DBA 3.0: First Game & Review: Punics

Had my first game for a while and after last week's post, Nick came out to break in his Marians.


Must be our first game together for about six years - time flys!

DBA 3.0
I haven't played a DBx game for probably just as long and Nick agreed to help me through the changes. Instantly liking: spear support from side elements, fast warband, and the ease at which things happen now. We had a couple of games and both totally enjoyable.

After these few games I would say that double or triple DBA would be eminently more enjoyable than DBM x, DBMM, and FoG.

First Game: Straight DBA, 12 Elements Per Side
So first up Nick went Polybian and I went Carthaginian for a good historical Punic match.

Polybians: Hastati (3xbd), Principes (3xbd), Triarii (2xSp), Velites (2xPs), Equetes (2x Cv and General)

Lots of good blade, nicely painted HaT figures.

Carts: Poeni (3xSp), Gauls (2xWbf), 1x Elephant (oh yea!), Allied Italians (1x Ax), Lybians (2xPs), Numidian (1xLH), Poeni Horse (2x Cv plus General), all a mix of HaT and Italeri

I rolled as defender and chose compulsory ploughed field x 2 and a wood. Feilds rolling up good going in turn one - that was lucky given I deployed in them!


After turn one, Nick had moved forward his foot and wheeled out his cavalry on his left flank. I countered his cavalry by ZoCing it just as the sun burst through the clouds, and I pushed up my heavy foot and elephant...

...while racing forward with the light horse and light foot on my left flank.



In turn 2 Nick's foot continued their advance.


Securing the center and setting the battle line.


Nick un-ZoCed himself and smashed into my cavalry with his and added a blade overlap for support.


Which ended well for me, recoling both his cavalry and cavalry general.



I then diced poorly and because my light horse were in the way, could only continue the advance of the heavy foot and heffalump.


So that by Turn 3 the dastardly Nick was able to re-engage his cavalry and flank my general.


Which ended well for me, recoling his cavalry with my general and V.V.


In the next few turns there was great confusion on the battlefield as my center closed with his, with mixed results.


But on my left flank the Elephant and the Gauls minced through the blades.


The cavalry went at it repeatedly, mine now supported by some African spearmen, after which a gentlemen's agreement was reached as I recolied Nick's cavalry off the table without realising we'd pushed the table edge back, so a new table edge was agreed :)


But the battle continued to rage and Nick's center was hard pressed.


Great shot of the center mid-game - not bad for well painted plastic 20mm figures; the figures on the far right are Nick's dead pool of blades.


Must have been Turn 5 by now and centre was still ebbing and flowing.


Nick's supported cavalry finally took one of mine.


So I committed into the center again with another great shot of these figures.


And into the Hastati went the elephant, the Italians and Lybians having seen off Nick's Velites.


But Nick rolled well enough for recoils.

And then this happened...


Followed by this...


Followed by this...

Game to Nick as my general was gloriously defeated... it's how he would have wanted to go.

But for some reason to do with not remembering rules, we kept on fighting without any application of my troops being demoralized, and as I had just broken Nick's army in the center, there was a moment there we thought I had won. It was nice while it lasted :)

But a great game, a lot more fun than DBA 2.1 was previously. The hardcover rule book is well laid out with lots of diagrams now and a decent historical blurb on the trillions of armies listed therein.

Good job the Barkers!

We played a double DBA game next and I'll blog that separately.