More 6mm coming

OK just a quick one - the painting bug has struck again.  I have a 6mm HoTT army on the boil using Microworld Dwarves.  the plan it to develop the dwarvish army for a Middle Earth themes set of armies, but also to add a few fun elements that I could put in for other generic HoTT battles.  I will post some pics soon.

DBA 3.0 test run

I just got my copy of the DBA 3.0 rules.  I sort of gave up on DBA for a while due to the arguing about the benefits of 3.0 v 2.2 v 2.2+.  No need to bore you with all the details but suffice to say I had enough and haven't played the game for an age.  But as these things died down I decided to read some reviews, which lead to me buying a copy of 3.0 and trying it out.

So last night my son and I played out a battle between the Mongol (my son) and the Picts (me).  We went with what we had with armies from DBA 2.2 that were suitable to use and the same can be said for the terrain.  Some if it (terrain) in the end may have been a bit small but it is what we used.  So to the battle and then my 3.0 early thoughts.

Battle Report - Mongols v Picts

Ok so the Picts were the defenders in this scenario and the terrain layout really gave them an advantage.  We saw two ploughed fields in play and based on the Mongols first PIP roll being a 1, then the rains had been and ground was heavy.  Two wooded areas also in the deployment zone for the Mongols meant some challenges at deployment.

This map shows the map and the opening move from the Picts (who were in the browner bases and moving from the left of the pic). 

The plan for the Picts was to close off the access to the large good going area to his forces and leverage the wooded areas as spaces that he might fear to go.  And so in the first bound, whilst advancing the centre slowly, the right flank skirmishers charged out of the muddy field into the woods to threaten the Mongols.  

I knew I was possibly sentencing these guys to death but if they could slow the advancing horsemen, then maybe it would buy time for the pikes to get into place.  Death advanced and the skirmishers in the woods stood brave against the horsemen.

One of the Psoloi lost his battle, but the other stood firm, buying us time.

Lucky for me the PIPs were in short supply for the Mongols and before I knew it I was on top of him blocking the gap in the woods.

And so we come to the crunch.  I had the Mongols where I wanted them, now for some luck and who knows the Picts might come out victorious.

The Pictish line pressed in with spears bristling .  The outer flanks of the line had to contend with the forest.  But the press meant that we could now force them to turn and face us.  The general dispatched his right side light horse to the woods to help out the lone skirmishers.  Meanwhile with the enemy pinned the reserve skirmishes force started to move towards the front.

The Mongols were still hampered by poor communication giving only very few PIPs to the general to get messages out.  His light horse turned to face the advancing pikes, but we either repelled or forced to flee.  And now the issue of space became real for the Mongols as their units started to run out of space to recoil to - and the Picts still advanced slowly.

Finally with the Mongols faltering in their centre as they had nowhere to retreat to, they got the message to their left flank - advance on the troops in the woods.  The did so with great success and swept them away and then rounded on the Pictish left side of their pikes.  The battle was hanging in the balance.  Who won this side would break the morale of the opponent and would be swept to victory.

And so it was that the Pictish pikes held firm in the woods and drove back the swarming light cavalry. With the loss on their left the Mongols broke and the Pictish general was victorious.

Initial Thoughts on DBA 3.0

So that was my first run at DBA 3.0.  It was in someways like putting back on that old pair of shoes.  It felt comfortable.  But at the same time there was enough of a difference to make it feel different.  These were:

• terrain deployment - I really like the way it worked.  It felt like I had a bit of tactics happening even during deployment, and my opponent felt a bit the same when he got to choose some placements too.
• movement - wow, the move to base widths instead of paces for movement made the movement seem to happen very quickly.  I am not sure that LH have the same advantage that they used to have.
• combat results - this seemed good but it will take a little time to find my feet.  Things have changed a little here, but the diagrams in the rule book are gold - it sure beats having to deal with the convoluted English and obtuse places for rules.
• fast v steady troops - still a bit to learn here.

All in all, I am very happy with DBA 3.0 and can't wait to test out some of my Dark Age armies - bring on the Saxons v Vikings battles!

Back in the saddle

OK DBA...I am back.

I haven't touched DBA for a number of years now once the DBA 3.0 v 2.2 battles began.  I was a bit over it all and so I went away and spent some time on other games.  Dreadball has been high on the list amongst them and I started a blog on that here.

But recently I got thinking about my first wargaming love and have decided to come back and test out DBA 3.0  The book is ordered and now I start planning for some new armies.

I am wanting to spend more time on 6mm stuff now and so I am looking at putting armies together for that scale.  I am thinking of 3 projects - dark age Britain, One Hundred Years War, and Crusades.  I am also keen to do some 6mm HoTT armies with a Tolkien theme.  I have thought about this project for a long time and thought maybe this is the time to start.  HoTT or DBA?  Not sure.  I will have a think.  But in the meantime, I can do some mini research and planning. 

Also thinking of making myself some game mats.  That sounds like enough to get me going.

A little bit of Middle Earth finds it's way onto my desk

Ok - first up I will admit I am a Tolkien tragic. It was therefore only a matter of time before I tried to paint some HoTT armies based on the Middle Earth mythology.

I actually got these figures about 12-14 months ago - for my birthday from my son, and I have done bits and pieces on them over time.

The miniatures are 18mm Eureka Miniatures figures, and they are fantastic in detail. I will post just the two pics at the moment and then in a later post take a pic of one of the finished elements and put it up.

While these guys are Uruk Hai, I bought a bunch of "vanilla" flavoured orcs, some dwarves, elves and men to put together the Battle of the Five Armies from The Hobbit.

I bought the Uruks to also look at putting together a Rohan v Isengard scenario. That will come in time too :).

Anyway, enjoy the two little teasers.


I will in time get to painting more of these but at this stage, I am determined to finsih the 6mm WW2 British and then the 6mm Marian Romans.

My 6mm experiment

As I have mentioned previously I am starting to dabble in some 6mm stuff - still for DBA and Crossfire. I have attached a couple of photos to show what I am doing.
Here are some Marian Romans. This is the blade general element:



Next up is an image of a German WW2 company company commander for a paratroop company:


I am finiding the painting of these fairly easy and you can get a nice effect - particularly with the DBA elements with the figures massed on a base. Unfortunately time is still short and so while I can get some progress it is still slow.

Still onward I presss.

Update

OK 2010 is half over and I am yet to post the blog...not a great start to the year!

The big news for me in my wargaming is that I am trying a few new things. First up, I am trying out a new era - WW2. I am have acquired a copy of the Crossfire rules which is a great game. I love the way it represents the momentum of the modern battle. No fixed turns, no measuring. All very interesting. I am currently putting together a WW2 German paratroop company,a dn close to follow will be some British motorised infantry.

The second big change for me is a move to 6mm. The WW2 armies I am doing are in 6mm, and I have a Marian Roman DBA army in progress in 6mm too. I am loving 6mm because of the ease of paitning and the portability of the terrain for the WW2 stuff.

Is DBA dead for me? No not by a long shot, just stretching my legs a little.

New Projects and a New Experience

Just an update on what is happening in my gaming word at the moment.

I am currently painting my DBA Pictish army - it is taking longer than expected, due to a little thing called life demanding my time! I have finished the 2 x2LH, 3 x 2Ps, 1 x 3Cv (gen) and 1 x 4Sp (gen). So just 6 spears to go, plus a light chariot to cover the earlier option. Looking forward to fielding these little fellows against my other Dark Age armies - Saxons, Vikings, Wesh.

For my birthday recently I also got a number of figures for a 15/18mm set of armies to recreate the Battle of the Five Armies from The Hobbit. I am using the HoTT rules. I will put up a separate post to discuss the composition of the armies concerned. The figures are mostly Eureka fantasy minis.

This weekend I am traveling to the Sydney Southern Battle Gamers Historical matched pairs tournament (http://www.southernbattlegamers.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6:2009-dba&catid=2:events&Itemid=3). I am taking my Vikings III/40a and Welsh III/19a. An interesting matching of blades v warband - superior strength of arms v quick kill. This wil be my first tournament, so I am pretty excited about how it might pan out. I will keep you updated.