DBA- Alans vs Visigoths

DBA? Yes, you heard that right. The guys have been humouring Kent and I and by playing Impetus so time to repay the favour. I haven't played DBA in a couple of years- I got fed up with "Geometry Wars" and micromanaging angles and play the "game"rather than the "wargame."

Any how, lately the guys have been playing lots of the new version so it was time to give it a try- vs Simon and his Visigoths. I like the visigoths and have had fun using them vs Ian in the past (I've a 28mm version waiting to be 0paitned at present). So the only 15mm army I could find was my Alans so it was light horse + knights vs massed bow, warband and cavalry.


Game 1
I got to defend so made it nice and cav friendly- despite the new terrain rules which  I liked.

 My knights slip over to support my light horse vs the cavalry.

 Blades now follow up- and get into trouble vs warband.

 My light horse have made a hole in the enemy line.

 Can we take advantage? Hell yes!

 From 3 -1 down we come back to  in 4-3.

Game 2: Simon aka "Give me a water feature damn it" living up to his name! My plan? Try to cross the river on the left and see what happens. Okay so not much of a plan. 

 Well, 2 units got across- then his bow kept my reinforcements at bay. MY blades have charged across the ford and follow up into arband- not sure I am used to the new blade follow up rules.

 Simon reinforces vs my badly outnumbered light cav.

 End game- now that is what I call surrounded! 5-1 to Simon.

 Game 3- Simon got to defend again. Hmm, I detect a theme.

 Our war correspondent was killed early on in this debacle. I managed to get 2x knights shot full of arrows before they could retreat out of range then Simon unleashed his warband. 4-2 to Simon. 

Thoughts?
I enjoyed the games. It was fun and less micromanaging than previous versions. I liked the longer ranges for bows and  movement  but think a 30" board is even more necessary than ever before- and I've been a bg fan of 30" boards for along, long time. So I think I might play the odd game in future.

Craig

Impetus: Armenians vs Later Crusaders (300pts)

Kent and I finally got in another game of Impetus, his new 2nd Crusades force vs my Armenians, 300 pts per side.



I took 2 commands:
2x Knights
2x heavy foot
2x crossbows(T)

2x Knights
2x heavy foot
2x light foot
2x  bows (T)

Kent had a single command:
3x Feudal knights (VBU 7)
3x  Feudal knights (VBU 6)
3-4 dismounted knights
2x crossbows

We were joined by Leeanne, a visiting Canadian who had never played but took command of one of the two Armenian commands. I also got some LBM studio banners recently so added some to finish off the command stands- what can I say, they are lovely.

 The Armenians deploy.

 Kent lines up, has he heard of reserves?

 Kent get the first turn and advances his infantry, we do the same with ours.

 Turn 2: All the knights continue to be held on opportunity. Steady...steady....

 Perhaps this will be an infantry clash.

 On the far right my javelin armed light infantry advance into the open- never a good move!

 We both send forward our knights to bolster the line.

 Kent gets the all importnat first charge in.

 Meanwhile on the left flank, Leeanne decides to charge as well.

 Leeanne's knights destroy two of Kent's lesser knights (VBU 6) creating a big problem on his right flank- my right is also looking decidely shakey.

 Kent's only remaining knights on the right try to save the day- several skirmishes take place- impetuous troops never know when they are beat!

 Leeanne's general rides down some pesky crossbowmen.

 Yes, all those counters mean disordered units- things are looking grim in the centre of the table.

 Those knights on the right continue to battle back and forth.

 Leeanne's general (top left) having ridden down the crossbows turns to face the main battle.

And that is about it- we broke Kent's force in the centre and won the game.

We had some good luck go our way, even though Kent won most initiative rolls- in the end we rolled better when it came to rallying troops and avoiding permaenenty losses.

A close game, I lost all my light infantry, a bow unit and, on the last turn, my general- whoo died even as he slew Kent's general.

Impetus is still my favourite wargame, the ebb and flow of the games is outstanding and both players get to act throughout both turns so it really is engaging at all times.

Now for something a bit different. Kent has been going made painting stuff- take a look at this!

 

Craig

Plans for 2012

The trip to Central was good, few people about, the camping grounds were almost empty (but it won't be that way after today as the hordes will start to descend for the traditional NZ two week summer break between Christmas & New Year), weather was fantastic- 26-28 degrees each day. We biked a 34 km section of the Rail Trail between Wedderburn & Lauder as we made our way to Alexandra.












Anyway, this is suppposed to be about wargaming what have I been up to? Bugger all really. I have managed over 3-4 evenings to paint 13 Napoleonic Jagers- I have 2 battalions (32 figures to do) to add to my Russian force before Kent and I play again. I am only getting 3-4 done a night, not my usual speed but hopefully they'll be done in the next few evenings.

With the new year looming its time to start taking stock & thinking about what wargaming projeccts I need to do next year. In no particular order:

1. Finish off the Impetus Crusades forces- some LBM transfers have just turned up to finish off the Syrians & shield transfees for the Frankish knights.
2. Paint up my Visigoth force for Impetus- and maybe add a Late Roman force too.
   
3. Carthagians! One of those projects I've been meaning to do for over a year- I built 15mm Carthagian & Republican Rome forces for FOG when it came out but hated the rules and when we went to 28mm a couple of years ago sold my armies to one of the local DBAers. I've been meaning to do a 28mm Carthagian force ever since- and I think I need to convince Kent to get a Republican Rome force to match them :)
   
4. Finish the Russians for Lasalle- and maybe add a few smaller units for Shako II.
   
5. Get a FoW force organised for Jamie's Ironman Challenge for 20112. Armoured Panzer Grenadiers, an armoured aufklarung or panzerspah force all appeal on that front- one of the Wellington guys ran a puma company at Bedecon which I really, really loved so might do something based round pumas.
   
6. Try not to buy too much more lead- I have a very large pile of stuff that needs painted so really must stop flitting from one project to the next and get some of those side projects done.
   
7. Build some decent 28mm terrain- probably the most urgent project. I really do need to get some decent terrain done for our 28mm games- both for European & Mid East inspired gaming.
   
8. Get some games in of Impetus vs Kent's new Imperial Romans vs my Sassanid & Numidian forces!
   
9. Do a few more big battles with Impetus!
10. Try to encourage more guys at TAG to get into 28mm gaming- via our demo games on Wednesdays at the club- can't see this ever working though but who knows.
    

Well, I'm sure there are plenty more projects but that lot should keep me busy- if only I could learn to focus better- I am enjoying Kent and my eclectic approach to wargaming.

We've got 3-4 rule sets we like (FoW, Lasalle- I did enjoy Lasalle on a bigger table the other week) & Impetus as well as a few others we use rarely (eg Shako II) and so will continue to focus on those rulesets. Impetus is by far the ruleset I most enjoy using at present so no doubt will continue to get in games when Kent is avaialble.

Anyway enough ramblings from me, I'm back off to the bach & beach. Have a good New Year and will be back early in 2012.

Craig

Impetus: 400pts Armenians vs Crusaders

Tonight, like most freshly painted armies seem to do the Armenians got their first game in and lost.

It was a fun battle that see-sawed quite a bit but in the end the Crusaders crushed the Armenians for a resounding victory.

The armies deploy- we both took 2 commands.

Armenians
2x Knights
2x Bedouin Med Cav
3x heavy foot
2x Crossbows

2x Knights
3x heavy foot
3x light foot (javelins)
2x bows



Crusaders? Approximately:
2x Knights
2x Med Cav (Turcoples)
4x Bows
2x Crossbows
4x dismounted knights
2-4 sergeants (longspear)

(I think Kent got sneaky and press ganged some more bow reinforcements- hence the unfinished bases)

The armies advance


My knights make a beeline for the gap in the hills- the Horns of Hattin? Surely not!


Turcopoles advance up the hill- Kent, you really must finish the edges of those bases!


The knights advance into the trap.


Missile fire disorders my knights.


Then the impetus knights attempt to charge home but all fail! Alla re disordered. Oh Uh!


Kent then gets two turns in a row and the knights take heavy casualties.


Kent's knight counter attack and most combats are locked together.


The battle rages in the centre. Kent is able to reinforce his troops and I am struggling to keep my impetus generals from getting themselves killed!


This is what I really like about Impetus- eventually the games always descend into a series of small, chaotic melees that swing back and forth- much as I imagine many ancient battles would have done.


My general is in major trouble here whilst Kent's ran straight through a unit of heavy foot and the bows which are currently directly in front of them.


The battle rages on my right flank- the light foot managed to kill a couple of stands of Bows before coming unstuck when they ran into a unit of dismounted knights- the dice indicating the javelin armed troops at least hurt them!


End game. Kent managed to disengage from the central melee and his missiles troops slaughtered my knights- in my last turn both generals perished and the surviving troops slunk back into the hills to lick their wounds and ambush the Crusaders on another day...


Great game Kent- well fought!

Back to the drawing board for the Armenians, maybe we need a few more knights...


Craig