Conquest 2018, Pt. 1

This is the sixth Conquest DBA competition I’ve taken part in; my first was in 2009, and then there was a hiatus between 2012 and 2015. This time I took my Later Carthaginians again and the Syrians. I didn’t get the veteran spearmen painted in time for the trip, but there were a couple of new figures, more Libyan skirmishers, and some Liby-Phoenician cavalry; both of these elements were heroic on occasions.

The first day was DBA and the Carthaginians had three battles in the morning. It started with the ill-omened discovery that the white shielded spearmen had had a shield fall off.

• 1. Early Mycenaeans (Robin)

Up first was Robin’s Early Mycenaeans, with a menacing combination of heavy chariots and pike. I was the attacker.

Early Mycenaeans.

Another angle.

I was able to arrange my psiloi to neutralise his phalanx, and my spear and Numidians to face his chariots. On the flanks my match-ups were favourable too, and the general formed a reserve for the spear.

The Carthaginians.

Early up the new Libyan skirmishers routed some pike (6-1) and the blue shields did likewise to some heavy chariots; the white shields were less steadfast (disconcerted by the loss of one of their shields). The green shields recoiled the enemy general, while the Numidians suckered in their opposing chariots.

After the initial rounds of combat.

The battle developed rapidly; the general filled the gap left by the departing white shields, and the Numidians destroyed their opposing chariots. Meanwhile, the enemy general routed the green shields. However, the Numidians moved across and taught him a stern lesson, winning the game.

Victorious against one squadron of chariots, the Numidians then triumph over to the enemy general.

This was the first general’s scalp for the Numidians, but by no means their last.

• 2. Palmyrans (Eric)

Next up I faced Eric’s Palmyrans. I was again attacking. These had a fort positioned with mathematical precision on the field. I opted to have the fort on my battle line, and Eric garrisoned it with a bow element.

The Palmyrans and their fort.

I deployed to try to take the fort on the first turn.

The Carthaginian deployment.

Another angle.

The white shields were comforted to see their shield returned owing to the magic of Blutak. On the first turn I saw the Palmyrans advance with fearsome speed, and I failed to take the fort. I was then hampered by PiP dice of 1 or 2 for most of the game. Early up the blue shields fell to the enemy commander, and the Libyan skirmishers were routed by cataphracts. Things were looking bleak, but then the green shields took the fort on a solo assault and while the Balaeric slingers scorned the dangers of the opposing cataphracts and light horse for three turns, the Carthaginian cavalry destroyed an archer. The white shields had destroyed a cataphract unit (showing the difference a shield makes!). However, the enemy commander had destroyed one of the Numidian cavalry.

Things swing back towards the Carthaginians. The new Liby-Phoenician cavalry shine against archers.

On the turn that the second archer fell, the Balaeric slingers decided they’d done enough and retired. The game was now balanced 4-4. I rolled a handsome 3 for PiPs (the most since the first turn). I decided to bring the spearmen out of the fort and attack again with the Numidians. The double overlapped general was defeated and the Numidians collected their second scalp.

After the general is routed.

This was a very satisfying victory. I could bemoan my PiPs, but my troops resisted shooting with great determination, and my combat dice were good when it mattered.

• 3. Seleucids (Gordon)

The Carthaginian’s last outing for the day was against Gordon’s Seleucids. Again I was the attacker. And again I opted to face the phalanx with psiloi.

Seleucid deployment.

Carthaginian deployment.

The Carthaginians saw off the scythed chariot (against their spear). As the lines meet, Seleucid psiloi are overpowered by the Carthaginian cavalry and the Balaeric slingers flee the phalanx. However, one of the spear is routed by an elephant.

Early situation.

On the left flank the last psiloi fled, and the Seleucid general attempted to stabilise things. However, the Balaeric slingers demolished two elements of pike to win the game. The Gauls sat out their second battle, never moving.

Victory. The double-overlapped pike is destroyed.

The morning was hugely successful for the Carthaginians; all but the Gauls had been in the action, and the light troops had proved very dangerous.

Recent games

This year I’ve not had many games of DBA, but I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve played. In the middle of the year we had a series of games organised by Grant at his house that he called Browney-con. I’ll finish the write-up some time soon. Otherwise, last month I caught up with Nick for a game of BBDBA at the AWC. My Carthaginians lost to his Polybian Romans, but I did take away from it a better combination of commands.

Carthaginians (right) facing invading Polybian Romans last September.

This weekend we had more games at the AWC (no photos this time). My Carthaginians went against Nick’s Polybians again. I was the attacker, and made things difficult for myself by deploying first! I possibly created an opportunity for myself, as my left flank was the high PIP command with all my Cv and LH. My right flank ended up in rough going against Nick’s high PIP command of Cv and 4Ax. Great dice allowed me to redeploy four of the Numidians to the right flank. In a tight encounter they managed to destroy that flank for the loss of only one Numidian. However, the command on that flank collapsed on the same turn, losing their Wb commander and two of their Scutarii.

Remarkably, the centre of Sp was unharmed, as was the left flank, apart from the Numidians that had done their march. That flank was in a stalemate with the Triarii. In fact, the spearmen were overpowering the Legionaries, and had inflicted a loss, as had the Wb general before he was killed.

The battle came to a conclusion with the Numidians ignoring the two demoralised commands facing each other and marching to the centre of the field to attack psiloi there. The spearmen had another success and in the last turn completed their great performance by killing another element of legionaries. The Numidians had already broken the command, however, with their attacks on psiloi, and the Roman high PIP command lost their general too.

After lunch we had two games of DBA. My Mittani were unsuccessful against Grant’s Midianites and Kieran’s Minoans, whereas Nick’s newly painted Later Crusaders were successful against Kieran’s Japanese, and Grant’s Ayyubid Egyptians. It was a really enjoyable day and there’s talk of more games too; hopefully we can get a campaign underway.

AWC Chariot DBA Day

This DBA Day took place at the Auckland Wargames Club on 18.12.17. Nearly four months on I have no great memory of the individual battles, though I enjoyed the day greatly. The participants and their final points were:

Name – Army – Points
Grant – I/6b Early Bedouin – 32
Philip – I/7b Early Libyan – 25
Kieran – I/18 Minoan – 23
Nick  -I/22a NK Egyptian – 21
Mike – I/24b Hittite Empire – 18
Mark – I/19 Mittani – 17
Simon – I/34a Later Hebrew – 15
Dave – I/20a Ugaritic – 13

My first battle was against the Ugarites. I either won or it was a draw that I was ahead on. I do know my horde were victorious, which is grounds for celebration on its own.

The Ugarites with their heavy chariots.

What the Ugarites saw.

Towards the end, when the Ugarites had suffered several loses.

I next faced the Egyptians and was rapidly defeated, if I remember rightly. I guess I blotted that defeat out!

Against the Egyptians.

From above.

And from the other direction.

After lunch I played the Hittites. I think I lost again, but I don’t have the score sheets any more.

Facing the Hittites.

Another angle.

The last battle was against Hebrews, and I know I won this one. However, I’m pretty sure the deployment in the river was illegal.

What the Hebrews could see.

I think I destroyed the two psiloi and then triumphed over the auxilia that came forward to meet me.

Some statistics for the day are:

Own general killed:

Grant I/6b Early Bedouin 0
Philip I/7b Early Libyan 1
Kieran I/18 Minoan 2
Nick I/22a NK Egyptian 0
Mike I/24b Hittite Empire 1
Mark I/19 Mittani 1
Simon I/34a Later Hebrew 2
Dave I/20a Ugaritic 0

Enemy generals killed:

Grant I/6b Early Bedouin 3
Philip I/7b Early Libyan 1
Kieran I/18 Minoan 1
Nick I/22a NK Egyptian 0
Mike I/24b Hittite Empire 0
Mark I/19 Mittani 0
Simon I/34a Later Hebrew 1
Dave I/20a Ugaritic 1

No camps lost or taken.

North Shore Wargames Club DBA Day

Last Sunday MEDBAG, the Middle Earth DBA Gamers, had their first meeting. We’d organized a DBA event at the North Shore Wargames Club. John had had a couple of games there with Philip the week before to create some interest, and on the day two others joined Philip from the North Shore Club (it was the third meeting of the month that falls on the fifth Sunday, so not a busy day); along with these ‘locals’ John and I got Joel along, making six of us. We each played four games in slightly over four hours starting around 11.30 and finishing around 3.30.

John had made some game boards, and we used preset terrain; Each of the locals played each of us and then we finished off by playing one of the locals again. I used my Komnenan Byzantines for the first three games, and went with the same army for each of them: 4x3Cv (1 = cmd), 4x2LH, 3x4Bw, 1x4Bd. There were a few times when the 3Kn for a 2LH would have been useful or a 3Ax and two 2Ps for the three 4Bw, but until I’ve given this configuration a few tries I’m not sure how to use them, so figured I’d stick with it for practice.

• Game 1: Early Carthaginians

First up I faced Andrew who had Early Carthaginians. The Carthaginians are one of his favourite armies, I think, though he usually plays in 25mm. He’d not played DBA for a while, and his rules were 2.0, which proved to have a few important differences from 2.2. As the defender, he deployed to protect his camp against my greater mobility.

Initial Deployments: two elements of light horse are mostly out of sight on the right.

I deployed with light horse on each wing and the archers and cavalry in the centre. I soon became uneasy about his heavy chariots on the right wing and regretted advancing my light horse so far. I started to retire the light horse on the other flank for support, but they didn’t get any big burst of PIPs to get into action. Instead, a messy action developed in which I destroyed his cavalry and a HCh at the cost of one 2LH (and a rather exposed right flank. I might have had the edge here, if I’d not advanced my archers against his spear (hardly necessary and scarcely wise!). Andrew had a turn to make me suffer with ugly recoils and it was all over.

Before the end; overlapped Kavellarioi faced psiloi-supported spear and overlapped bow face spear; neither can afford to recoil!

• Game 2: New Kingdom Egyptians

Next up was Philip with his New Kingdom Egyptians. I think I was the defender, and I soon had cause to regret the deployment of my bow—facing his blade! I also had my light horse facing his archers, and seemed a bit like a possum in the headlights with both!

Initial Deployments: Again there are light horse on each wing.

His archers advanced into range of my stationary cavalry on the left and started recoiling them; I just didn’t seem to have the PIPs to do anything there; I think I was lucky not to lose many elements, only one, I think. In the centre his blade met my archers and to my great surprise I 6-1’ed one of them with supported fire. It would be my only real success, as on the right the combined efforts of my cavalry and light horse were not enough to destroy his chariots, and when he created a ‘buttocks of death’ situation for my general with a warband, it was all over. His chariots had also destroyed a 2LH on the left flank.

The final position; the absence of the warband and the general make a big gap on the right flank.

• Game 3: Early Myceneans

My next game was with Kendall; we were both playing for our first victory. He was using Myceneans, though his list was for 1.1 (not a huge difference). He ended up with a gully along his deployment area and stuck his camp behind it protected by a pair of pike on each side. After I saw his deployment I used one 3Cv to block the gap between the rough going on my left and had all the 2LH on the right flank, though one was attached to the line of 3Cv because of this element swap.

Initial Deployments: Komnenans on the left.

The game went my way because Kendall didn’t know that 2LH QK spear and pike under 2.2, so he moved his pike out on his left flank to meet my 2LH, who made a fair bit of work eating them up. On the other flank, he stomped a pair of my bow and one of my cavalry. Surprisingly the Turkopouloi survived this combat; in fact, they successfully took out his general, making it a great battle for light horse. The Komnenans got their first victory in a close battle.

The light horse have surrounded the last of the pikes and in the centre the Mycenean general has been destroyed.

• Game 4: Carthaginian Civil War

For the last game we played one of the home team again. Andrew and I decided that a Carthaginian civil war was in order, so he got his Later Carthaginians out to face mine. This might have been from the Truceless War with the mercenaries at the end of the First Punic War (except for the presence of elephants on both sides). I was the defender, and had to deal with my spear being targeted by his elephants and warbands. I did this by swapping them for the Spanish (3Ax and 2Ps).

Initial Deployment: my spear swap out of the way of his elephants and warbands.

The initial combats went my way, and I had him two down, with the elephants trampling his Spanish 3Ax and I think a spear coming to grief, but the he fought back, and while his warband and my Spanish fought inconclusively, he took out my two elephants with a single element of Numidian skirmishers.

Midgame and things favour seem to favour my side. Despite the beach to my back, Andrew wasn't tempted to try a littoral landing.

It got increasingly desperate, but fortunately my Gauls were able to attack his elephant from BGo (they had a toe on that hill). They recoiled it into another element and he was four down. At the time I thought he could have QKed the Gauls if they lost (and I’d have lost my fourth element); only later did I read a post on Fanaticus that pointed out they were safe in BGo (good to know!). A lucky victory for my Carthos!

• Review:

It was a very fun day. All the games were played in a friendly spirit, but then you kind of expect that with DBA. I lost twice with the Komnenans, but each time I could see an obvious mistake, and I could certainly do better next time! I’m also getting better with the Carthaginians. I certainly don’t worry about whether they can win or not any more—thankfully.

I’m looking forward to a similar event at the Auckland Wargames Club later this month. Thanks to John for organizing this and to Philip for hosting it. Hopefully it’ll be the first of many more.