DBA 3.0. THE BATTLE OF FOUR ARMIES.

For our game two Thursdays ago, we went back to the future! Rick put on a couple of games of DBA 3.0, which we had both acquired last year. For the first game Rick's Late Imperial Romans took on my Sub Roman British (Artorious).

Starting deployment. From the British perspective.

Good dice rolling gives the British enough pips to make a huge advance across the field.

The Romans finally roll more than 2 and advance to contact.

With the Roman knights having a back and forth with the British cavalry, the battle lines clash, with inconclusive results

During an intense battle Artorious was killed. A history changing victory to the Romans.

My Late Pict army set up to take on Rick's Early Ostrogoths.

The Picts, being mainly fast spears, race across the battlefield. They are charged by the Ostrogoth knights.

The supported ranks of spears push back the knights, supported by the general's cavalry unit.

The Ostrogoths counter attack hits home. A general melee ensues with some Picts getting behind the Ostrogoth units and spears hitting the Ostrogothic battle line.

The decisive combats take place.

The fragile nature of the Pictish units is exposed as no less than  five are destroyed during combat, ending the game as an Ostrogothic win.

How did the game play? There are a lot of things that are similar to 'old' DBA. Where the game has changed is with the introduction of further subdivisions of the old unit descriptions. This allows units to be used historically. For example, in DBA 2.2, the Pict spears were just that, with no difference from any other spears. In DBA 3.0 they are classed as fast spears which allows them to move fast, but they are brittle, adding a hint of realism and another aspect to generalship.  You could say that the level of command has zoomed in one level.

No doubt there will be more to learn in the next game!