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Gothic Wars and more ... the November/December switch over proved a busy time ...
As well as some late year Championship DBA games, there are updates from the annual Armati outing to Glasgow, Recon in Pudsey and Wargamer in Birmingham all to come.
(Donnington Byzantines and Numidians from Trebian's collection)
Belisarius was back on his horse, toxic Heavy Cavalry and all ... I think Treb needs to play FoG to get the full richness of 'heavy horse archer' combat, but it's always a pleasure when this army takes to the table - a wargames classic.
(a Gepid army from all over the place confronts the Donnington Byzantines)
Meanwhile, there is a long straight road that leads to the heart of the Empire ...
(Gepids and Sub Roman British meet down a road in Essex ...)...
This little bit of Britannia was dominated by the close terrain ... meeting the Gepids here proved a tactic which did not suit frosty British ...
(the British get drawn into the defile ...)...
But within days, Ragadeseus was trying the same 'break 'em up' tactic
(Watling Street? Ragadeseus takes on the Gepids ...)..
The battle came down to a violent cavalry melee in which those nearest the king fell first ...
(Chariot, Lurkio, Gladiator and Essex warriors from Phil Steele's collection)
All V2.2, this cluster of games really brought home the attractions of the Eastern Front Dark Age period - watch this space for details of next year's invitation.
Meanwhile, another straight road passed Hadrian's Wall and led to Glasgow ...
Championship battles and local wargames
ARMATI
Of course, I'm sure I don't need to point out the irony in my post header ... as Will and I do battle using his collection of original Minifigs (strip) 15mm figures depicting armies of Late Bronze Age ...
We had agreed to play 2 back-to-back championship games with the same armies just swapping sides. I understand Will had had a similar pair of games with Championship Organiser Barnsdale just previously.
Suffice to say that whilst the visitors lost the first pairing, I exacted revenge in the second.
(both armies Minifigs 15mm originally painted by Anthony Clipsom from Will Whyler's collection)
The first game was something of a smash and grab raid. Will had over extended the somewhat more brittle Egyptian army, allowing me to make an attack with my right wing that had every chance to destroying the enemy before all his force could be brought to bear (Armati trans: the Egyptians were BP4, the Hittites BP5 ... from deployment, it was clear that the Egyptians had committed 4 BPs worth of key units on that flank, and without undue risk, I thought I could mount a pretty hefty attack on them without putting (all) five BPs of mine at risk. As the Egyptians have many more bows in the army - and thus 'outshoot' me, I felt I needed to do this before the arrow storm took its toll) ...
(the marker indicates that the big bow block had 'reserve' status, ready to wheel as required)
Game Two was going to be a challenge ... I now took the Egyptians, which we had proved were the more brittle, and I had demonstrated that they could be taken out with a vigorous attack. The sandal would now be on the other foot ...
I was determined to get the bow armed foot into play, and set up ready to range them in on where I expected the heart of the enemy force to be. Meanwhile, varying my tactics, I set up a strong skirmishing force to soften up the Hittite wing on my right before any chariot clash could tangle me up.
(the Egyptian infantry - of whom I had great expectations ...)
On the left, I set up with an uncommitted division of chariots, correctly guessing that there might be some empty desert out there - and planning to ride around the open flank (general trans: we were using deployment screens, so some divination is required when setting up ... however, if there is some open space and you have troops able to respond to it, there can be tactical advantages that emerge).
(the chariot division with the green 'complex move' marker on it is Hittite and has just wiped out the end of the Egyptian infantry line - an enterprise from which they will not return: both units are now trapped as the Egyptian outflankers (top of picture) close in)
This game played pretty much to my script. Nevertheless, with a lower Army Break Point, the Egyptians were always on the brink of sliding to defeat with every die roll.
The Hittite key units on the 'soften with skirmishers' wing were destroyed, and the two units caught in the flank trap made five. The Egyptians, though rocking, were only two down, so the battle was won.
The old warriors had fought well. The vintage Minifigs didn't do too badly either!
DBA
A few days later, I put out a choice of Eastern Front armies for what I expected to be a couple of DBA games against Ian. Actually, I had one of my very rare 'long' games ... which we played to a natural conclusion (we were level at 4:4, but Ian eventually won 5 [incl Gen]: 4).
(Sub Roman British: Gladiator and Peter Pig figures with the odd Essex and Chariot mixed in)
Ian chose the Sub Roman British - so I, somewhat rashly, chose, as their natural enemies, some near contemporary Middle Anglo-Saxons. I say 'rashly' as these early English are somewhat embarrassed for cavalry, and the British Knight General looks fearsome indeed.
(several boat-loads of Angles, but just a single element with any horse power)
Some near centrally placed marshland meant Ian split his force into a 'spear' anvil and a flank raiding 'mounted' hammer. His plan was to make me either break up my force so he could crush me with the Spears, or turn my flank should I try to keep together.
(seen from the British side)
Actually, I managed to foil the flank raiders and get them into a tangle in the tight corners between the wood, the marsh and the battlefield edge.
(seen from my side)
Although that had put me ahead, it did leave me slightly undergunned against the infantry unless/until I could get all the troops back in line. Of course they are mostly infantry and the game was DBA - so that's a big ask.
The good news and the bad news with the Middle Anglo-Saxons is the Warband General and supporting element. A very good chance of destroying Spearmen, but I could see Ian hovering behind the line with his Knight General.
(the crucial melee, general to general)
The inevitable could not be avoided: I had to put the general into combat to maintain the line. He destroyed his opponents and followed up into the vulnerable gap ... and the British general then charged in and made the 'quick kill'.
Although I was still ahead at that point (so losing my general did not end the game) I could not get enough Pips to limp over the line and the rampaging British were able to mop the game up. Appropriately, of course, this Dark Age confrontation was really settled by the two commanders in personal hand-to-hand combat - and you can't argue with that.
A very interesting game - and not the quick bash I was expecting. We'll play the second game on another occasion.
It'll be Field of Glory before then, for me, however - at the Northern Doubles League ...
See the Society of Ancients at Warfare ...
Why not join in the Championship (it's just ancient warriors like us lot!): Society of Ancients Wargames Championship
A busy end of the year ...
Indeed ... in amongst the end of year shows and the odd administrative task, there's been quite a lot going on.
(click on the images if you want a better look at some of the photos)
(Graham's Byzantines near completion: the flocked ones are the new recruits and are classic Donnington figures)
I managed to get another Championship game or two ... Graham hasn't finished his Gothic Wars Armati army quite yet (and so had to sub in a few Piggie Parthians) but I think it looks splendid (and it's always nice to see another new ancients army take the field locally) ...
(armoured horse archers: the core of the Byzantine army of the Gothic War)
It also fought pretty sternly too - taking 4 of Totila's maximum of 6 before capitulating after losing its own 5 Break Points (Armati, that is ... Belisarius breaking on 5 key units down, Totila, 6, due to the Byzantines' slightly smaller, slightly higher specification force)..
In their first combat outing, the Belisarians got fewer of their missile troops to bear in the opening phase, and managed the evolution of lines slightly less well than the Goths (and so were always playing catch up - in footie speak).. But a tough test that could easily have gone the other way had the dice gods so chosen.
(Totila uses tactics to draw the Byzantines into the combat zone)
For some extra Armati army lists (including Totila's Goths), have a look at Warfloot (WF Army menu, Triumph of Cavalry)
I also managed to get to call in on the WD London crowd's pre-Christmas game ... long enough to wish everyone greetings for the season and present the 2010 Paul Morris Prize to John Bassett for his Roman Politics games.
(give us your entries for 2011 or the bunny gets it: John Bassett accepts the Paul Morris Prize for 2010)
Submissions are live for the 2011 Paul Morris Prize: awarded annually for the most innovative non-commercial game within the Society's remit. Contact me via 'comments', the Society Yahoo group, or, say, ancmed, if you have a runner to recommend. It needs to have been presented publicly during the course of 2011, and the panel will need a synopsis of how it works and why it is a winner. It need not be by a Society member.
(A Roman vignette: something for the display cabinet more than the table top)
I've also been grappling with the aesthetics of the flats project and organising the newly acquired collection. Whilst some are just being painted and tidied for display, such as these Romans caught by the Parthians at Carrhae ...
... many are being sorted for the Plataea game - and for now, at least, will be based up on clear plastic to maintain the look of individual loose basing beloved of 1960s photographers. I think this will actually look striking (in a good way) and give that 'new look to an old favourite' that I am looking for.
(sorting out figures for the big Plataea game)
But I will base up the Egyptians and enemies in the modern idiom (grit, grass, pebbles and dry bushing ... rather like those Romans) as a group of DBA armies.
For our last game before Christmas, I put a couple of trial versions out (New Kingdom, early years vs Nubians - though I used the Libyan list as I wanted to field a chariot general ... so I/22a vs I/7b) ... and I have to say all three of us were quite taken with the look.
(a crudely mocked up pair of armies that proved a great success with the players)
The unique look seems to suit Barker's pretty abstract game. The flats, of course, are 30mm, so about the same size as 28mm but without the clumsy look of modern figures.
(the Egyptian infantry running before Pharoaoh)
These shots are just of a mock up of course - even so I think the photos capture that 'something worth exploring' appeal of the figures. The Nubians are nearly ready bar the basing but there is still a lot of painting required on the Egyptians (and I need to think about some camps and general clutter).
(no issues with fitting the figures to the frontage with these figures of course)
Watch this space, as I think if I can do a decent job on them these armies will look splendid and be well worth a little feature.
Christmas is coming. 3 months and 1 week til the BattleDay (they do say time flies when you're having fun!) ...
Don't forget to subscribe to the Society of Ancients by the end of January.
(online subscriptions page)
(Totila's Goths ride out the year eager for another battle)
The SOCIETY OF ANCIENTS CHAMPIONSHIP
DBA EVENINGS
The UK League (and original plan for Eastern Front) had generated some interest in DBA so we set up some local evenings around a Society Championship theme ...
(Society of Ancients UK DBA League)
(The Society of Ancients Championship)
Graham has shared some of his thinking with his blog readers (Graham's DBA thread) ... so I thought I add some pictures to flesh the topic out a little ...
(Graham's Normans and Saxons on his custom DBA board)
(My Sub Romans take the field - Graham's Normans stacked up off table in the background)
We played some games around a Saxon theme ... Graham's Saxons and Normans, my Old Saxons and Sub Romans.
I occasionally add the odd grumpy comment on this blog, so can I do so now? Given that the Angles that invaded Eastern England in the Sub Roman period gave us our name and language and survives in the regional name of part of Eastern England (England, English, East Anglia etc.), couldn't DBA use that name on one of the lists?
As 'Old English' doesn't really mean 'Anglo-Saxon English', and 'Early English' is a term for post-Romanesque architecture, I've coined the term 'Invasion English'. But I don't mind how it is framed. 'Angelfolc' ... ? Tribal Anglian?
Second, given that the thing the Angles, Saxons, Friesians et al did in this period was turn up in boats (up the rivers of Eastern England for example - but back home in South Denmark, they are islanders and estuary people I think), shouldn't there be a Littoral option?
Either way, my 'Invasion English' have a boat for a camp.
Back to the pictures ...
(a complete change from England's South East: the Axumite war in Arabia)
I also threw my Axumites and Arabs into the mix. They look so completely different. Elephants, Camels, Sand Dunes and Oases ... a fair number of the rules the Normans and Saxons never use (so a good extra for some of our beginners ...)
(a Sabaean princess leads the Axumite army)
I have to say these two armies are not that great on their own (being respectively useless against infantry or cavalry heavy armies if the enemy is random/open). Against each other they have given us a number of exciting and unpredictable games ...
We also had some Romans and Carthaginians from Chris and Patrick (I was so engrossed in an Arabian encounter I didn't pause to get any pictures of them - which leaves scope for future coverage) ...
The Invasion English ('Old Saxon') were originally morphed from some Goths and Varangians, but I recently bought some new figures to replace the morphed-in 'ringers'. Shopping around, I have to say 'New Era' Donnington's latest Norman and Saxon figures really do fit the bill.
(Old Saxon by name, East Anglian by nature: the Saxon shore is raided)
(Saxon general's element with windsock wyvern - fabulous New Era Donningtons)
I don't think I need pen a review of the Saxon command pack figures: the picture came out well and speaks for itself. Separate shields and weapons in 'drill your own' fists (the way I like it, but, nevertheless, they are 'some assembly required' figures) they are nicely-sized modern collector 15s.
For all that, they don't beat the Sub Romans. Well, not so far.
I notice the Sub Romans are losing a mounted element in the latest proposed (V3) army lists ... (Book II V3 list proposals) ... is this just a move to tone them down? Or has the thinking changed significantly?
(last men standing .... Arthur's cavalry eliminating a line of Saxon warbands)
It should be added the we are not particularly 'scientific' or practiced players, and everone has had a mix of victories and defeats (that doesn't happen with all ancients games when we play): DBA can be quite a leveller.
So far, 30 or so members have entered the Championship this year (mostly a game or two into their campaign). We are just coming to the last quarter of the season and there is till time for a significant cluster of games with everything to play for (no player is way out in front) ...
So far just over half the games have been FoG, the rest mostly DBA.
Members can join in by sending the results of their games with other members (max 2 games between any 2 members) through the website.
Participating is that easy.
The Society Championship
Well, some apologies, first, for being a little quiet over the last few weeks. February is a very busy time for shows (something every week) and is pretty crammed with Society business too ... wrapping up last year and getting a grip on this.
The first tick went into the Championship box, however. 2011 is underway. My first game was a Field of Glory encounter, my Condotta Italians against Richard's Later Sicilians. Not far off historical ... not far off Guelf vs Ghibelline.
This was a hard fought battle. The Sicilians are very tough, and it was clear enough from how they deployed that there was a determined plan to bring about a decisive action ('to engage the enemy more closely' as Nelson might have said in another age) ...
The Florentines have a big army, so must arrange their troops to give support and cover, optimising the advantage of manoeuvre and numbers.
(Richard's fine collection of Sicilian knights, resplendent with authentic heraldry)
It started bad for them ... a classic wargamer's 1 in 36 allowing my crossbow skirmishers to get caught, bad dice making this a 'one phase' rout, and a big pursuit roll enabling Richard's victorious knights to career their continuing impact into the allied commander's retinue of English archers. Hmm - it wasn't meant to start like this!
Fortunately, while this hole was developing within the Florentine ranks, Hawkwood was moving up some more knights and archers against the Sicilian centre which was being held by several bodies of (Medium Foot) Saracen archers. Provided the mercenary quality Florentines could withstand the Sicilian version of an arrow storm, these 'soft' infantry would not last long.
(Knights vs Longbow. The marker behind is a failed cohesion test for the infantry. It tells you all you need to know)
In the centre, although victorious to their front, the Imperial knights were getting engulfed (flank attacks), and just did not have the numbers to protect themselves.
When the end came, it came quickly. The Saracens gave way, and their friends panicked. Deadly shooting turned panic into rout. Meanwhile, the main Sicilian attack had disintegrated with no survivors.
It was valiant, but in the end numbers and drilled manoeuvre won the day.
You can find out more about the Championship from the Society's main website (Championship pages) ... I hope you will be tempted to join in. It is an ideal reason to arrange a game with a fellow enthusiast, and provides a unique format where, whatever your county or continent, we can all join in as members.
My games with Richard are a great example: we have been fellow enthusiasts for some 20 (25?) years, and played our 'regulation' two proper games a year as part of the old Championship. Now it is running again, it has given us an excuse to renew that tradition: where we might not have quite managed to schedule a game, now it is again a firm arrangement.
I also like the simple win/draw/loss scoring. It reduces that gamey negative play (playing for game points) that spoils so many tournament games (playing the percentages rather than trying to win).
So 'follow your spirit' as Harry might have said. There's ten and a bit more months to go, and the 2011 Championship is an open book, ready for you and your friends to write your names on it.
Results submission can be done through the website, any mutually agreed rules set or games format can be counted and there are prizes as well as kudos for the notable performers (and that doesn't just mean the winners).
Organiser Daivid, is building a Championship scrapbook (here ...), and, at the moment he is interested in hearing the views of prospective players amongst those who have signed up to the Society's Yahoo discussion group ...
You could also join us for a chat at Cavalier on the 27th.
Finally, best wishes to our contingent of Kiwi Championship players and their families. It is obviously a distressing time for many New Zealanders, but we hope you are safe and we send our best wishes.
The Championship and stuff...
I'm glad you liked my little bit of extra content on the DBA theme ... there will be more to come. Meanwhile, I have been involved in some interesting Armati games recently ...
ARMATI 'DOUBLE WIDTH INTRO' TRIAL
The Northamptonshire guys very kindly slotted a trial game into the Friday schedule ... the 'Double Width' Intro scheme I'd discussed on my ECW blog (full story on this link ...). For ECW historical games I have been using the Intro Ruler rather than the Optimal Ruler (Armati uses a MU system for accommodating different scale figures: true inches for 25mm; two thirds inches for 15mm; and one third inches for Intro scale in which a single base is a unit).
Although Optimal scale is the most commonly played game, Intro has many merits: all the units are the same width (solving some of the clunkiness of the Optimal game where unit widths can be varied with mixed results), and at one third standard, the movement is more in line with the movement common amongst other game rules.
Having successfully used a 2" MU with 15mm figures for my FoG-base Jerusalem game, I had no worries about using 'the wrong' measuring convention for Armati. Nevertheless, players consenting to a full blown trial is great.
We played 75 bonus points worth of Graham Evans Parthians against Romans - and nice it was to see them out on the table after a while in barracks. Some of those splendid Peter Pig figures that are not so frequently seen. I thought these might be good armies to use as in conventional Armati, Parthians can be a bit of a problem (two evades and you are off table ...).. Of course it might unbalance the other way - with less limited space, it might be that the horsemen cannot be caught, so the game is an unwinnable chase down artificially rigged against the infantry.
In fact the game we had was very close. The Romans were BP4, the Parthians BP6 ... and at the start of what turned out to be the final turn the Romans were 2 down, the Parthians 5. However, the Romans' best chance for the critical break was against a shredded Cataphract unit trapped in melee with equally worn Legionaries, and this disappeared with a flank charge and a die roll (leaving the Romans with no obvious sixth kill, and a couple more cohorts already 3 down and surrounded by horse archers) ..
(Peter Pig figures from the Graham Evans collection)
Crucially, all the players liked the game and thought it both different to the standard ruler game and more like a conventional battle. I was surprised at the extent to which it was different ... and it was interesting that both Will and I (the more experienced Armati players in the game) got out manoeuvred by our less canny opponents.
Changing the ruler so that deployment becomes around four moves to contact rather than two allows scope for tactical development (on the Roman right flank a cavalry division went round the outside of the oasis, but was not 'taken out of the game' as a consequence) .... deployment was not the key to the game (to the extent that it can be with the Optimal Ruler, especially when allied to deployment screens - so where to set up is simply educated guesswork) ... I wouldn't declare this a 'case proven' on the basis of the trial (given that both Parthian players admit to mistakes but the army still won) ... nevertheless, all players enjoyed the game and thought it ran properly. No horse archer units were lost or hamstrung by being pinned against the table edge, and the armies were able to adjust to each other after deployment in what turned out to be a close game.
A lot of boxes ticked. I will append an exact specification of the rules used at the end of the post*.
ARMATI CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
It was an interestingly quick transition to be setting up my third contest in this year's Championship. A return match against Will, this time I tried an (A2) Italian Ostrogothic against his Late Roman (Western) ... and this time Will had reconfigured the Romans to the (I think) more vicious looking 'first A2 Late Roman' list (Armati players will know the one I mean, with non-key LHI etc.).
We used all the standard 15mm tournament rules, Optimal scale Rulers, deployment screen etc.
A word about the armies: this was a first go for me for Ostrogoths (the list looks 'interesting' and a suitable opponent for Late Romans). It has piles of obligatory charging FV5 HC, and should you take all the light units, the net spec. of 4 heavy controlled divisions, three light and Init:5 is quite a viable top line. Taking all the lights also gives you a potentially useful 8 Skirmish Infantry with bow.
The conundrum is the Gothic Foot. I like the look of FV5 Spear/Bow FT, but they are a mixed blessing ... to shoot properly they need to deploy wide, but wide, they are potential victims of being outshot by non-key skirmishers shooting on a 1 wide front (and I knew Will would field plenty of these)... I also (rightly) expected that Will would come at me with Palatine Legionaries deployed in depth (again battering the wider line). A worthy experiment, then, and I opted to dismount some HC in the middle of the line to boost the melee factors of the infantry (looking for FV5 + wider + stiffened to give me a 7 vs the Roman 6 at contact if I could).
Will's reconfigured Romans had the same infantry core and batteries of SI bowmen as previously, 5 units of LC (two with bow), plus 6 non-key auxilia (2 LI, 4 LHI). All this left only 1 HC. In a sense, a Gothic nightmare, as this clearly leaves them outnumbered in LC while key HC have to batter through the auxiliaries to get to anything 'battle winning' to melee. That said, and despite all the light and light-heavy opposition, the Goths enjoyed a 5:1 advantage in mounted warriors.
On the centre right we came to grips quickly: Will hung back too long with his LC (not wanting to take on SI bowmen who had HC they could evade beyond), but pressed ahead with the foot. This left a gap, and so I threw the whole line forward (well, I say 'I' ... obligatory charges did some of it, choice made it everyone) ... my 2 LC charged a block of his 3. My main HC division ploughed into his LHI, and a single unit division got through the gap and engaged his lone HC reserve with general attached. That I liked ... the rest was the best way to achieve it. The LC melee went against me, the LHI took a couple of turns to chew through, and I lost the (level) dice off against the HC! Disaster! Well ... not as good as I hoped - but good enough, as, although I was losing the cavalry fight, the victors from charging the auxiliaries arrived in time to sweep in with impetus and destroy the unit and commander at the critical moment. That was an important part of my game plan, as with such a low Army BP, taking out the HC with commander is the job half done.
On the other flank I inevitably lost everything to javelins and horse bows ... an 'out of command' Frankish Warband, 2 units of HC, all my skirmishers, and the end of my Gothic infantry line. Most of my 6 Break Points.
However, in the end, the LC fight was a trade of a key unit each, and in the centre (which was the left flank of Will's more compact line), I edged a protracted melee against the Legionaries (indeed, the margin was shaded by the wider unit modifier to which I added the Gothic general in addition) ... I was 5 down and the Romans were broken.
Verdict on the Goths: well, in the end I won it the way I intended, but the damage along the way was very high (I think FT with bows are attractive troops on paper, but hard to employ in battle). Wide against shooting skirmishers means even if the battle is settled in melee you will start the key engagement with high attrition (but if you put your own skirmish screen out for protection, there's no point in your FT having bows!). And indeed, these Gothic cavalry are hard to stop (but that's just as good an argument for using Normans!) ...
(ersatz Ostrogoths ... mostly Black Hat 'Gladiator' figures)
Verdict on the Romans: take another unit of HC and be more aggressive with your Light Cavalry!
Verdict on the two games? Obviously the Roman/Parthian game had merit all of its own as it was a 4 player game. Of course, as both players enjoy the contest, the Roman/Goth game was also a thriller (indeed both went to the last unit). I think both players felt the Intro Ruler game played better and more plausibly than the conventional 'smash and grab raid' Optimal Ruler, and probably gave a more convincing depiction of ancient battle.
There is a lot more mileage in this.
For the Society of Ancients Championship go to the webpage (The Championship) ... Join in - any member can enter and any rules can be used.
* The exact game played was Intro, but with all units 2 sections wide rather than 1. And played on a full size (indeed over-sized) table. NB this was not Optimal with the Intro ruler, as all Optimal rules allowing deep units, depth to counter impetus etc. were not used. As it happened, no COH were taken out frontally with impetus, so it was not an issue. I think bracing by being stationary (much discussed on Armati Yahoo Group) is an important amendment to make, and I'd be tempted to allow LC to deploy deep (but certainly not SI) ... However, none of this was done in order to keep the trial simple. We used a standard wheeling arcs tools (normally according to base width fronts), which, of course, when used with the smaller ruler, allows a wheel of up to 4" , rather than 2 (this was mostly done for sheer convenience - everyone has the tools - but also is a sensible compensation for obliging all the units to be deployed wide). Everyone liked this I think, and there would be no stomach for squeezing the wheel down to a 'proper' 2" (certainly not without allowing deep units ... but I suspect even then, players feel the larger wheel - currently only available to reserve divisions - gives a more authentic feel) ...
2010 Wargames Championship
And sort of 'on the move'.
Crammed-in between shows in Edinburgh and Manchester, I have had a batch of Championship games set up with Committee and Show Team colleagues.
Home and Away in Northamptonshire ... and another to follow on the Friday of Britcon.
The championship is a great opportunity of all enthusiasts to get involved in a 'low impact' way (your games will be as 'gamey' as the opponents you choose to play), but your results count in the mix with all the rest of us (any and all, of course, fellow Society of Ancients members) - and there are some great prizes up for grabs (figure vouchers, ready painted battle groups etc.).
There are also just about as many ways to play as there are wargames types out there (Computer games, boardgames, and figure games from all different perspectives): all you need is the will to get involved. Fresh back from playing Field of Glory at the Doubles Masters, my first game was an Armati encounter against Richard Lockwood.
Just in case either of us was up and ready for that game we warmed up with a run of my 'Double DBA' Zama game (but more of that when I do the Zama wrap shortly) ...
I was the host, and had set up a fairly open plain plus a choice of two Triumph of Cavalry armies - Abbassid Arab and 11th Century Byzantine (OK, I know the later is AoC, but I was just using that list to field a slightly de-tuned Nikephorian with plenty of LC in it). Richard followed his established loyalties and picked the Byzantines.
Richard went for a strong right hook, with an underpowered left comprised mostly of Skirmishers and LC. I had opted for a more balanced deployment, but with my weaker cavalry on the right, and my (even weaker) infantry out of command and out of the way (right rear of my battleline deployment zone). With some cavalry to back up my skirmishers, I should ultimately win on the right, but the mighty Byzantine right would crush me in the end. So I had to slow them - maybe get a few against the odds - long enough to win the skirmish and shoot out.
I got very lucky with the game's first decision point. I had mixed Bedouin camels into my line in the hope this would hold them up (camels take away cavalry impetus in Armati, and also - on a 5 or 6 - panic the horsemen, making them fight on a lower factor) ... a standard Arab ploy in Armati, but one that can back-fire (as you are offering up intrinsically weaker troops ...). Contacted both by Cataphractoi and Cavalry, both were panicked (I think the first time Abbassids controlled by me have pulled that particular rabbit): it would indeed be a slog for the enemy, and I was now pretty much guaranteed one of those units.
The Arabs did well in the shooting, and losses on the skirmish wing, plus faring badly against the camels, left the Byzantines looking for a decisive intervention in a battle that was otherwise going against them.
Richard looked to the Varangians, who had been pushing up in support of the centre throughout the game. The loss of another unit of cavalry, this time to the Ghulams, created the opening, and ignoring a barrage of archery as they pushed forward, the northern mercenaries eventually were close enough to charge in.
It was, perhaps a fitting end. The Varangians threw a 1 in melee, and - counting as charging, and with 1 fresh charge left - the Ghulams threw a 6. This was more than enough to break the infantry on contact and rout the army. It had been one of those wargames: entertaining and challenging, but with all the critical die rolls going one way.
(still looking good: 15mm Minifigs Late Romans)
To face Will's Late Romans, I chose the Byzantines myself, but morphed to an earlier spec. (Maurikian) ... very similar, as are all these Byzantines (slightly more archery, especially as Armati classifies these earlier Skutatoi as spear/bow, whereas the later ones are just spear - assuming the bowmen are skirmishing). I intended to dismount some of the cavalry to stiffen the line - as I was pretty sure there would be some Gothic Warband coming my way in the centre.
It being Will, I also feared big wings of LI/LHI Auxilia chucking javelins and looking to trap my prized cavalry in unwinnable multiple melees. My plan would be to stand off for as long as possible, and just whittle the Romans down to their key troops before committing anything valuable to the fray. Easier said than done - but as Will intended to draw me on, maybe surprise me with concealed troops, I was able to start the shoot out on terms I thought favourable.
I just about got where I intended with the skirmish before Will (a turn or so late, I thought) called for a general advance ... and I thought he was pulling the battle back when the end came. The decision to dismount some cavalry was vindicated ... when the expected German impetus charge came in on the Skutatoi, the scores were level (the +1 stiffening from the cavalry just negating the 1 pip by which Will out rolled me). Without it, the Skutatoi would have gone down on contact, and my centre would almost certainly have collapsed.
On the other end of the line, we routed some Legionaries who had already been seriously worn down in the shooting, and fell upon the exposed flank. Meanwhile, the armoured cavalry comprising most of my right had done little other than hold their ground, shoot back, and rely on their high protection to provide a solid and secure flank for the infantry. It was just about enough, and with their right lost and enveloped, the Roman army routed.
Excellent work from my (now quite venerable) Byzantines ... they managed to lose their combats against me, but win when I was in charge. Of course, I say 'combats', I mostly mean shooting: despite some awesome fighting values, the army is mostly bow-armed, and - in FoG or DB, as well as Armati - I try to think in terms of an empire that lasted a thousand years ... (so no need to hurry).
Well, that's a couple of games under my belt and a good, if a little tardy, start to the 2010 Championship.
I have another on Friday, and as I plugged before, a possible slot on Saturday in Manchester. 28 players have participated so far this year, and there is still time to get some games in (give it a go). Richard Bodley Scott is winning, but there is plenty of time left to catch him :O) ...
You can find out more about the Championship (here on the website) ...
Or check the current standings (follow this link)
See you in Manchester.