Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Real life
Real life is taking its toll. I have notes from another Mogol Sung match up to finish and another game tonight. Stay tuned.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Edward Woodward
Edward Woodward died today of pneumonia. While I very much enjoyed his work in The Wicker Man and Breaker Morant, I didn't know until now that he was a wargamer.
RIP Sgt Howie.
RIP Sgt Howie.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
One night two DBMM games
For our third match-up, George brought over his Mongols and Sung Chinese. Prior to his arrival, I had chosen to play the Mongols and had put together my first list* of 250 points. As these games are for me a matter of pushing lead - win or lose and for George an exploration of the 1.1 rules, I went with a 3 command structure. CinC with 6 Cv(S) and 8 Hd(I), as Sub general Cv(S) with 6 Cv(O) and another Sub-General Lh(S) with 6 Lh(S) all backed up with a train command of 3 Bge(F). George went with a two command structure For his Sung. The CinC's command was composed of Bw(X) backed by Bd (I) and a Cv(I?) force under the CinC. The other command was again of Bw(X) backed by Cv and a heavy stone thrower.
Again we eschewed terrain even though this time George had brought some. Rolling for aggression, I was the invader. The Sung setup forward CinC left and Sub Gen right of centre with the Bw(X) in a single rank line, and with the flanks a little deeper. The respective CV groups were positioned behind th Bw(X) lines. The stone thrower was centrally located on the left flank of the right command.
The mongols setup in a box right of centre to hit the Sung CinC command. The Lh command in column formed the left side of the box, the Cv command again in column the right, with the CinC's Cv(S) driving the line of Hd forward to form the front side. The pack ponies loitered in the rear munching Chinese grass. Of note was the use of Mongolian air-cavalry. The table we use is lacking in width so the last couple of elements of the two Mongol horse columns found themselves suspended in midair by their respective movement trays.
Turn one saw my Cv and Lh commands charging out in a double envelopment. The Lh wound up deep behind the Sung right flank but facing Cv(I). My Cv, not being as fast as the Lh, made it to the left flank of the Sung line whereupon George marched his CinC Cv group into them and threw out a Bw(X) group to further threaten their rear. The Hd trudged forward ineffectually opposed by George's counter trudging Art(S).
Turn two was mostly a pushing match between the two Cv groups while the Lh moved deeper and the Mongol CinC moved out with his Cv to counter the Bw(X) group.
Turn three saw the Mongol Lh charging into the rear of the Sung right flank Bw catching one archer base. On the mongol right, The CinC and his Cv began to deploy out against the Bw group while the other Mongol Cv command chewed up the Sung CinC and his horsemen. I was rolling a 30+ year old Avalon Hill die - probably from Panzerblitz or Blitzkreig. It managed to bring at least four straight sixes to the table causing George to change his die in disgust. The Cv group was crushed, the CinC killed the game ended there on points.
Not having played with a lot of horse before, it was educational (really it was fun) to see how fast they can move. George's counter charge with his CinC Cv highlighted the speed of the new march into contact rules. I was a bit disappointed that the Art and Bw didn't get to shoot as our games so far have not seen any missile action.
We reset to the same dispositions and had another go at it. The result this time was rather different. At the starter's gun, Georged marched his Sung as far forward as he could, penning in my horse very effectively. I was able to push the Cv command out only to be countered by the Sung Cv and flanked by Bw(X). Carrying on with the Crecy theme, I pushed the Hd forward into the Bw(X)allowing the Mongol CinC to advance his Cv under cover but to no avail as the Cv could not interpenetrate the Hd to get at the Bw and enough Hd bases remained intact to break up my chargers. It might be a worthwhile tactic with Ps. On my left, the Lh command was more than decimated by the bowmen. In the end it was my turn to be crushed - I have a lot to learn about using cavalry properly ;). However, George was able to get some shooting in with the Bw and Art In all an enjoyable evening in Southern China.
*While I have played some 6th and DBM in the past, it has always been with "whatever is in the box" - Usually Airfix plastics. Having a generous opponent with many varied armies has been a godsend. Thank You George.
Again we eschewed terrain even though this time George had brought some. Rolling for aggression, I was the invader. The Sung setup forward CinC left and Sub Gen right of centre with the Bw(X) in a single rank line, and with the flanks a little deeper. The respective CV groups were positioned behind th Bw(X) lines. The stone thrower was centrally located on the left flank of the right command.
The mongols setup in a box right of centre to hit the Sung CinC command. The Lh command in column formed the left side of the box, the Cv command again in column the right, with the CinC's Cv(S) driving the line of Hd forward to form the front side. The pack ponies loitered in the rear munching Chinese grass. Of note was the use of Mongolian air-cavalry. The table we use is lacking in width so the last couple of elements of the two Mongol horse columns found themselves suspended in midair by their respective movement trays.
Turn one saw my Cv and Lh commands charging out in a double envelopment. The Lh wound up deep behind the Sung right flank but facing Cv(I). My Cv, not being as fast as the Lh, made it to the left flank of the Sung line whereupon George marched his CinC Cv group into them and threw out a Bw(X) group to further threaten their rear. The Hd trudged forward ineffectually opposed by George's counter trudging Art(S).
Turn two was mostly a pushing match between the two Cv groups while the Lh moved deeper and the Mongol CinC moved out with his Cv to counter the Bw(X) group.
Turn three saw the Mongol Lh charging into the rear of the Sung right flank Bw catching one archer base. On the mongol right, The CinC and his Cv began to deploy out against the Bw group while the other Mongol Cv command chewed up the Sung CinC and his horsemen. I was rolling a 30+ year old Avalon Hill die - probably from Panzerblitz or Blitzkreig. It managed to bring at least four straight sixes to the table causing George to change his die in disgust. The Cv group was crushed, the CinC killed the game ended there on points.
Not having played with a lot of horse before, it was educational (really it was fun) to see how fast they can move. George's counter charge with his CinC Cv highlighted the speed of the new march into contact rules. I was a bit disappointed that the Art and Bw didn't get to shoot as our games so far have not seen any missile action.
We reset to the same dispositions and had another go at it. The result this time was rather different. At the starter's gun, Georged marched his Sung as far forward as he could, penning in my horse very effectively. I was able to push the Cv command out only to be countered by the Sung Cv and flanked by Bw(X). Carrying on with the Crecy theme, I pushed the Hd forward into the Bw(X)allowing the Mongol CinC to advance his Cv under cover but to no avail as the Cv could not interpenetrate the Hd to get at the Bw and enough Hd bases remained intact to break up my chargers. It might be a worthwhile tactic with Ps. On my left, the Lh command was more than decimated by the bowmen. In the end it was my turn to be crushed - I have a lot to learn about using cavalry properly ;). However, George was able to get some shooting in with the Bw and Art In all an enjoyable evening in Southern China.
*While I have played some 6th and DBM in the past, it has always been with "whatever is in the box" - Usually Airfix plastics. Having a generous opponent with many varied armies has been a godsend. Thank You George.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Way too busy
Not much going on on the gaming front between the flu and the run-up to Hallowe'en.
Not Quite Dead Yet
Not Quite Dead Yet
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Almost done with DBA Celts
Yesterday being thanks giving here, I spent a good while painting up a decrepit DBA Briton/Caledonian/Scots-Irish/Pict multi pack I bought decades ago. While nowhere near the quality I've envied on the net, they will be I hope serviceable. Just need to stick down the chariots and cover the bases and they're ready for battle.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Last Thursday's DBMM game
I've been a little busy what with Anime and Steampunk panels so I'm going to wimp out and repost my message to the DBMM list about last Thursdays' game.
Once again George was kind enough to bring over his Macedonians and Persians for a 200 point game. As in our first game, we did not use terrain and with only two commands the question was what side do you put the Cv on?
As before, we used the most current 1.1 revisions.
The Macedonians foot command had a pike block with some Ps in support and his mounted command had Companions and Prodomoi with a leavening of elephants and Ps.
The Persian foot command had a spear block with a couple of Ps a Lh(F) and Cv(I) while the mounted command was Irr Cv(O) supported by Lh and a Ax/Ps Takabara group.
As the Persians and with terrible dicing I setup first. I set up the foot command on my left with double ranked spears flanked by horse and the Ps out front. The horse went on my right in a single rank with the Lh in column on their right flank and the Ax/Ps on the left.
George as the Macedonians, put his pike block centre double ranked in the centre with Ps behind and quadruple ranked pike on each flank. His Cavalry went left and rear. The companions on the right of the line with the Ps behindthe flank. The elephants to the left of the Companions and the Prodomoi to the left of the pachyderms.
Seeing that George's pikes were lined up on the gap between my to commands and thinking that the Cav can move well en bloc wth low pips, I gave the high dice to the grunts. George went the other way, giving his Cv the high dice.
I still have enough trouble keeping the factors and moves straight let alone the dice rolls so I apologize in advance for the lack of precise detail.
On turn one, I rolled good pips for the infantry and a 1 for the Cav. I pushed my spears forward, and wheeled them toward centre to threaten the Pikes should they advance. My Cav just trotted forward en mass. George with good pips responded by pushing forward both his infantry and cavalry commands to contact my horse Using multiple march moves. And this is where the title comes in. A single pikes and horse poked at each other ineffectually while the second rank of pike watched from a couple of base widths back. When the Companion Kn(F)General attacked, the dice gods were in my favour and he died by 1 pip - the extra -1 for marching into contact. (Lets call him instead Sid, Alexander's unlucky illegitimate bother, because Alex was never that unlucky.) With the CinC dead on the first turn George was in trouble - or would have been had my dice not been poor.
Turn two saw my Lh on the right flank repulsed, while the pushing match continued between the Kn, Pk and my Cv. With low pips, my spear group slowy wheeled like a rusty barn door toward the Pk flank.
Turn 3 saw the Persian Cv kill another Kn while one of my repulsed Lh moved up to protect the Cv flank from elephants. The rest of the Cv kept up the shoving match with the Pk. The Macedonians wheeled the rear rank of Pk into column and headed off toward my Sp who were finally in a somewhat threatening position.
Turn 4 saw the beginning of the end as the Macedonian Cv command broke. George was able to skillfully plug the worst holes with Ps. His pike were in good shape but were now defending two sides of the square as my Sp had finally gotten into contact. I was able to move much of my Cv up as impetuous despite poor pips, as a router was in 400 of most of my mounted. This was interesting as it gave some of my Cv free moves into the Pk since they were the closest straight ahead enemy.
Turn 5 saw the end of it. I lost some horse but was able to kill enough Macedonians to end the game. The Macedonian pikes while dispersed were still in good shape.
Observations:
I was happier with my performance though the indecision I experienced in the first game was more off set by George's aggression than any effort of mine. I am getting a better feel for the troop types - Lights in particular are more survivable than I expected, bouncing against the heavies until the lights explode from over exertion. I lost 3 spent and one dead as I recall.
Another great evening spent on another great game. Ok - I'm chuffed I won even if it was by a fluke.
Once again George was kind enough to bring over his Macedonians and Persians for a 200 point game. As in our first game, we did not use terrain and with only two commands the question was what side do you put the Cv on?
As before, we used the most current 1.1 revisions.
The Macedonians foot command had a pike block with some Ps in support and his mounted command had Companions and Prodomoi with a leavening of elephants and Ps.
The Persian foot command had a spear block with a couple of Ps a Lh(F) and Cv(I) while the mounted command was Irr Cv(O) supported by Lh and a Ax/Ps Takabara group.
As the Persians and with terrible dicing I setup first. I set up the foot command on my left with double ranked spears flanked by horse and the Ps out front. The horse went on my right in a single rank with the Lh in column on their right flank and the Ax/Ps on the left.
George as the Macedonians, put his pike block centre double ranked in the centre with Ps behind and quadruple ranked pike on each flank. His Cavalry went left and rear. The companions on the right of the line with the Ps behindthe flank. The elephants to the left of the Companions and the Prodomoi to the left of the pachyderms.
Seeing that George's pikes were lined up on the gap between my to commands and thinking that the Cav can move well en bloc wth low pips, I gave the high dice to the grunts. George went the other way, giving his Cv the high dice.
I still have enough trouble keeping the factors and moves straight let alone the dice rolls so I apologize in advance for the lack of precise detail.
On turn one, I rolled good pips for the infantry and a 1 for the Cav. I pushed my spears forward, and wheeled them toward centre to threaten the Pikes should they advance. My Cav just trotted forward en mass. George with good pips responded by pushing forward both his infantry and cavalry commands to contact my horse Using multiple march moves. And this is where the title comes in. A single pikes and horse poked at each other ineffectually while the second rank of pike watched from a couple of base widths back. When the Companion Kn(F)General attacked, the dice gods were in my favour and he died by 1 pip - the extra -1 for marching into contact. (Lets call him instead Sid, Alexander's unlucky illegitimate bother, because Alex was never that unlucky.) With the CinC dead on the first turn George was in trouble - or would have been had my dice not been poor.
Turn two saw my Lh on the right flank repulsed, while the pushing match continued between the Kn, Pk and my Cv. With low pips, my spear group slowy wheeled like a rusty barn door toward the Pk flank.
Turn 3 saw the Persian Cv kill another Kn while one of my repulsed Lh moved up to protect the Cv flank from elephants. The rest of the Cv kept up the shoving match with the Pk. The Macedonians wheeled the rear rank of Pk into column and headed off toward my Sp who were finally in a somewhat threatening position.
Turn 4 saw the beginning of the end as the Macedonian Cv command broke. George was able to skillfully plug the worst holes with Ps. His pike were in good shape but were now defending two sides of the square as my Sp had finally gotten into contact. I was able to move much of my Cv up as impetuous despite poor pips, as a router was in 400 of most of my mounted. This was interesting as it gave some of my Cv free moves into the Pk since they were the closest straight ahead enemy.
Turn 5 saw the end of it. I lost some horse but was able to kill enough Macedonians to end the game. The Macedonian pikes while dispersed were still in good shape.
Observations:
- Losing your general on turn one is a bad thing.
- Wheeling slow foot takes a long time but works in the end.
- Impetuous due to a broken enemy command can be used against un-broken enemy. May warrant Ps blocks between commands.
- The second row of pike wheeling into column was unexpected to a newbie but something I need to remember for the future.
- Two commands, while in no way boring, leads to a limited game.
I was happier with my performance though the indecision I experienced in the first game was more off set by George's aggression than any effort of mine. I am getting a better feel for the troop types - Lights in particular are more survivable than I expected, bouncing against the heavies until the lights explode from over exertion. I lost 3 spent and one dead as I recall.
Another great evening spent on another great game. Ok - I'm chuffed I won even if it was by a fluke.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Next game Thursday
George is bringing back the same armies for a repeat.
Can I commit my Cv?
Will I still be an Inert General?
How many elephants can dance on the head of a javelin?
Stay tuned for results.
Can I commit my Cv?
Will I still be an Inert General?
How many elephants can dance on the head of a javelin?
Stay tuned for results.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
First DBMM Game
George came over the other night with some Antipatros Macedonians and Persians. We each had 210 points split into two commands. Since this was my first DBMM game, we decided not to use terrain (actually I don't think we had any) but George walked me through the selection process. With the high Macedonian aggression, they were the invaders, and I deployed first.
My main command with the higher dice was composed of Cv with some support from PS and Ax and Lh. The second command was of Sp again with some lights in support. With two commands the big question is where to put the cavalry. I went conventional and put them on my right wing double depth with the PS/AX on their left and the Lh on the right. The Greek Mercenary Sp block went two deep on my left with lights on the flanks.
George setup the Macedonians in a mirror image, facing my Cv with Companions supported by a pair of Elephants. On his right, he put his pike block facing my Sp with some lights in support.
On the starters gun, I pushed the Lh on my right flank well up the field. Seeing the Elephants, I congratulated myself on having the Ps/Ax attached to the CV near the centre line and moved them out in front of the Cv block for some pachyderm hunting. On my left, I pushed forward the Spears keeping its support dressed up. On his turn, the Maecdonian cut the traces on the Pikes and let them rumble forward.
I was having too much fun having fun and being confused to recall precise details. The pikes and spear got into a shoving match which ultimately the spear lost. At one point the respective generals were in hand to hand combat. I dithered about with my Cv and ultimately wasted them. As I have written elsewhere, I managed to get the Ps/Ax block into a position where they couldn't quite contact the El without getting charged by the Companions, my Cv couldn't support them and if I tried to move my Cv up, their line would be disrupted by the Px/Ax block.
In the end, my spear command was crushed and along with a few Cv casualties I lost the game. However it was great fun and I look forward to doing alot more.
My main command with the higher dice was composed of Cv with some support from PS and Ax and Lh. The second command was of Sp again with some lights in support. With two commands the big question is where to put the cavalry. I went conventional and put them on my right wing double depth with the PS/AX on their left and the Lh on the right. The Greek Mercenary Sp block went two deep on my left with lights on the flanks.
George setup the Macedonians in a mirror image, facing my Cv with Companions supported by a pair of Elephants. On his right, he put his pike block facing my Sp with some lights in support.
On the starters gun, I pushed the Lh on my right flank well up the field. Seeing the Elephants, I congratulated myself on having the Ps/Ax attached to the CV near the centre line and moved them out in front of the Cv block for some pachyderm hunting. On my left, I pushed forward the Spears keeping its support dressed up. On his turn, the Maecdonian cut the traces on the Pikes and let them rumble forward.
I was having too much fun having fun and being confused to recall precise details. The pikes and spear got into a shoving match which ultimately the spear lost. At one point the respective generals were in hand to hand combat. I dithered about with my Cv and ultimately wasted them. As I have written elsewhere, I managed to get the Ps/Ax block into a position where they couldn't quite contact the El without getting charged by the Companions, my Cv couldn't support them and if I tried to move my Cv up, their line would be disrupted by the Px/Ax block.
In the end, my spear command was crushed and along with a few Cv casualties I lost the game. However it was great fun and I look forward to doing alot more.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
First DBMM game tonight.
A local(ish) gentleman from the DBMM list asked me if I would be interested in a game. George is bringing over 210 points each of Persians and Macedonians. What with Brad Pitt's riveting portrayal of Alexander the Great, I had to take the Persians.
To be honest - the Macedonians have both Companions and a couple of elephants - I'm a bit concerned about mishandling either.
To be honest - the Macedonians have both Companions and a couple of elephants - I'm a bit concerned about mishandling either.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Armies again
Right so while spending a frustrating day waiting for a delivery that almost never came, I went through the few 15mm miniatures I have. I found that I have more than enough for British, Scots-Irish and Pictish armies in DBA and DBMM 100. The paint needs freshening up and or completing and some weapons need replacing but I'm in 3d business. More to follow.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
They're here....
DBMM and DBA arrived in the posts yesterday excellent service from The Keep
First impressions:
DBA - Wow that's it? Note that this is a good thing.
DBMM - I like the larger font, I'm neutral about the glossy paper and the overall size doesn't fit with the rest of my miniatures materials. As far as the rules go, I'm going to have to do a bit or reading, some updating from the commentary and get in a couple of games. Looking forward to it.
First impressions:
DBA - Wow that's it? Note that this is a good thing.
DBMM - I like the larger font, I'm neutral about the glossy paper and the overall size doesn't fit with the rest of my miniatures materials. As far as the rules go, I'm going to have to do a bit or reading, some updating from the commentary and get in a couple of games. Looking forward to it.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
So much for saving money
I gave in and ordered DBA and DBMM 1.0 from The Keep via their E-bay shop I overpaid the shipping and Paul was kind enough to refund the extra - liking the service so far.
Armies on the Cheap II
I found that I could get full colour printing on medium card for $2 a page so I went for full armies.
Early Imperial Romans
Scots Irish
It worked out fairly well. With the Scots, I positioned the individual elements by hand with space to cut between each. This meant two cuts were needed to remove the white space between elements and thus sore hands. For the Romans, I used a grid to position each element on the page with a touch extra to allow for trimming. To make things even simpler, I used a guillotine to cut - bad move. despite my best efforts, the card slid around on the guillotine,the cut line was hard to see and as a result, a couple of imperial foot commands came up a little "short".
In future, I will use the grid and black cut lines but trim by hand. Once you get the rhythm, its straightforward and accurate. Still - DBMM card armies are a lot harder on the cutting hand than DBA.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Armies on the cheap
Before going after a full set of minatures, I thought I would make up some paper troops to experiment with the DBMM rules. What I did was to grab some of Michael Krein's barbarian and Roman top down ancients pictures from Junior General, cut them out from the background and re-arrange them on 40mm bases in DBMM appropriate numbers. I then took the files down to thelocal printshop and had them print in colour onto card stock. The results are good enough for mucking around with the rules.
See also De Bellis Planorum for DBA armies that can be used with DBMM
See also De Bellis Planorum for DBA armies that can be used with DBMM
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Future plans
The 1.1 DBMM revision draft is out but it's been a long time since I have played. Thanks to a suggestion from the DBMM list, I'm going to start off with a couple of low point solo games and see how things work out.
Since I don't yet have the DBMM lists, I'm going to use DBM values for both sides and (bring on the inquisition) use card bases only for most of the troops.
Since I don't yet have the DBMM lists, I'm going to use DBM values for both sides and (bring on the inquisition) use card bases only for most of the troops.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
New Beginnings
Having long ago played a bit of WRG 6th/7th and DBM, I have decided to get back into miniatures.
While not wedded to DBx, I can't justify spending the money on Field of Glory just yet so DBMM 1.1 it is.
While not wedded to DBx, I can't justify spending the money on Field of Glory just yet so DBMM 1.1 it is.
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