6th April, Alton

The 2019 DBA Pairs tournament in Alton

No blog from me for Salute this year ... it clashed with the DBA pairs event in Alton and there were adequate volunteers for the big London show this year - so I scooted off to Alton (which I missed in 2018 due to being at Salute).  It looks like this may be an alternating commitment (alton-ating?  OK - I'll move along) ...

Following the Telamon theme, I took Romans and Gauls - lists II/11 and II/49.  Not Quite Telamon (to coin a phrase) ... my Romans were early Marians from the Slave Revolt period but still good opponents for the Gauls.

Alton uses a 'matched pairs' format ... every other round it is 'your' pair - and when it is your pair, your opponent picks which army to use.

Your challenge, if you like, is to pick a pair that is balanced enough not to give an easy game to the player who picks (not you) but which you know well enough to be able to win, either way.  The track record suggests I'm not very good at that challenge!

Then again, I tend to pick the armies I am doing at the time, to give them a run out ... hence Romans and Gauls, following the Telamon theme.

The upside, of course, is that you do get to know your new armies better (seeing how 'the other guy' would use them too, which is really useful), and the prize tables at Alton ensure that everyone's a winner.

(in addition to the Trophies in the header pic, everyone gets to pick something from the table)

There were two ready-to-run armies in the prize stash, including these Nubians, painted by the organiser, Martin Smith, in memory of fellow wargamer, Bill Dunlop.  Nice gesture.

It's about time I painted up and army for this reason.  I've certainly got plenty of 'reserve' lead in waiting.  But I am always touched by other people's generosity.  So 'a big up' to all the people who do this sort of thing and make our little communities so friendly.

The armies ... (both very simple)

GAULS II/11 ... LCh Gen;  2 x LCh; 2 x Cv; 6 x warriors (4Wb); 1 x Ps

MARIANS II/49 ... 4Bd Gen; 2 x Cv; 7 x legionaries (4Bd); 2 x Ps

My 'away' games were Asiatic Early Successor - Eumenus vs Antigonus (I chose Eumenes = 2 elephants)

(Asiatic Early Successor wars)

Chichimec vs Mound Builders (I chose Mound Builders = general on a litter!) 

(Dog People and Mound Builders ... not much armour in this one)

... and Early Polish vs Teutonic Order (I chose the Teutons as I have them on my back burner)

(a lot more armour in this one - heavily gepanzert on chivalry's Eastern Front)

The Polish/Teuton armies were very nicely put together, and a joy to play with ... but, like the other games, I could not outscore my opponent in any of the melees.  In DBA that's not a winning formula.

(scenes from the Romano-Celtic games)

So I think we can safely say I wasn't troubling the leader board this time around.  Martin asked me to slip into my Society of Ancients 'Life Vice-President' mode and hand out the prizes as I wasn't busy winning any of them :) ... So well done to winner Martin M (who did the donkey work for our victory at Tarrington).

My opponents took the Romans in my 'home' games and won with them.  Except Martin who took the Gauls ... and won with them.  As much as in any game, in Romans vs Celts, whoever wins the melees wins the game.  End of analysis.

So ... a splendid day out and another vere around the learning curve.

These Gauls need the rub of the green in DBA.  I had originally thought of building a Galatian opponent for the Thebans I am working on, but for this event matched them against Romans for two reasons: a. it joins up the Telamon theme (and the Telamon theme is why I took on the Celtic figures from David Constable's collection); and b. I thought the Theban infantry (5 with flank support or 6, if the double-ranked ... 7 with general) were every bit as tough as the Romans - just, being Spear, would be even better against the cavalry).  

Given that the Thebans are pretty much finished, I think, once Telamon is done, the Gauls will become Galatian again and go in a box as opponents for the Thebans. 

Appropriately enough, when it got down to my lowly position's pick, the Osprey book on Rome's Enemies was still there, so that came home with them.

DBA Yahoo Group (info, news and more pics here; you need to a Yahoo ID)

SoA UK DBA League page

Telamon BattleDay (Gauls and Romans everywhere)

DBA Special: II/49 Marian Roman (15mm)

This is the other half of the Slave Revolt scenario and loosely represents the army of Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier in the classic movie version).

The army is almost entirely composed of Magister Militum Chariot figures.

This version of the army takes all the legionaries ... both more plausible and more balanced for the Spartacus scenario (although you might take advantage of some of the options in other circumstances) ...

8 elements of Blades in all, including the commander.  Crassus' mules, perhaps.

I used earlier Republican style figures with the big plumes taken off to get what felt like the right appearance for these home legions at around 73-71 BC (Third Servile War) ... Brutal and business-like.

Camp and Camp Followers

The Kubrick film's plot has Spartacus's plan to escape by sea foiled by Crassus blocking his access to the ships - probably bribing the pirates or buying up the ships.  It was a good opportunity to make a camp model around one of the old Revell warships.

The removable CF element stays is usefully held down with a piece of magnetic strip (and a metal shim) ...

Some further options

The Marian army has a number of uses, so although I generally don't worry about 'all options', for this army I indulged a few extras ...

A splendid solid army.  

This army pairs against The army of Spartacus in Southern Italy

DBA Special: II/45c Slave Revolt - Spartacus in Southern Italy

This is the first part of a historical pair depicting the battles of the Spartacus revolt.  It has a shamelessly 'Hollywood' flavour ... more full of gladiators in tournament armour than would have been likely in the field.  

This was a deliberate choice ... although less plausible, it tags the army as including a fair number of professional fighters - and gives the army a pleasing style and colour.

Similarly, the general's figure is loosely based on Kirk Douglas in the celebrated Stanley Kubrick movie ...

... in so far as you can do that in 15mm!   Nevertheless, I picked the most dimpled chin I could find!

The gladiators are mostly Museum Miniatures and Outpost.  They would probably have discarded much of that costume armour in favour of Roman battlefield equipment.

The horde elements are slaves and Celts stiffened with more gladiators ...

Also ...

CAMP and Camp Followers

In the final phase of the campaign, Spartacus made his camp in the caldera of Mount Vesuvius, accessing it by vines and ladders ...   I have tried to give some sense of this ...

(typical volcanic landscape) ...

So something like this, maybe?

The swimming figure recalls that memorable scene from Kubrick's film where Kirk Douglas watches Jean Simmons bathing ...

(the Spartacus camp: details and inspiration)

Barker Marker

A Roman magistrate looks on, adjudicating threat zones and recoils ...

The whole base checks 40x40, the detachable (magnetic) column does 40x20.

This army pairs against Marian Roman.

DBA Special ... II/49 Marian Roman (10mm)

 

As promised, here is a standard 12 element army from the Pharsalus game - and as used in the last set of general games ...

The legionaries are nearly all from New Line Design but the figures are otherwise a mix of A.I.M, Magister Militum and Pendraken.

 

 

(Gallic, Spanish, Macedonian, Greek or similar auxiliary cavalry (Cv) or javelin throwing) Numidian, German, Illyrian or similar Light Horse (LH)

 

(10mm Legionaries from Newline.  Yes I do like these figures)

 

 

 

 

(Numidian elephant, wild Gauls, cavalry or requisitioned city bolt-shooters)

 

2018 so far - some more DBA

 

No update on what's going on round here would be complete without the local DBA games that we use to keep our ancients collection in use and fill in the odd Monday night.

We have DBA armies in most scales but usually play either in 15mm or 1:72 ...  but I do like the slightly more 'proper battle' look of 10mm (on standard 40 wide bases) ...

Here's a typical evening from a week or so ago ...

Game 1 ... 

My Goths took on Treb's Byzantines ... both 15mm armies had been stood down for a while so it was good to get them fighting.  I think Belisaruius was a bit slow to come up from reserve.  It didn't go well.

Game 2 ...

 

Treb's  15mm Burmese and Khmer ... this was the start of our conversation.  I recently played with and lost with Burmese at the Northern Cup.  I got the Khmer this time.  The Burmese still lost.

Spectacular Irregular figures ...

 

Game 3: Roman Civil War

 

This is my 10mm Pharsalus set respun as a 'by the book' 12v12 DBA table.

Treb rolled a 1 as defender so the plough he assumed would be irrelevant wasn't.

 

(10mm DBA ... Marian Roman)

I thought I had this one as Caesar ... Pompey let the muddy ploughed slow his flanks so ended up with is centre over-exposed (or so I thought).  I felt ready to pounce.

But, notwithstanding some early successes, I struggled to make real capital out of the advantages (DBA can be like that) and eventually Treb got into a winning position ...

 

(Legionary slogging action)

It was a good game.  romans are hard to beat ... even with Romans.

See what I mean about the extra sense of mass 10mm can get you ... 

Also out and about recently ...

 

(Vikings)

 

(Pre Feudal Scots) 

 

(Medieval Germans) 

All 15mm armies.

We usually collect armies in battle related pairs.