"...I, Antigonos -- called One Eye -- judged it was time for the. great Macedonian empire of Alexander to be reunited. Since my rival satraps and kings were no more than a pack of fools, it was clear the gods had chosen me for this labor. In 320 B.C., my army and I set out, marching south from the satrapy of Phrygia, in the direction of Persia, to..."

A DBA mini-tournament held in Columbus on April 13.

The 8-player tourney was hosted by Terry Hollern at his house. It was open to all armies and featured four rounds with preset terrain. I was itching to play the pikemen I had recently painted, so chose Antigonid (an early successor to Alexander the Great). My army's 12 elements included 6 pikes, 1 elephant, 1 knight (companion cavalry), 1 cavalry, 1- light horse, 1 auxilia and 1 psiloi. A plethora of troop types, to be sure, but basically a balanced army of foot and mounted. My first opponent was an Early Seleucid army. I was defender, so I watched as -

"...Seleukos foolishly separated his army into two unequal lines, split by a hill even my eye could tell was craggy and impassable. The larger group in the battlefield's center consisted of his Macedonian pikemen interspersed with his two troops of war elephants and supporting light troops. The (soon-to-be ex-)satrap of Babylon placed his three squadrons of companion cavalry (knights) opposite my right.

"I placed my larger phalanx opposite his, their left guarded by a rocky area in which lurked my peltasts and psiloi. With my elephants and three squadrons of cavalry I quick-marched to block his companions from emerging into the plain beyond the hill. This we did and proceeded to attack. The elephants trampled one of his companion squadrons, while my own routed another. In desperation, Seleukos himself charged at the head of his final squadron. The battle surged back in forth until the elephants worked around to their rear. They collapsed. 

"While this was going on, his phalanx refused to attack mine, knowing the elephants would shy from the hedge of points. Instead, he sent his light troops to attack. One squadron of light cavalry tried to circle the battlefield and assault my camp. My own psiloi fell upon them from the rear of the rocky area, breaking them. With Seleukos' capture, the battle ended..."

-- The first round was a good omen. With the tourney point system, I won 8-1 (1 point per element destroyed, bonuses of 2 each for killing a general and winning the battle). My next opponent was Later Samurai. I was the attacker, so -

"...marched for weeks and weeks east. The skies were strange as if the very atoms the philosophers speak of were being rent. The men urged me to return, but I drove them onward, until we met a strange enemy army. I deployed the phalanx on a gentle hill with the mounted troops behind. In front and to our right was a much steeper, impassable hill. I watched the strange, olive-skinned men deploy and advance. Marching slowly towards us was a line of heavy foot armed with large swords (Blades).

Their right was guarded by light troops, their left by massed archers They sent another force around the crag at our right flank. It was composed of two squadrons of cavalry and three bodies of auxiliary foot. I judged them the enemy weak point, so marched to intercept them at the head of my cavalry and accompanied by a deep phalanx. I left orders for the remaining troops to redeploy themselves with the rest of the horse on the right, the pikes and elephants in the center, and the light troops on the right.

"I learned later, my officers were unable to make the men obey. They sat immobile watching the enemy advance. Their bows, twice as strong as a Persian's, slaughtered my psiloi, peltasts and even a lochos of pikemen. Meanwhile, I was driving their flank force back, destroying one body of auxiliaries. A great shout went up from the hill, soon afterwards though, as my army began to withdraw. They had been defeated by the deadly arrows of the enemy and their own refusal to obey orders..."

-- This was without a doubt the worst I have ever rolled in a game of DBA. Out of the more than 20 times I rolled the dice, all but three or four scores were "1's" or "2's." My opponent, Allen Sams, was as amazed as I was. He chuckled that the battle wasn't even fun, so bad were my rolls! (He should try being on the receiving end!) The score was 6-1. My next opponent was back in my Mediterranean stomping grounds: Late Imperial Roman (East)

"...To reach the battlefield, we had to march through a defile between two large rocky areas. I dismounted and led the phalanx on foot, moving most slowly through the rocks. We were able to deploy beyond before the enemy was upon us. My Greek peltasts guarded our right and the elephant was moving out onto the left. On the far left of the battlefield, opposite the enemy's camp, I had stationed the cavalry and light horse. The threat forced him to leave two bodies of light troops back to guard against a sweep. As our lines closed, I signaled to the left for the squadrons to quickly wheel towards the center and assault the right of the enemy battleline instead.

"The right of the foe's battleline was guarded by auxiliaries. Its center was of Roman heavy foot and armored cataphract lancers. Their left extended past our right, which was grounded in the rocky area. My Greeks peltasts would not hold for long against his cavalry and light horse. I ordered the companions to hurry through the defile to join them.

"My anxieties were unnecessary as their general grew impatient and charged into my phalanx at the head of his armored cataphracts. The were impaled like a mouse on a porcupine and the survivors fled the field. The next body of cataphracts hurtled themselves into the Macedonian veterans standing with me. I watched as my men destro them, too.

"Things were worse on the right, though, where their cavalry overran my peltasts. The companions charged and stabilized the situation, though, cutting down a squadron of light horse. As their infantry contacted ours, my cavalry on the left struck them, too. W( leaned on our pikes as we had when we destroyed the Persian empire and drove them from the field, shouting a victory paen in celebratio of..."

-- my 10-1 victory. The six elements and general slain would become more important later. After three rounds, I was 2-1, but Allen's Samurai were 3-0 and matched against my old opponent, the Seleucids. I taunted Allen that I was sending my lieutenant to defeat him. However, first I had to deal with my next opponent, the tourney host, Terry Hollern and his Early Imperial Romans. I was forced to deploy first, so -

"...I rested my army's right against a long woods. The miserable Greeks (who I had harangued for their poor performance in earlier battles) guarded the woods with the psiloi. My companions and the elephants formed a hinge with the phalanx which stretched to my left. The light horse and cavalry were in reserve. Opposite my phalanx, their legionaries marched towards us. Their right abutted a craggy, impassable hill. In the center, their cavalry faced my horse and my elephants. Stretching to overlap our right as they marched were their auxilia. I saw the danger and quickly force-marched the phalanx forward, while staggering the right of my line back.

"Disaster struck where I least expected as a squadron of light horse circled the craggy hill and -- ignoring the cavalry sent to check them slammed into the flank of my pikes as their legionaries contacted the front. I was disgraced to see fine Macedonians drop their sarissas and flee in rout. Meanwhile, the Roman auxilia entered the woods and surrounded and destroyed the psiloi. I looked up to the heavens and asked for help from Olympos.

"By this hour, we were fiercely engaged all across the front. My cavalry, the enemy light horse having eluded them, moved into the far left of the line to replace the destroyed phalanx. At the head of my pikemen, we kept pressing in the center. The elephants on my right faced a cohort of Roman auxilia. The companions were trading blows with the enemy general's mounted bodyguard. On the right, the peltasts were surrounded by the hordes of Roman auxilia.

"At that point (I will swear to the end of my days), I heard a familiar boyish cry ringing above the din of battle. The vision in my one eye was blurred, but I believe I saw a strange hero on a black horse gallop along our battleline. A golden light played across his head, which was framed by a lion-like mane of hair. My men. paused a second, blanched, and surged forward, roaring "Alexander!" Perhaps they really shouted "Antigonos!" and I was delirious. I do recall looking to my left and seeing my cavalry ride down the legionaries and light troops opposite them. I roared myself hoarse and plunged into the fray with my veterans. We moved over the Romans in front of us like a city wall crushing all beneath it in an earthquake. The elephants, wise creatures that they are, read the signs and trumpete, Their sudden stampede put a cohort of auxilia to flight. Even my Greek peltasts fought like Achilles, hurling back the Roman auxilia surrounding them. The Romans staggered, confused and demoralized. Victory had been within their grasp, but the gods had decreed otherwise. I hurled my sword point heavenward and thanked..."

-- my sudden streak of "5's" and "6's" and my opponent's "1's." Without a doubt, this was the greatest turnaround I'd seen in any battle. I was losing 3 elements to 0, outflanked on my right, and my elephants in a dire situation. I should have lost the battle on this turn. Instead, I destroyed four enemy elements and won.

Three players ended up with 3-1 records. Allen's Samurai scored 22 points, giving up 9. Ron Holtz's Early Seleucids also scored 22, but were edged out in points allowed with 12. And Antigonos One-Ey scored 25 points, winning the tie-breaker. The gods of Olympus had indeed favored him on this evening. Perhaps he wouldn't achieve his goal of reuniting Alexander's empire, but he had taken the first steps.

The complete standings are listed below:

1) Antigonid (Mike Demana) 3-1, 25 points
2) Later Samurai (Allen Sams) 3-1, 22 points
3) Early Seleucid (Ron Holtz) 3-1, 22 points
4) Late Roman (E) (Larry Connor) 2-2, 19 points
5) Marian Roman (Jerry Robinette) 2-2, 18 points
6) Gallic (Neil Rinehart) 2-2, 15 points
7) Early Imperial Roman (Terry Hollern) 1-3, 13 points
8) Andalusian (Joel Sams) 0-4, 0 points