Kapissa is Mine

Now you may recall that in the previous installment, King Bobroes the Magnificent of Persia, had defeated the rampaging hordes of Hepthalite Huns, slain their leader Gnash, and began marching towards the pleasant valley of Kapissa, which he reasoned would be an excellent place from which to control the crossings over the Hindu Kush, and prevent any powers from India interfering with his plan to control the Silk Road.

However, as he drew near, he learned that King Chantony Gupta from India had already crossed the Kush, and taken control of it. This would mean war.

Now in his heart of hearts, Chantony knew that Indians had never successfully invaded anywhere. and unwilling to risk too much of his own army in the endeavor, had concocted a sort of military pyramid scheme, and coerced invited all his Maharaja chums to take part. Thus besides Chantony's own contingent, the army that faced Bobroes contained no less than three allied contingents, two from India, and one from Arakan in Burma.

Starting Positions

Chantony drew his army up in a strong position, with his centre protected by an area of enclosed fields, his right protected by a wood, and his left by a large area of scrub that would hinder the Persian horsemen, but present no obstacle to his own elephants. He placed one Indian ally on each flank, and the Burmese (who were all light footmen with no elephants) in the center. His own contingent of elephants, armoured cavalry and well drilled (if someone effete) spearmen, deployed in reserve behind the centre.

King Bobroes the Magnificent deployed his own contingent of armoured cavalry (known as Asavaran) on his left, another contingent of armoured cavalry in the centre, and yet another contingent of armoured cavalry on the right. Each contingent also contained some light foot, that on the right some light horse archers, and his own contingent contained many Dailami, the best rough terrain troops in central Asia.

As the armies faced off, it became apparent that Chantony's marketing materials had mainly focused on the balmy climate, pleasure gardens, and the cuteness of the native goats, and had made little mention of conflict with angry Persians Kings, or the possibilities of expedited entry to the next life. Faced with the serried ranks of armoured horsemen, the commitment of his allies started to waver, particularly that of the Burmese and the Indian's on his left. However, with many blandishments (got six for his first PIP dice, and spent them all on persuading his allies), Chantony convinced the Burmese to join battle, but the Indians to the left remained obdurate that they would not fight.

Main Movements

Seeing the disharmony in the enemy ranks, King Bobroes determined to strike on his left (the Indian's right). He lead his own contingent on a long march around the outside of the wood to outflank the enemy, while the central Persian contingent moved towards the gap between the wood and the enclosed fields, and the rightmost force, moved into the centre, ignoring the unreliable allies on the Indian left.

It was apparent to both commanders that the area of enclosed fields in the centre of the battlefield was a crucial piece of terrain. Chantony ordered four companies of fierce swordsmen (IBdF) from his rightmost ally to move up and line its edge. As karma would have it though, while Chantony had put much study into that famous sutra, he had neglected the deebeehememasutra, and was surprised when his force did not stay on the field's edge as expected, but instead rushed impetuously into it, seeking battle and glory. King Bobroes though, well understood the command difficulties involved in clearing such difficult terrain, and had arranged converging forces from three different commands to occupy it. With the Indians falling into disorder as they rushed forward, the Persians fell on their flanks and utterly routed them, securing the enclosed fields and allowing their own cavalry to advance safely.

Tiring of arguing with his allies, Chantony resolved to take action against the Persian threat. He ordered the rightmost ally to throw out some cavalry to screen Bobroe's flanking maneuver,  while moving its elephants and archers up next to the wood. The Burmese command moved rightwards to cover the enclosed fields, and Chantony's own command moved to the right behind his ally with the intention of  making a solid front against Bobroes.

Only slightly worried as it was the Indians bound next

King Bobroes rounded the wood, and started to engage the Indian cavalry screen. Initially the encounter did not go well, with the king at one stage in danger of being surrounded, but eventually the heavier and more numerous Persians prevailed.  However, by this time Chantony had brought his own force of spearmen and archers up to prevent further Persian progress. Meanwhile the Persian cavalry had moved up to attack the long column of marching Burmese. The later launched a surprise attack and scored some initial success, but lightly armed footmen (AxO and I) fighting heavy cavalry in the open are always going to have a difficult time, and eventually they were defeated and their contingent routed. At the same time, Persian cavalry, being almost immune to arrows, had killed many archers of the right-hand Indians, and with their cavalry and swordsmen already destroyed, that contingent too, broke and routed.

If you're going to make a final desperate charge, don't roll a one

This left Chantony himself in very exposed position, facing off Bobroes in a line from the wood to the battlefield edge, while Persian cavalry from the centre poured towards his rear. Realizing that all was almost lost, he spurred (or goaded or whatever you do) his elephant on and attempted to engage King Bobroes in personal combat. The latter, being somewhat disadvantaged by being mounted only on a horse, did not think it unkingly to give a little ground, and as Chantony pursued, Persian cavalry fell on his flanks, pouring arrow fire at his elephant, until maddened by its injuries, it through off poor Chantony, and trampled him into the ground. With this the remainder of the Indian army broke and fled.

So with another glorious victory, King Bobroes secured control of Kapissa, but even as he began to relax beneath a pleasant date palm, rumours came that once again the Hepthalites were mobilizing. It seemed that like cockroaches, however many you killed, more will always come.

Skulking on the Silk Road

Recovering for the Tassle Tussle
(Campaign action as introduced <here>)

As noted previously by Vantonigivussakissa (don’t pronounce it sober) <here> the first force of the Deli (Llama) Delivery Service (known world-wide as the Shaggy Horse Excellent Sandwich Supply Service - SHESSSus) had met an uncomfortable end at the hands of low class Hindus with big cleavers while avoiding the pachyderms.  A classic example of a highly manoeuvrable army over doing the parade ground formation changes and getting mobbed.

The remains of the now timid Tibetans now headed south closing up on the equally chastised Hepthalite Hun chieftain Gnash the Gummy (aka the Toothless) at the head of another elephant laden army of apparently all ‘superior’ graded troops, whether the mammoths or the vicious steppe horsemen.

By this stage a major campaign error by Zhayne Yahwot (Hindus can’t spell) the distracted chief sandwich maker of the Deli was blatantly clear. 

While having the best, most attractive, well trained and efficient kataphracts in the whole continent, all the other dishonest lowly rulers contesting the western end of the Silk Road were all, and I mean ALL, packing numerous non-regulation ‘Pachyderm Packs’!!  Just because my alt-life was distracting me from paying sufficient to the campaign preparation didn’t justified a united effort to collect enormous elephant ensembles at all points of the compass.  Clearly there’s no honesty left in the areas around the Roof of the World.

We caught up to Gnash & his “S” graded rabble and challenged him just inside his home territory.  He turned to face.  The winter had passed and spring was upon us.

Our plan, being VERY small but near perfectly trained, was to close the field of battle down and fight frontally with the kats which could take on anything except the elephants which were to be contained by bow, spear and fast light horsemen long enough to push the rest of the enemy off the table.  We bought two super small commands of Ch’iang allies (rCvS + 7x iLhF + 1 Bg = 12ME) to tuck behind the wings to run interference and to die if required.  At 12ME they only produced a single “knock-on” factor and the high non-general casualty count required to break them gives a cheap amount of staying power.

We used two DH (difficult hills) for our plan.  The enemy swamped the area in difficult terrain too, most surprisingly, and we got the weirdest battle field I’ve seen in years - almost totally blocked by difficult going across the entire width of the table!! 

 

For two mounted armies this is plain DAFT terrain!!

Only three openings existed, a 4 element wide corridor on me left, a single element wide one on my right and a road through a BUA (built up area), nothing else.  I had a total of 3 psiloi elements for terrain work and I was sure the Hepthalites had very few as well.

I decided that with my strong manoeuvre abilities I’d sit tight and pick of the enemy as they came through the openings or over the terrain.  My fortified baggage imperfectly added some restrictions to the left flank which was the only side a flank march was viable on.  Nash deployed only two commands, and I was right to stay put and defend against attack although the elephants coming at my left were less than ideal.

Re-positioning by both armies 

I did a bit of re-positioning and waited.  The enemy u-turned on the road and set about a fast attack in support of his elephants on my left.  This was going to swamp my foot so using the regularness I u-turned them and drew up my position tighter.  I also sent the mass of kataphracts under the CinC leftward to past through the light horse and meet the expected superior light horse flank march from the left flank.

But let’s be clear, Nash had a clear strong plan for dealing with my strengths (and his weakness) and had used the terrain brilliantly in a most unconventional way to out play me so far.  I hadn’t understood what he was doing at all until this point when I realised I was trapped.

Trouble Arrives - Pressed from front & left!!

The enemy flank march arrived and contained more elephants!!  But it also looked small and combined with few hordes being on table, I expected hordes to follow it on next bound.  At this point it worried me a lot less than the fact I was going to get attacked on two fronts and chewed up by the on table elephants.  In my mind I had conceded the game but as I’m good at desperate defensive actions and could hang out for a time induced draw, I remained mostly silent.

Gnash came at me slow and steady, not getting strong PiPs and often being conservative in his actions, knowing I wasn’t able to get away and that he had plenty of time.  I didn’t get great PiPs either but with all regular or light troops, I was getting enough PiPs to mount a steady defence and keep my angled line intact.

Fighting for survival but keeping the pressure on.
Tibetan kataphracts scare off Huns in the urban area
without a fight.

This I did by always looking to fight combats at equal or just superior factors rather than go for more aggressive actions that would leave me exposed to enemy counter attacks.  Nash’s combat dice weren’t that strong so it was all staying intact.  I pushed up on his flank marchers forcing him to commit them to unfavourable combats or receive even more unfavourable attacks later. 

With his other commands streaming around me and my troops slowing being whittled down by elephants I was getting further into trouble without an answer and Nash, seeing this, committed his flank marchers but I got the better of the situation locally.  But to survive in the long term I needed to harm the enemy.  I had picked off a lucky kill on an elephant and broken up their groups a bit but never had any opportunities to turn the tide.  Time to start taking the cheap shots as I could no longer survive long enough even to draw.

In a bound with short PiPs Nash had used a CnC free PiP to turn and push an elephant into an annoying position which had stalemated the end of our lines. 

Taking the cheap shots!!
Honestly in fear of the imminent Tibetan defeat.

My bows had held up elephants and recoiled one or two and the area was confused and messy but generally flanks were secure on both sides.

I spotted an outside opportunity to take a cheap shot, by attacking an elephant in the flank with a kataphract and by ignoring his front I could turn it into a no recoil situation up against his CinC (with the fatal behind an El deal if I could pull a kill result).  Another kataphract supplies an overlap while on the other side I needed my LhF (with an overlap) to beat a LhS to remove then provide the second overlap in my favour.  We still needed to roll-up well in combat but I took the risk as we were beaten otherwise.

The light horse won its combat.  The other combats killed the flank marchers general and an elephant and a glimmer of light was coming through as enemy casualties suddenly spiked – Nash was now pensive.

The risks pay off!!  Diced up & defeat turned to victory.

Yep, you guessed it – I rolled up, let out a “yesssss” (sounds just like SHESSus) until Nash called it a draw – which stopped my excitement and we had to recount!!  The no recoil and no benefit of being an “S” elephant in enemy bound turned it into a doubling – destroyed hephalumps and Gnash the Gummy stomped to death underfoot in the ensuring stampede!!  In outright frustration Nash’s dice bounce off the table only to be caught and returned.

Knock-on effects breaks the flank marching command and a totally unbelievable and spontaneous victory is achieved!! 

Despite my own displayed jubilation I really felt sorry for a clearly annoyed Nash who played a brilliantly planned, prepared and well executed action but fell to the adverse vagaries (not even extreme) of combat dice (& the odd inconvenient PiP roll).

The Hephalites were last seen streaming back away the way they had come, towards the Kush where they were sure to encounter the new current Silk Road Surveyor (King of the Table).  In the meantime the Deli have added delectable elephant steak sandwiches to their impeccable menu list.

All Roads Lead to Damascus - The Protagonists: 1 The Marian Romans

Rome in this period is still a Republic, but she teeters on the verge of becoming a Principality. Power is slowly be wrested away from the Senate and the people and is falling more under the spell of one great family, The Familia Prope Fraxinum.

At the start of the campaign the family led by Pulcher, has its claws deep within the Senate and the military. Popular with the mob and with equestrian (noble) families alike, the position looks favourable for the Prope Fraxinum. As Rome, is pushed further into military commitments in the East, so the family will tighten its grip on the Republic through clever manipulation of the legions and nepotist promotions within the military and the senate. When the time is right, they will declare the head of the family as Principal of Rome, Emperor of the Roman Empire.

The Roman army at this time is based round the legions which were mostly heavy infantry organised into cohorts (see the following link for a detailed account: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_reforms). The legionaries fought in close order with shield, pilum, and gladius. The Romans themselves had very little cavalry and few light troops. The majority of these were supplied by auxilliary troops supplied by annexed nations and mostly fighting in their native style.

In DBMM game terms, the Marian Roman army is fairly flexible. It has a Regular command structure and a strong core of Regular Blades (legionaries). The blades are good in open terrain and hold their own in rough or even difficult terrain. The optional troops add to this flexibility. The option to field Cavalry, Light Horse, Auxilliaries, Psiloi, Artillery, and even an African Elephant gives the Romans an almost 'swiss-army-knife' feel to them. They pretty much have something for every occasion. This makes them a fairly easy army to use and a difficult one to play against.  The downside is that sometimes there are too many bits and pieces and not enough of any given troop type other than blades.

The Roman player, Nash, is from the UK (born in Wales and brought up in Staffordshire). He has lived in S.E.Asia for 15 years or more. His gaming background included a period of competitive DBM play, and attending tournaments was a regular pastime - his claim to fame being 3rd place in The World's at Derby one year! Unfortunately, this DBM heritage sometimes gets in the way of DBMM play (rules and combat factor changes ) as occurred in the first campaign game much to his chagrin. He rather fancies his chances in the campaign for two reasons:
1. he is using the Romans
2. losing last year's campaign taught him some valuable lessons

Should anyone be interested in playing DBMM or other games in Bangkok, or would like to comment he can be contacted here or at monkey.nash@gmail.com

All Roads Lead to Damascus (or A brief Introduction To Our Latest Campaign)

Circa 100BC, 4 great nations have risen to dominate the ancient world: Rome, in the West, Parthia in the East, Ptolemaic Egypt in the South, and the Arabian City States in the South East. These four super powers are now expanding their frontiers to clash upon borders of the others. There can be no alliances, there can be no forgiveness, and there can be no negotiation. There can be only WAR!

Rome is quickly spreading her sphere of influence further East through Asia Minor and into the rich trade routes of the desert frontier. 

The Parthians are pushing west to reach the shores of the Mediterranean and its valuable resources. 

The Ptolomies have their sights set on their ancestral homeland, Greece. 

And the Arabian City States are pushing north west to control the trade between East and West and the vast riches there-entailed.   

There is one place that holds the key to each of their ambitions, and it is there that the fate of civilisation will be decided once and for all. It is there that we will make history or die in the trying and that place is DAMASCUS!

All Roads Lead To Damascus - Battle Report 1

Barbarians Get Awkward in the Orchard

or

Village People Go East

Report by our scribe in the field Dubius Factus.

This week saw a valiant defence of our Republic and the loss of a true Roman hero. Roman soil was soiled by filth of a barbarian horde. The Gods were with us and the horde was sent packing!

The day began well for our illustrious general, Legatus Pulcher Prope Fraxinum, who although late in years was still considered a strategic genius. The invading barbarians with their dodgy facial hair, leather fetishes, and love of anything a little fruity' were easily lead to an area heavy with orchards and steep hills, thus funnelling their advances exactly where our hero wanted them.  Upon entrapping the enemy in this constricting terrain, further advantage was gained by enticing the horde with promises of dancing and sweet drinks at the fable temple of the Blue Oyster. The Parthians in such a hurry to quench their queer desires, deployed first and Pulcher was able to take advantage. The barbarians scouted the area well uncovering our ambushes, but this was planned and accounted for.

The moustachioed villains deployed four commands with their cataphracts and horse archers on the flanks and a mass of light infantry and Psidian allies crammed into the orchard (no doubt trying to locate the fruits of Temple of the Blue Oyster!). The marvellous Romans deployed all 4 commands to their right flank with cavalry and legions ready to advance upon the unwashed heathens.  Two ambushes were prepared, one on the hill to the left flank and another in the orchard to the right flank.

The Parthians had the initiative but in an act of cowardly ignobleness, immediately turned tail (as if already in the Blue Oyster!) and tried to flee the field. Pulcher in turn was hesitant (rolling three 1s for regular commands), expecting some barbarian trickery. His ally general Rolus Asixus however, saw the Parthians retreat for what it was and was quick to charge across the field. Cavalry, Legions and Peltasts all advancing to close the gap and trap the savages.

And thus the battle was engaged. The valiant Romans pushed the attack on their right flank whilst the Parthians sought without success to escape.  On the left flank, the psiloi on the difficult hill proved enough of a distraction and hindrance to effectively negate Parthian efforts. In the centre, the Roman auxiliary were outnumbered but held on.

Having trapped the Parthians from escaping on the right flank, the Thracian light horse (o) pinned the cataphracts in place and launched an attack on the few horse archers (f) guarding their flank. The Thracians did their job and punched a hole in the Parthian line. Trapped and outflanked their days were numbered. It was then that barbarian heavy knights decided to actually fight. The CiC supported one of his brethren against sole Roman cavalry alae.  The barbarians, encumbered by their facial hair, leather and studs, were destroyed with great violence. That was enough to break their spirit!

Pulcher himself at this time stepped to the fray as he felt his years upon him. His closest aids tell us that he saw the battle was won on the right flank and his job was done, thus he wished to end his days in glory upon the field of battle. He is quoted as saying, ‘I am long in years, old beyond reckoning. The fields of Elysium await me. Let me die here in glory!’ as he charged the enemy foot.  The battle raged and he was driven back by a stubborn foe. It was while falling back that old age finally caught up with the old warrior. He slid from his horse, happy in the knowledge that his day was glorious.* / **

With the CiC fallen, his very small command broke. However, there was little effect on the army and on the right flank the Parthian CiC was fleeing with the remnants of his broken command. He was ridden down in eternal shame with his back to the enemy and his (or someone else’s) tail between his legs.  The Roman army was in a fine position to move into the rear of the enemy. The baggage was undefended and the Psidians exposed.  Alas that time favoured the barbarians this time and the battle was forced to end.

The result: a glorious victory for the Republic ***. An honourable death for a long lived and loyal son of Rome. A dark day for the invaders. And the start of a new era for the newly appointed Legatus Rolus Asixus!

*Actually, the cic was 6-1ed by the auxiliary. Now, this should not have killed him but for the fact that I for some reason reverted to DBM (not dbmm) factors! Anyway, the mistake was made and not noticed until sometime later

** It could also be that old age caught up with him as he awaited the Parthians to finish their moves!

*** It should have been a bigger victory. In the end the result was close 14 - 11 I believe.  Anthony is a newish player to DBMM and his plan was too ambitious for his irregular army. In other ways he played well though.

We were fortunate enough to interview Legatus Pulcher Prope Fraxinum prior to the engagement and discuss his plans.

Dubius Factus: Legatus, What is your opinion of the Parthian army?

Legatus Pulcher:  The Parthians have 2 strengths. The first is in their highly mobile and flexible Light Horse. The second is their Heavy Cataphracts. They may also outnumber us.

DF: Does this worry you?
LP: Worry, no. But I do have to consider their strengths and weaknesses. If the light horse envelope us then we could have problems. If the Cataphracts attack our cavalry we will be in trouble. Therefore, I must do two things: stop the LH from going around our flank, and keep their cataphracts away from our cavalry.

DF: How do you plan to do this?
LP: By choosing my ground very carefully and by attacking with a combination of troops, this forcing the enemy into my killing ground against the troops that I want them to fight.  The battlefield needs to be dense with difficult terrain to channel the enemy. If it is an open battlefield we will not be able to stop him. Our troops are better trained than the barbarians and we will be able to manoeuvre more effectively through gaps in the terrain. We will be able to reduce the battle to a small area thus negating his speed and flexibility.

DF: Are the cataphracts a great danger?
LP: Yes. They are deadly against our cavalry and against the legions. However, given the choice, I will attack them with the legions as we should win on attrition. The ideal situation though is to create a situation in which the cataphracts are unable to join battle. Our easiest targets are the horse archers. Although fast, if they can be pinned down they will be destroyed. Again, the terrain is key. We will draw them into our defensive positions in the hills and orchards.

DF: You have a choice of allies, which will you take?
LP: My first choice was to take Sarmatians as their heavy knights (kn f) will be an equal threat to the enemy knights. However, after some deliberation it was decided that this would be too much in the hands of Fortuna. My next choice was Skythians with their unnumbered horse archers, but again that was a risky choice. In the end, I chose to enlist my own nephew Rolus Asixus. With him commanding half the legions and cavalry it would allow me greater numbers and more flexibility with my commands. Regular troops are also more reliable.


DF: What is your opinion of the Parthian general?
LP: I have a great deal of respect for him - I would be foolish not to. But, he will over complicate his plan. I am not sure how, but he will. I will expect him to try to draw us into open ground, but we will force him into the hills. I also expect him to outscout us, but we will set up ambushes anyway. If he brings foot, we will outclass them. If he brings mounted, we will close the battlefield around them. Either way, we will be victorious.

DF: Legatus Pulcher Prope Faxinum, thank you and may Mars smile upon you for the glory of Rome.

LP: Thank you. Ave.