Nabataens' Bw and Ax did well and eventually won the battle 4 (+general)-1.
The scoring system was 5 for a win; 3/2/1 for a draw depending on whether it is winning, equal or losing; 0 for a loss. Timing was an abrupt call for “no more PIP dice” which is the method I prefer though today a couple of times it frustrated me.
Thanks a milion to the organisers - and as always to our fellow fighters, it was a good day.
In my first game my Ghaznavids attacked Steve Etheridge’s Melanesians – who had ten auxiliaries and two psiloi, good grounds for my elephant to skulk. It took a while for my cavalry to get in amongst his littoral landers. Eventually that battle on my left was a 2-2 draw. On my right, my two LH made a rash attack in column on his two psiloi. It failed; they hard flanked me; I had the luck to survive that and then to ride them down for a 4-2 win. Could easily have gone the other way.
The second was a winning draw, close-fought, (3-2) in which I defended with Tony Green’s Sassanids against my Ghaznavids. Our elephants fought each other and mine won. If we’d had five more minutes we’d have had a winner, I don't know who. Both in this battle and the previous one, the Ghaznavid’s opponents’ camps incorporated pigs.
In my third game I attacked Chris Kemp’s early Polish army with my Ghazavnids. Both these armies have 4 cavalry and 4 bows. While the Ghaznavids then have an elephant, a fast blade and two light horse, though, the Poles have four Sp. Defending, they put woods down in each corner of the battlefield; this meant we were both cramped; he was crampeder. His Sp didn’t get into the battle and I scraped a 4-3 win.
In the fourth I attacked my Ghaznavids with Tim Rogers’ Bosphorans. Despite the Bosphoran knights’ foolish valour, I held on for a 3-3 draw. This time the bell may have saved me.
In the fifth I fought against Martin Myers’ Massagetae. LH and gentle hills all over the place. I don't understand the rules on how gentle hills affect shooting. This lack of understanding (which persists) slowed us up; the battle ended in a 2-3 losing draw.
Finally I deployed Martin Smith’s renowned Nabataeans (6 Bw, a couple of useful fast auxiliaries and other stuff including a camel which, it seems, hardly saw combat the whole day long) against my Ghaznavids. The Ghaznavids’ elephant advanced and had the bad luck to die at the hands of an auxiliary; their fast blade advanced and advanced and advanced and had the bad luck not to kill the Bw it faced; the Nabataens' Bw and Ax did well and eventually won the battle 4 (+general)-1.
The scoring system was 5 for a win; 3/2/1 for a draw depending on whether it is winning, equal or losing; 0 for a loss. Timing was an abrupt call for “no more PIP dice” which is the method I prefer though today a couple of times it frustrated me.
Thanks a milion to the organisers - and as always to our fellow fighters, it was a good day.