Here are the two army lists that I used for the Dorylaeum game. They are based on the DBM 200 rules commonly found on the net. Essentially, they are the basic army lists with the minimums and maximums divided by two. Also, the costs of the generals are slightly reduced.
III/73 Seljuk Turk, 1097 (Ag 3)
1st command (17 EE)
C-in-C: Reg Cv(S) x1
Askaris: Reg Cv(O) x6
Turkomans: Irr LH(S) x10
2nd command (11 EE)
Ally General: Irr LH(S) x1
Turkomans: Irr LH(S) x4
Foot Javelinmen: Irr Ps(S) x2
Foot Javelinmen: Irr Ax(O) x2
Foot Bowmen: Irr Ps(O) x2
Foot Bowmen: Irr Bw(I) x2
198 Total Points, 30 elements, 28 EE
IV/7 Early Crusaders, 1097 (Ag 4)
1st Command (21 EE)
C-in-C: Irr Kn(F) x1
Knights: Irr Kn(F) x7
Spearmen: Irr Sp(I) x8
Crossbowmen: Irr Bw(I) x2
Archers: Irr Ps(O) x2
Pilgrims: Irr Hd(S) x2
2nd Command (13.5 EE)
Ally General: Irr Kn(F) x1
Knights: Irr Kn(F) x5
Spearmen: Irr Sp(I) x6
Crossbowmen: Irr Bw(I) x1
Archers: Irr Ps(O) x1
Pilgrims: Irr Hd(S) x2
199 Total Points, 38 elements, 34.5 EE
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Review/AAR: DBM
Now that we are playing DBA regularly, I decided to check out DBM and see how it compares. I took the latest rules (DBM 3.0 + 3.1 amendments) and created two 200 AP armies: III/73 Seljuk Turk and IV/7 Early Crusader. The date for both armies was 1097, which is the date for one of the first major battles of the First Crusade: Dorylaeum. The army lists are contained in a separate post.
The Franks were the defender, the Turks the invader. The board contained two steep hills, some rough going, and a road. The defender gets to place most of the terrain, although the attacker can pick one major feature (a river, waterway, or road), with the Turks going for a road. The terrain is randomly placed on the board, so no one can get a perfect set up. As it turned out, all of the terrain ended up on half of the board. Both sides placed their main command in the empty half, the supporting commands and camps in the hilly half.
The Turks got some good PIP rolls in the first two turns, and were able to position their light horse units to disrupt the Crusader's knights. The Crusaders moved forward, waiting for the right opportunity to unleash the knights, with a solid anchor of crossbow supported spears in the center.
On the flank with the smaller commands, the Turks were able to peel two knights out of formation. The light horse were able to separate them and kill them both, greatly aided by the knights impetuousity and the superior grading factor of the light horse (more on that later). The rest of the knights advanced toward the Turkish command group, consisting of bowmen, auxilia, and psiloi. The bowen managed to kill one knight, but were then run down. In the end, neither side had done enough damage to break the other's command, although the Franks appeared to have the edge.
On the other flank, the Turks broke in to two groups. One group, consisting entirely of light horse, was to occupy the knights, while the other group, consisting of the heavy cavalry with a light horse screen, was to go after the Frank infantry. The Frank pushed some pilgrims forward (classified as Hd(S)), to disrupt the charge of the cavalry, and it worked. While one element of horde was quickly killed, the other managed to hold out the entire game. Thus the heavy cavalry was prevented from attacking. The light horse drew the first wave of knights into combat, but the Frank player was able to keep a few units as a reserve. The light horse were not able break up the formation, because the fast knight's (Kn(F) move 4" instead of 3") were able to catch them.
The Frank player threw the reserve group into the fray, killing 4 light horse while only loosing 3 knights. However, one of the knights was the general. The next PIP roll would decide if the command broke, losing the game for the Crusaders, or stuck around for more action. The knights stuck around, deciding to avenge the loss of their general. The now uncontrollable knights impetously charged into the mass of light horse, killing 2 more, breaking the Turk's largest command, and ending the game in a Crusader victory. The game took three hours from start to finish.
I had a lot of fun. The game felt like a slightly more complicated version of BBDBA (which, of course, shouldn't be a surprise). Units have a very similar feel to DBA, and all of the mechanics of the game are basically the same. The biggest difference is that there is a bit more to all of the rules sections.
IMO, I like three parts the best: grading factors, impetuosity, and army selection. I think the grading factors add a lot of flavor to the units without a lot of complexity. For example, the Turkish light horse were superior, Irr LH(S), and were much more difficult to kill than LH in DBA. Also, the Frankish knights were fast, Irr Kn(F), making them slightly weaker in combat (which didn't matter much here, since LH quick kill Kn), but giving them an extra inch of movement, which made a big difference. I also think the impetuosity rules are very interesting. The units are cheaper than regulars, meaning that you get a lot of them, but once they are committed they become nearly impossible to control. If you have a group of impetuous troops, you only have one chance to commit them, so you have to make the most of it. Finally, I like the army selection. There is much more of a variety than in BBDBA. I also like the fact that you can have a big army of inferior units, or a small army of superior units, or anything in between. Again, its really the variety that I like.
There are some downsides, of course. DBM armies are larger than BBDBA armies. My two armies had 30 and 38 elements, and that was 200 AP worth. The armies in the book are for 300-500 AP, which would probably mean armies of 40-70 elements, or even more. That is a lot of guys to paint. Also, you have to keep track of different grades of the same type of troop. The Turks had Ps(S) with javelins and Ps(O) with bows, so it actually mattered what troops were on the base. Finally, the rules are a bit more complicated than DBA. Plus, there isn't an official 3.1 release, so you need the 3.0 rules and the 3.1 amendments.
Now, I don't plan on giving up DBA. I think it is a great game and has a lot of things going for it. I would like to try a few more DBM games, however, and see how the group feels about it. I don't think that I want to pursue DBMM. It is MUCH more complicated than DBM, and its not clear that its any better. Of course, I still have a half dozen other ancients rules that I'd like to try, but that is the subject of another post. :-)
The Franks were the defender, the Turks the invader. The board contained two steep hills, some rough going, and a road. The defender gets to place most of the terrain, although the attacker can pick one major feature (a river, waterway, or road), with the Turks going for a road. The terrain is randomly placed on the board, so no one can get a perfect set up. As it turned out, all of the terrain ended up on half of the board. Both sides placed their main command in the empty half, the supporting commands and camps in the hilly half.
The Turks got some good PIP rolls in the first two turns, and were able to position their light horse units to disrupt the Crusader's knights. The Crusaders moved forward, waiting for the right opportunity to unleash the knights, with a solid anchor of crossbow supported spears in the center.
On the flank with the smaller commands, the Turks were able to peel two knights out of formation. The light horse were able to separate them and kill them both, greatly aided by the knights impetuousity and the superior grading factor of the light horse (more on that later). The rest of the knights advanced toward the Turkish command group, consisting of bowmen, auxilia, and psiloi. The bowen managed to kill one knight, but were then run down. In the end, neither side had done enough damage to break the other's command, although the Franks appeared to have the edge.
On the other flank, the Turks broke in to two groups. One group, consisting entirely of light horse, was to occupy the knights, while the other group, consisting of the heavy cavalry with a light horse screen, was to go after the Frank infantry. The Frank pushed some pilgrims forward (classified as Hd(S)), to disrupt the charge of the cavalry, and it worked. While one element of horde was quickly killed, the other managed to hold out the entire game. Thus the heavy cavalry was prevented from attacking. The light horse drew the first wave of knights into combat, but the Frank player was able to keep a few units as a reserve. The light horse were not able break up the formation, because the fast knight's (Kn(F) move 4" instead of 3") were able to catch them.
The Frank player threw the reserve group into the fray, killing 4 light horse while only loosing 3 knights. However, one of the knights was the general. The next PIP roll would decide if the command broke, losing the game for the Crusaders, or stuck around for more action. The knights stuck around, deciding to avenge the loss of their general. The now uncontrollable knights impetously charged into the mass of light horse, killing 2 more, breaking the Turk's largest command, and ending the game in a Crusader victory. The game took three hours from start to finish.
I had a lot of fun. The game felt like a slightly more complicated version of BBDBA (which, of course, shouldn't be a surprise). Units have a very similar feel to DBA, and all of the mechanics of the game are basically the same. The biggest difference is that there is a bit more to all of the rules sections.
IMO, I like three parts the best: grading factors, impetuosity, and army selection. I think the grading factors add a lot of flavor to the units without a lot of complexity. For example, the Turkish light horse were superior, Irr LH(S), and were much more difficult to kill than LH in DBA. Also, the Frankish knights were fast, Irr Kn(F), making them slightly weaker in combat (which didn't matter much here, since LH quick kill Kn), but giving them an extra inch of movement, which made a big difference. I also think the impetuosity rules are very interesting. The units are cheaper than regulars, meaning that you get a lot of them, but once they are committed they become nearly impossible to control. If you have a group of impetuous troops, you only have one chance to commit them, so you have to make the most of it. Finally, I like the army selection. There is much more of a variety than in BBDBA. I also like the fact that you can have a big army of inferior units, or a small army of superior units, or anything in between. Again, its really the variety that I like.
There are some downsides, of course. DBM armies are larger than BBDBA armies. My two armies had 30 and 38 elements, and that was 200 AP worth. The armies in the book are for 300-500 AP, which would probably mean armies of 40-70 elements, or even more. That is a lot of guys to paint. Also, you have to keep track of different grades of the same type of troop. The Turks had Ps(S) with javelins and Ps(O) with bows, so it actually mattered what troops were on the base. Finally, the rules are a bit more complicated than DBA. Plus, there isn't an official 3.1 release, so you need the 3.0 rules and the 3.1 amendments.
Now, I don't plan on giving up DBA. I think it is a great game and has a lot of things going for it. I would like to try a few more DBM games, however, and see how the group feels about it. I don't think that I want to pursue DBMM. It is MUCH more complicated than DBM, and its not clear that its any better. Of course, I still have a half dozen other ancients rules that I'd like to try, but that is the subject of another post. :-)
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Review/AAR: Might of Arms
This post is a quick review of a set of ancients/medieval miniatures wargame rules called Might of Arms. It can best be described as WRG 7th lite, and it is pretty obvious that the guy took the WRG rules as a starting point and simplified them. The rules are a bit verbose, but after dealing with "Barkerese", I don't mind it. :-)
The armies are organized into units. Each unit is made up of 1-6 ranks of stands. Each rank contains 1, 2, or 3 stands depending on the size of the battle. If you use 1 stand/rank, you get a DBA sized army. Infantry units can fight in two ranks, everything else in one rank. The only reason you'd want to have more ranks is because bigger units can better absorb casualties. More on that later.
The classes of units are all the standard types: Knights, Cavalry, Infantry, Artillery. Each is sub-classed according to its armor: Heavy, Medium, Light. If a unit is armed with missile weapons, those are noted separately. Finally, each class has a morale grade, A-E, and possibly a optional ability such as elite or fierce. A Norman Knight is "Medium Knight Cavalry, B class", Roman Legions are "Elite Heavy Infantry, C class", and Turcoples are "Light Cavalry, Bow, B class".
The sequence of play in the game is as follows. First, each side rolls for initiative. The side with the lower initiative moves and shoots first, followed by the second side. Then, charges and responses are declared simultaneously. Finally, melee is resolved and morale checks taken.
Movement is limited to a few different maneuvers: Forward (includes moving obliquely up to 45*), Wheeling (up to 45* and can be combined with forward movement), Reverse, Skirmish Movement, and Formation Change. This is one area where the rules differentiate units beyond their movement distance. For example, heavy units can only move forward, wheel, or change formation, so it takes them a long time to reposition. Skirmish units can utilize skirmish movement, which allows them to "teleport" anywhere up to half of their normal move distance. Also, units can march move, which doubles their movement, if they stay beyond 12" of the enemy.
To shoot, you first look up the hit number, which is based upon the shooter's weapon and the targets type. Then, you total the number of stands shooting at the target. Each stand rolls a d6, and every value less than or equal to the hit number yields a hit. Easy enough.
Each unit that is within charge distance, which varies by unit, and charge arc, which is 45*, can declare a charge. Some units must make a morale check to charge, such as cavalry charging formed foot. Other types have to make a morale check to even charge at all, such as skirmishers charging any formed unit. There are three types of charge responses: evade, countercharge, and receive at the halt. Not all units can evade or countercharge, but all units can receive a charge at the halt. In general, cavalry can countercharge and skirmishers can evade, although there are a few exceptions. Evading does involve some risk, since you are destroyed if you are caught and must take a morale check if you are not.
On to combat... First, you cross reference the attacking type with the defending type to get a base combat value. Then you add all of the modifiers and a single d6 roll. You cross reference this number with the number of stands in combat to determine the final number of hits that you inflict.
You keep track of damage from combat and shooting the same way, using hits and fatigue points. A unit takes hits as the result of shooting and combat. When the unit takes a number of hits equal to the number of stands in the unit, the unit gets one fatigue point. When the unit has taken a number of fatigue points, it will become worn. Fatigue points and worn status both affect the unit's morale check. Note that units can only be destroyed by failing morale checks.
A unit's base morale is determined by its class: A units are best and E units are worst. A unit checks morale for a variety of reasons, such as taking losses, becoming worn, being charged in the rear, etc. Units that fail a morale check become shaken. Units that are already shaken will rout. In some cases, failing a morale check just means that a unit cannot do what it wanted. For example, if a unit is forced to take a morale check to charge, and fails, it simply means that it can't charge this turn.
That's the rules in a nutshell. In our game, I took the Seljuk Turks against Rudy's Early Crusaders. The Crusaders set up with a center of spearmen supported by crossbows with knights as a reserve. The Turks overloaded the left flank with light horse archers and using the heavy cavalry in the center.
The first few turns saw the archers and crossbowmen trading shots, with the horses taking the worst of it. The knights chased the horse archers away, but were unable to catch them. This turned out to be a bad move, since the knights were now out of position to support the infantry.
The critical moment came when the spearmen failed a morale check, making them shaken. The heavy cavalry decided to charge, but the spearmen held! They hacked away at each other, with the spearmen slowly grinding down the cavalry. The Turks were finally able to position a unit of light horse to charge the spearmen in the rear, causing the spearmen to rout. Nearby, a unit of knights charged a unit of heavy cavalry. The Turkish cavalry unwisely decided to countercharge. The Knights caused a lot of casualties, but the HC held. Things started to look grim for the Turks, but two units of light horse were able to charge the knights in the flank and rear, and the knights failed their morale check and died.
Back in the center, the Turkish heavy cavalry was able to knock out the unsupported crossbow units. The knights couldn't reach them in time, with the Turkish light cavalry harassing them with bowshots. The crusaders finally called it a day, heading back to Nicea to lick their wounds.
I thought it was a fun system. The battle seemed to flow pretty well and didn't give any whacky results. It took me a couple of turns to figure everything out, but then I didn't have any problems. The QRDC that comes with the game gives a brief summary of all of the rules, but you still need to look at charts in the book for some things. I would definitely recommend it, and would love to try out some Romans vs Gauls.
The armies are organized into units. Each unit is made up of 1-6 ranks of stands. Each rank contains 1, 2, or 3 stands depending on the size of the battle. If you use 1 stand/rank, you get a DBA sized army. Infantry units can fight in two ranks, everything else in one rank. The only reason you'd want to have more ranks is because bigger units can better absorb casualties. More on that later.
The classes of units are all the standard types: Knights, Cavalry, Infantry, Artillery. Each is sub-classed according to its armor: Heavy, Medium, Light. If a unit is armed with missile weapons, those are noted separately. Finally, each class has a morale grade, A-E, and possibly a optional ability such as elite or fierce. A Norman Knight is "Medium Knight Cavalry, B class", Roman Legions are "Elite Heavy Infantry, C class", and Turcoples are "Light Cavalry, Bow, B class".
The sequence of play in the game is as follows. First, each side rolls for initiative. The side with the lower initiative moves and shoots first, followed by the second side. Then, charges and responses are declared simultaneously. Finally, melee is resolved and morale checks taken.
Movement is limited to a few different maneuvers: Forward (includes moving obliquely up to 45*), Wheeling (up to 45* and can be combined with forward movement), Reverse, Skirmish Movement, and Formation Change. This is one area where the rules differentiate units beyond their movement distance. For example, heavy units can only move forward, wheel, or change formation, so it takes them a long time to reposition. Skirmish units can utilize skirmish movement, which allows them to "teleport" anywhere up to half of their normal move distance. Also, units can march move, which doubles their movement, if they stay beyond 12" of the enemy.
To shoot, you first look up the hit number, which is based upon the shooter's weapon and the targets type. Then, you total the number of stands shooting at the target. Each stand rolls a d6, and every value less than or equal to the hit number yields a hit. Easy enough.
Each unit that is within charge distance, which varies by unit, and charge arc, which is 45*, can declare a charge. Some units must make a morale check to charge, such as cavalry charging formed foot. Other types have to make a morale check to even charge at all, such as skirmishers charging any formed unit. There are three types of charge responses: evade, countercharge, and receive at the halt. Not all units can evade or countercharge, but all units can receive a charge at the halt. In general, cavalry can countercharge and skirmishers can evade, although there are a few exceptions. Evading does involve some risk, since you are destroyed if you are caught and must take a morale check if you are not.
On to combat... First, you cross reference the attacking type with the defending type to get a base combat value. Then you add all of the modifiers and a single d6 roll. You cross reference this number with the number of stands in combat to determine the final number of hits that you inflict.
You keep track of damage from combat and shooting the same way, using hits and fatigue points. A unit takes hits as the result of shooting and combat. When the unit takes a number of hits equal to the number of stands in the unit, the unit gets one fatigue point. When the unit has taken a number of fatigue points, it will become worn. Fatigue points and worn status both affect the unit's morale check. Note that units can only be destroyed by failing morale checks.
A unit's base morale is determined by its class: A units are best and E units are worst. A unit checks morale for a variety of reasons, such as taking losses, becoming worn, being charged in the rear, etc. Units that fail a morale check become shaken. Units that are already shaken will rout. In some cases, failing a morale check just means that a unit cannot do what it wanted. For example, if a unit is forced to take a morale check to charge, and fails, it simply means that it can't charge this turn.
That's the rules in a nutshell. In our game, I took the Seljuk Turks against Rudy's Early Crusaders. The Crusaders set up with a center of spearmen supported by crossbows with knights as a reserve. The Turks overloaded the left flank with light horse archers and using the heavy cavalry in the center.
The first few turns saw the archers and crossbowmen trading shots, with the horses taking the worst of it. The knights chased the horse archers away, but were unable to catch them. This turned out to be a bad move, since the knights were now out of position to support the infantry.
The critical moment came when the spearmen failed a morale check, making them shaken. The heavy cavalry decided to charge, but the spearmen held! They hacked away at each other, with the spearmen slowly grinding down the cavalry. The Turks were finally able to position a unit of light horse to charge the spearmen in the rear, causing the spearmen to rout. Nearby, a unit of knights charged a unit of heavy cavalry. The Turkish cavalry unwisely decided to countercharge. The Knights caused a lot of casualties, but the HC held. Things started to look grim for the Turks, but two units of light horse were able to charge the knights in the flank and rear, and the knights failed their morale check and died.
Back in the center, the Turkish heavy cavalry was able to knock out the unsupported crossbow units. The knights couldn't reach them in time, with the Turkish light cavalry harassing them with bowshots. The crusaders finally called it a day, heading back to Nicea to lick their wounds.
I thought it was a fun system. The battle seemed to flow pretty well and didn't give any whacky results. It took me a couple of turns to figure everything out, but then I didn't have any problems. The QRDC that comes with the game gives a brief summary of all of the rules, but you still need to look at charts in the book for some things. I would definitely recommend it, and would love to try out some Romans vs Gauls.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Hello World!
This is my first post here at blogger.com. I'd like to create a discussion of gaming, world events, computers, or other things of interest. Stay tuned for a few longer posts...
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