20/21st February, Burton on Trent

BADCON - BURTON DOUBLES

I wasn't able to sort anything out for this year's Burton Doubles but went up to have a look at what was happening and say Hi! to people ...

Quite useful also to sit in on a couple of games of L'Art de la Guerre and pick up a few more nuances of the game.

The ADLG was quite a small section, the main choices seemingly FoG-AM, FoG-R and DBMM.

(click on the pictures for larger images)

All told a very well attended event and some great armies, terrain and baggage on display. ..

Hopefully I'll be able to do both days next year - and will be back as a player ...

For who managed to do what, check out Badcon Results

16th-17th February, Burton upon Trent

Burton Doubles

I like this event, and Burton Town Hall is a good venue.  And the parking is free.

I hadn't really enjoyed the new version of FoG at Usk, so having to take charge of the army solo (Chris was on family duty for the Saturday) was a little daunting.   We had chosen a Palmyran army with a balance of troop types (15 Battlegroups: 4 cataphracts, 4 horse archers, 4 Romans and 3 light archers) ...

Fortunately, we got a nice draw ... the amiable Martins in the morning, and seemingly regular opponents Hutchby and Thorne in the afternoon.   Another Palmyran, and some obscure Japanese, respectively.

(two very different Palmyrans ... the enemy were clearly true lackeys, full of Roman infantry)

Palmyran armies vary from predominantly mounted Parthian-style Eastern armies to what are basically Roman frontier armies (Romans with extra cataphracts ....) ... It was one of these latter that Jayne and Andrew had chosen.    But don't expect our game to resolve which might be the better choice.   We lost 4 attrition points a piece (so the the score was 9-11 against us as our's was the smaller army ... more cavalry meaning fewer battlegroups).

(marching out against Chris and Dave's Kofun-Nara Japanese ...)

Against the Japanese we were miss-matched ... separated by 5,000 miles of geography and more than 200 years of history.    The Japanese are a big army of archers which probably could not have downed a middle-eastern cataphract however much they shot - but who knows as the confrontation never happened (so there is no history from which to extrapolate).   Undeterred, and with a game spirit, I advanced rapidly covered by skirmishers, and did succeed in getting the cataphracts into contact with these medium foot in the open.  To no avail - another losing draw.

(squaring up to Warring States Chinese on Sunday morning)  

Sunday saw our team restored to full manning ... and facing more regular Northern Doubles opponents, Andy and Kevin Ellis and more far distant enemies from the time machine ... Warring States Chinese.    It is the topic of quite another article as to why Chinese weaponry and armour is so highly rated compared to western equivalents ... suffice to say that these Chinese would probably have fled on sight of determined western soldiery ...

Thankfully, they did.   Whilst I was grinding through indecisive pulses of skirmish and counter attack on the flank, Chris piled in with a combination of armoured cavalry and armoured infantry against the Chinese centre ... Crossbowmen protected by armoured halberdiers behind field defences.   Fortune favoured the brave (for a change), and the desperate Chinese threw in their Inspired Commander (sun was going down on the game).   He died too, and the wavering centre collapsed.    The game ended before we could mop up ... a very gamely played score draw to us.

(a credible historical battle against Aurelian's Principate Romans)

We were all back on message to finish - entirely back on message ... against an Aurelianic period Roman.    Even so, we fought them in green hills far from Palmyra.   Very impressive thickly painted bed sheet terrain as good as I have seen (courtesy of our opponents, John Hogan and Lee Sanders) ... 

We had played Lee at Usk last year and enjoyed big win, achieved mostly by my Aragonese high rolling late in an otherwise very even game.   This was similar, but they had their revenge ...  And the cataphracts who had performed so well in the morning were clearly tired after a good lunch.   They took a couple of Roman units to the brink but could not finish them off.   Both teams pressed on through the game turns to get a finish and on the game's last turn, the Romans got it.

(now you see him/now you don't: a late swing in the battle against China as their C-in-C falls in combat)

So, in all, a slightly below par outcome from a series of thoroughly enjoyable games.   Although V2 seemed better, I think that was mostly down to us picking an army without spears and pikes in it.   There was still plenty of nonsense playing out around the tables - just less gaminess in our encounters.   

Even so, we are now 8 games into V2 and have 7 draws and one result.   With V1 we generally would expect 50% or better (not saying who would win ... just on the game getting completed within the time limits).

(my modest contribution to our forces ... some Eastern baggage and some Roman infantry) 

Although I do think the game will have more traction in other periods, a 12.5% completion rate for a team that regularly gets results is not a good sign - and the interminably fiddly nature of FoG is entirely unimproved in this new version.   As an example, ranges for skirmishers have been reduced which produces fewer casualties.   I can't see how this improves the game (skirmishers still slow the game down ... they just contribute less to getting a result).  Infantry lines still kink implausibly to produce far-fetched flank opportunities (which consequently deter charges, again slowing the game).

(one unit bounced off, one disrupted and damaged ... but you would still expect the cataphracts to win from here ...)

Nevertheless a weekend full of good things ... nice to catch up with old friends (and make some new ones) and good to see stalwarts like Adrian Garbett back wargaming ... Great terrain in our last game (I'm intending to copy this method), lots of nicely turned-out armies, great organisation as always ... and some predictable and unpredictable winners.

(the winners of the ancients events collect their prizes)

Tim Child and John Hickman (Later Carthaginian) won the DBMM event, Dave Handley and Steve Royle (Classical Indian) the FoG-AM ....  I understand Peter Kershaw won the best army prize with his Slave Revolt DBMM army - but I wasn't 'camera and notebook in hand' as I was on my way back from the stage where I had picked up the best baggage award.   Yay!

Good to see proper Ancients armies picking up all the prizes.

Like many others, I always make an effort at Burton - because they try to encourage and reward people making an effort (there's a clue there for tournament organisers ... and it doesn't require a degree in rocket science!) ...

PALMYRAN BAGGAGE TRAIN

OK,  since you ask ... here's a few more pics ...

(Palmyran camel train 'camp' for FoG-AM)

Since Queen Zenobia first mounted her camel, in the wargamer's mind, dromedaries have been associated with the fabled desert city ...  Add to that Chris's comment on Palmyra ... 'Roman ruins' ... and I had my theme.

The composition recycles several broken or redundant items from my terrain boxes together with a handful of camels from Chariot and Irregular, and a handful of figures - one each from Irregular, Gladiator and New Era Donnington (the Roman lady) and a couple of Middle Imperial soldiers from Chariot.

Plus some cake decoration palm trees.

(click on the images for a bigger picture)  

The nebulous idea is that the army's baggage train is arriving or departing a defended watering hole or urban area well to the rear of the battlefield.   A couple of soldiers guard the archways from the rear, to give the model more than one view point.   I have tried to indicate a bit of Roman style groundwork by glueing on some Warbases bricks and infilling with wood filler and sand.

(Palmyran Camel Train ... from some other view points)  

I'm glad they liked it.

Excellent weekend.   Thanks, Burton.

18th - 19th Feb, Burton on Trent

Badcon 2012 - Burton Doubles

The second of the year's big doubles events comes round quickly after Usk at Burton on Trent, the home of the brewing industry. I always make sure I have a pint at lunchtime.

Traditionally Burton followed the four DBM books of Army Lists in rotation, and this would have been the first of the four books - Biblical (and my favourite next to Book 4 - Medieval*).

In this age of FoG, however, the hosts have decided to extend the period to incorporate the armies of the Hellenistic world and the Roman Republic (to maximise the appeal to players, one has to assume) ...

I'm not sure it's quite fair to put men in loincloths with bronze weapons up against Phalanxes and Legions, really - and judging by the popularity of Graeco Bactrian and Seleucid armies, many players agree (rules aren't always at the fairest when the spread over technological watersheds like the end of the Bronze Age ...)..

(Game 1: Early Libyan vs Myceneans)

We chose to go with a traditional Biblical army ... Early Libyan (a great fun, massive army in the hey-day of DBM ... but out of favour since the V3.1 changes made Wb(F) armies almost hopeless).

It looked pretty useless under FoG (naked guys under a system that favours armour ...)... but we didn't want to use pikes or cataphracts ... so 'brave' it was ...

(massed skirmishing ... something the Libyans do well ...)...

The main thing to say is that the event gave us four really enjoyable and nicely fought games.

Sometimes you will read chuntering about 'competition wargaming' - nearly all of it written by ill-informed pundits who think they know better but don't actually play (or who maybe lost a game thirty years ago and haven't gotten over it somehow): they should get off their high horses and play doubles at Usk or Burton. They might enjoy it.

(against Carthaginians: various Sea People and Libyan Warrior blocks and columns march up behind the skirmish line)

We didn't have particularly high expectations of victory, so were more than pleased to finish about half way, and to have recorded a decisive win, sacked a camp and killed several generals amongst our tally of achievements over the weekend ...

(muscling up for combat ... )

In the end our games were decided by the skirmish and the charge of our warriors. If we could destroy the enemy front lines with our bowmen, we might be in business. In FoG the warriors are unprotected (Medium) Impact Foot. Against armoured guys that gives us one real shot - the Impact Phase. If, as in our big win, we can disrupt the enemy with the charge, we can make headway in the game.

If, as in most of the games, the enemy can stand the impact of the charge, the warriors will likely be cut to pieces in the melee.

(Gaddafi's tribal ancestor, alive and well and leading the Libyan charioteers)

The light chariots proved really useful and durable, but were mostly outnumbered, the skirmishing bowmen were always a threat ... but we had centred the army around the warriors and the (slightly better armoured) Sea Peoples allies.

In the end, there just never seemed to be enough of them to compensate for their weakness in the protracted melee phases of combat. Ignoring the last game against Parthians, which was really a long and exciting skirmish encounter**, we got three goes at infantry based armies (Carthagnian, Mycenean and Later Dynastic - i.e. mostly mercenary Hoplite - Egyptian) winning one handsomely, otherwise just running out of troops to support the front lines. The points system just doesn't give you the second wave you need to have a real chance of breaking armoured infantry.

(eager to seem sophisticated, the Libyans made their encampment amongst the Sphynxes of the detested Egyptians ...)..

Full results are available (say, TMP ), but an enjoyable weekend, great cameraderie and plenty of fun with an army that can lose with its heads held high ... Thanks again Burton.

You might also like this (Simon's Lurkio Blog)
Time to think about Armati, now ...

*this is not a slight against the Classical period for interest ... the age of the Greeks and the Romans is at the heart of 'ancient' wargaming - just I have never felt the warfare of the period is done well by the popular tabletop rules (where pike blocks tend to swirl around like Napoleonic battalions - who themselves didn't really swirl around anyway - rather than hold long steady frontages as they did historically). So it's a game thing.

** our naked Warriors were never going to charge headlong at Cataphracts, but the metal men were always going to be too slow to bundle through and chase us down.

Burton on Trent, 19-20th February

It's probably called Badcon these days, but we still just call it Burton Doubles.

Having had the last two Burtons brutally affected by winter weather, I was feeling good about this year. Although I have committed to a couple of Armati rounds, and the DBA League beckons, I have pretty much given up on 'full game' singles, these days (too long, too 'gamey' and a bit repetitive for my tastes, really) ... so the early year rash of Doubles events is something I look forward to.

Doubles is a nice, sociable, game format, and a good chance to catch up with players (some of whom I have known across the tables for more than 20 years but seldom see outside the 'circuit'). Burton, itself, of course, is one of the homes of the brewing industry ... so if you do want to enjoy a chat ....

Following its time-honoured sequence, this year's event would be what was once the WRG Book IV period. So knights a-plenty. Mostly FoG, of course, there was also some DBM and MM.

Although quite a few international players had already left for NZ, 50 (fifty) teams entered the FoG tournament, and we were graced with the celebrity authors ... Phil Barker playing DBMM, and author (and Society of Ancients co-Champion) Richard Bodley-Scott playing FoG. Everyone had a great weekend.

Eric Doman made a rare appearance (not only is Eric a great player ... my one and only DBM tournament win was when standing in for Eric's regular partner in the Society of Ancients Doubles ... so he can clearly do well in even the least helpful of circumstances)..

Taking advantage of the period, I chose to give my later Sicilians another run out ... a good excuse to continue/complete renovating this much-loved army that dates back to 7th Edition.

In FoG, I think it combines the merits of being good-looking, effective and easy to play. Well the Phil Steele Version is easy to play, anyway (it is one of those lists that allows quite a bit of variation - which, as the list covers Angevin as well as Hohenstauffen, is about right): my simpleton's army being roughly 25% light foot, 25% light horse%, 25% knights and the balance in variable infantry.

All the light foot and all the light horse have bows.

So nice and clean, and not much fiddling or remembering to do.

Our four good games were against Catalan Company (1306AD) ... Latin Greece (1266AD), ... HYW English (continental), ... and Later Lithuanian (1400AD)

(A rare oportunity to get into the Catalans)

Clearly, it wasn't going to be easy to miss Catalan Company or HYW English they accounted for 20% of the draw. (4 and 6 entrants respectively, perhaps it tells you something about FoG's drilled Medium Foot problem ...)...

The Catalan Company proved a tough nut to crack ... there was terrain in the way of our knights, and try though we might, our skirmishers could scarcely dent the Almughavars (Wayne and Lynn had taken an IC, so we were trying to inflict multiple cohesion fails on superior troops with an IC in command range ... for non-Foggers still with us, that means morale tests with rerolls and modifiers in their favour, and we're usually going to get nowhere).

We got some traction, but the Catalans are very dangerous as drilled Medium Foot outmanoeuvre Knights in FoG (pick the bones out of that if you will) and we got the worst of a timed-out game.

(shaping up against the Greeks)

We fared much better against the Greeks - an army much like the Sicilians but played much too aggressively given the fluid mix of troops they were up against. We had the tactical edge in a lot of otherwise straight up fights, and were about a turn or so off a decisive win when the sun went down.

Our maximum win came against the English Longbows. Interestingly, our 25-0 at last years SoA Doubles came against English, too, so its 'single theory' is clearly weaker against a balanced but powerful army.

We lost the opening initiative, which proved decisive: although they get the edge on terrain placement and deployment, we get to move first, and can, hopefully, steal any terrain near the middle of the table.

The game was resolved in a massed fight for a centrally placed enclosed field - defended by us with a skirmish line backed by Saracen close fighters ... attacked by Longbowmen. A slight edge to the Saracens in hand-to-hand if the skirmishers can protect them from the shooting. A better edge if the skirmishers can register some hits on the English too, before they have to run off. Which is what happened.

On the other flank, our skirmishers ran rings around them and got even more traction. Then, with our lighter troops denying the English any security from the broken ground, the knights confidently went in on the archers in the open, survived the arrow storm, and put them to the sword.

(a massive skirmish to contain the Lithuanians)
Against the Lithuanians, we pretty much executed our plans, but the dice gods did not play their part, and we were battling up hill (metaphorically) all afternoon. We got some good things going, but Lithuanians do run away extremely well.

We lost a bit of time in a prolonged discussion of a tricky position where neither team really wanted to embarrass themselves by calling an umpire ... but, on reflection, it would have been wiser to do so, as four minds couldn't resolve it, so some time was lost from the game.

(Paul and Paul try to figure out a confused skirmishing mass locked together near the table edge)

Timed-out with the advantage to the Lithuanians.

Dave Rehead & Leslie Mitchell won the FoG tournament with Mongols, Tim Child and John Hickman the DBMM with Venetian, and Jez Evans the DBM (with Khmer)

(Scenes from Burton 2011, with the FoG winners centre stage at the prize giving)

All the results can be found here on the Slitherine forum

We came 15th out of 50 in the FoG.

All in all, a great set of games, challenging and entertaining in equal measure. We achieved most of our objectives, scoring above par, routing the enemy, killing generals ...

There are several one day Doubles rounds to come from the Northern League, the Society of Ancients Doubles Masters is in September (3rd and 4th) at Fitzharry's School, Abingdon.

Details can now be found on the BHGS website.

WWW.BHGS.CO.UK

An example of one of the Commanders I use: a round staff element with a detachable personality (in this case the king of Navarre) ... on the base, the commander is acting in his normal command capacity; off the base, he is fighting in the front rank.