Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the New Year.  I haven't blogged in months, but I have recently made progress on several projects.  I'll be posting several articles soon on Warmachine and Bolt Action figures.

Ryan and I did get in a quick DBA game last week - Thessalians versus Ptolemaic.  Unusually, I actually won - 4 to 1.  The Thessalians were bunched up, and my Knights finally took a toll on the units. We played about four rounds of Knights pursuing deeper into enemy territory, and fortunately none of them were schwacked.

Ryan killed off my Elephant in the first turn with his Psiloi - rolled a six for his PIPs and did well on the attack.  After that, he had a rough time of it.

Thessalians Vs. Aitolians

Looking for a historical match-up, Ryan and I tried out Thessalians vs. Aitolians (DBA Army II/5e) again.  The Later Hoplite Greek Aitolian army in DBA 2.2 is very light - seven Psilois, four Spear, and one Light Horse. The army defends in Hilly terrain, which would prove challenging for the Thessalian horse.  Unfortunately, the Aitolians ended up attacking, and Ryan placed minimum terrain...

The Aitolians deployed in two groups. One group of four Psiloi on the left flank, near or on a hill.  The main force was on the right.  Ryan swiftly engaged the main force with his Cavalry.  He quick killed a Psiloi and pushed back my Light Horse.  I later flanked and killed one Cavalry unit in this fight.

When he advanced other Cavalry, including his General, to the center, I pulled the left flank back on the hill and used my Spear to ZOC his mounted elements.

Although supported by Psiloi, the hoplites eventually lost to the mounted forces.

Final Result was Thessalians: 4 (defeated two Spear and two Psiloi) and Aitolians: 1 (defeated one Cav). Rough but fun game.  I didn't have many good choices in this match...

Seleucids Vs. Thessalians

Set-up - Seleucids defending

Ryan and I played a few games of DBA last weekend, having missed Jeff's gaming session.  I'm still trying to learn how to handle Seleucids.  Ryan mocked up Later Greek Thessalians, using his painted elements and substitutes from my Spartan and Macedonian armies.

Ryan advanced his cavalry forward early, while I tried to patiently move my line forward.  I supported the scythed chariot with my light horse and a psiloi, moving the light force on the right flank

Macedonian Knight on Left/Stand-in Thessalian Cav (Gen) on right

Ryan's calvary General advance managed to pull one Knight out of the line, in an attempt to push the mounted back and protect a psiloi from a quick kill.  The elements locked, and the other Thessalian cavalry still managed a kill on the Psiloi.

The Knight was eventually flanked and killed by other cavalry that advanced across the front.  Meanwhile, my main line was essentially squeezed out of play.

The Seleucid scythed chariot finally managed a kill - a spear element - after five or six games.  The light house provided an overlap, helping with the odds. A turn later, the light horse hooked behind the spear.  Unfortunately, I learned an important lesson the hard way: never place your light horse in a position that could cause it to flee off the board.  It did.

Ryan continued to use his cavalry to good effect, but I was able to flank and kill one cavalry element with Pike.  Of course, this broke up my main effort even more. 

I was able to clean up the ranks and advance.  My Knight General pushed back a cavalry, and I was hoping to pin it against the Thessalian spear line.  I also resumed my forward march, hoping to get the Elephants into play against the horse

BUT, the Thessalian cavalry attacked my unprotected pike flank, ending the game.

This was a close game. Thessalians killed four elements, and Seleucids killed two.  I'm slowly getting the hang of this heavy army.  For a change, we matched up Ryan's Thessalians against Later Hoplite Aitolians for the second game.  More on that wacky game in a later posting.

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!

Ptomelaic vs. Thessalians

Ryan is testing out several armies to help him decide on his first army purchase.  He wants a cavalry heavy force supported by heavy foot (Spears or Blades).  We used elements from other armies to pit the Later Thessalians (II/5d) against the Ptolemaic (II/20c) army.  This was also the first time I had played the recently painted Blades in my Morph Collection.

The Thessalians went on the defense, and Ryan placed a minimum amount of terrain.

Initial Deployment

I used the road to move my Pikes up faster, deploying them into double rows in Turn 2.  In Turn 3, my Light Horse faced off against two Cavalry.

 I lost the fight, and the Thessalians scored an early kill.  After this fight, his cavalry advanced and engaged my General Knight.  I recoiled, luckily, and then moved backward out of his ZOC, shifting my other Knight over to support.  Instead of pressing the attack, Ryan moved his Cavalry back to support the main line.

Lines prepare to Clash

One Cavalry element flanked the Pike as the battle lines engaged.  The lead Pike was destroyed, but the rest of the fights went in the favor of the Ptolemaic army in general.  The Elephant destroyed a spear (QK) as did a Blade element.

Main Battle - first Bout

 I rolled low PIPs, but I was able to close on both Cavalry with my Knights in the next turn, and move most of the main line back into contact, providing several overlaps.  The first mounted battle resulted in a Thessalian Cav recoil, but my General destroyed his opponent.  The supported Pikes also destroyed a Spear element, ending the game.

Final Losses:  Thessalians 4 (Cv, 3-Sp) & Ptolemaic 2 (LH, Pk)

We plan to mock up a T'ang Dynasty army, Mings, and Trojans in the near future for more testing.  Meanwhile, I have started work on my DBN elements again.  It will be a few months before I finish up enough Austrians and French for a game, but I am looking forward to it.