WHAT'S ON MY WORKBENCH THIS WEEK?

In an effort to help me focus on, and complete, projects, I have decided to post regularly what is on my workbench. The theory being that, once in the public domain, I will have an incentive to complete them.

First up are the two projects for the next week or so are to paint three more SWAT team members for my A Fistful of Kung Fu cops. I also intend to paint a Crooked Dice Tiny Templeton figure for use as a supernatural investigator protagonist for my Cops.

Late Macedonian DBA army and reinforcements for my Cops. 

Secondly, I intend to do a bit of retouching of the paint job and flocking of bases on a DBA Late Macedonian army. This has been put together from a batch of assorted DBA figures that I bought at Carronade, from the flea market. There are enough figures to make up three  Late Macedonian DBA armies, so I will be able to cover all the variations.  There are also a large number of \Thracian figures for future projects.

Look out for an update.

DBA 3.0. TWO MORE BATTLES.

After our taster game of DBA 3.0, Rick suggested we try the big battle DBA rules. For this, we used three standard sized DBA armies. We fought two different battles on two separate Thursdays. 

The initial set up. The Picts are in ambush positions as the British advance.

For the first game, we decided to ignore the set up rules and set up an historical battle. The battle was Nechtansmere or Dunnichen, between the Picts and Sub Roman British. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dun_Nechtain

The middle command of the Picts charges down from the hill as the Britons try to change from marching order to deploy into battle order.

Two Pictish commands attack the Britons, to try to drive them into the lake. The third command is the plug to stop the Britons' escape.

The Picts crash into the Britons, pushing them back.

Having lost impetus, the Picts are attacked by British cavalry and take losses. In the foreground, the Pictish warband clash with British infantry.

The casualties suffered by the Picts left two commands demoralised.

History was not repeated, as the Picts lost. Two commands lost at least 4 elements and became demoralised. That meant they could not attack, only defend, and only then if pips were spent to hold them. The British were able to defeat the commands in detail. The army morale check was then failed, giving victory to the British.

The second game was based on a randomly rolled battlefield from a Commands & Colors scenario. It was between Rick's Early Imperial Romans and my Early Germans. 

The initial set up. We used coloured beads to denote the commands and CinC. Each command got one pip dice.

As the attacker, I took advantage of Rick's poor pip dice to get my warbands across the river.

The Romans retaliate with a cavalry charge.

An overview of the battle. The Romans are beginning to attack the German right flank,

The German assault begins to cause casualties to the Romans.

The Romans exploit the weak German right flank. 

The Germans continue to push forward, unaware that they have been outflanked.

A view of the German plight.The right flank German command was now demoralised.

A second German command becomes demoralised during the Roman counter attack.

The end state. The Germans failed the army morale check, once two commands were demoralised.

The DBA 3.0 big battle rules give a feel like old style DBM. I have not played DBMM, so can't say what influence this may have had. The rules have tweaked the troop types enough to allow and encourage historical tactics and usage.

Playing DBA again has reignited my interest in the period.

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!