On eight battlefields ranging from the cold moors of northern Britain to the tropical hills of Burma, armies of bitter enemies drew blood as they renewed historic feuds. The commanders were mostly novices, though, a dozen would- be generals clashing in a tournament of ancient warfare.
Using De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) rules, the tournament featured eight tables pre-set with terrain and two historically-matched 15mm armies. The 12 players rotated among the tables, each fighting four battles. All games were against different opponents and on different battlefields.
Several unofficial Columbus gaming clubs had pooled their members for the tournament and met at Bent Tree apartments party house Sunday, Nov. 23. The members of the groups dabbled in a variety of games -- some preferred role-playing or computer games, others board games and historical miniatures. Despite the inexperience in DBA of all but a few of the players, it took less than four hours to complete.
Troy Boni, an HMGS Great Laker, won the tourney with a 4-0 record. Though Troy had played DBA before, he was not a veteran of the rules. In his first battle, Troy was pharaoh of a New Kingdom Egyptian army raiding "Beyond the 5th Cataract" into Nubia. His balanced attack of chariots, close order infantry, archers and lights proved too much for the tribesmen. "Troy-tankhamen" routed the mostly archer and warband force 6-0 (one point per element destroyed, and a bonus two each for winning, killing the general and/or sacking his camp).
In his next battle, Troy faced fellow club member Doug Jackson (a.k.a. "Black Douglas") in a match-up billed as "A Horse Race." As sultan of a Seljuk Turkish army, Troy was fending off an invasion of infidel Mongols. The battle proved vicious as Doug (the eventual second place winner) pushed Troy to within an element of defeat. However, "Ibn Troy Ali" and his horsemen prevailed 8-3, sealing their victory with the death of the Mongol khan.
The third game saw Troy pitted against another friend, Tim Donovan, who had also racked up a 2-0 record. Troy was a Later Frankish king marching in response to the cry, "Dragonships on the Coast!" His Viking foe was an all infantry army, mostly of the "blade" class -- the toughest foot type in the game. Instead of attacking their battleline head-on, "Troy-lemagne" targeted a flank unit of archers. The risky horse charge into the arrow storm scattered the Viking bow, though. The rest of the Frankish horse followed, rolling up the flank rapidly. The Viking general was slain in the rout and Troy galloped to an 8-0 victory.
No other 3-0 challenger loomed, so Troy next tackled 2-1 Tom Graves. The tourney itself and the "grand meeting" had been Tom's idea. So, he felt it was only right that he be the evening's victor.
The two met in the sticky heat of Burma's foothills. Tom, the Burmese king, was fighting off the incursion of the rampaging, burning and looting Mongols. The horse archers dismounted a third of their army as foot archers to face the ponderous Asian elephants. Perhaps their battle slogan was "Elephants? I'm off this pony!" Each deployed skillfully. However, the rumors of the atrocities committed by "Kubla Troy's" Devil Horsemen infected the Burmese army with fear. The rank and file melted away in terror at first contact (Tom rolled four consecutive "1's" in combat, immediately losing the four elements necessary for defeat). Anti-climatic, yes, but a 6-0 victory for the Mongols nonetheless.
Despite the 24 battles fought over the course of the evening, all players were friendly, relaxed and pleasant. Rounds went smoothly, usually taking less than an hour. Winners were quickly pitted against winners and losers vs. losers. The final ranking were:
| 1. Troy Boni | 4-0 | 28 points |
| 2. Doug Jackson | 3-1 | 23 points |
| 3. Dave Zecchini | 3-1 | 20 points |
| 4. Andy Lavery | 2-1-1 | 19 points |
| 5. Allen Sams | 2-2 | 20 points |
| 6. Tom Graves | 2-2 | 20 points |
| 7. Tim Donovan | 2-2 | 14 points |
| 8. Ian Zernechel | 2-2 | 14 points |
| 9. Dean Veneziano | 1-2-1 | 13 points |
| 10. John Presutti | 1-3 | 11 points |
| 11. Steve Sattler | 1-3 | 7 points |
| 12. Joel Sams | 0-4 | 11 points |
Although all matchups were historical, no attempt was made to model them on actual battles. The GM Mike Demana set the eight battles and provided most the miniatures. The four battles not mentioned in Troy's march to glory were:
- "Squabbling over the Spoils" (Pictish vs. Early Saxon)
"Harold's Bane" (Norman vs. Anglo-Danish)
"Caesar Invades" (Marian Roman vs. Ancient British)
"Reconquering Rome" (Early Byzantine vs. Later Visigothic)
The players enjoyed the historical matchup formula. Not only did it provide more spectacle and variety with a new army and opponent every round, it also posed new challenges. Tom called each battle a "different tactical puzzle." Some featured similar armies like the Seljuks and Mongols. Others had widely different ones like "Dragonship's" mounted and combined arms Later Franks against the all-foot Vikings. Still others introduced volatile matchups like warbands against legionaries.
However, when the clamor of warfare died down on the eight battlefields, one among the dozen challengers had triumphed. The roar of his victorious troops proved he was the winner and worthy of the title of "General."
Back to The Herald 24 Table of Contents
Back to The Herald List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1998 by HMGS-GL.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com