Classical Indians v Seleucids
Another big 25mm game: the dice decided that Russ King and I commanded the Indians against John Calvert and Duncan Thompson with Seleucids. We defended, and placed steep hills despite having no light troops; one hill on our right was useful as it obstructed an enemy flanking move by cavalry, and another on our left was a nuisance as it constricted our Superior Cavalry chariots. We had four commands, including an internal ally, while the Seleucids had only three – two with massed pikes and the other with mounted troops and elephants. The Indians had three commands with Superior Elephants – eleven altogether – and one on the left flank with Cv(S) chariots. Each command had bows, blades and hordes.
The battle lines are drawn
On the right our allied command faced the enemy mounted force. A thrilling elephant v elephant clash went the Seleucids’ way, with assistance from their numerous psiloi, and after a tough struggle our small allied command broke. In the centre the Seleucid bolt-shooters potted two elephants but their pike phalanx, thinned out in places to cover the field, failed to defeat Indian blades and elephants.
The central clash
The decisive clash came on the left. Indian chariots killed some auxilia then managed to flank and destroy the Seleucid C-in-C, whose command broke. This allowed elephants to attack the flank of the central pike block, assisting the blades to break that command and win the game 9-1.
The Seleucid C-in-C is in trouble…
…and the dice went against him
Another terrific game.
Teutonic Orders versus Estonians
Two more big DBM battles (500 Army Points on an 8’ x 5’ table), two players each side, saw the Teutonic Orders attempting to conquer Estonia. The Teutons had three commands each with knights, mostly Superior, and crossbowmen, some with small numbers of spearmen, skirmishers and Hordes, plus a German City ally with more knights and mediocre infantry. The Estonians had large numbers of warband, some Superior but mostly Fast, plus bowmen, a few skirmishers and one heavy stone-thrower (Superior Artillery). The fourth Estonian command was a Russian ally, featuring Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod with a force of Fast Knights backed by spearmen and psiloi.
On paper the Teutonics should win easily, Fast Warband being very vulnerable to knights. But it didn’t turn out like that.
In the first game the defending Estonians were favoured by the terrain, which included large areas of rough going where their warband could get at it. Their left flank was held by log barricades lined with archers, with the Russians on the far left. The right flank was a stand-off as a large warband command occupied rough going where the German ally couldn’t get at it.
In the centre a vast horde of warband charged into rough going to attack numerous crossbowmen; several warband elements were shot down but the rest eventually massacred the crossbowmen. On the far left the Russians clashed with better-quality knights and managed to defeat them; with the destruction of the crossbowmen this broke two commands and the Teutonic army. 10-0 to the Estonians.
Then the players changed sides and played again. This time the Estonians invaded and the terrain was much less helpful for them; the warband would have to face knights in the open. The Russians were on the far right and defeated the German ally but then broke themselves, while in the centre the elite warband bravely took on Superior Knights – and mostly survived.
They also slew the Teutonic spearmen. One Estonian command broke, following the death of its general, but then so did a small Teutonic command. Accumulated casualties made exactly half the Teutonic army; the Estonian army was just half an element from breaking too. 8-2 to the Estonians.
A great day’s gaming, enjoyed by all.
A Thousand Years Ago
The 24th in my series of themed DBM competitions was played at Frome on 7/8 February. The theme was ”A Thousand Years Ago”, with 18 armies from Europe and the Near East all dated 1026 AD.
The winner was John Brooker, whose West Frankish army won all four of its games, beating Italian Lombards, Bretons, Bohemians and Early Serbians. The tight theme meant that there was a marked absence of exotica such as pike phalanxes, elephants, longbowmen and disciplined troops (except for the Byzantine and Fatimid Egyptian armies which did have some regulars). Fast Knights dominated, but there were plenty of heavy infantry (a clash in which Scottish “Thegns”, as Superior Warband, crashed through a mass of Russian spearmen was particularly memorable) and there were some armies with lots of light horse. Early Hungarians met Dynastic Bedouin in the last round, with around a hundred light horse on the table.
Next year’s competition will be entitled “Bajazet Yilderim”, featuring armies of the Ottomans and their enemies, 1360-1403 AD.