Silly Ghaznavids trample Burton
Actually written by James "Hammy" Hamilton with a few additions of mine.
I only attend Burton every couple of years or so and as it
was looking
like I might not get too much DBM in this year before the WIC in Port
Elisabeth I thought this year it would be worth a try. I persuaded Nik
Gaukroger to partner me and we spent a long time goind through every
possible list for the comp rejecting them for being too good, too
sensible, too dull etc.
In the end we plumped for Ghaznavid but just for fun with the generals
all mounted on elephants and a Hindu ally just to get some more
elephants. Actually even at 500AP you can't really afford all of the
Ghaznavid elephants (3 more available than we took).
We ended up with:
CinC El(O), 1 El(O), 2 Cv(S) effete palace ghilman, 5 Cv(S) proper
ghilman, 2 LH(O), 8 Reg Bw(O) 19 EE
Sub El(O), 1 El(O), 5 Cv(S) proper ghilman, 3 LH(S), 2 LH(O), 6 Irr
Bw(I), 1 Ps(S) 18.5 EE
Sub El(O), 2 Cv(S) proper ghilman, 1 LH(O), 6 Reg Ax(S) Dailami, 6 Irr
Ax(X) Afghans, 2 Wb(F) Ghazi, 1 Ps(S) 18.5 EE
Ally El(O), 2 El(O), 2 Cv(I), 1 Bd(F), 5 Bw(I), 3 Hd(O) 12.5 EE
68.5 EE at 500 AP!! We couldn't even find the points to field any
nafatun :(
When we finally settled on the list it did actually dawn on us that it
wasn't that silly after all, sort of a Hindu Indian without Bd(F) and
more and better mounted and terrain troops.
Anyway I got to
and Nik and I settled down for our first game.
The first round at
with a Buyid of Baghdad Dailami Dynasties army. We invaded, the
significant terrain was a large patch of RGo on their right flank in a
possition for Ax to deploy in and another large patch of RGo in their
central sector. We concluded that there was no way we could look at
attacking both bits of terrain and as the central one was sideways on
to us thus narrower our limited terrain troops would attack there. The
more mounted of our Sub generals and the Hindu command were aimed at the
gap between the RGo with the mounted screening the expected mass of
Ax(S) and the CinC's command faced off against the open ground on our
right with the armoured archers ready to support out assault on the
central RGo.
As expected all the rocky ground was filled with Ax. The gap between the
two pieces of rocky ground held a group of 6 mounted Ax, 3 mounted Ps
and 8 Cv(S) while a couple of LH were deployed forwards to slow us up a
bit. Their left had a few Cv(S) near the rocky ground and a command of
Hamdanid Bedouin LH extending their line.
For the record their army was (all Ax are Reg):
CinC mtd Ax(S), 6 mtd Ax(S), 3 mtd Ps(O), 8 Cv(S), 2 LH(O)
Sub Ax(S), 12 Ax(S), 5 Ps(O), 4 Cv(S), 2 LH(O)
Sub Ax(S), 12 Ax(S), 5 Ps(O), 4 Cv(S), 2 LH(O)
Ally LH(O), 7 LH(O), 3 Hd(O)
We declared a general advance, their Bedouin realising that Nik is in
fact a Bedouin god decided to be unreliable.
Over the first two bounds the Buyids redeployed the Cv(S) from their
left most command to bolster the threatened Bedouin and took four more
Cv(S) from the centre across the rocky ground to provide a further boost
for their outmatched left.
Our right flank was now rather excited at the prospect of unreliable
Bedouin and pressed forward as fast as possible. On our third bound we
were in a possition to push the ghilman forwards and pin the Bedouin LH
but because of poor PIPs (irregular generals :( ) we had to risk
leaving our flank open to a possible attack should the Bedouin decide to
commit.
As with all risks the inevitable occured and the Bedouin charged the
place ghilman in the flank. We duly recoiled and bang both elements of
palace ghilman were gone - hence their description as "effete" for
the
rest of the weekend. We were forced to reinforce now our weakend right
with some of the armoured archers and we also swung the CinC and his
accompanying El towards the slight gap in out line.
The next Buyid turn saw an attack on our line of ghilmen, we had 4
Cv(S), they had 3 Cv(S) and a LH(O) but had an overlap on each end. The
proper ghilman demonstrated to the now dead palace ghilman how to fight
and not only held their ground but cut down the LH and one of the Cv(S)
facing them ... :)
By now things were reaching a large grey beastie on small pink squishy
thing situation in the gap between the rocky ground. While one of the
grey beasts lost out to the Dailami javelins the others gradually
squished their way through the line. The troops defending the central
rocky ground were also assaulted by our essentially equivalent troops.
We had two files of Ax(X) and some archery support on the right but our
warband were on the exposed left and we fully expected them to rapidly
die. As it happened the warband had different ideas and they hung on in
bouncing in and out of the Buyid line for several turns.
We were gradually winning on the right despite the eventual arrival of
the Buyid Cv(S) reserve from the centre and our elephants were busy
making Dailami jam in the gap. The command in the central RGo was being
whittled as a result of our longer line, the Ax(X) and a lucky 6-1 by
the Wb in a straight combat against supported Ax(S). Pressure continued
to build and we got all three of the engaged Buyid commands (all but
the large Ax command on our left) to 0.5 EE from breaking. The CinC and
his elephant companion sealed the fact of the Buyid army when they
charged into an overlapped Cv(S) breaking the central command (it was
one of the redeployed elements) and another casualty on the command
defending the central rough broke the Buyid will to fight.
10-0 to silly Ghaznavids.
We then decided that only be fair to offer our opponents a pint (which
turned into 3) and the drinking began in earnest.
Our second game saw us drawn against a Fanatic Berber, again we invaded
(which proved rather handy) and essentially all the terrain landed on
our side of the table leaving a clear plain for the Berbers to deploy
in. The Berber plan became clear when they deployed a large command of
Sp(I) with suporting Ps at an angle from their baseline to the forward
edge of their deployment area leaving a large gap (roughly 24 elements
wide) to be filled by the rest of their army. We deployed our mainly
mounted command on the far right aimed at the end of the big gap.
As the Berber Sp(O) started to deploy in a single rank looking to fill
half the gap they had a change of heart (probably caused by the sight
of an elephant general which would tend to indicate there will be three
of them at least) Nik commented quietly to me "Oh look they appear to
be deploying in quick kill formation". In the end the Berber spear
deployed two deep and the other spear command did the same. This left a
huge gap on their left for their last command to fill. Unfortuantley Irr
Kn(F) are not that good against Cv(S) and El. We deployed the Hindu's
nect to the first command facing the Cid, then the CinC with his El
ready to help the main push and his mounted delaying the Berber centre
and the foot command on our left in various bits of terrain covering
the camp.
Their army was (Reg generals):
CinC Sp(O), 5 Sp(O), 18 Sp(I), 9 Ps(O), 1 Ax(I)
Sub Cv(O), 12 Sp(O), 6 Ps(O), 8 LH(O), 1 Ax(I)
Sub Cv(O), 12 Sp(O), 6 Ps(O), 8 LH(O), 1 Ax(I)
Sub Kn(F), 5 Kn(F), 3 LH(O), 4 Bw(O)
The deployment was a huge missmatch and we surged forwards (leaving the
unrelaible Hindu's behind) The Hindu's woke up on the second bound and
eventually the Cid was forced to commit. We extracted some Cv(S) and
replaced them with the odd elephant or three and it was all over for
the Cid rather quickly. The final act of the gallant Christian was to be
taken roughly from behind by an impetuous Hindu general on his
elephant.
After we broke the Cid's command we had a few hairy moments where
several elements could not recoil but we did gradually pick enough LH
and the odd Sp here and there from the next Berber command to break that
too. When time ran out we had failed to break the Berber army but had
managed at least six pints since the end of game 1.
A gentle stagger to the hotel for a pre curry nap and then off for a
stroll to find food and more beer led to a pleasant if not excessive
nights entertainment. Some of the more extravagant party goers were
still drinking in the hotel bar at
After a very pleasant breakfast and a gentle stroll back to the town
hall Sunday morning saw us drawn against a Classical Indian army. Our
spies reported that they only had three commands but they had a
El(S). Again we invaded and a wood fell either side of their deployment
area and another towards the back right of our deployment area. We had
initially thought that we might flank march but these woods effectively
ruled that out.
They deployed their CinC's command with 5 WWg and an Art on their right
supported by some Hd, a bunch of Bw(O) and a few Cv(S) plus a mass of
Hd surrounding the camp. In front of this wide command were two mirrored
commands of 8 Bw(O), 4 Bd(I), 1 LH(F) an El(S) general and 5 more
El(S)!!! The 12 El(S) were in a huge line together in the centre of
their formation.
Their army was:
CinC Cv(S), 2 Cv(S), 5 WWg(O), 1 Art(O), 8 Bw(O), 16 Hd(O), 1 Ps(O)
Sub El(S), 5 El(S), 8 Bw(O), 4 Bd(I), 1 LH(F)
Sub El(S), 5 El(S), 8 Bw(O), 4 Bd(I), 1 LH(F)
We really didn't want to fight 12 El(S) under any circumstances so
deployed with no real centre at all. In all 7 LH held the centre
looking to delay and harras the El. Our left was where we planned to
attack. The Ax command was on the far left, then the Hindus then our
CinC and the mounted command was mostly on our right. Our initial
advance was slow on the right (PIPs) but reasonably fast on the left.
They rumbled forwards slowly.
On our second bound better PIPs on our right let a column of Ghilman
move to outflank the Indian left. It was going to take a while but they
should be able to get at the exposed flank eventually. The advance of
the Hindus was held up by the Art and the Hindu Bd was directed to
manfully stand in the way of the guns while the El tried to gather the
PIPs to advance on the WWg. The LH on the Indian left threw itself into
the flank of the column of ghilman trying to get round the Indian flank
it was a brave gesture and it did slow the attack but at the eventual
cost of the LH. The LH on the other flank was falling back to try to
get round the wall of WWg and get to safety.
Our attack on the left was developing well and the diversionary attack
on the right was able to do the odd bit of damage here and there but
more importantly the elephants were going nowhere fast. The Indians
decided that the only real option was to wheel the elephant lines into
columns heading to their badly threatened right flank. I response to
this the odd element of LH popped forwards to pin pairs of elephants
from the flanks in classic DBM stylee. Not all the elephants were so
delayed but some were slowed and PIPs were spent sorting things out. One
elephant was killed by a multiple bowshot with a blocked recoil but all
told about five were getting to a threatening possition on our left.
Four bases of archers from the CinC and a LH tried to contain the
elephants but despite blocking recoils several times we were unable to
stop them. Meanwhile on the left the Hindu elephants and Ax were making
short work of the WWg, the LH was trapped and fled off table by the
Ax(X) and a Hindu elephant even stamped on the artillery in close combat
(we had to check that one in the rules to make sure that the elephant
was not too much at risk before we charged). At this point an
injudicious placement of an overlapping Ax left us with a nightmare of
no recoils for several elements (doh! - Nik). The Hindu general died to
a WWg shot and the elephant that killed the WWg was flanked by a Bw and
recoiled into the same Ax that blocked the generals recoil :( The Bw
had been fighting ghilman but recoiled them then shot them back to
remove the pin. The only good news here was that we suvived the roll
(needed a 3, got a 3) so things kept on rolling.
The Ax and Wb finally got the last bits of the Indian CinC's command to
tip it into breaking. This was aided by the fact that the Indian CinC
had been forced to move to support the Indian left flank that was under
threat from our flanking ghilmen. This left the other flank out of
command radius and the resulting PIP cost seriously limited the Indian
defence.
With the CinC's command broken we needed another 6.5 elements and
already had 6 from variuous incidents. The delayed elephants in the
centre were by now in all sorts of a mess and a LH slipped through a gap
leaving an option of a charge into the rear of a file of Bw,Bw,Bd(I).
To make things worse an Indian Cv was at an angle behind the file so
this gave us a combat at 2 vs 3(I) where a recoil either way would see
an Indian element die... We rolled up so didn't need the cheesy recoil
which considering the amount of cheese we used to slow the elephants is
probably only fair.
10-0 to the army we picked because it wasn't a killer.....
Last game, top table, facing Old Saxon. They have an army that is made
up of Wb, more Wb, a few Wb, some Wb oh and a few Ps and Hd plus three
Bts. Two commands of 45.5 and one of 48.5! more than 30 files of 4 deep
Wb, I didn't actually count but there were a LOT.
It was actually:
CinC Wb(S), 5 Wb(S), 35 Wb(O), 5 Ps(S), 4 Hd(O)
Sub Wb(S), 5 Wb(S), 35 Wb(O), 8 Ps(O), 1 Hd(O)
Sub Wb(S), 41 Wb(O), 3 Hd(O), 3 Bts (O) [Wb(O)]
We invade again, they get a WW and a piece of RGo on our side of the
table on the left flank (the other terrain they placed was irrelevant)
we decided that a bit more terain would help and got a piece of RGo just
our side of the centreline and well away from the edge and another
piece on their side of the centreline 300 paces in. We thus had a line
with some RGo, a small (two-three element) gap then some more RGo. The
plan was simple. line up all the elephants apart from the sub general
of the Ax command just to the right of the RGo. Fill the central RGo
with Ax(S) and a few Bw(O). Put the Ax(X) either side of the other
elephant general in the gap between the RGp with the El and one file of
Ax in the open and put the last Ax(S) and the Wb in the left hand RGo.
The mounted from the Ax command were deployed ready to try to go round
the Saxon right. The mounted from the CinC were ready to move left and
go round in support of them. On our right a few Cv and LH were to slow
one of the Saxon commands.
We deployed the CinC and Hindu elephants correctly but the other general
and his mate were a touch too far right and at an angle. This meant
that as they advanced to try to make a solid line of El things got a
touch hairy.
The Saxons chose to advance and try to take advantage of our less than
perfect deployment. A couple of Ps on the Saxon right closed the gap
for marching and one file of Wb were allowed to move spontaneously to
slow down things on the flank. We quickly picked off three of the 4 Wb
slowing the flank attack and anther file of Wb was released, these
lasted longer and allowed the main line of Wb to get over the
centreline and mostly into the RGo. Our sub general got poor PIPs and
the Saxons managed to get a flank attack on the elephant to the right
of the general but they were only 2 deep and didn't roll up 2 (over the
course of the game there must have been four or five chances at up 2 to
kill one general or another.)
Eventually we got our elephants in to the main mass of Wb in a line.
Starting with the Subgeneral we recoiled, then the elephant to his
flank died. The Hindu elephants similarly had no impact but the CinC and
his companion made a dent. The archers from the CinC had also managed
to pick off a couple of Wb and were then forced into close combat to
protect the flank of the elephants. The archers fought like heroes and
I think that all game they never even recoiled and eventually accounted
for 5 Wb. The Ax command in the terrain slogged it out with the Wb with
losses on both sides and the Ax(X) with the sub general between them
(helped by a flank contact from our Wb) managed to kill some more Wb.
Losses were mounting on the central and right warband command at a fair
rate. Our right flank command was taking losses but things were just
about under control and we were doing a bit of damage back. The El from
the CinC pushed their way through the Saxon line and both were flanked
and survived (again the Saxon's couldn't roll up 2). The end came
rapidly as elements of Wb died variously and both exposed Saxon
commands broke on the same turn. Another 10-0 and the army we took
because it was silly had won the comp.
Thanks to the organisers, thanks to our opponents and thanks to the nice
people behind the bar and the food counter. I think I will be back in
rules we'll be playing.