Later Macedonian v Polybian Roman

[bigalwams]

I was recently asked to give some strategy and tactics for a person that was going to be playing Later Macedonian v Polybian Romans. They were going to be playing Later Mac's.

I suggested lots of bad going to break up the Roman line and protect your flanks from the overlap.

I also suggest lots of 6's...LOL

What strategy would you have suggested?

[Paul A. Hannah]

Disclaimer: I am 1-5 with II/35 Later Macedonians, so Big Mac players might be well advised to do the exact opposite of everything I say here.

Against Polybians, I guess I would opt to take the Galatians (1x4Wb option), since they are the only type that give you a "quick kill" against the Roman Cohorts (4Bd) elements.

If you get to lay terrain, don't over-do the Bad Going, a frequent mistake for many of us. Consider placing a WaterWay and then some Bad Going in such a way as to encourage your opponent to want the WaterWay to be on one flank. That way, if it works out, your flanks won't be so exposed.

Deploy the Pikes in two ranks, of course. Try to match them up against the Roman Cohorts. When/if they engage, it will be a rugby scrum, that is to say, it will yeild a back-and-forth action, but will likely not be decisive.

The battle will likely be won or lost on the flanks. When one or the other of those gives way, then that side will likely be able to "close the door" on one or more of the Roman Cohorts and win the game.

There are a couple more "quick kill" options: The Greek 2xLH vs. the Roman Triarii (4Sp) elements. If your LH can engage the Spears in Good Going, do it all day long. You'll be disadvantaged, but you just might destroy the 4Sp. The worst that can happen to you is a Flee result. The other "quick kill" opportunity is your 3Cv vs. his 2Ps elements, if in Good Going. I doubt he or she will give you that opportunity, however.

Best advice, though, is just to run Big Mac in a several games before the tourney. You'll know the rules better and you'll be more familiar with the nuances of running a Successor army.

For more daring tactical advice with Pike-heavy armies, check out this Fanaticus thread: http://64.202.179.155/discussion/showthread.php?t=2271&highlight=swiss+echelon . It was written for the Later Swiss army, and doesn't entirely apply to the Big Mac army, since you don't have the Artillery option that the Swiss have, but, if your opponent lays terrain, and gives you a nice steep hill to anchor one flank on, I know I'd try it!

A couple more bits of general advice: After the armies are deployed, try to visualize a plan for victory, and then do your best to stick to it. A savvy DBA-er I face when I play in Calgary, Robert Taylor-Smith of Red Deer, Alberta, advocates identifying the four enemy elements that you plan to destroy right at the start of the game --and then setting out to do just that. It works well for him.

I hope that helps, but, then again, you did re-read my disclaimer at the top of this posting, right? Grins.

Good luck, and have fun!

[Bill Sumruld]

If you double the pike line, and you need to against blades, you will face the obvious threat of the Roman line extending much further than your own. Priority one is finding the cheapest way to protect the flanks of your pikes while having a remaining force to threaten the Roman flanks. You will have to play position, stretching out your non-pike forces to use zoc to prevent the Roman overlap of your line, while using those beyond his flank to threaten him. This is difficult to do well.

[David Kuijt]

I was recently asked to give some strategy and tactics for a person that was going to be playing Later Macedonian v Polybian Romans. They were going to be playing Later Mac's.

Later Mac have significantly better BGo troops than Polybians, with two Aux and one Wb. Take the Wb! Without it, enemy Bd can fight your Aux in BGo. With it, they dare not.

If you win terrain, you can either fight in a valley, or over a hill.

With a big advantage in BGo troops and the strength of the pikes, you can set up a valley -- a limited-frontage situation where at least one flank will have a piece of bad-going that is critical to victory. Four or five frontages with BGo on the flank is an excellent place to fight the battle -- you will win, absent horrible luck.

The second terrain option is a central steep hill. The enemy cannot take the hill, so must choose either to fight on one side of it, or to fight behind it. You are more mobile than he -- with your Aux and CvGen and LH you should be able to overmatch his CvGen and Cv in a battle of speed and maneuver. So you can set up to enhance a swap to either side of the hill, then after his setup you swap to give you advantage, and now you rush to the side his infantry are not and swamp his mobile elements with your own. The only way he can stop you from using your Aux with psiloi support against his Cav on the open mobile flank is to attack the hill, and if he does that you just fight on the hill and win there. If he chooses to stay entirely behind the hill like a chicken-ee-boo, you can concentrate your forces and hit his line where you wish, usually creating enough advantage; you can also ensure that there is a significant patch of BGo in his backfield to cause him additional problems, giving you a chance to take his camp.

If he wins terrain, he will likely put out very little bad going. If he puts out any good patches, modify the above plan to suit the terrain. If he puts out a pool table, your focus should be speed and impact and hitting one end of his line with your pike while you zoom around it with your mobile elements (which should include your Aux and Psiloi). This will be more difficult, as it really takes timing and focus, but it can be done. I won two battles with Yuan Chinese on Sunday on pool tables against armies that were more powerful but less mobile, and both battles were exactly that method -- when the enemy has a powerful line and sets up wide on a pool table, aim off-centered at their line, move up, hit one end and send as many fast troops as you can around it. One of my enemies was SRB(c)-Arthur, with 4 mounted and a wall of spear. The wall of spear never got into the fight; by rushing around the flank I forced the fight into a mobile engagement where I had the advantage. The second battle was against Lombards: 9xKn, 3xBw. The Kn managed to kill the one Chinese Cav that I had left to delay the main line, but the rest of my mounted zoomed around the flank, and my lone Crossbow and a psiloi-supported Blade fronted the Knights and made it impossible for them to maneuver.

[David Kuijt]

Best advice, though, is just to run Big Mac in a several games before the tourney.
The advice is good, but I find I need to correct Paul on a point of street nomenclature.

Big Mac is talking street for Alexander Macedonian -- Alexander the Great (big) Macedonian (mac).

Later Macedonian is known as L-Mac, or (more commonly) Mac Daddy.

Just wanted to make sure you weren't embarrassed by using an inappropriate street term, so on your next visit you wouldn't be taunted by the young punks (Peter the Cleaver Sheriff or Alex Bostwick, for example).

All of this will be fully described in my upcoming article on A User's Guide to DBA Street Slang.

[JamesLDIII]

All of this will be fully described in my upcoming article on A User's Guide to DBA Street Slang.


Which you will include FOR FREE in a bundled PDF copy of Big Battle Army Tactics Books!