Martin's 'dirty' DBA

More of our DBA outing at Phalanx

Back with the plot ... as briefly touched in the general entry for Phalanx, the entertainment we provided was Martin Charlesworth's 'Dirty DBA' (and by dirty, he means, as far as I get it ... quick 'n' dirty ...) - so no unnecessary frills ... just quick as you can, from intro to playing the game.

4 pieces of terrain are flipped into place, and the visitors get a choice of assembled armies ....

Martin ran the games, and provided standard opposition with his Later Persians.

The Greeks proved the most popular pick to oppose them, and Martin was happy to allow any number of players to command the armies - even 4 youngsters taking 3 bases each in one game! A recipe for disintegration ... yes. But actually, with bits and pieces everywhere, they won.


Well, a wargamer? Outnumbered 4:1 by kids? What chance did he have?

Anyway, I've asked Martin to send me some notes on the rules (and tweaks) which I will post as and when. Meanwhile, here's some gratuitous eye candy ...

In addition to the ever popular Greeks, to face off the Persians, there were ....

So, some subtle - some, perhaps, not...

The final score was 7 -5 to the Late Persians (the 'home team'), and it provided a constant stream of entertainment.

Thanks for a great session, Martin.

Gladiators

OK - here are the scales I like for Gladiators ....
This posting is partly to show I read the comments you send ... partly to illustrate why I'm not bothered with 28mm ... and partly just because I like gladiator figures (hey ... it's the Society of Ancients - it's allowed)...

Actually, if the brilliant Revell 90mm plastics had been available all along (and if there were more than just these two, of course) ... I think there's no doubt this would be the winning general purpose scale.. they are chunkily impressive, obviously robust, and retail for under a fiver! Come on Revell - make a few more variants!


No - they're not real people, they are toys!

Even so, the little guys still have a charm all of their own - so if you go properly big for a combat game, there's still scope for a Slave Revolt army (and no real need to be too scrupulously 'purist' ... mixing a few gladiators into the ranks tells you something about the characters, even if they are no more likely to have fought in 'costume' than Napoleon's guardsmen!...)
... and so, just for fun ... here are some of those 15s again:



Enjoy.

St. Helens, 21st June

Phalanx 2008


My space vacant (yep - I'm behind the camera!), Martin (back to us) running the game.

For Shows North, 'Phalanx' was back to something like normal after the Games Expo (so me late after queuing on the M6 in atrociously British summer weather whilst the 'overnight' road works were still being lifted ... thanks for that, Highways Agency...).. but thankfully I'm just the stand for this one - Martin Charlesworth entertains the public ... and is local and able to hold the fort. Thanks Martin - the input of local enthusiasts is brilliant and priceless for the Society.

Actually, it was more frustration than disaster ... we were there by 10 ... just not in time comfortably to have the literature display up as the public were admitted. Fortunately, with the game ready and running, after ten minutes or so all was well with the world.

Phalanx is one of those excellent regional shows ... maximum convenience and helpfulness (especially if you are running late), minimum red tape and regulation. No parking fees, spacious venue, inexpensive cafeteria, helpful local support, sensibly priced Bring and Buy and a good range of traders.... Need I say more? And it always rains in mid June, anyway ...

The stand was the usual Society material, but greatly enhanced by the new-look glossy Slingshot (well done Mark and Nick) and the freshly arrived Roma Invicta game (well done Phil and Nick): and thus plenty to talk about and new stuff to browse.

To get people thinking about Ancients, introduce youngsters and entertain vets, Martin was once again running a back-to-back DBA challenge.

The Society of Ancients Challenge.

Martin takes his Persian Army ... explains his 'dirty DBA' (quick start, pick an army, lay down some terrain and keep it simple) .. you pick from a choice of challengers..


He started with a bad trot .. but pulled it round during the course of the day.

Impressively, 12 games were played in total, using all of the available armies. Most popular were the Classical Greeks and their sturdy wall of spears (refreshingly popular even amongst youngsters who didn't really know the history that made their choice so appropriate - and despite the obvious temptations of the '3 elephant' Indians!) ...

In the end (and despite some sledging from me...), Martin finished 7 to 5 ahead of the game.

I will post some pictures of the DBA armies when I've done a bit more editing.

Elsewhere, their were some attractive games for the Ancient and Medieval enthusiast ...

.. including former Slingshot layout maestro (author of Lytel Guphan, and the man who sorted out the impressive art work for Corvus, the Saxon Shores game etc. ) Tony Hughes, with a neat looking (and busy) Siege game...

... as well as good looking contributions ... wargames in progress ...

... and stuff to admire...

... and if some of that looks (shall we say) 'big' ... here's something very small: Stephen from The Baggage Train popped over to show off his 10mm Romans ... and they did look neat (and he did renew his subscription!)

well - if we can put a 28mm Roman on the cover of Slingshot, I'm sure I'll get away with a 10mm unit on the Shows North blog!
Making a weekend of it ...

Now, I did list the attractions of St Helens earlier on in this report .. well, there's more: the Gentlemen Pensioners have a well-appointed refuge courtesy of Steve and Gwen only 20 miles or so from the show, and whose phenomenal hospitality extends to accommodation and a 'biggest game of the year' Sunday... a chance for some of us showteamers to settle down and play a wargame! A chance for Steve to put up his 12x6 table and wallow in toy soldiers.


Gratuitously off topic, here is a snapshot from the 4,000 figure Shako refight of Borodino: OK, we didn't quite finish it (!), and maybe Shako (which did work quite well) isn't quite abstract enough to handle quite the levels of forces ... but as the expression often has it .... it was fun trying!
Well, that was my weekend. Thanks to everyone for putting so much into it. Same again next year? I hope so.

Thanks for a great Show, Spartans ...

Thanks for a brilliant weekend of hospitality, Steve ...

And thanks for putting on the DBA games, Martin (a collection of photos will follow shortly)..

Birmingham, 31st May - 1st June

UK Games Expo 2008


OK ... I know - no ancients content in that photo at all - I just wanted to give you a feel for the event. This was not a regular wargames event - but a more general games fair ... so although, amongst the magic, dragon chasing, and gangster cleansings, a FoG event was being played (and Flames of War on the Sunday ...), the venue was full of families, suited-up roleplayers and self-confessing boardgame geeks ... not quite the general public we meet at Milton Keynes - but still a refreshingly diverse mix of people who don't yet know they want to play historical ancients! Edgebaston's extensive Clarendon Suites are the elegant venue for this sprawling event: lots of rooms, lots of traders, lots of demo tables and even more visitors...

So not a lot of space left over. This was our first visit to the Expo, and very much an exploratory outing. The organisers had provided us with an 'information' stand ... so somewhere on which to lay out Slingshots and games (the guts of what the Society of Ancients does ...) but no linked gaming or demonstrating table (which was OK, as, forewarned, I was covering the event solo..)..

The Expo is very much about playing, and joining in. The organisers' preferred style is for rooms centred around games to try out, with trade and information stands surrounding them - preferably sponsoring the tables in front, and selling the games being hosted on them (so the show is like a vast 'try it and buy it' bazaar...): so, a great idea, though not a model that exactly matches a non-commercial association like the Society of Ancients. Needless to say, I would have loved to have been able to set up the full 'Shows North' participation version of Gladiolus, and I think it would have gone down very well.

Remember them? They certainly draw visitors in.... They take 4' x 4', though - not an option, even if I'd had them! Fortunately, as well as 'the big fellas' I have some 15mm Gladiators (which, of course, actually fit on the board that comes in the Society Game Pack ...)..

These allow a Gladiolus game to go almost anywhere - and so I was able to set something up, and show interested browsers how the game works. Of course, I'm a big fan of the 15mm scale - and even though they are small, I still think they look OK...

Good enough to merit a few gratuitous photos, anyway. Gladiators are such a great subject for pictures ... For those of you that are bound to ask, I think these were a mixture of Museum Miniatures and Outpost(?) ...

... then mucked about a bit by me so the equipment is a reasonable match to the descriptions designer Andy Gittins gives for the (6) specific gladiators built into the game (but its a while since I did them). For 15mm figures, I think they have photographed up nicely ...
The Expo? an enjoyable weekend, and the Society's range of games proved very popular. I think sometimes we don't make a big enough play of the diverse selection of games written by our members and published by the Society of Ancients over the last 15 years: from these Gladiators to the Medieval Tournament, from Ancient naval battles in 'Corvus' to the re-issue of Paddy Griffith's rampaging 'Aquitaine' ... and in the middle? Dynastic politics, Dark Age skirmishes, battles for the lordship of the Steppes, and the innovation of Graham D Evans and the De Matrica Bellae 'matrix' game. Oh, yes ... and more gladiators ...
You can get all of these from the Society - they are listed in Slingshot, and Peter tells me the shopping option for them will soon be up on the website - but I'm wondering if here, or somewhere like it, isn't where you should 'find out more ...' I'll see if we can't get a bit more supporting material up somewhere ... the games are such a great resource.

The Expo? yes - I hope they will invite us back next year, and I hope we can play a fuller part. I understand the Field of Glory mini tournament went well - so perhaps there will be more of an ancient/historical flavour in the vibrant mix, next year.

Thanks, everyone
(for more on the UK Games Expo ... click here)