Thursday, July 28, 2016

What can better than a game of DBA?

Why two games of course.

Last night at the club Mark B bravely went 100 Years War English against the French of the same period played by me.  All figures, terrains and rules interpretations by me.  We used DBA 2.2

The English have invaded France.  The French have their castle surround and their backs to the river.

The French dismount

Yes the French are represented by Burgundians

The English advance their archers and after a minor success are chopped down.

The English knights ride to their rescue.

The English knights get held up by their archers, but...

...were soon into it. 
 They surrounded the French CinC who then informed them that their accumulated losses meant that they had broken and he was claiming victory.

Time for another one?


In a twist the French are now the invaders.  Both my new camps are in play, but the English have positioned some steep hills which might cause some bother.

French spears and blades struggle to stand on the steep hill.

The English knights advance.  The French stay mounted.

A clash of tin.

The battle of the knights sways back and forth

The French General breaks through.  Losses are heavy and the French look like losing, being three down to the English one.

The French general heads off to the English camp while his army battle on...

Triumphantly

Phew, that was close.  The French survived almost certain kills while pulling off a enough of their own to break the English.

Monday, July 25, 2016

French versus English 100 Years War style

400 points and back to U equals 1cm.  Mark Woods ran English and waited for my French to attack.

The English are arrayed between two woods, they are the defender.  
I should probably just charge, but, wait, I have skirmishers.

And these guys on my far left.

The view from the English line.

We advance.  Going to be slow as I'm back to using U equals 1 cm.  
Deployment was a minimum 20U back from the centre line. 

This shot gets the whole lot in (end Turn 2).

End Turn 3 and the English are not moving, maybe just a bit of shuffling.

Turn 4 and we are under some pitiful artillery fire (phew).

My Breton javelinmen are having a look in the woods today.
They are old Mike's Models I think.  From a phase when I was doing thick bases.

Turn 5 and long range English bowfire is starting to kick in.

Turn 6 and the English are moving to protect their camp.  
How will the heavy infantry find the going in the woods?

By the end of Turn 7 the Bretons on my right have routed with the first unit of enemy longbow they encountered.  My forces are getting some disorder, but still pressing ahead (5cm per turn).

The English heavy infantry struggle in the wood.

Turn 9 and I get a nice surprise with an upgrade to my CinC

My neat lines have broken up by the end of Turn 9, but the real fighting is the skirmishers on the flanks where I am having considerable success.

English knights getting stuck in the trees.

End Turn 10.  It's slow work.

How lucky can I get?   My 2iC gets an upgrade.
I reckon my new camp has won the favour of the dice gods.  

End Turn 11 and my left wing is getting close.

In goes my CinC with the Gendarmes, should have been a bloodbath, but he fails to follow up far enough (even after a reroll using my one Hand of Fate).

End of Turn 12 and the left wing is fully engaged.

Turn 13 and the right wing of the English army collapses.

Turn 14 and the English get desperate.

But it is all over.

The French win.

Another great game.


We did have a few questions.

1. Do stakes count as "wooden protection" against firing?  We assumed they do.

2. Does a little bit of terrain (woods for example) in the firing arc block firing?  We assumed it did.

3. Is a unit still disordered after it leaves disordering terrain?  We assumed it would need to rally.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

DBA Camps for my Medieval Armies

Finally I have some camps.  Not eye candy as so many DBA camps can be, these are more practical than decorative.  They also double as a camp for Impetus or FoG if placed side by side.

The big tent and the supplies are from Baueda.  The small tent - no idea.  The tents I've had a long time.  The big one has seen service, but the little one has been sitting around in just an undercoat.  The supplies were a gift from Mark Woods.



Configured for Impetus

And of course, plenty of space for camp followers.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

A Quick Wings of Glory

Just enough energy for a quick game of an old favourite.  I was in the Spad (light blue tail) accompanied by Mark B in a Nieuport against Stephen flying two planes (a Fokker and an Albatross I think).  I took a photo for nearly every move and have tried to position them all by aligning the join of the two mats to form a common reference point.

Enemy spotted!

The Hun gets in some initial effective long range fire.
(I took 2 points and my ally a whooping 5 points)

A fly past

Wings of Glory is always very photogenic

Bird's eye view

A straight ahead attack resulted in an overlap which would normally preclude firing, but Stephen, in control of the "victim" graciously allowed a shot.

Mark B in the Nieuport set the Albatross on fire.

Time for the Hun to run?

One down and the other turning round...

The Nieuport attempts to catch bullets.

The German planes suffered frequent gun jamming and my pass at this time was risk free 

More circling

The Fokker has a much tighter turn than my Spad

Round we go

Will there be more combat?

Planes seem well separated at the moment

Maybe I can catch him?

Yes!

Got him!