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.

Persian Progress

Despite reality interfering all week, I managed to make good progress on the Later Achaemenid  Persian (II/7) DBA army figures.  The decision to prewash the white primed figures was a success.  It definitely reduced the nooks and crannies painted white that were difficult to share.

The Later Persians in DBA 2.2 have an option to field four spears or four auxilia.  Even though I have enough figures for both choices, I am focused on fielding the Army with spears first.  I'm hopeful that I can finish up this army by next weekend, in time for some DBA games on 6 April.

Three of the spear elements will feature Medians or Persian figures.  I hand-painted the shields.

I decided to use Phoenician Marines for one spear element, using decals on these figures.

I also repainted one scythed chariot, from my Macedonian Morph collection, with a Persian motif.

I'm tackling the mounted elements and Darius' chariot next.

Ryan is also making good progress on his Thessalian army.  Four spear elements are completed, except for the terrain on the bases.  He placed shield decals tonight, and they look pretty cool.  He decided to use blue as the dominant color on hoplite shields and cavalry cloaks.

Persian Paint Test

Darius in the replica mosaic at Pompeii, Italy, March 2012

Inspired by our recent game day, I have decided to paint up a Late Persian army that has been in the queue.  I tried to delay the project until DBA 3.0 was published, but I have given up.  I'll base it for 2.2 which is what our group plays.  I have too many figures really, so I need to decide what figures I will actually use for this army.  I will eventually buy archers, so I can field the Early army, too.

Pre-washing

I primed this figures white.  I like how the white undercoat works for bright colors, but there are always little crevices that remain tough to hit.  With a black undercoat, the spots look naturally like shading, but  white stands out.

Persian Javelinmen

With a black undercoat, I drybrush white to help see the details.  I decided to try the opposite on these figures.  Using a Citadel Paints Wash (Agrax Earthshade), I liberally splashed the wash onto the figures, ensuring I covered areas that will be shaded later.  I'm not sure if this will help or not, but the painting step went very quick.

Persian General figures in front of the Army

Now I need to research the clothing colors and shields for this force.

Grenzer Battalion

Grenzer #5 Regiment command element

I finished off a small Grenzer Battalion for Lasalle (and DBN).   This unit is composed of figures from a Battle Honors set titled "Grenzers and Jagers."  There were not enough Grenz figures for the six bases needed in Lasalle, and the figures didn't mix well with other figures that I purchased.

I decided to field one of my Lasalle battalions with the "half deployed" option - four bases and two additional skirmish markers that can deploy to other units. Since the regular Austrian infantry is weaker in skirmishers than the French, this option should work fine.

The unit represents Grenzer Regiment #5.

I'm putting Napoleonics aside for awhile.  My next project is a DBA Persian army although I need to stop procrastinating on my terrain project.

DBA Game Day

Jeff assembled a group of five for DBA this weekend; Ryan, Rob, Ian, and me joined Jeff who graciously arranged the location and provided terrain and game mats.  We rotated turns, with the winner continuing to play.  Jeff sat out the first round.  This was Rob's first time playing DBA in five years, but he fared well.

 The Armies 

• Kappadokians (Ryan)
• Phokians (Jeff)
• Serbian Empire (Rob)
• Palmyrans (Jeff)
• Seleucids (a) list (Dave)
• Alexandrian Imperial (Dave)
• Patrician Romans (Ian)

Game Results

The number represents the elements killed by the army.  Green shading marks the victor.

Game Results	Patrician Romans	Serbian Empire	Alexandrian Imperial	Palmyrans	Seleucids	Kappadokians	Phokians	Comments
Game 1					0	3		Seleucid Gen killed
Game 2	1	4						Serbs captured camp
Game 3						2	4	Kap Gen killed
Game 4		4	3					Nail-biter
Game 5	2			5				Palmyran Gen killed
Game 6		5				2		Close until the end
Game 7			2	4				Pikes need patience

Eye Candy

My photo coverage was uneven, but here are a few highlights.

Kappadokians vs. Seleucids

Initial deployment

Psiloi ZOCs Elephant, forcing retreat

Scythed Chariot surrounded

Serbians vs. Patrician Romans

Serbian Knights advance while Bow move into woods

Mayhem

Phokians vs. Kappadokians

Kappadokian horse fighting alone

Hand of God assists Phokians in trapping Kappadokian General

Palmyrans vs. Patrician Romans

Palmyran General fights Blades 

Kappadokians vs. Serbians

Kappadokians await Serb Attack: LH withdraws after successful raid

Palmyrans vs. Alexandrian Imperial Army

Companion Cavalry surrounded by Palmyran Bow

Final Results

In the end, all of us had a fun day of gaming in these friendly matches.  Jeff displayed his usual strong skills, and Rob played very well despite his long furlough.  Ryan is continuing to improve, and he handled this light army quite well.  Ian and I tried hard...I must be more patient with the Macedonians (or maybe it is time to play some other army that fits my desire to attack quickly better).

Player	Armies	Wins	Losses
Jeff	Phokians (1), Palmyrans (2)	3	0
Ryan	Kappadokians	1	2
Ian	Patrician Romans	0	3
Rob	Serbian Empire	3	0
Dave	Seleucids (1), Alex Imperial (2)	0	3

Chosun Dynasty Army Logistics

Standard of Yi Dynasty

The Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo ran an interesting article on the history of the Chosun (Yi) Dynasty's emergency rations on 8 March 2013 (pg. C5). The description and images from a famous set of eight images that cover the military history from the Koryo dynasty to the early Chosun period. The images should be inspirational for any DBA painters working on List IV/78, Yi Dynasty, which is the other name used for the Chosun kingdom.



The main image from the article depicts Chosun government forces fighting a rebel army.  The clothing colors, banners, and weaponry should serve as a useful guide for painting.

The article explained why the soldiers' uniforms bulge around the stomach.


Soldiers wrapped a food bag carrying emergency rations around their torsos.  The Chosun army was quite organized in terms of support.  Soldiers known literally as "Fire Soldiers" served as the logisticians responsible for foodstuffs.  The term is often mistranslated as a type of shooting unit, but the term refers to the fires used for cooking.  In addition to preparing food when the army was not in an emergency situation, the cooks made rice cakes from a mix of boiled rice and wheat flour for each foot soldier to carry.

The article went on to explain that soldiers were punished severly for eating the emergency rations without orders: the punishment was the same as losing a weapon.

I hope that my meager translation effort and sharing of these images prove useful to wargamers interested in Korean armies.


The images from the 북관유적도첩(北關遺蹟圖帖)-출기파적도(出奇破賊圖) were provided for the news article by the Koryo University Museum. The Korean National Museum's website also offers more information at the link http://www.emuseum.go.kr/index.do.  I couldn't find the same information in English, but clicking on the English tab at the top of the webpage will provide you with access to other information on Korean history.