Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel's Wargames World: September 2016

Iceni 2016 Runners and Riders and Results

Here is the list of runners and riders for Iceni 2016 500 AP Doubles tournament run by the Coltishall Cowards, Hoveton in Norfolk 17th-18th September 2016. It will be played using DBM v3.3 [Fullfat] 10-0 VP System and is a 15mm scale tournament counting as part of the SWDL Doubles League and national rankings.

1 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC]

2 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW]

3 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC]

4 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR]

5 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King

6 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC]

7 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC]

8 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR]

9 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW]

10 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda

11 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan

12 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert

So we have 12 entries - including four from Coltishall Cowards (the hosts) and two each from Norwich Rearguard and Essex Warriors. We have a couple of new players, which is always a good sign.

Five lists were from the DBM books and seven from the DBMM ones. There is quite a Classical period bias, with no armies from book 1, seven from book 2, three from book 3 and two from book 4.

The 1st Round will be played on Saturday morning and each pair of armies reading from the top will play each other.

1^st Round Draw and Results:

1 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 10 VP

2 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 0 VP

3 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 6 VP

4 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 4 VP

5 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 6 VP

6 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 4 VP

7 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 6 VP

8 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 4 VP

9 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 4 VP

10 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 6 VP

11 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 6 VP

12 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 4 VP

Positions After 1^st Round:

1 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 10 VP

2 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 6 VP

2 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 6 VP

2 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 6 VP

2 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 6 VP

2 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 6 VP

7 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 4 VP

7 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 4 VP

7 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 4 VP

7 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 4 VP

7 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 4 VP

12 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 0 VP

2^nd Round Draw and Results:

Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 6 VP

Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 4 VP

Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 5 VP

Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 5 VP

Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 5 VP

Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 5 VP

Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 10 VP

Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 0 VP

Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 6 VP

Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 4 VP

Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 1 VP

Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 9 VP

Positions After 2^nd Round:

1 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 16 VP

2 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 14 VP

3 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 11 VP

3 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 11 VP

3 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 11 VP

3 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 11 VP

7 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 10 VP

7 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 10 VP

9 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 9 VP

10 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 8 VP

11 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 5 VP

12 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 4 VP

3^rd Round Draw and Results:

1 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 6 VP

2 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 4 VP

3 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 6 VP

3 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 4 VP

3 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 4 VP

3 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 6 VP

7 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 3 VP

7 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 7 VP

9 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 0 VP

10 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 10 VP

11 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 5 VP

12 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 5 VP

Positions After 3^rd Round:

1 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 22 VP

2 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 18 VP

2 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 18 VP

4 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 17 VP

4 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 17 VP

4 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 17 VP

7 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 15 VP

7 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 15 VP

9 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 13 VP

10 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 10 VP

11 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 9 VP

11 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 9 VP

4^th Round Draw and Results:

1 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 3 VP

2 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 7 VP

2 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 5 VP

4 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 5 VP

4 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 0 VP

4 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 10 VP

7 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 4 VP

7 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 6 VP

9 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 8 VP

10 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 2 VP

11 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 10 VP

11 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 0 VP

Final Positions After 4^th Round:

1 Marian Roman, 69 BC [DBMM] - John Graham-Leigh & Russ King 27 VP

2 Alexandrian Imperial, 325 BC [DBM] - Andy Brooker & Bob Billing [CC] 25 VP

3 Tudor English, 1492 AD [DBMM] - Jeremy Morgan & John Calvert 25 VP

4 Ancient British, 60 AD [DBMM] - Kevin Everard & Robin Honey-Frazer [CC] 23 VP

5 Seleucid, 200 BC [DBMM] - John Vaughan & Duncan Thompson [CC] 22 VP

6 Khorasanian, 927 AD [DBMM] - Drew Jarman [EW] 21 VP

6 Welsh, 1135 AD [DBMM] - Paul Apreda 21 VP

8 Classical Indian, 322 BC [DBM] - Paul Holmes [EW] 19 VP

8 Palmyran, 270 AD [DBMM] - John Brooker & Mark Allison [CC] 19 VP

10 Timurid, 1405 AD [DBM] - Dave Madigan 17 VP

11 Later Macedonian, 171 BC [DBM] - Richard Gill [NR] 12 VP

12 Western Frankish, 922 AD [DBM] - Paul Farbon [NR] 9 VP

Congratulations to John and Russ winning Iceni for the third time and to the Coltishall Cowards for organising yet another great tournament and on site catering. This was the third year running that I have managed to attend and I have used my Samanids each time due to being a singleton and feeling it was better to play using an army I was confident and happy to use at 500 AP rather than end up struggling to get moves done in time and end up getting lots of drawn games. Now the new DBMM army lists have been published I can give it some serious thought as to what I can use for next year instead of my Samanids.

My army was the same army that I had used at last year’s Iceni tournament and consisted of four commands organised as follows:

C1 - 31 E/28 EE/9.5 D [25% = 7 EE]

C2 - 31 E/28 EE/9.5 D [25% = 7 EE]

C3 - 4 E/4 EE/2 D [25% = 1 EE]

C4 - 21 E/17.6 EE/6 D [25% = 4.5 EE] Buyid Ally

Army 87 E/77.5 EE/39 B

First Round Game Report

The first game versus the South Welsh was one I was dreading. The reason being that I had already written a Welsh list for use at Iceni but had in the end decided that I would use something else so knew the list, the variables it could have and that my chances of surviving undefeated were quite low.

Pauls South Welsh army was organised as follows:

C1 - 33 E/30.5 EE/10.5 D [25% = 8 EE]

C2 - 33 E/30.5 EE/10.5 D [25% = 8 EE]

C3 - 32 E/31.5 EE/10.5 D [25% = 8 EE] North Welsh Ally

C4 - 23 E/18.5 EE/6.5 D [25% = 5 EE] South Welsh Ally

Army 131 E/111 EE/55.5 B

I ended up as the invader and all the terrain fell on my side of the table much to the consternation of Paul. As it was I lost 4-6 which wasn’t as bad as it could have been and I did attempt to try and get a game out of it by throwing my Buyid ally down off the hill to try and crush one of his smaller allied commands. Sadly a series of low combat dice saw the Buyids break for the base line. Due to the size of the Welsh army Paul flanked marched but its arrival happened so late in the game that I was able to carry out sufficient damage limitation controls that he had only advanced one move onto the table when time was called. Had I just sat on the hill and forced him to come to me I may have ended up with a 5-5 draw but it’s a pretty boring way to try and fight a game.

Here are pictures I took of my first round game.

Here are some pictures of the other first round games.

Second Round Game Report

Sitting in joint 7^th place on 4 VP saw me ending up plaving Jer and John. For those who don’t know Jer Morgan is one of the highest ranked DBM players in the UK.. He was ranked 1^st in 2015-16. 2014-15, 2013-14 and 2012-13. When I first played him he won but I learnt a lot in the process and I have now drawn against him and beaten him twice so he is always the player to beat in my eyes.

Jer and John were using Tudor English and organised their army as follows:

C1 - 19 E/19 EE/7 D [25% = 5 EE]

C2 - 19 E/19 EE/7 D [25% = 5 EE]

C3 - 19 E/19 EE/7 D [25% = 5 EE]

C4 – 14 E/12.5 EE/4.5 D [25% = 3.5 EE] Spanish Ally

Army 71 E/69.5 EE/35 B

I was invading yet again and elected to wait and see how the terrain fell before deciding how to play my hand. Most of the terrain fell on my side of the table leaving the centre of the English field almost devoid of terrain. Happy with this I elected to place no terrain and we started to deploy. Given the terrain I put the Buyids on my right flank and Dailami on the left flank and attempted to use my superior mobility to pick my attack points. The Tudor English could not fill the table and this left a large gap in their centre which proved fatal to them.

The English were slow to advance and I pushed forward to deny them a chance to close up their gaps and put myself in position to hit the open flank with a pair of LH. Jer them moved up the English infantry and some knights to protect their open flank and inadvertently ended up within charge reach of my LH that were threatening the flank of the Spanish so I spun them round and hit the English knights in the flank whilst hitting the English infantry frontally with my mounted army. The English losses in this command quickly mounted whilst my Buyids held the Spanish in position preventing them from coming to the aid of the English centre. I pushed my elephant over to threaten the Spanish knights which held them from moving over to threaten my attack as I started to roll up the English infantry. The English longbowmen were picking off casualties here and there but nothing to worry me too much. Then I saw a chance to take out the English general in the centre by hitting another element that was sat in front of it by use of PIP dice that allowed me to double overlap the knight with three light horse. I got the kill which took out the general behind it and because this was the 6^th element that command had lost was impossible to save it from breaking. My Buyids were chipping at the Spanish and the elephant was running out of suitable targets and I was starting to run out of targets to kill when time was called. I won the game 6-4 putting me on 10 VP and joint 7^th place.

Here are pictures I took of my second round game.

Here are some pictures of the other second round games.

Third Round Game Report

Sunday morning and a nice sleep courtesy of Richard in Norwich offering to put me up for the tournament meant I was refreshed and raring to go. My 3^rd round game was against John Vaughan and Duncan Thompson who joined him for the Sunday’s games having been unable to escape an important family engagement on the Saturday!

John and Duncans Seleucid army was organised as follows:

C1 - 25 E/21.5 EE/7.5 D [25% = 5.5 EE]

C2 - 25 E/23.5 EE/8 D [25% = 6 EE]

C3 - 8 E/4.5 EE/1.5 D [25% = 1.5 EE]

C4 – 25 E/22.5 EE/7.5 D [25% = 6 EE]

Army 83 E/72 EE/36 B

I defended this time and the terrain fell usefully open yet again with just a single huge area of RGo that I placed on the centreline on John s Side of the table. John and Duncan placed no terrain in their phase leaving the table open. I of course used this for my Buyid’s to take and deployed the command with the Dailami adjacent to them just in case they were unreliable. I deployed my infantry well to the rear hoping to entice the Seleucids into exposing their flanks. Only left I advanced to close down this side of the table whilst the Buyids pushed into the RGo to take on the sacrificial Hordes left there to stop me marching round his open flank. The scythe chariots charged forward and I threw in my fast light horse against them and they charioteers usefully died to a man within two turns. Back on the right the Buyids quickly despatched the Hordes whilst I weighed up the chances that my mounted arm of superior cavalry and light horse would have against Johns right flank arm of Kn X cataphracts and mix of ordinary cavalry and light horse. I deployed on this flank whilst moving my elephant over to threaten his cataphracts and warbands. Alas it was not to be two warband died quickly then so did my elephant falling to a 6-1 dice rill. Then John threw in his mounted army and pushed back my troops all along the front and taking out a single Ghulum. I stabilised the line and retired to reform and await events. Joh and Duncan then returned to the attack and after another run of three 1’s and a 2 for combat along with another Ghulam being shot out of the saddle the CinC’s command had broken. The clock was running out and last bound had been called so the game ended with me taking a 307 loss putting me on 13 VP and 9^th place.

I felt unlucky in this game and John did apologise for all the 6-1’s he had rolled for combats in quick succession.

Here are pictures I took of my third round game.

Here are some pictures of the other third round games.

Fourth Round Game Report

Sunday afternoon found me playing Richard in the fourth and final round. I had been going through his army list with him giving him some tactical advice on list organisation Friday evening so it was fitting that he should find himself facing me with his Later Macedonian army.

Richard’s Later Macedonian army was organised as follows:

C1 - 40 E/35 EE/12 D [25% = 9 EE]

C2 - 45 E/41 EE/14 D [25% = 10.5 EE]

C3 - 18E/15 EE/5 D [25% = 4 EE]

Army 103 E/91 EE/45 B

I was the defender and Richard diced for and place a River in the flank sector. I countered this with two 1 FE and two Half FE of Boggy RGo to stop any potential ambushes.

I threw my Buyids forward to try and outflank his Mercenary Thureophoroi and Richard put four Cretan archer elements on his flank against my Buyids. Normally Reg Ps O v Irr Ax S should only go one way but it took me more than five bound of combat just to destroy a single Cretan element meaning that I was unable to get past the flank of the Thracians. The Buyids held firm against the Thracians despite their Dailami compatriots suffering a 6-1 dice roll against a lone LH which destroyed a column of them and risked me having a gap open in my line. On the river side Richard push forward a lone Skirmisher to test the river which turned out to be Paltry. I leapt on the Ps and wiped it out and lined the riverbank with my Light Horse to await Richards cavalry. Again luck ebbed away from me as I lost three LH in quick succession to some poor dice rolling. I was then forced to throw in my remaining LH and Ghulums against his mounted command to try and stem the tide on this flank. His phalanx was deployed to a huge block in the centre and was slowing pushing forward. This time my luck held and I started to open gaps in his cavalry and despite the stalemate against the Thracians I managed to break up and destroy his mounted army and take down his CinC’s command which then broke and ran. This left the path open to his baggage and as usual the clock ran out on us but resulted me in gaining a 8-2 win. I ended up on a total of 21 VP and joint 6^th place. I was pleased with my performance over the weekend and against cursed my bad luck in some crucial dice rolls.

Here are pictures I took of my fourth round game.