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

Two DBA Duels

Ryan and I met Jeff today and played two DBA 2.2 games.  As he works on his painting, Ryan has assembled a Thessalian army from my Spartans and extra Macedonian figures.

Late Thessalians (II/5d) versus Galatians (II/30a)

Thessalians on the Left: Psiloi supporting Hoplites

Ryan played the first game against Jeff's recently painted Galatians.  This matchup turned into a slug fest between the two infantry lines.  Jeff had sore luck with the dice.





Jeff moved a Cavalry around Ryan's flank, placing the supporting Psiloi in its Zone of Control (ZOC).  This move prevented it from moving forward in the contact with the Warband line.

Jeff opened up the attacks on his right flank, using a Scythed Chariot to turn a Thessalian Cavalry element.  He lost the bout.

After the lines met, Ryan used his cavalry to flank a Warband, killing it.

The game quickly ended as the Spears outmatched the Warbands, resulting in four elements lost in the first round of melee.

Final Result: 4 Galatian Losses to 0 Thessalians

Demetrios Early Successor (II/16b) versus New Kingdom Egyptians (I//22)

I have not had any luck with my Macedonian Morph army yet.  I continue to under-utilize my Pike.  For this game, I decided to try a list with an Artillery element.  Jeff, always the good sport, tipped me to several weaknesses in my initial deployment that could have cost me the game right away.  I still made a few key mistakes as the game progressed.  Two elements were often out of command range, and my artillery "pinched" my line, preventing me from using my Knight (Gen) and Elephant.

I pivoted my artillery in order to fire on the line, but the placement along a waterway resulted in a bunching up of units.  I also placed my Pikes are risk of recoiling into the Elephant.  Fortunately, I had a millimeter to spare in the recoil, which happened right away thanks to accurate Bow shooting by the Egyptians.

We fought several rounds of melee between the Pikes and the Egyptian line, composed of Blades and Bows.  Units would recoil or lock, but it was slow going in terms of kills.

I didn't get photos of the action on my right flank, but Jeff effectively kept my LH and one Aux tied up with a Bow element and supporting Cavalry.  The Bow continued to force the Light Horse to recoil.

I rolled low PIPs many times.  During the last round, I moved my artillery forward to shoot at two Cavalry lurking back near the camp.  Moving too far forward, the artillery was killed in close combat by the Cav in the next turn.  Jeff finally killed one of my Cav that covered the Pike's right flank.  Soon after, he turned my flank and took out three Pike elements.

Result: Five Demetrian Losses to 0 NKE Losses. Ouch!