Amphibious Landing Disaster

Ryan and I got in a quick game of DBA tonight.  He played the Seleucids, and I played the Ptolemaic army.  It was quick because my amphibious landing turned into a bloodbath.

Starting as defender, the Ptolemaics have a mandatory Waterway.  Ryan's deployment roll resulted in the water being to his rear.  This should have been a prime opportunity for me.  Ryan moved first, advancing a Psiloi across the board to a hill and moving his cavalry out.

Seleucid Psiloi runs to the hills

 I reserved a Psiloi and two Blades for the amphib landing, intent on going after his Elephant which was off to one flank.

Ptolemaic Amphibious Landing near Seleucid Elephant

Having little experience playing Blades, I didn't know that Ryan's Knights, close by, could quick kill Blades.  Although the Psiloi succeeded in quick killing the Elephant and I tried to move my light horse up to support, the game quickly turned against me.  Ryan managed to engage my Light Horse with his Cavalry.  I won the first bout, as he advanced his Knights toward my Blades, who had nowhere to go.
I couldn't get my Light Horse free, and the Cavalry forced it to recoil on the next turn, right into the Psiloi.  The Light Horse was destroyed.  I tried to move my Pikes out of the way in order to advance my Knights to assist.

In just a few turns, Ryan killed off my Psiloi with his Cavalry and finished off the Blades.  In the final bout, my remaining blade faces his Knight General with overlaps on both sides.  It was mathematically just a matter of time, and my Knights couldn't arrive fast enough to help.

End Game

In any case, it was great to play a game, and I learned a few more rules the hard way.  I also finished painting a battalion of Napoleonic French Infantry.  I need to base this batch of Nap figures before moving on to my next project.  I will either tackle a long delayed effort to improve my terrain collection or work more on my Napoleonics.  I'm still contemplating purchasing the Bolt Action rules soon, too.