Well, in our imaginations anyway. Bruce provided 2 generic ancient Greek hoplite armies for our most recent game of DBA 3.0. The armies were nearly identical; mostly hoplites (Spear) and peltasts (Auxilia) with a few light troops in support. Bruce had a few Psiloi and I had a couple of archers (Bow) and one Light Horse. Bruce wanted to play a double-size game - 24 elements - but with only a single command with one general, instead of 2. The limited command seemed like a suitable "Greek challenge" but I was pretty sure we were going to be wishing for more Pips later.
I placed my General with my mounted troops in the center behind my front line; with only one general I knew command range was going to be an issue. I was the Attacker, but managed to get Woods placed on my left flank, so I deployed a group of several Auxilia opposite the woods and hoped for good Pips early.
Bruce placed his General on his far right flank opposite the Woods, which meant any movement on his left flank was going to require extra Pips.
I got the early Pips I needed to take possession of the Woods on my left Flank with Auxilia and sent the Light Horse and some Auxilia to skirmish on my right flank.
We both fed elements in to the skirmish on my right, which was costing Bruce more Pips than me, while our main lines of Spear slowly marched toward each other.
The lines of hoplites stared at each other a charge move apart for a couple of bounds until I moved my Spears into contact. I had an overlap advantage on the right side of the line but a disadvantage on the left, so started combats on the right.
The initial round of combat rolls went in my favor; a couple of Bruce's SPears were eliminated and several more were recoiled.
The new side support rules for Spears have made clashes between lines of Spear more decisive - a single recoil or elimination can start a chain reaction that is hard to come back from. . . and that is what happened to Bruce's line. . .
The Auxilia in the Woods on my left flank more than did their job, pinning Bruce's entire right flank. That is where he had stationed his general but never moved to clear the Woods or go around it. The skirmishing on my right flank also occupied enemy elements while the center did the real fighting, but there was one heroic enemy Psiloi that kept recoiling my Light Horse, turn after turn. Then, on the last turn of the game, they finally killed the horsemen! Luckily, it was too late to cost the overall victory.
In case you're wondering, the new F&IW terrain for Recruits is all finished. See ya this weekend, maybe?
I recently read three new-ish books on Ancient Rome (mostly) I really enjoyed. First up is Early Roman Warfare: From the Regal Period to the First Punic War.
From Amazon:
Here Dr Jeremy Armstrong traces the development of Rome's
military might from its earliest discernible origins down to the First
Punic War. He shows how her armies evolved from ad-hoc forces of
warriors organized along clan lines and assembled for the city's
survival, to the sophisticated organization of the legions that went on
to dominate all of Italy and then (after the period covered) the entire
Mediterranean world.
Makes a good case for a little "warband-type" skirmishing a la Warlord's new SPQR game.
Next up is Swords and Cinema: Hollywood vs the Reality of Ancient Warfare.
Again from Amazon:
The battles and sieges of the Classical world have been a
rich source of inspiration to film makers since the beginning of cinema
and the 60s and 70s saw the golden age of the ‘swords and sandals’
epic, with films such as Spartacus. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator led a
modern revival that has continued with the release of films like 300,
The Eagle and Centurion and HBO’s mini-series Rome.
While
Hollywood interpretations of Classical battle continue to spark interest
in ancient warfare, to casual viewers and serious enthusiasts alike
they also spark a host of questions about authenticity. What does
Hollywood get right and wrong about weapons, organization, tactics and
the experience of combat? Did the Spartans really fight clad only in
their underpants and did the Persians have mysterious, silver-masked
assassins in their armies? This original book discusses the merits of
battle scenes in selected movies and along the way gives the reader an
interesting overview of ancient battle. It should appeal to the serious
student of ancient warfare, movie buffs and everyone in between.
Was fun to hear someone else echo all the same complaints of "wrong helmets!" and embellished history that I've made while watching historical movies (just ask my daughters!)
Last up is a book I thoroughly enjoyed: Legion versus Phalanx: The Epic Struggle for Infantry Supremacy in the Ancient World.
From Amazon:
From the time of Ancient Sumeria,
the heavy infantry phalanx dominated the battlefield. Armed with spears
or pikes, standing shoulder to shoulder, and with overlapping shields,
they presented an impenetrable wall of wood and metal to the enemy. It
was the phalanx that allowed Greece to become the dominant power in the
Western world. That is, until the Romans developed the legion and
cracked the phalanx.
In Legion versus Phalanx Cole weighs
the two fighting forces against each other. Covering the period in which
the legion and phalanx clashed (280--168 BC), he looks at each
formation in detail--delving into their tactics, arms, and equipment,
organization and the deployment. It then examines six key battles in
which legion battled phalanx: Heraclea (280 BC), Asculum (279 BC),
Beneventum (275 BC), Cynoscephalae (197 BC), Magnesia (190 BC), and
Pydna (168 BC)--battles that determined the fate of the ancient world.
Drawing on original primary sources, Myke Cole presents a highly
detailed but lively history of this defining clash of military
formations.
Mr. Cole does an outstanding job of bringing these epic clashes to life, describing the sights and sounds and smells - all of the experiences of the soldiers on the ground. Recommended!
Recruits is coming up the end of this month! Since I missed last year due to knee surgeries, I felt compelled to bring some new terrain this year. . . here's a look at an early stage.
If you want to see the completed models in action, you can either come play with us at Recruits or wait for the AAR here. We'll be playing a scenario called Revenge. . . 1759-style! using Fistful of Lead: Horse & Musket from Wiley Games. Hope to see you there!
Bruce suggested a little DBA 3.0 "Book 3" Dark Ages action and provided the representative armies.
Bruce commanded Nikephorian Byzantines (III/65) and I ran Khurasanians (III/43). The Byzantines feature a core of Skoutatoi (8Bw) and Kavallarioi (3Cv) with some exotics like Klibanophoroi (6Kn) and Varangian mercenaries (4Bd), supported by foot and mounted light troops.
The Khurasanians are based around the Ghulam infantry (4Sp) and cavalry (3Cv), supported by some archers (4Bw) and various tribal light troops. Both armies deployed with infantry centers and mounted wings.
The Khurasanians were defending their Dry (terrain type) homeland from Byzantine invasion; as the defender I had to deploy first, so tried to roll up defensible terrain. We ended up with Scrub (Rough Going) on my right flank, and Woods (Difficult Going) on my left. I deployed the largest command, the spear-armed infantry in the center, with a mounted command on each wing, with the light troops holding the Rough and Difficult terrain. I needed a balanced deployment that could hopefully delay the strong Byzantine mounted wings while the center infantry proved decisive.
Both armies began with a general advance, while the Khurasanians maneuvered the left-wing cavalry around the woods to block the Byzantine right-flank mounted advance.
As the main lines drew near each other, seeing the Byzantines on the ends of their center line formed up unnecessarily deep, and liking the match-up between the 4Sp and the Byzantine 8Bw in close combat, I pushed the center into contact.
The good match-ups and the deep Byzantine formations that made recoils impossible led to eliminations in the Byzantine center and left flank commands.
Some good (lucky?) shooting from the archers on the Khurasanian right flank led to the demoralization of the Byzantine left flank, and the Khurasanians began to wheel toward the center to keep up the pressure. FYI that is the Byzantine "dead pile" visible in the upper left of the second of the following photos.
A little more pressure demoralized the Byzantine center command a couple bounds later, signaling their defeat.
The Khurasanian left flank held off the Byzantine onslaught, even as the Klibanophoroi drove deep into their mounted opponents. Thanks for a fun game, Bruce!
Now, what do I want to do for Recruits next month?
Even though a fan of Command and Colors: Ancients, I was surprised to learn about the Kickstarter for a "Space Fleet Warfare" version of the game. Seemed like it might be a "stretch" for the system. So I downloaded the rules from the Kickstarter site and quickly saw that not only wasn't it a stretch, it was actually a pretty good way to portray the "relative positional" nature of what I think battles between capital ships might look like, as opposed to gaming them like "dogfighting" smaller, fighter-type ships. Could this be the way to play with my Star Trek models? Maybe. . .
I jumped in with both feet and got all the unlocked supplements, too. There are lots of reviews and "unboxing" videos on the web, so I won't go into detail, but I will say the components are very nice. . .
The supplements are impressive, too. More ship types, terrain tiles and additional rules. And dice!
The board - mat, in this case - is nice and big. Fills up half the ping-pong table we play on.
And it works with my 1/2500-scale Star Trek models.
Rather than play with multiple models per hex as provided, I'll play with a single model with multiple "shields" instead.
Do you have your ticket yet for the Wiley Wargame Weekend? Whatcha' waitin' for?
See ya!
