Ancient Rule Sets

Well, what rules to use, what rules to avoid?

They range from something as simple as DBA (ten infamous pages of simple rules later clarified with a unofficial guide of only seventy four pages [yes that is sarcasm], or even BBDBA), then to as "mind boggling" a set of rules as DBM (for more, ahem, er competition orientated gamers), to what I consider as a cry for sanity and call for good gaming in DBMM (played in good spirit but still suffering from the rules lawyer issue, and its DBMM100, DBM200 variants - there is hope here) or to the still serious but strangely fun rules of Impetus to the novel simulation orientated rules of Strategos II (aka Lost Battles) and a few more in between (such as Armati) I could have mentioned.

I guess it all depends who is going to play them. For me my next task is to entertain an intelligent set of jovial beginners who want to play in a competitive but historically realistic fashion, win or lose. So ,,, Strategos II/Lost Battles gets the call (see below):

A grid based system that avoids most of the common or cunning wargaming wibbles. It is from the academic stable of Prof Phil Sabin from King's College and has playability and historical simulation at its core. Should be fun ;)

The battle I intend to play is The First Battle of Mantinea (418BC) in the Peloponnesian War.

The Alpha and the Omega of Phil Barker

Having quite recently finished "my first complete run through" of Phil Barker's DBMM new (2010) rule-set (I say first, as I know there will have to be many potentially painful passes before I really get to grips with it), I unexpectedly came across his original Airfix Guide to Ancient Wargaming (1975) book when I was rummaging around in my cluttered garage.

The 1975 book endorsed the WRG (4th Edition) rules. I took the slim,  purple aside over the next few nights and I found it quite informing, stimulating and refreshing, hankering back to an era of fruitful experimentation and "make-do with models and rules". The butchers knife coming out to assemble in a Frankenstein manner new troop types from various boxes of mixed Airfix figures. In reading his chapter on tactics I saw that I have the uncanny knack or is it ability ability to commit every wargame sin under the sun as per one of his diagrams "Ho hum!" (see below):

Reading through DBMM v2, the spirit of the original tome (promoting WRG 4th ed, and I must confess to have never actually played the WRG Ancients rule sets, although I seem to have picked up battered copies out of "collectors interest") still seemed in keeping with his latest. The same refreshingly (to me at least) anti-competition style gaming and more praise for the historical aka Society of he Ancients.

Good reads, both of them, I hope I can get a few more DBMM games this year.

Persian 28mm Spara Bara

Danger! Danger! Threat of "scale duplication" and a "shiny project" appearing from out of NOWHERE!

Literally "given to me as a present" as the leftover 'spares' from a small Impetus Army from "another wargamer" (with a cunning 'evil master plan' to get me hooked) these SparaBara are a tempting lure to get me disinterested in my 15mm metal Ancients collection and start 'scale spanning' into 25mm plastics.

Naturally I am treating it as a pure academic painting exercise. We will see how long before my resistance breaks and I start planning an "order of battle" (see below):

I took them on a recent family holiday to Norfolk, my night times were pleasantly passed comsuming a nice cold lager or brandy and lemonade, while assembling the Sparabara (see below):

Enough for two units of twelve figures each in Impetus or five double based and a single base in DBMM ;)

The good thing that I like about Impetus armies in 28mm is that it allows each unit to be a diorama exercise in its own right and if far less figure intensive than a DBM or DBMM equivalent army.

So there I have my dilemma, go the scenic Impetus route or the more standard and pragmatic DBMM 

DBMM: The Die is cast

Following my recent DBMM AAR postings, with clear head and happy heart I can make the following announcement (to myself) ...

After countless sleepless nights lost in deep, deep thought (or should I say months/years stemming back to my first encounter with DBA in 1994) about the "DBx family of rules" I have come to a monumental, nay strategic decision. Well monumental for me at least and strategic because it means no rebasing but still allowing maximum enjoyment in the ancient period of the Wargaming hobby ;)

DBMM (version 2) is  now my official poison of choice. (With the caveat that the figures based for these rules can still be used "with the aid of sabots" for Impetus)

So DBM is dead for me but in all honesty has been for some time (the phrase cutting my losses seems apt here). It was only ever a competition orientated system (IMHO) and evolved slowly into a Byzantine geometry form of participation art rather than a vehicle for historical gaming.

DBA was and still is a seductive alternative (or rather was) but the pragmatics of both learning two 'similar but different' rule systems and remembering the rule differences when playing is just self-defeating. It also has the famous "rule of twelve" that artificially gives battles of "even sized" armies. The smaller DBMM 100, DBMM 200 allows an army to slowly grow in size :)

Please note the above is just a personal choice ;)

DBMM v2 Battle (3): Rome versus Three Kingdoms Chinese (again)

The broken Roman Barbarians were herded like sheep to their slaughter, in their defense they fought on making sure it was not a bloodless victory (see below):

The long sought after clash of Legion Blade(O) and Blade(S) versus Chinese Blade(O) at last came about (see below):

Two long lines formed. Losses accrued on both sides. To the horror of the Roman Commander he lost Blades(S) which his army morale to half a point of cracking. To be fair the Chinese losses were approaching breaking point too (see below)

A final breakthrough seemed to seal it for the Chinese. A break through next move should surely see victory in their grasp as the mounted Chinese General could be positioned in the Roman rear (See below):

Alas the Roman Knights had caught up with the Chinese cavalry command (that had been falling back but "ran out of room"). The sum total of two small commands AND losses from the larger command broke the Chinese Army morale. Rome was triumphant (again).

One thing had happened though, over the last two games I had been converted to DBMM. It played better than any game of DBM I had experienced to date and allowed progression from small armies using DBMM 100 point, DBMM 200 point up to larger games of full DBMM. This IMHO was superior to playing DBA for smaller games and DBM/DBMM for larger games as the same core rules could be used. So good I went out and ordered a set of rules "to study". As it was clear that despite the "enjoyment" we still didn't know the rules and there was too much potentially bitter misunderstanding and "rule creation" (dangerously falling back to defunct DBM concepts) during the game.    

DBMM 200 v2 Battle (2): Rome versus Three Kingdoms Chinese (again)

Still trying to perform a "miracle maneuver" my inner cavalry formed a column to get them away from fighting an infantry battle (would that have been so bad?) and I retreated my Bows(I) away from the hungry looking Roman Blades(O). Still lacking a plan though (see below):

Meanwhile the main infantry command of the Chinese was looking in good form to set into Roman Barbarian allies. Infavt th eRoman Commander was starting to worry about the fate of his Auxilla (see below, Chinese bottom, Rome top):

The battle started was initiated by the Chinese Blade. Rather than letting the Warbands come at him the Chinese Commander (me) decided to take advantage of the Blade "quick kill" [in its turn] against Warband (rather than visa versa). It started to work (see below):

Meanwhile I won where I least expected it (a single Bow(I) against a Knight) and ended up fighting infantry with cavalry after all. In the process my outer command was clearly going to get "bust" which was a sad sight (see below):

The middle changed my mood as the Roman Barbarian Allies and Auxilla were savaged by my rampant Blade, so much so additional Auxilla and sacred Blades (The Legion) were hurried across to help out (see below):

The battle seemed to be in the balance!

DBMM 200 v2 Battle (1): Rome versus Three Kingdoms Chinese (again)

Time passed and there was another chance to fight Middle Imperial Rome in DBMM. My Three Kingdom Chinese army once again lined up but this time I matched Regular Blades to Regular Blades instead of bulking out with "cheaper" (I). My main command set up to the left hand side of the battlefield utilising the defensive terrain feature of a hill and wood (see below):

This peculiar arrangement was caused by the "open" right hand side flank attracting my two wing commands of cavalry and bow (see below):

The Romans copied my cavalry arrangement so the battle started with my Chinese infantry line attempting to envelope his (see below):

I was less sure at how to deploy my cavalry and attempted to perform a clever retreat, but like all clever ideas it seemed to come unstuck in execution. I was unsure of how the bows would do against the Knights that faced them (Agincourt?)  and the ghastly specter of them being run down by Blades as his infantry line lapped into the cavalry sector caused a knee-jerk reaction (see below):

What I was trying to do clearly was not going to pull off and I needed to invent a quick "Plan B" which is always 'not a good sign' (see below):

My mistake seemed to stem from wanting to fight a cavalry action (against Knights, I was informed of their "quick kill potential" against cavalry during the game (my steep DBMM learning curve should be apparent here) and not giving myself sufficient deployment space. I had a lovely piece of rough ground behind me I should have used (in hindsight).

More "chaos" to follow ...

DBMM (4 of 4): End Game (Rome v Chinese)

The battle reaches its climatic end-game. The power of the blades is self evident as the Roman Legion blows a hole and a half in the Chinese Center (see below):

The only hope for the Chinese is to pull back victory from the jaws of defeat by being victorious on the flanks (and quickly). To this effect the well placed Chinese (Fast) light horse charge in for their place in glory or infamy on the far Chinese Right Flank. It is do or die time for the Roman cavalry (see below)

At the same time the Chinese Left Flank tries to press home its advantage, however no matter what they try the break through is somewhat elusive, losing two (Fast) light horse in the process (see below):

And quite frankly, it just gets uglier and uglier for the Chinese Center, but they are "just to say" holding it together above their morale breaking point  (see below):

Then the Roman Allied Warband blows away the "archers" and the Center will be clearly lost next turn (see below):

The whole Chinese Army (Left, Middle and Right Commands) are teetering on the brink of collapse. Even the favourable cavalry action on the Chinese Right is a damp wet squib, as the Chinese bounce off dejectedly (see below, the Roman Cavalry will dine well recounting the story of that mini battle):

The Chinese Center morale breaking point is now past and it is game set and match to Rome. It was an enjoyable game and well played to my Roman adversary!

DBMM (3 of 4): Furious Fighting (Rome v Chinese)

The Roman army proved its metal and rebounded into the fray. The Romans showed that they too could hurt at a distance as they had a wonder weapon, the mounted ART(Fast) that could even shoot over friendly troops directly in front of it. The first blow caused a stand of Blade(I) to recoil and thus opening up a very dangerous "gap" that could be exploited as an overlap by the advancing Roman legionaries. The Chinese C-in-C (me) at this point was really regretting choosing the "cheaper" of the blade options. Quantity not really helping when you had a looming gap in the line (see below):

The the Roman wonder weapon went one one further and removed the Blades(I) rather demoralising the Chinese commander. This seems to be the fate for inferior (I) troops. Once they are bested their morale can go down and without the metal of the ordinary (O) troops they can self destruct (see below):

The Chinese were still hoping to win on the wings, although the rough ground seemed to make it a rather messy combat. On the Chinese Right Wing the Chinese lost a Light Horse stand to rather indifferent dice rolling, but still felt confident that their numbers would eventually tell on their Roman adversaries (see below):

In the Center things got very horrid, as the Roman blades made a huge mess of the Chinese "quantity" making the Roman "quality" a clear significant telling factor in the combats (see below):

Over on the Chinese Left Wing things again were looking more positive, though again the terrain was making progress happen much slower than The Chinese C-in-C would have liked. I was regretting moving the center forward, perhaps hanging back would have been the more prudent option (see below and previous the photograph):

Back over on the Chinese Right Flank the situation looked more promising now as a stand of Chinese Light Horse (Fast) had positioned itself in the rear of the Roman position. It was about to make a telling attack, or so the Chinese C-in-C (as in me) hoped (see below):

Note: Those who play DBM/DBMM/DBA on a regular basis more be rather puzzled that fast moving light horse are not "closing the door" or performing devastating "attacks from the rear" more often. Well "if truth be told" there is a "house rule" in play that states that before you can attack from the rear or close the door, you must have started from behind the flank of the attacked stand. I have to say I don't fully endorse the house rule, but at least it is the same for both sides. It tends to make for more ponderous flank attacks.

DBMM (2 of 4): Advance and Action on the Flanks (Rome v Chinese)

The Chinese "long thin line" advances en masse (see below):

An early archery strike killing a warband stand fills the Chinese player with hope and the Roman with a sense of dread (see below):

Likewise a stand of Roman auxilla die hard in face of an arrow storm, these pointy things seem awfully dangerous (see below):

The Roman cavalry facing the Chinese Right Flank line out, but err into the range (24cm) of the Chinese massed bow (see below):

They too fall victim of "the arrow storm from the east" (see below):

The omens are looking good for the Chinese, can their luck hold when the fighting becomes up close and more personal?

DBMM (1 of 4): Three Kingdoms versus Middle Imperial Romans

The battlefield was set with the Three Kingdom Chinese determined as the aggressors, the Romans therefore have the advantage of a small defensive hill and rough ground offering some protection to their flanks (see below, Romans top of picture, Chinese bottom):

Looking from the perspective of the Chinese Army, scanning the Roman lines from left to right, facing the Chinese Left is a small band of light horse and auxillia, seven stands in total (see bellow):

The Legion(s) dominate the Center. Nobody in their right mind would run up the hill at them. Eight stands of blades (four of them superior), four psilloi, sixteen warband (the versatility of the Roman Army is on show here to pick and chose a variety of allies, massed on the right hand side of their centre as the Chinese looked at them)  with the "talking point" of the Roman "order of battle" a Scorpion on a cart (Artillery[Fast] in DBMM terms). This gives it the ability for it to shoot from the rear over friendly troops (see below):

The Roman force facing the Chinese Right is another small band of cavalry and auxillia, again just seven stands, held back in a slightly 'refused position' (see below):

The Romans (like the Chinese) have paid for three commanders, one result of which is the two small Roman flank commands will need to be virtually annihilated (unless they lose their General) before becoming demoralised.

The Chinese left is a massed bow (seven stands) and cavalry force (three cavalry and two Fast light horse stands), with a token element of blade (one stand) and auxillia (one stand). Its function is to envelope the Roman flank before the legions can inflict telling damage (see below):

The Chinese Center is a massed blade (though notably of "inferior" status) and auxillia (again of "inferior" status). The Chinese have gone for the concept of quantity over quality, thinking that troops overlapping do the killing better than more expensive stand-to-stand match-ups. Will this strategy produce the goods though? (see below):

The Chinese Right Flank is a mirror of their Left Flank, bar the fact they have an additional extra "one stand" of Fast light horse. Again a swift enveloping action is hoped for (see below):

The hard part of DBMM seems to be 'building the army'. Some would say this is the curse of the 'points based army battles' as opposed historical re-fights, based on actual orders of battles.

I see it as a mini-Sudoku brain teaser myself. You never seem to 'get it right' the first time and there is always changes to be made based on battlefield experiences.It will be interesting to see how right or wrong I have got the above.

Spectator Sport: Romans v Seleucid "Grim Reaper" (2) End Game

The clash of cavalry goes the way of the Romans. As seems to be the way with DBMM, DBM and DBA rules sets, an initial +1 overlap tends to ripple across the battle line to deadly effect. By a subtle selection of where to start fighting the Romans skillfully edge the cavalry battle, with a little help from an adventurous Auxilla overlapping the Seleucid cavalry wing. The Seleucid General is left looking very exposed and is about to be surrounded (see below):

Meanwhile the Seleucid left wing of Pike and Horse is finally (after two additional turns of movement) almost getting to grips with the Roman extreme right of infantry (ie the foot troops unable to march away quick enough). An opportunistic Roman Fast Knight took the opportunity to slay a Seleucid Auxilla (how could he resist from trampling underfoot weak infantry) but now finds itself contesting the centre with a bigger Seleucid General to its front and a Seleucid Pike Block to its flank (see below):

The Roman Fast Knight dies but in so doing offers the Romans a fleeting opportunity to "bag" a Seleucid General. The victorious General being himself a knight is obliged to follow up and thus exposes himself to a second line of Roman Fast Knights. The Romans get their man (see below):

That about does it for the Seleucids as "player morale" broke just ahead of the Army morale. An old wargaming friend and Grognard once said of Ancient wargames, "Fight with your best and don't fight where you don't have to!" The Seleucid Pike Blocks and columns of Fast Seleucid Knights roamed the battlefield, searching in vain for a combat. Whereas the Seleucid Warband and Auxillia found more than the bargained for. The complete reverse of my old friends axiom. The Seleucid Army Morale broke as these latter forces were decimated by the deadly Legionnaires (see below):

In summary this was an impressive Roman performance and left me with many, many questions regarding how to fight this versatile Middle Imperial Roman Army with my chosen Ancient Chinese (Army 63 from Book 2: Three Kingdoms and Western Ts'In 189AD-316AD). 

Any helpful thoughts and hints greatly appreciated ;)

Spectator Sport: Duelling the Middle Imperial Romans DBMM Style (1)

A wargaming friend has recently completed a spectacular "wargaming project" in 25/28mm, painting a small/medium sized Middle Imperial Romans DBMM army.

The results was quite simply glorious and quite rightly he wanted to play with it as soon and as much as possible. Hence he devised a quick round-robin competition to fight all comers "against a valid time span army" (ie DBMM Army Book 2), though not necessarily an historical opponent. First to beat the Roman Army twice wins or the Romans can claim victory. The flexibility of the Romans versus the cunning nature of the Barbarians. A classic match-up.

Knowing that "Deadly Dennis" the Roman would have done as meticulous a job at  "army spotting" (the troops v opponent killer 'rock, scissor or stone' combinations of DBMM) as his brilliant paint work, I took the opportunity to sit back and watch his Roman war machine at work against the Seleucids. Intelligence wins wars as much as muscle after all.

Note: Both armies were smallish at 200 points with the idea of getting things over with in a night.

The Romans deployed first so suffered from the fact the Seleucid could "line up against his weaknesses" as per the Seleucid troop type (DBMM 'rock, scissors and stone' again) but took it in stoic fashion. The Roman's 'inferior' organic Roman Cavalry [Left] wing is set-up in column presumably for added flexibility, followed by a line of Auxillia, backed with Legion, along to the strange "club-men" (murderous against Knights apparently) [Centre] to the far wing of elite Fast Knights (allies, not organic Roman), Light Horse and Auxilla/Skirmish Psilio [Left] (see below, left wing at the bottom of picture):

The Seleucid effectively nuetralised the Roman Right by placing his elite Pike and wedged Fast Knights against them (two thirds of his Cavalry hitting power) [on the Seleucid Left/Roman Right], a weak Auxillia Warband, Auxillia infantry block[Centre] and a made-do Cavalry [on the Selucid Right/Roman Left] designed as more of a holding force (see below):

Both armies seem to have bulked up with cheaper infantry options (with only 200 points to play with this is as expected) and only two commanders, so command and control could well turn out to be a problem. The Seleucid wants to win on his left so the Roman Commander cleverly realises that his only chance is to refuse that fight and try win on his left (even though it is with his poorer cavalry). So all depends on the balance of the secondary Cavalry wings of both armies. The Roman happily sees the Seleucid come to him as he sees the chance of perhaps using his Auxillia in support, he therefore also sallies forth (see below):

The Seleucid is somewhat irked at seeing the Roman retreating away from where he wanted to it fight (a good sign methinks of the Roman astuteness), as the Roman calculated that the troop match-ups were a "no-brainer win for the Seleucid" do he should form column and "get out of dodge" with what he can save (see below):

The Seleucid's problem now is that he is trying to catch horse with Pike (four legs good and two legs bad in this race). The Seleucid faster elements being drawn up on the outer left of his army (with the intention of outflanking the enemy that has suddenly bolted). The Seleucid has a lot of ground, too much perhaps, to make up. Cleverly the Roman lights and Auxillia seek cover in rough and watch the powerful formations that once formed the backbone of Alexander the Great's Army harmlessly match by bypassing them.

Next: The Fighting Tooth and Claw