First Game of DBA 3.0

I managed to get a game in of DBA 3.0 last night.  The game pitted the Pyrrhic army vs the Polybian Roman army.

Pyrrhic

• 1xKn Gen 1xCv 1xLh 1xAx 2xSp 4xPk 1xPs 1xEl

Polybian Roman

• 1xCv Gen 1xCv 4xBd 2xAx 2xSp 2xPs

For the rules, I used the Jan 27th draft.  I went through the usual setup and placed both armies at 3BW from the center.  The Pyrrhic army was the defender so set out the terrain, setup first and went first.  Both armies initial deployment were in one big “battle”.  Pyrrhus advanced the cavalry quickly and the heavy infantry followed some distance behind.  The Romans moved to match the Pyrrhic advance but also boldly advanced a unit of Ps to take on the Pyrrhic Ps in the woods.  The Pyrrhic army moves to pin the Romans down in the center and right while the cavalry and elephant try to pin down the Roman cavalry and Triari.  The Romans make the first move to contact.

The armies lock and the melee begins.

Melees on  the flank are indecisive.   The center, however was where the fight was interesting.  The blades predictably pushed the spear back.  The phalanx, managed to push the blades back.  By rule heavy infantry must pursue other foot.  After 2 bounds, the flank blades were no longer providing overlap to the phalanx.  The Elephant defeated the spear it opposed while the Roman cavalry and Triari were making good progress against the lighter Pyrrhic cavalry.  On the other flank, the Pyrrhic Ax attacked the Velites and pushes them back and the Cretan archers attacked the other unit of Velites with indecisive results.  In the center, with the help of the Elephant, the phalanx manages to double a blade.

Blood starts to flow.

Finally, the Pyrrhic Ax (Samnites!) destroy the Velites they opposed and are then flanked by the Roman Ax.  The shoving match continues in the center.  On the cavalry flank, the Romans score there first kill by doubling the Lh.  The Elephants move in to engage the Roman general and manage to push him back.  The phalanx is now steadily driving back the Roman blades in the center and the flank blades are see sawing back and forth with the spears they oppose.  The game ended with the destruction of the Roman Ps in the woods and a 4-1 victory for Pyrrhus.

The armies at the end of the game.

 Impressions

• I liked the way that the infantry interacted with the heavy infantry having to chase all foot.
• The Elephants provided a way to reliably push the opponents around and disrupt the enemy line without causing lots of destruction.
• I was not sure how to handle the flank rule and read through it carefully again only to find that I was doing it wrong.  As it turns out, you can flank pretty easily with the fast speeds.  Not sure if this is a good thing or not.   Certainly a longer line will have a much easier time of getting a round a flank.  Hellenistic vs Rome for instance where Pikes are obliged to support in order to be useful.
• Ps no longer have rear support factors.  While I do think this is historically correct, I was not really sure how to use them!  In the end, they fought on the flanks.  They could provide support.
• The armies were engaged by bound 3.  This is pretty cool since it keeps the other player from reshuffling their army.  Both generals were in reserve for the entire game.
• Pyrrhus would have done well to get into the fight since the quick kill ability worked on just about everything in the Roman army!