DBA Game Day

Our DBA group played a few games last weekend.  The following armies battled:

• Seleucid (Jeff)
• New Kingdom Egyptians (Rob)
• Ptolemaic (II/20d) (me)
• Kappadokian and Arab Conquest (Ryan)

Ryan and I played first. He used the Kappadokians for his first two matches, playing Arab Conquest once against Jeff's newly painted Seleucids.  Ryan had a pretty good winning streak, but he lost all his games today.  He ended up playing the attacker all three times when defense would have suited his force more.  

Ptolemaic vs. Kappadokian

I didn't take too many photos this time, but I did manage a shot of the final fight of our first match.  The Kappadokians had no rough to use to their advantage, and the battle turned into a slugging match.

Elephants force Kappadokian General to Recoil with no room

 My Ptolemaic force is littoral, but I ended up with the water to my back on two occasions.  My bout with the New Kingdom Egyptians featured two amphibious landings, with two Egyptian elements going after my camp.  I finally killed them both, beating the Egyptians 5 to 1.

The fight against Seleucids was very intense, with fights on both flanks and a Scythed Chariot that refused to die for many turns.  Jeff showed his tactical skill again, winning 5 to 1. You can see more photos of the army on his blog: http://littlehordes.blogspot.kr

Final Fight - Seleucids vs Ptolemaic

Of the numerous Successor states, I must say that I like the way the Ptolemaic list plays.  The combination of four Pikes and two Blades, plus an Elephant and some mounted, works pretty well.

Final Tally:

Army	Wins	Losses
New Kingdom Egyptians	1	2
Ptolemaic	2	1
Kappadokian	0	2
Seleucids	3	0
Arab Conquest	0	1

The Final Fights

The day ended with a new army in the mix.  The group encouraged Ryan to try his hand at a new army  to see how the play differed from Spartans.  His choices included New Kingdom Egyptians, Ottomans, Phokians, and Alexandrian Macedonians.  He went with Jeff's Phokians, which included two artillery elements, and fought my Seleucids.  Meanwhile, Jeff and Ian duked it out.

Phokians and Seleucids

The terrain situation in this game was UGLY for the Seleucids.  I initially tried to run my cavalry around the hill on the left, apparently not learning from a previous mistake.  Ryan got an Auxilia on the hill, so I wasted time and PIPs circling back.  Aside from that trick, I decided to attack right into the kill zone: the artillery elements are centered on the road.  I launched the Scythed Chariot at the Spear General and almost won the dice roll...almost.

Seleucids advance up the Pass

Deciding to stick to my plan of killing the General, I managed to do so with a Cavalry, after a tight maneuver around a Psiloi's ZOC.  My Cav was subsequently killed.  The stone throwers picked off a Pike as I advanced.

Pikes under fire

Ryan really limited my options with his creative deployments. The combined effect of the Spear ZOCs and the Ax/Ps ZOCs from bad going gave me few good options.  My attempt to move the Pikes out of the fire zone resulted in a Psiloi, with a toe in bad going, killing another Pike.  Another artillery shot took out element number four - another Pike.

Few Good Choices (but a nice shot of Jeff's Phokian shield designs)

The final loss count:  Phokians - 1 Seleucids - 5 (including 1 SCh).  I have included a shot of the final battlefield situation.  My Elephant is doing a wonderful job grazing and guarding the camp.

End Game

Arabs Conquer All 

I was so busy trying to solve the terrain nightmare facing me that I forgot to take photo's of Ian and Jeff's game.  I managed one shot.  This is unfortunate; it was a good, close game with a few twists.   Jeff managed to lose his General early and still hang on for the win, killing Ian's General in the process.

Arabs fight the Kapps

Ian posted his account on a ROK Wargaming Group, so I will quote his version of history:

"My light horse attempted an assassination again getting around the flank of his cav, however when this failed I lost them both. I countered slamming my general into the flank of his and killing him....and tried to jump his cav and light horse with my cav general
and supporting cav. This was probably a mistake and I would have been better
off pulling out as he was going to be double pipped on command. My over
aggressiveness cost me and my army folded."

Final Losses:  Arabs -1 (Gen) Kappadokians - 4 (including Gen)

Assessment

We all had fun, and I learned a lot about DBA tactics.  Ryan left motivated to get his own army.  He was first thinking about a blade heavy force, but he is now looking at army lists that feature a lot of cavalry with either blade or spear for foot support.  Thanks again to Jeff for organizing this session.  We plan to meet again in January.  I hope that the battle reports  are an enjoyable read.

Arabian Battles

As Sparta fought Kappadokia, Jeff's Arab Conquest army managed to beat my Seleucids twice.  I'll cover both bouts in this bit.  As the day progressed, my attention to photography waned.

Round One

In this battle, terrain didn't affect the results, but you can see there wasn't much on the board.  I played defender and kept the table open in hopes of giving myself some maneuver room.  Of course, the benefit was mutual with these two armies.

Early advances

After moving forward in a more organized manner this time, I launched the kamikaze Scythed Chariot (pardon the historical analogy incongruity).  It failed me.

Here is the plan:  Charge and then jump out at the last minute.

After a few rounds of maneuvering and being shot at, my Knights rashly charged the Bow.  The force included my General, and both were quick killed.  Game over!

Bows QK the General and his Escort - dumb tactical move...

The final disposition of forces is depicted below:  Losses:  Seleucids 3 (with Gen and Sch), Arabs - 0.

End Game

Round Two

I did better in my second round, so there is hope for me as a DBA player.  Trying to be slick, I used a Waterway to limit the terrain when setting up the board.  Unfortunately, it ended up behind me.  I am happy to report that I did manage to avoid recoiling or fleeing into the Mediterranean.

Jeff and I both kept our force basically organized in singular large forces, and I managed to advance forward in a cohesive way.  Once again, I launched the Scythed Chariot early with no effect.  

The battle turned into a slug fest between the two lines, and I think it could have turned out as a victory if my luck had been a bit better.  I managed to win several fights, but the results were not favorable. The Cavalry recoiled, my Knights pursued, and the Seleucid General lost control.  Seleucid Pike losses and recoils in the face of Warbands made the situation worse.

Although I took out one Arab Cavalry, I ended up losing two Pikes and one Cavalry before the final, ugly round.  The coup de main resulted in the Seleucid General and a Psiloi biting the dust.

Final Losses:  Arabs - 1 Seleucids - 6 (Including 1 Sch).  Ouch!

Seoul Mini-Tourney

Jeff organized a mini DBA 2.2 tourney in Seoul yesterday.  The players and armies were:

• Jeff  - Arab Conquest
• Ian - Kappadokians
• Ryan - Late Spartans, Phokians
• me - Seleucids (c list)

In about three hours, we played eight games total.  I will share photos of the games in the next few posts.  I tried to take photos and play at the same time, so the coverage will be inconsistent.  I also took more shots at the beginning of the session than the end.

It was a great time.  Having had little playing experience with others, Ryan and I both left motivated.  My son is thinking about procuring his own army....leaning towards a Blade-heavy list.  Jeff and Ian are both good sports.  Ian has a lot of DBM experience, so it was interesting to learn about the differences in the rules.

The Winner Is....

Jeff and his Arab Conquest army were unbeatable.  Ian gave him a good run with the Kappadokians in the final game, and the second Arab-Seulicid match could have gone either way, but Jeff was undefeated.

I need a lot of practice with the Hellenistic armies and in using terrain more effectively.  I failed to create a plan that would maximize the strengths of the Seleucid list.  The Arabs and Kappadokians were particularly difficult for me.  The strengths of the Seleucids, namely the Pikes and Elephant, were not very effective against these lighter and faster foes.  Twice I made the error, once fatally, of trying to send a cavalry unit through a narrow gap between a hill and board edge.  Despite those challenges, I had fun playing a new army and enjoying the fruits of my painting effort.  Although it scored no kills for me, the Scythed Chariot was fun to try out.

Game 1 - Arab Conquest vs. Late Spartans

My son Ryan and I are still newbies.  We both understand the rules in general, but there is a a lot of nuance in DBA.  As Jeff noted, Ryan played a tough army for a beginner - Late Spartans.  It consists of nine spear, one cavalry, and one psiloi.  The Arabs were a combined arms group of mounted, warband, and bow.  Warband QK Spear, so Ryan was in for a tough fight.  

Arab Conquest vs. Spartans

As the defender, he laid down a river across the center of the board.  The river ended up as a paltry crossing, and the battle turned into a slugfest along the banks.  If it had been impassable, the game might have been much slower...

The Arab Light Horse made it across and helped in a flanking move.  The game ended quickly with a 0 Arab - 4  Spartan loss result.

Game 2 - Arab Conquest vs Spartan Redux

Absorbed in my own troubles, I didn't snap a photo of Game 2 until the Arabs had seized the high ground and sent Light Horse on to a flank.  Jeff is not a timid player...The Spartan Cavalry is out there by itself on the far right.  Ryan had attempted to run around the bad going to chase the bow, but Jeff moved the bow into the rough.

Ryan ended up fighting in multiple directions with the Light Horse pestering him in the rear.  After losing two Spear, he managed to flank and kill one Warband.

The Light Horse was headed to the camp after disrupting his line.  In the end, the Arab Warbands Quick Killed a total of four Spear.  Result: 1 Arab to 4 Spartan losses

In the next post, I'll share the results of a much slower game: Kappadokians vs. Seleucids.  I lacked a good plan of action, scattering my force.  The dice gods didn't favor Ian for the first half of the game.