Andrechin
01-25-2004, 08:52 PM
Today I played in the Hellana 04 DBA tournement in Agliana (a small town in Tuscany). A short report of the tournement is in the news section.
Here are the battle report of the games I played.
I played with Galatian II/30a: LCh (G), LCh, Cv, 8xWb, SCh
Arable topography, Aggressivity 4.
The tournement was a disaster for me in term of perfomances, but full of
thrill and fun (what do you expect from a warband army?).
First game against Alexandrian imperial, Kn (G), Kn, LH, 6Pk, El, Ax, 2xPs.
I attacked and the board waws quite flat terrain: waterway, road parallel
to it and a gentle hill on one side. Between the road and the WW.
My preferred entry edge was the one opposite the WW, but got the WW edge
instead. Fine, so the highest mobility of my army could exploit a flank.
He deployed from my left to my right: LH,Ax,6Pk,Kn, EL, with Ps and Kn (G)
in reserve.
I deployed with the LCh+Cv in front of a double ranked line of Wb and the
Sch on the left, so that, after any switch of elements by the defender I
could redeploy my Cavalry.
No shifts, so I started to move the chariots (Light and Scythed) on the
left, to menace enveloping its Elephant, while the Cv covered the other
flank supporting the advance of the Wd against the Pk wall.
That forced teh reaction I wanted: the Macedonian Knights moved together
with the Elephant near the edge of the board, to face my chariots which
resisted the first charges by the enemy.
That gave me the time to attack the macedonian infantry.
First charge was positive: the left Ax was doubled and the nearby double
Pk lost the resultin +5 vs +4 combat. But the next fight of such type saw
two Wb supporting each other being doubled (figth +4 for me, +6-1 for
the Macedonians, I rolled 1, he rolled 5, so I cannot even blame a 1-6
bad roll) and the last one was recoiled by the last pike block.
In the next turn, the rear rank of he pike blok which had double the Wb
went to give support to the single pike left alone and the front rank
closed the door of the previousy victorious double warband.
Situation was bad for me: fight at +5 vs. +3 and I could lose the two Wb and
the game.
I TIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And next bound I could attack on the flank the Pk closing the door and
with the anoter Wb close the door to the LH facing my Cv. Too many fights in
my favours and I finally won!
Second game was against Later Achaemenid Persians (Cv (G), 2xCv, 2xLH, 4xSp,
3xPs). I again attacked (OK, I'll no repeat, I always attacked and always
lost from now on).
Again a very flat terrain. He deployed with the heavy infantry (Ps
supported Sp) on my left and mounted on the right and the General in reserve.
I did the same.
My technique was again to try to attack its flank but he ignored that and
he tried to switch his developement, advancing his Cv and LH against my Wb
and moving the Sp to cover the now undefende flank.
This movement required PIP, so I got on his flank before he coul reorganize
it and managed to kill a Sp and a Ps before he could contact my infantry line.
But then I did a mistake, in order to try to conclude the game early I
attacked his camp with my Scythed chariot. It was a draw and the Scyted chariot
was destroyed. But then I lost the numerical superiority on this flank. And
his Cv (G) also doubled my LCh.
On the other side, a double Wb move allowed be to close the door and kill
a LH, but Wb was killed by a Cv charge.
We ended up with tree elements lost each, my LCh general in close combat
against a Sp. Mu Cv closing the door to the Sp, his general closing the door
to my general: who win the combat wins the game. I lost.
Third game was against Polybian Roman (Cv (G), Cv, 6xBd, 2xSp, 2xPs).
Again a relatively flat terrain.
My deplyoyment was similar to the first game and, after the element switch,
he had Ps supported Sp, Cv Gen, line of Ps supported Bd, Cv and two blades.
I attacked with my cavalry in the left flank with with Wb slowly advancing
against the Bd.
The flank attack seemed to work, with the Cv killing the supporting Ps, but
I did not realize my opponent could use his general to screen the ZOC of
the Cv I left behind to protect the flank of my general. After doing that he
was able to close teh door to my general which was lost surrounded by the
Triarii.
Next bound I have enough pip to charge the Blades with my Wb's and SCh.
In the resulting combat, the SCh killed one Bd and a Wb destroyed a Bd with
the supporting Ps on their back, but they suffered one loss and the triarii
dispatched also the second LCh.
In this 3-3 situation in the next round of combats the on Wb was double by a
Roman Cv ending the game.
Last game was against Later Achaemenid Persians again, but with a different
configuration: Cv (G), 2xCv, 2xLH, SCh, 4xAx, 2xPs.
Terrain was wuite heavy loaded with a maximum size difficult hill in the
center of the board and a maximum size wood on the side.
Anyhow there was a good going corridor on my left, heading directly to my
opponent's camp.
Since he deployed most of his mounted troops on the other side of the board,
I tried to exploit that, in the meanwhile my Wb were occupying the central
hill, with two kept in the wood to be able to react to a LH raid toward
my camp on that side.
Again, everything started well, with one LCh + one CV destroying a LH which
was interposing between them and the camp. But I did not realize immediately
how fast a SCh can be: the Persian chariot attacked the winner Cv, with the
Cv general helping with an onverlap and doubled it. Next bound I tried to
attack the Cv general (he would have recoiled against his own Sch), but no
success. Then two attacked the left alone LCh, and then my LCh general,
quickly ending the game.
Overall I would say that warband based armies with a significant amount
of mounted troops have some chances, but they need some skill (to screen
them from mounted enemy and to lead them against infantry they can kill)
and some luck in the combat (they have a DIB capability, but will always be
at a disadvantage).
Here are the battle report of the games I played.
I played with Galatian II/30a: LCh (G), LCh, Cv, 8xWb, SCh
Arable topography, Aggressivity 4.
The tournement was a disaster for me in term of perfomances, but full of
thrill and fun (what do you expect from a warband army?).
First game against Alexandrian imperial, Kn (G), Kn, LH, 6Pk, El, Ax, 2xPs.
I attacked and the board waws quite flat terrain: waterway, road parallel
to it and a gentle hill on one side. Between the road and the WW.
My preferred entry edge was the one opposite the WW, but got the WW edge
instead. Fine, so the highest mobility of my army could exploit a flank.
He deployed from my left to my right: LH,Ax,6Pk,Kn, EL, with Ps and Kn (G)
in reserve.
I deployed with the LCh+Cv in front of a double ranked line of Wb and the
Sch on the left, so that, after any switch of elements by the defender I
could redeploy my Cavalry.
No shifts, so I started to move the chariots (Light and Scythed) on the
left, to menace enveloping its Elephant, while the Cv covered the other
flank supporting the advance of the Wd against the Pk wall.
That forced teh reaction I wanted: the Macedonian Knights moved together
with the Elephant near the edge of the board, to face my chariots which
resisted the first charges by the enemy.
That gave me the time to attack the macedonian infantry.
First charge was positive: the left Ax was doubled and the nearby double
Pk lost the resultin +5 vs +4 combat. But the next fight of such type saw
two Wb supporting each other being doubled (figth +4 for me, +6-1 for
the Macedonians, I rolled 1, he rolled 5, so I cannot even blame a 1-6
bad roll) and the last one was recoiled by the last pike block.
In the next turn, the rear rank of he pike blok which had double the Wb
went to give support to the single pike left alone and the front rank
closed the door of the previousy victorious double warband.
Situation was bad for me: fight at +5 vs. +3 and I could lose the two Wb and
the game.
I TIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And next bound I could attack on the flank the Pk closing the door and
with the anoter Wb close the door to the LH facing my Cv. Too many fights in
my favours and I finally won!
Second game was against Later Achaemenid Persians (Cv (G), 2xCv, 2xLH, 4xSp,
3xPs). I again attacked (OK, I'll no repeat, I always attacked and always
lost from now on).
Again a very flat terrain. He deployed with the heavy infantry (Ps
supported Sp) on my left and mounted on the right and the General in reserve.
I did the same.
My technique was again to try to attack its flank but he ignored that and
he tried to switch his developement, advancing his Cv and LH against my Wb
and moving the Sp to cover the now undefende flank.
This movement required PIP, so I got on his flank before he coul reorganize
it and managed to kill a Sp and a Ps before he could contact my infantry line.
But then I did a mistake, in order to try to conclude the game early I
attacked his camp with my Scythed chariot. It was a draw and the Scyted chariot
was destroyed. But then I lost the numerical superiority on this flank. And
his Cv (G) also doubled my LCh.
On the other side, a double Wb move allowed be to close the door and kill
a LH, but Wb was killed by a Cv charge.
We ended up with tree elements lost each, my LCh general in close combat
against a Sp. Mu Cv closing the door to the Sp, his general closing the door
to my general: who win the combat wins the game. I lost.
Third game was against Polybian Roman (Cv (G), Cv, 6xBd, 2xSp, 2xPs).
Again a relatively flat terrain.
My deplyoyment was similar to the first game and, after the element switch,
he had Ps supported Sp, Cv Gen, line of Ps supported Bd, Cv and two blades.
I attacked with my cavalry in the left flank with with Wb slowly advancing
against the Bd.
The flank attack seemed to work, with the Cv killing the supporting Ps, but
I did not realize my opponent could use his general to screen the ZOC of
the Cv I left behind to protect the flank of my general. After doing that he
was able to close teh door to my general which was lost surrounded by the
Triarii.
Next bound I have enough pip to charge the Blades with my Wb's and SCh.
In the resulting combat, the SCh killed one Bd and a Wb destroyed a Bd with
the supporting Ps on their back, but they suffered one loss and the triarii
dispatched also the second LCh.
In this 3-3 situation in the next round of combats the on Wb was double by a
Roman Cv ending the game.
Last game was against Later Achaemenid Persians again, but with a different
configuration: Cv (G), 2xCv, 2xLH, SCh, 4xAx, 2xPs.
Terrain was wuite heavy loaded with a maximum size difficult hill in the
center of the board and a maximum size wood on the side.
Anyhow there was a good going corridor on my left, heading directly to my
opponent's camp.
Since he deployed most of his mounted troops on the other side of the board,
I tried to exploit that, in the meanwhile my Wb were occupying the central
hill, with two kept in the wood to be able to react to a LH raid toward
my camp on that side.
Again, everything started well, with one LCh + one CV destroying a LH which
was interposing between them and the camp. But I did not realize immediately
how fast a SCh can be: the Persian chariot attacked the winner Cv, with the
Cv general helping with an onverlap and doubled it. Next bound I tried to
attack the Cv general (he would have recoiled against his own Sch), but no
success. Then two attacked the left alone LCh, and then my LCh general,
quickly ending the game.
Overall I would say that warband based armies with a significant amount
of mounted troops have some chances, but they need some skill (to screen
them from mounted enemy and to lead them against infantry they can kill)
and some luck in the combat (they have a DIB capability, but will always be
at a disadvantage).