The Battle of Woodbury Plain

1. Intro
   
   

   Norkibus looked over the field from atop his hill. "'Ere, this is a funny place. All hot and sticky with these blasted steep hills everywhere. Where's my compulsory wood??"

   Editum looked at him and cautously replyed "Um, sire, we're invading them - we left the compulsory wood at home."

   "Oh", his king replyed, "that'd explain why the baggage is so light. Right, let's get on with it then."

   • This was my first game of DBM 3.0. A couple of changes of note:
     

     a) We could (and did) deploy 600p in from the centre of the table.

     This didn't actually seem to make a huge amount of difference, since we were using a full sized 9' by 5' table (with only 350AP - had quite a bit of room to spare!) compared to the 8' by 6' that are used up at the club (two 6' by 4' 15mm tables brought together). I imagine that this rule could have significant impact under those circumstances, especially with primarily heavy foot armies. It won't take all game just to get into contact.

     b) Changes in the grading.

     Now, when counting (I) or (F), instead of the player who has the (I)/(F) troops taking off 1 from their total (when appropriate), the opposing player adds 1 to their score. 'Sposed to make these troops a little less brittle (and (S) troops a little less tough), but my impression was that it didn't make too much difference. Mind you, my maths was never that good - may be it did make a difference, and I just didn't notice!




2. Terrain
   
   
   • Steep Hills all round, three in Mark's left (my right) flank sector (two edge, one centre), one in Mark's centre sector on the edge, and two in my centre sector (one on the edge, one in the centre). My left was nice and open!



3. Deployment
   
   

   "Ok, I want you Sarmation's on you're big horing horses right over there on the left edge of the field, and you young 'in's in front of them with your pony's and skirmishers.

   "Twoup, you and your lads plonk yourselves down besides the [just between you and me, smelly,] horse lot, and me and the lads'll set ourselves up on this 'ere hill. I'll send some fella's down there with you, beside the hill. Form up deep, cause them funny blokes in pyjamas have got a horing amount of bows - sorry mate, but you're going to loose a few going in. Everyone understand? Good."

   • Dacians Lead by Nick Grant (left to right, by commands - as it happened, the left most commands were just off the left table edge, which left the right of the right command just on the inside of the right most sector.)
     
     
     • Sarmation Ally (10 Kn(F)) - deployed to the rear with...
     
     
     
     • Dacian Sub - 5 LH(O) + 9 Ps(O) in front of the Kn. They were sposed to screen the Kn from sharp pointy things being fired in their direction, but...
     
     
     
     • Sub - 4 Bd(F), 1 Ps(O) + 18 Wb(F) deployed 4 elements deep. Half of the main thrusts double act.
     
     
     
     • C in C - 6 Bd(F), 2 Ps(O) + 24 Wb(F). The Bd's half and one third of the the Wb (4 elements deep) were deployed to the side of the H(S), the rest of the Wb (incl the C in C) were in 4 el deep columns - Mark pointed out that the hill was steep after I deployed my Wb upon it. Bother! Also, the flank of this command was left a bit open, which Mark was to exploit later.
     
     
     
   • Tlaxcallans Lead by Mark Ottley (his left to right, by [regular] commands - if I can remember rightly...)
     
     
     • Bw(I) and a couple of Bw(O), with Bd(I) behind, and a couple of Ps(O) out to the flank
     
     
     
     • more Bw(I)/Bd(I) with some pesky Ps(O) in front...
     
     
     
     • and yet more Bw(I)/Bd(I) and Ps(O)...
     
     
     
     • with some Bw(I) on the open flank. Guess who they were gunning for...
     
     
     

   "Right...hey you, Sarmation, pay attention! I want your knights to stay behind the skirmishers until you're close enough to charge. Hopefully that way you won't end up looking like pin cushions.

   Then, the plan is that us real men'll rush forward and deal to the buggers while you Sarmations try and smash a hole into their flank so's you and the light horse can get stuck into their rear. That'll teach them for picking a fight with us!"

   Editum spoke up "Ah, sire, remember it's us invading them..." "Don't bother me with the details boy, just you remember to write all this down somewhere. That blasted Roman education's gotta be good for something - I paid good hostages to send you off with them bas***'s!"

   "Right, everyone understand? Then let's go to it!" The leaders of the other commands went away and organised their men in accordance with the master plan.

   Once the other commanders had left, Editum tentativey ventured to speak. "Um, sire, at the risk of loosing my head, have you noticed that you've, um, set up your main strike force on this, um, steep hill. You know, Difficult Going. Won't that put a damper on the whole "lets rush forward in some sort of orderly fashion" idea?"

   Norkibus looked at him, and then at the hill upon which everyone was ready and waiting, and then slowly turned back to Editum.

   "Bugger" he said.

4. Game Progress
   
   Well, it was actually quite a straight forward game. With Wb(F) and Kn(F) it was never going to be the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies...
   
   

   1. Closing the Gaps

      Once he saw that everyone was ready, Norkibus gave the signal from the top of the hill. Everyone moved out eager for battle. Well, everyone that is except Norkibus' warriors on the hill.

      "Come on you lot, get yourselves sorted out." Norkibus yelled in frustration to his troops. "Look, the rest of yer mates are moving up, what's the matter with ya?" Editum spoke up. "Um, sire, it's this difficult going. They just can't go forward in any semblance of order."

      "Well, we'll just have to sit here 'till we can get ourselves sorted out." he replied testily. "At least those shifty Sarmations are moving in the right direction..."

      • My first PIP dice and I roll a one for my C in C's command and a two for the LH command - well, at least I didn't roll a one for the Sarmations - they were reliable (an audible sigh of relief arose from the Dacians...). So, most of the main Bd/Wb (strike) command stayed put on the hill (did I mention it was steep?). The troops on the plain, beside the hill move out cautiously. The other strike command rolls forward without exposing their flanks too much, and the Sarmations start out, with the LH and Ps covering their front.
        
        
      • Mark also sends forth his troops, and brings out some Ps to stop me moving up too fast, stopping my main Wb thrust up against them. Soon fix that, by brining one of my own Ps round the enemies flank and thus changing a flee to a die! Likewise to another of Mark's Ps, but this time with a couple of Wb, much to Mark's dismay! They managed to dispatch a couple of Mark's Ps (awkward angles kill two for the price of one!) and then set off on their own to seek fresh meat.
      
      
      
      • The Kn burst through the Ps - the LH are able to remain to their front, but the Bw's are out of range anyway. The second Bd/Wb command (now my primary strike command) continues forward and starts taking losses from Mark's Bw. The blokes on the plain from the C in C's command continue forward, with the rest staying put on the hill.
        
        

   2. 10 go mad in the Americas...

      'The Sarmation nobles...' "or is that noble Sarmations?" wondered Editum. "Anyway...'the Sarmations, eager to prove their prowess in battle, charged forward, bursting through...'

      "Ere, will you look at that?!" spat Norkibus, interupting Editum's muse as he tried to record the battle, "them blasted Sarmations are going for it, hell for leather! The idiots have split themselves up, gone right through our own light horse lads, and are tearing straight for those pyjama-bowmen! Glorious!!

      • With the Bb/Wb's slowly plodding forward, I try something tricky. I split the Kn, sending the three on the end of the line forward of the rest, with view of coming round the oppoising Bw's flank while the other Kn charge in from the front. Bad move. Next bound I roll a one for the Sarmations and they all go impetuous, bursting through the LH and into Bw range...I loose a couple of Kn going in, and then, bang, they contact! 'Twas then I learned that fighting with Fast Knights at factor 3 to 4 (to Bw's advantage - even if they were inferior) weren't as good odds as I thought! The Kn manage to take out 5 el in the first bound, but then get broken themselves during the next. Still, the damage was done - the closing Dacian Bd/Wb command made short work of pushing Mark's flank command over the edge.
   
   

   3. The Centre joins in...

      'With the interferring psiloi out the the way, the main Dacian strike command, fed up with being used as target practice by the Tlaxcallan bows, let loose with a fearsome yell and rushed forward, each man running for his nearest enemy with the one sole aim and purpose upmost in their minds..."I wonder where I can get pj's like that...opps, I mean lets get the slimy ba*****...!"

      'Many were the colourful phrases being screamed by the manly Dacian warriors. "I tear ya limb from limb!" "I'll bite ya head off, rip out ya instestines and make savaloy's out of ya colon!" "Where did you get that feather hat, it's simply georgous...".'

      • Once the Wb/Bd's got close, I simply let them go impetuous - I figured they knew what to do. And do it they did - they certianly made short work of Mark's Bw, and I don't think he had the heart to bring forward the Bd's - there were just too many Wb chaffing at the bit!
   
   

   4. ...and then the right.

      'Norkibus did lead his brave warriors, through great and grievous tribulation, to the edge of the mighty hill on which they over saw the battle field.

      'And he did see his mighty warbands cutting through the enemy like Falx's, Falexes, scythes through a ripe field of wheat, and realised that, if he did not soon lead his men into battle they would not have the chance to slack their battle lust. And so he did utter his famous battle cry...'

      '"Right you meat-heads...CHAARRRGE!!" '

      • On the right, the C in C's command was pretty much idle, apart from those Wb and Bd's who weren't on the hill - they were starting to get stuck into Mark's Bw's as the other Wb command was carving up his centre.
      
      
      
      • The rest of the C in C's command, had been slowly getting to the forward edge of the hill, while Mark had brought forward some Bw and was quitely chopping off elements from my right flank. Ah, but he had also brought forward his Bd's, so, as I figured the game wasn't going to last very much longer, I let loose with the my remaining Wb. Down they charged into his Bd(I), and, well, it was all over before 'Norkibus' even got into contact!




5. Lessons to be learnt

   Norkibus looked over the battlefield. Before him lay the many dead of the Tlaxcallan people. Those still alive were running for their lives, with his ill-disciplined warriors hard on their heels. "They'll be back when they're hungry" he thought.

   Then he looked at the bodies of the dead and dying Dacian's lying around about him.

   "Ah well, if you want to make an omlette, you've got to break a few eggs..."

   • Dacians
     
     
     1. Don't deploy you're main strike force on top of a steep hill! Although this didn't work out too badly, it certianly kept my Wb from moving up in an orderly fashion, which in turn allowed Mark to pick off a decent number with his Bw. In the end, I let them all go impetuous once Mark had brought forward his own troops.
     
     
     
     2. It's much harder to co-ordinate two different Irr commands than I thought (especially Kn), especially when they both get low PIP's! I couldn't move my LH in front of the Kn, and then the Kn went impet. anyway.
     
     
     
     3. Don't split your Irr Kn until you're close enough that it doesn't matter that they take off by themselves. I split mine too early, and then didn't have the PIP's to control both groups (or either group, as it happened!).
     
     
     
     4. My Sarmations weren't quite as invincible as I thought they were. I figured I'd lose some going into the bows, but hadn't counted on being at a disadvantage in close combat against them (3 to 4). Thankfully, the Bw's were inferior, so I at least got some before my Kn's had had enough!
     
     
     
     5. Leave some kind of reserve! I had to rush some LH from the left flank to the right when Mark's Ps threatened to skirt around the Wb on the hill and head straight for the baggage.
   
   
   
   • Tlaxcallans (in Mark's own words...)
     
     
     1. "Warband (F) are a horror troop type for a Bw(I) and Bd(I) combination. They close quickly, you can't beat them in bad terrain like with other warbands, and they dice and slice both your troop types quickly.
        
        "If defending Tlaxcallans had gentle hills in their list they would have a better chance. As it is you need to do some serious maneuvering to catch Wb(F) at a tactical disadvantage. The last battle against British I won, but only because their Warband were not deep enough, and a British command got lost flank marching
     
     
     
     2. "Massed Bw(I) are surprisingly tough against any mounted troop and even though they were at a tactical disadvantage when the knights crashed in, (overlapped both flanks) they still kicked booty."

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