At the Hutt Club on Saturday, two games of DBMM, two learning games of “DBMM-lite” and various other games. Here is a report on my game, with notes about the others in the captions.
Many thanks to Barry Norris for our game, my Maurikian Byzantines vs Barry’s Normans invading Sicily. It was an excellent game: I took a calculated risk (opps!), I learned I had been playing a rule incorrectly for years, and Barry won 22-3 (it could so easily have been 19-6 if I had destroyed one more element from his central command 
). We played 450AP and we both had four commands.
). We played 450AP and we both had four commands.I decided to snipe with my superior light horse at Barry’s big central command: his CnC, 13 more knights (Irr Kn(F)) and some light horse – I think it was 33 ME. On the open flank on my right I would mass an attack against his allied command of Sicilian ordinary cavalry, light horse and auxiliaries. On my left I would use my smallest command to delay the Norman infantry and keep their handful of knights away from the real fight on the other flank. Barry had a reserve in his centre: a subgeneral and seven more knights.
The key to the game was Barry being able to quickly redeploy is reserve to support his left where I was attacking (five and six PIPs) and, then, my response to this. This is when I took my calculated risk. I moved my line of six double based superior cavalry including my CnC where Barry would reach it with two knights and one of the Sicilian cavalry, which would be overlapped. I thought this would start a mixed-up fight, where my regular control and superior combat advantage in my bound would tell. Wrong!
In hindsight, and enlightened discussion with Barry (thank you), I need not have taken my risk. My CnC and his cavalry could easily have withdrawn and not given the two knights the initial attack. I could have redeployed or waited until I got the first attack. As for Barry’s reserve, once committed on that flank it was almost impossible for it go anywhere else, and it was already in more than one group getting around a small wood and the Sicilian allies.
As it played out, all three of my double-bases that fought were destroyed and I lost an element of light horse in the sniping in the centre – seven ME lost and the CnCs command disheartened. While we played on for several more hours, this loss was decisive. It, in effect, neutralised a third of my superior light horse (disheartened) and of course my attack was now desperate defence.
In the centre, the sniping with the remaining two thirds of my light horse and a judicious charge by my four Opitmates (Reg (F)) took Barry’s centre to 0.5 of an ME of breaking. Oh to have not buggered up my CnC’s command!
As for the rule I have been playing incorrectly, it turns out generals can deploy in a flank sector only if grouped with Cv (O) or (I) or light troops. At times I have deployed groups where the general was the only element in the flank and the rest were troops who could only be in the centre, and they were. For example, five double-based Cv(S) deployed in the centre, touching the edge of the flank and the CnC in the flank – not allowed. Sorry, my bad!
Thank you to Chris Blackler for travelling with me from Levin, to everyone else at the meeting for your excellent company, and again to Barry for a great game.
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| Barry in thought after my first move. Nothing much happened on Barry’s right but my three light horse did get around the psiloi in the wood and then through the wood. The reserve of Norman knights on the hill has not yet redeployed to Barry's left. |
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| Paul Graham, Eamonn Sugrue, Richard Mason and Shay Bassett. Paul has developed “DBMM-lite” to help beginners into the rules. This was a two-player game. |
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| Paul Graham, Eamonn Sugrue, Shay Bassett, and Chris Blackler . Paul has developed “DBMM-lite” to help beginners into the rules. This was a three-player game. |
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| Alastair Duncan (Medieval Swedes) vs Graham Starkey (Feudal English). I think a win to the English. |
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