"I Am Spartacus!" - 3rd Servile War DBA 3.0 After Action Report

 My friend Bob & I have a large collection of 28mm figures for the Marian Roman period 105-25 BC. In addition to large Roman forces, we also have several historical opponent armies for the DBA 3.0 rules, including Gauls, Early Germans, Parthians, Spanish, Numidians, & Ancient Britons. We have the figures to do a Spartacus Slave Revolt army (74-70 BC), but just have never gotten round to having them painted. Well, we were able to assemble a Spartacus Slave Revolt army recently when Bob scrounged together a few Gladiator figures, plus some odds & ends Gaul, German, & generic barbarian types that were already painted. Some "flying carpets" or "sabot" bases were made for the 5Horde (5Hd) elements in the army, which each held a psiloi skirmisher stand and a 3 Warband (3Wb) stand, which together made a 5Hd stand. 

The armies for our first battle are as follows:

Roman Army of Crassus:

1 x Roman Cavalry with CinC (Crassus) attached

1 x Roman Cavalry (Cv)

5 x Legionaries (4Bd)

1 x Roman Light Horse (LH)

2 x Greek Mercenaries (4Ax)

1 x Thracian Mercenaries (3Ax)

1 x Skirmishers (Ps)

Slave Revolt Army of Spartacus:

1 x Ex-Slave Cavalry with CinC (Spartacus) attached

3 x Ex-Slaves with miscellaneous armor & weapons (4Bd)

1 x Ex-Gladiators/veterans with miscellaneous armor & weapons (4Bd)

1 x Ex-Slave Gauls fighting in native style (3Wb)

2 x Ex-Slave herdsmen skirmishers (Ps)

4 x various Ex-Slaves, peasants, the oppressed, etc. (5Hd)

For our battle, we used terrain similar to that in the Stanley Kubrick film "Spartacus," mostly clear with two large ridges on opposite sides. 

Above, the Ex-Slave Revolt army is deployed along the top of a long ridge. The crestline is forward outlined in chalk. Books under the game mat made the ridge. The ruins in the background are the Slave camp.

The Roman army of Crassus deployed on the opposite ridge. The Roman camp is in the background.

The Ex-Slave army has moved forward to the edge of the ridge-top. Ex-Slaves with various armor & weapons, classified as "4Blades" or 4Bd are in the foreground.

Ex-Gladiators with various armor & weapons, also classified as 4Bd. Note the sabot base of hordes next to them.

The entire horde infantry group. Being on top of the ridge is a good position for the horde as it gives them a +1 advantage in close combat, plus the horde do not recoil when beaten by ordinary infantry, they just stand and must be destroyed (doubled in combat) to be hurt. 

The armies approach each other.

Another view.

While the Romans were sizing up their opponent, the Ex-Slaves shifted their left flank forward; the Ex-Gladiators & Gauls at the top of the ridge while a force of skirmishing herdsmen moved forward.

Crassus' element shifts to the right to provide better command control for the Roman right flank, ensuring all the elements are within 8 base widths. The Roman skirmishers move forward from the rear.

The herdsmen/skirmishers move forwards towards the Roman light horse on the Roman right flank.

The Romans counter by moving up 2 elements of Greek & Thracian peltasts to support the light horse, under the direct supervision of Crassus, who has moved closer.

Crassus now moves an element of legionaries up to support his right flank.

After Crassus moves to cover the gap between his right and center, the Slaves decide to charge the Roman light horse and peltasts.

A close-up of the action.

The result of the combat is the Romans lose the Greek Mercenaries to the Gauls, while the Roman light horse destroys a herdsmen/skirmisher stand.

The Romans counter attack by turning the flank of the herdsmen while the Thracians held their front. The Legionaries moved into contact with the Gauls while Crassus' cavalry element provides corner support. The Ex-Gladiators look on from the top of the ridge.

Both Ex-Slave army elements are destroyed.

The Ex-Gladiators move next to the horde for support. The Romans organize a pursuit. At this point, the Romans lead the Ex-Slaves 3-1.

A couple turns later, the Ex-Gladiators sense an opportunity & attack the Legionaries.

Crassus senses victory is within his grasp, and the Ex-Gladiators are enveloped.

The Ex-Gladiators are cut down, and the battle is over with a Roman win, 4-1. Crassus raises his gladius in a sign of victory.

Post Mortem: 

The Ex-Slave army initially had the right tactics, deploying on the high ground. The Romans picked the weakest wing to attack (the Ex-Slave left flank) that had 2 skirmisher elements, 1 warband and 1 blade element. The Ex-Slave attack coming off the ridge by their left was probably unwise (though the Romans had shown no sign of attacking yet and someone had to start), and the Romans effectively strengthened their right to deal with it. The Ex-Slaves may have been able to cause the Romans consternation if their right had moved forward to threaten the Roman left, now weakened by Crassus' absence.

The Ex-Slave army may be a bit challenged, as it's troop mix is not the best. Bob & I were thinking it might be fun to have an optional, Hollywood inspired "flaming log" rule to simulate the last battle scene in the movie "Spartacus." Something like allowing all Ex-Slave elements to launch a one-time only "flaming log" distant combat on enemy troops that are both within 1 base width and at a lower elevation, etc., with the Ex-Slaves being allowed to follow-up any Romans recoils with a charge into contact at +1. Maybe next time. 

Polish vs Swedes in a DBA 24 Battle

 

Recently we did another DBA24 game in 28mm, this time a late Renaissance battle between armies we haven't used before, Poles & Swedes, in a Thirty Years War period contest. We came up with some house rules for the game to represent the Renaissance period, including allowing pistol armed cavalry to shoot 1 BW, etc. We borrowed a few of the rules, element types, and combat factors from DBR.

The Polish army deployed near a farm.

The Swedes deployed opposite.

The Swedes lose an element to Polish artillery fire.

The Swedish right (upper right in photo) advances towards the Polish left.  

Another view.

As both armies deploy on the far flank, the Swedish light horse advances on the near flank.

Another view. The Poles defend the garden wall of the farm, with a Polish element recoiling from Swedish shooting.

The far flank forces are fully deployed in line against one another.

The far flank forces fully engaged. The Poles have supporting shot & pikes nearby on the right, and a group of Winged Hussars in reserve.

After a couple turns, the Swedish horse begins to dominate the Poles, turning their left flank and inflicting casualties that have created gaps in the line.

The Poles try to establish a new line of resistance.

Polish casualties, 5 elements destroyed so far.

Outnumbered now on the far flank, the Poles try to defend their extended line.

The Swedes close for the kill.

The Poles lose another Winged Hussar element (which were treated as Knights in our game). The impetuosity (mandatory pursuit) of the Winged Hussars was not helpful in this game.

Another Polish horse element lost. The Poles are now 1 element away from breaking. They manage to kill a Swedish horse element with a flanking shot element supporting the Winged Hussars.

The Poles lose an infantry element in the field to shooting, which brings their losses to 8, and thus the end of the game for a Swedish victory. 

Another view of the end of battle positions.

An exiting game. The battle was decided by the large cavalry engagement on the far flank, which seems appropriate for this period. The Swedish loses were half what the Poles lost.

European Bronze Age Bash

 About a month ago, we had a quick 2 player European Bronze Age bash using Wargames Foundry figures and DBA 3.0. A 12 element per side game, both armies were identical. It should be noted that these armies were collected & painted prior to the DBA rules being published in 1990, based on the WRG standard at the time, and their composition was based on the figures offered in the Foundry line, not on any established army list. We played with them "as is."

The armies consist of a CinC general in a light chariot (LCh), a dismounted CinC element, 4 x pikemen (4Pk), 2 x Light Horse (LH), 3 x Skirmishers (Ps), 3 x Warband or Auxilia (3Wb or 3Ax).

The camp follower element.

The armies deploy against one another. Note the far army deploys with single ranks of pikemen to extend it's flanks over the opponent, which weakens the overall frontal combat ability of the pikes, but allows the army to more easily overlap it's opponent.

Another view of the deployed armies. Gentle hilltops are outlined on the playing surface with chalk (books are underneath the mat to create the hills). A scratch built ancient city gate in the background.

The armies approach one another. The lights for both armies split off into separate groups.

Closing closer, the far army extends it's right further while the near army sends a light horse element was force marched using subsequent moves to the right flank. With it's left flank exposed, the near army must win quickly on the right flank or center before it can be overwhelmed on the left.

The armies close & clash. The near army has had to reinforce it's left with the CinC, while on it's right the light horse has helped destroy a skirmisher stand.

In the final photo, the end came quickly in a couple turns for the far army as two of it's pikemen stands were destroyed in straight-up combat against their pike opponents with rear support, a mismatch at +3 vs +6. The far army also lost a light horse stand on it's right flank, the light horse had rear support but was corner overlapped by the near CinC stand. This made the final score 4-0 for the near army.

A Debacle for Marius in Numidia

 We had another DBA 3.0 game, this time in 28mm using Old Glory figures and the DBA 24 framework for the game. The setting is a fictional invasion of Numidia on, or after 105BC. The forces are as follows:

Marian Romans (II/49)

Marius (CinC) & Roman Cavalry (Cv) x 4

Spanish Light Horse (LH) x 2

Asiatic Horse Archers (LH) x 4

Thracian Mercenaries (3Ax) x 2

Skirmishers (Ps) x 2

Legionaries (4Bd) x 10

Numidia (II/40)

Jugurtha (CinC) & Numidian Nobles (Cv) x 2

African War Elephants (El) x 2

Numidian Skirmishers (Ps) x 8

Numidian Light Horse (LH) x 10

Roman trained Numidian Imitation Legionaries (Bd) x 2

Both sides chose an element for their sub-general, per the DBA 24 guidelines.

The terrain for the battle was pre-set, and contained most of the wooded area you could ever find in Numidia, as well as difficult hills, all "bad going" according to the DBA rules. The difficult hills were outlined with chalk on the mat.

Above shows the deployment. The Numidians (on the left) were the defenders and chose their side and deployed first, the Romans (on the right) deployed second and moved first. The Romans thought they could take the woods to their front on the left with their Thracian auxilia and skirmisher units, supported by the Asiatic Light Horse to their right. However, this proved to be the error that cost the Romans the game, as we shall see. Note that the Asiatic Light Horse was deployed in part on the difficult hill, also an error.

An overhead view of the Roman deployment & camp.

An overhead view of the Numidian deployment. Note some of the Numidian cavalry also deployed on the difficult hill (upper right). This also proved to be an error, but did not cost the Numidians (other than extra pips) during the course of the game.

The above photo shows the Thracians had moved down the difficult hill into the woods, but were counterattacked by the Numidian skirmishers, who made a double or subsequent move into and through the woods on the first bound. Contacting the Roman light troops, the Numidians destroyed the Roman Psiloi unit. Note the Asiatic Light Horse in the background attempting to move away from the difficult hill at 1 BW per turn.

Another view.

The Asiatic Light Horse finally get off the difficult hill. Another Thracian auxilia is destroyed by the Numidian skirmishers near the wood, the the remaining one tries to keep from being outflanked and destroys a Numidian skirmisher. Marius sends a Cavalry unit to support the left, careful to avoid the difficult terrain, which slows movement to 1 BW/turn and gives a -2 penalty in combat.

In the photo above, the Numidians are pressing their attack with their skirmishers in the near woods, also attacking the Asiatic light horse forcing it to turn and face. The Numidians have supported their force in the woods by bringing up 4 elements of Light Horse to face the Asians, along with the war elephant (behind). At the top of the photo, the Numidians are sending a force of 4 skirmishers into the far woods, and their line of cavalry is moving off the difficult hill in the center.

The Numidians continue pressing their attack out of the woods, as the Numidian Light Horse contacts the Asiatic Horse Archers next to the woods. Marius has send 2 Roman Legionary elements to support the Asians and another Roman cavalry element to the left.

At this point, the fight on this flank is consuming most of the pips for both sides each turn as the adversaries try to gain the upper hand over the other. The Romans have now lost the remaining Thracian peltast unit and 2 Asiatic Light Horse units. The Numidians have lost one light horse element, while another has fled (off screen to the left).

The Romans have fed more Legionaries into the center to face the approaching Numidian war elephant with cavalry support. Meanwhile the Numidians are positioning to surround the Asiatic Light Horse near the hill (lower right).

The battle finale: the Romans lose the Light Horse unit near the hill to Numidian skirmishers, and a Legionary element to the war elephant (center). The Roman casualty count is now 8 elements lost, and this ends the game.

The game was exciting and a learning experience, exposing the dangers of bad going to mounted and heavier infantry and it's ability to isolate a section of the battlefield. By advancing into the woods on the left flank, the Roman auxilia and psiloi were effectively isolated and difficult for the Romans to reinforce. A better strategy may have been for them to either deploy and defend on top of the difficult hill, where they would have had the elevation bonus, or kept in the open terrain to negate any advantage the Numidians had in bad going.