Having ( at last ) completed painting armies for Alexandrian Macedonians and Later Achaemenid Persians, I have played my first game of De Bellis Antiquitatis, better known as DBA. I rather enjoyed it, I will admit.
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30+ years old - finally getting used!
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The Macedonian army comprised the following, in DBA terminology :
1 x 3 Kn Companions, 1 x 3 Cv Thessalians, 1 x 3 Cv Greek Allied Cavalry, 1 x 2LH Prodromoi
4 x 4 Pk Phalangites, 1 x 4 Ax Hypaspists, 1 x 4 Sp Mercenary Hoplites,
1 x 2 Ps Agrianians, 1 x 2 Ps Archers
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| Macedonians |
and the Persian force was as follows:
1 x 3Kn Heavy Cavalry, 3 x 3Cv Medium Cavalry, 2 x 2LH Light Cavalry
2 x 4Sp Greek Mercenary Hoplites, 2 x 4Ax 'Kardakes'
1x 4Bw 'Sparabara', 1 x 4Bw Light Archers
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and Persians
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I should explain, for anyone who has not used these rules, that the types as described in the rulebook, are as follows :
Kn = 'Knights' - horsemen that charged at first instance without shooting..breaking through and destroying enemy as much by weight and impetus as by their weapons
Cv = 'Cavalry' - the majority of horsemen, primarily armed with javelins, bows or other missile weapons but combining this with sword or lance
LH = 'Light Horse' - who skirmished in dispersed swarms with javelin, bow or crossbow and would not charge unshaken enemy
Sp = 'Spears' - close formation infantry fighting collectively with spears in a rigid shield wall
Pk = 'Pikes' - close formation infantry fighting collectively with pikes or long spears wielded in both hands
Ax = 'Auxilia' - foot able to fight hand-to-hand but emphasising agility and flexibility rather than cohesion
Ps = 'Psiloi' - dispersed skirmishers on foot with javelin, sling, staff sling, bow..
Bw = 'Bows' - foot who fought in formed bodies with bow, longbow or crossbow and relied on dense shooting, light spears, stakes, pavises or shield bearers for survival at close quarters instead of skirmishing or evasion
My apologies if the above is too much information : I hope it gives a hint of the famous 'Barkerese' language used in the rulebook. I did have to re-read a few sentences repeatedly to 'get' the sense of them, but on the whole I found them fine. It's worth mentioning that after the definitions of troop types, basing, terrain etc, the actual 'Battle Rules' section occupies just three pages of the booklet - I can't fault them for simplicity.
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initial setup : Macedonians left, Persians right
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You can see the initial game setup above - I used my 3 feet square table (with ground scale 1 inch = 50 paces) , and opted for completely clear terrain to keep things as simple as possible. To decide deployments, I borrowed from Neil Thomas' Ancient and Medieval Wargaming book, which gives suggested battle formations for the respective armies. As a result, the Persians concentrated their heavy and medium cavalry on their right flank, with infantry in the centre and Light Horse covering the left flank. The Macedonians put their Pike Phalanx in the centre, with Hypaspists and then Companions to their right, and the right flank covered by Psiloi and Prodromoi Light Horse - while deploying the Thessalian and Greek Allied cavalry plus Agrianian javelinmen, on their left, hoping to hold off the powerful Persian cavalry.
All set, and away we go - a roll of the dice determined that the Persians moved first, and for Turn One another roll allowed them to move six units (known as 'elements' in the rules) or groups of units. Accordingly the Persian cavalry advanced in a body on their right, similarly the Light Horse on the left, while their foot Archers unit stepped forward, though not yet within shooting range of the enemy. No combat, as yet. In response, the Macedonians were allowed 5 moves - their Pike phalanx, Hypaspists and Hoplites started to rumble forward, while the Promodroi and Psiloi skirmished with the Persian Light Horse on the right, and the Thessalian and Greek Cavalry rather optimisitically charged against superior numbers of Persian horsemen.
In each player's bound, after movement comes ranged shooting by eligible units of both sides. The Persian Archers let fly at the Macedonian phalanx - to no effect. No less than four close combats then ensued - these are decided by pretty simple opposed die rolls, with each element adding modifiers according to its type and that of the opposition, plus some bonuses for rear support and reductions if 'overlapped' on a flank. Highest score wins, loser suffers effects based on their type and their opposition, and things are much worse if the winner's score was double the loser's. Very simple, and quite subtle. the first few dice rolls favoured Macedonia - on their right, one Persian Light Horse units were 'recoiled' ( retire one base depth, facing forward ) and the other rolled so badly ( against only light foot archers ) that it suffered a 'flee' result, turning tail and retreating 600 paces in disgrace. On the other flank, the Greek Allied cavalry rolled a '6' to the Persian Purple Cavalry's '1' - which destroyed the Persian unit. First blood to Alexander!
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end of Turn 1 : Persian LH flee in shame
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On Turn 2, Persia rolled 3 moves - their foot archers backed away from the Macedonian phalanx, as did the remaining Light Horse on their left - but the Heavy Cavalry saw a chance, and charged at the Greek hoplite unit covering the left of the Macedonian pike block. Meanwhile on their right, their remaining cavalry units tussled with now equal numbers of opponents, having lost their numerical advantage. The Cavalry fight was inconclusive, but the Heavy Cavalry rolled low against the Hoplites, who doubtless raised a cheer as the armoured horsemen were forced to recoil.
Macedonia rolled '6' for moves, alllowing plenty of manoevering, The Phalanx and Hypaspists kept advancing in the centre, while on the left the Agrianians bravely pitched into the cavalry fight. On the right, the Companions, Promodroi and Archers advanced, and finally the Greek hoplites decided to follow-up their advantage by attacking the Persian Heavy Cavalry. The forward movement allowed both Persian 'Bows' units to shoot - the Sparabaras' fire forcing a 'Recoil' for the Hypaspists. In close combat, the dice favoured the Thessalians and Agrianians, and both Persian cavalry also Recoiled - but the Hoplites' optmism was misplaced, losing their combat with the Heavy Cavalry. Checking combat results - 'Spears' losing a combat against 'Knights' are destroyed - that left a nasty gap in the Greek line, threatened by a very nasty unit of heavy cavalry!
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Turn 2 : Unequal fights on Greek left..
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Turn 3 - Persians rolled '4' for moves. The Heavy Cavalry took full advantage, charging into the rear of the Phalanx ( though the pikeman could simply turn about to face their assailants, if I read the rules correctly). On the left, the 'Red' and 'Blue' cavalry continued fighting against Thessalians and Agrianians, while on the right the Persian Light Horse having re-grouped, came whirling back and skirmished against the Promodroi from front and flank. In the shooting phase the Persian Archers and Sparabara kept up their volleying against the phalanx, but the dice were not with them - no effect. Close combat followed - the Persian right-wing Cavalry did better, initially, forcing the Agrianians to 'Recoil', but the Thessalians 'rolled high' and the Persian Blue Cavalry was destroyed - very bad news, Macedonians gaining the upper hand on that wing. The Greeks continued to do well, the Phalangites shrugging off the Heavy Cavalry attack and forcing it to Recoil, while the Promodroi did the same to one of the Persian Light Horse units. Overall, no joy for Persia!
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Turn 3: looking good for Persian LH
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..while Heavies hit the Phalanx
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Macedonians again rolled '6' for moves - the Dice Gods certainly seemed to favour Alexander. His Pike Phalanx charged the Persian infantry line with all four units, joined by the Hypaspists attacking Sparabara, and Companions crashing into a unit of Kardakes. On the flanks, Psiloi and Promodroi kept up the fight against Persian Light Horse, while Thessalians attacked the sole remaining Persian Medium Cavalry. No shooting, but fighting all along the line, no less than seven close combats.
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The main event - Companions, Hypsaspists & Phalanx charge in!
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The player who's 'bound' it is gets to choose the order of the combats, which can be quite advantageous if the gods are with you. In this case I simply worked from the Greek right flank to left, with results as follows :
- Promodroi forced Persian LH to Recoil
- Psiloi ( archers ) vs Persian LH - a draw, no effect
- Companions defeated Kardakes - being beaten by 'Kn', the Kardakes were destroyed, and being 'Kn' the Companions advanced one base depth in pursuit - which put them in contact with the Sparabaras flank, and..
- Hypaspists defeated Sparabaras - now 'Bw' defeated and in contact with any mounted enemy are also destroyed, so they went as well!
- Right-hand Phalangites (2 units) were beaten by the Persians' Mercenary Hoplites (who rolled a '6'), so the Pikes 'recoiled'.
- Left-hand Phalangites (2 units ) defeated Persian Archers, who Recoiled
- Thessalians and Greek Allied Cavalry narrowly beat Persian 'Red' Cavalry, who Recoiled.
The Macedonians didn't win every opposed die roll, but only lost a couple, and combat modifiers worked to their advantage. The Companion cavalry were particularly effective, and rolled a '6' - even though their Kardakes opponents also rolled '6', the Companions as 'Kn' got better modifiers than their 'Ax' opponents, and most foot defeated by 'Kn' are destroyed. The resulting pursuit resulted in the destruction of the Sparabara too.
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end result; left-centre shattered, Persians defeated
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Victory conditions are simple - if you destroy 4 of the enemy's 12 elements, and do not lose as many of your own, that's a win. At the end of Turn 3 the losses were Persians 4, Macedonians 1, so a clear Macedonian win, in some style! We may imagine Alexander at the
head of his Companions, running amok among the Persian infantry line,
which has been 'pinned' by the advance of the Phalanx. Almost textbook?
That was rather fun - I'll spare you any more detailed analysis, but I thought the rules worked pretty well, giving a simple and quick game that 'felt' mostly right. The dice gods were certainly with Alexander, I felt that if the Persians had rolled better dice they might have given Alexander a much harder time, especially with that powerful right wing of cavalry. Which is a good enough reason to give the game another spin...
I'd better leave it at that for now, we are fast approaching the table-top Xmas Truce and 'tis the season of over-eating.. Some more thoughts on DBA next time, perhaps.
Meanwhile, I'd like to wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Xmas and a Happy gaming New Year! Thanks for reading, and for all your brilliant friendly, supportive and informative comments over the past year - hard to believe this is the fourth year of this blog. Have a great break, if you are having one, and keep well, everyone.
