"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. 

Along the Danube Scenario for Blucher

After over a year since our last go with the Blucher rules, we finally tried another game. 4 of us played a modified version of the "Along the Danube" scenario, which is a free download on the Honour website here: link. The scenario was "modified" as some of the terrain was reduced in size due to what we had available. My 28mm figures are on 60mm frontage bases, which is 20% smaller than the 3" frontage bases recommended by the rules. This means we could play the scenario on an area 20% smaller than the 6' x 4' that the scenario called for, which fit on the kitchen table we were playing on.

We used rosters for the game to keep track of elan losses. It seemed to take longer as you have to repeatedly look up your unit's strength during the game for determining how many dice it gets for firing & melee, but eliminated some clutter on the table. 

Above, both sides deployed using cards. The cards were homemade. The upside down coffee cup is used for the momentum dice, which the opposing side rolls and keeps track of for the phasing side and keeps the roll concealed.

Both sides have units come into sight and the cards are replaced with miniatures. Infantry Brigades are represented by 2 bases of miniatures that measure 60mm x 30mm. When an infantry unit becomes "prepared" (in square and/or taking advantage of local cover) according to the rules, we simply turn the rear stand around to face the opposite direction to represent a "prepared" infantry unit. Cavalry & artillery brigades are represented by a single stand each.

The French cavalry corps sweeps around the Austrian right, initially using reserve movement, but countered by heavy cavalry from the Austrian Reserve Korps (lower left in above photo).

Overall view of the battlefield.

The French cavalry are forced back on the left.

In the center, the French are moving forward with the intent of getting into shooting range.

A firefight has broken out on the French right flank.

The French cavalry on the left flank has gotten the worst of it so far and fallen back. A firefight is developing on the right of the photo and would prove costly for the French.

Meanwhile, the Austrian left flank has been devastated by shooting.

The French left keeps slowly dwindling down due to losses. The French often found themselves without enough momentum to withdraw or turn individual units around that had retreated from melee, giving the Austrians opportunity to hit them in the flank/rear or destroy them when they were at 1 elan strength.

The Austrian left flank is basically gone and the French infantry are crossing the stream. A French cavalry unit has seized the objective marker between the two small fields.

However, French losses on their left flank & center were catastrophic, as the Austrian center & right hold firm. The battle is won by the Austrians. The small boxes in the upper part of the photo were dice boxes.

We still had a few problems with doing everything correctly with the rules, but it was still an interesting game. Units in Blucher wear down rather than occasional destruction as in other rules. NOTE: The miniatures are based for DBN, HFG, and DBA-HX, as are the movement sticks, etc. They are all perfectly usable for Blucher.

We may try this scenario again using HFG.

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.