Cancon 2000

DBR Renaissance Wargaming

by Richard Sisson

John Sandercock (2nd place winner) contemplates his NMA's next move against author Richard Sisson's Venetians.

Renaissance wargaming continues to be one of the best kept secrets in the hobby. But, as the increased numbers at this year's DBR Competition at Cancon 2000 suggest, the message is getting out: the Renaissance was the crossroads of the art of war.

Renaissance wargaming gives the player all the hurly burly and cut and thrust of the ancient and medieval battlefield and the more orderly conduct of warfare in later periods. Renaissance warfare has it all - armoured and unarmoured, professionals and mercenaries, experienced and inexperienced troops, and pretty much all the weapons known to man until the later years of the gunpowder age! Some say it's a very gentlemanly game. Others point out that a smaller competition is a closer competition. The more mathematically inclined have pointed out that the chances of getting a placing in a small competition are far greater (1 in 2.5 this year!). Whatever the reason it should come as no surprise that, win or lose, the DBR Competition at Cancon 2000 was a lot of fun.

This year's competition attracted 11 players from the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Although this was two more players than last year, interestingly, only three of last year's contestants played again this year.

Like last year there was only one C 16 army and it wasn't my Tudor English. David Tan of Victoria, at Cancon for the first time, took out the Grumpy Miniatures prize for the most exotic army with his Portuguese Colonial army 1520. This army, with Tupi (i.e. Brazilian Indian) allies, put up a very respectable showing for an early period army. Men the fast blade got into contact they massacred the enemy shot in more than one game and I lost one command of pistoleers (S) and shot (0) from my Venetian army (1606) to the Tupi warband and bow (S) in no time at all.

(Right) Doug Walsh's Poles encounter the toughest opponent of the Comp - (left) Mark Robbins' ECW Royalists

Almost half the armies fielded at this year's competition were C17 Swedish or Polish. Roger Mackay of the ACT's Gentlemen Pensioners with a Polish-Lithuanian army 1629 won third place with 35 points on countback over fellow 'pensioner' Doug Walsh (Polish 1683). Another Gentleman Pensioner, Dominic O'Dwyer (Swedish Thirty Years War Army, 1632), saved the honour of the Swedes by winning the Captain-General's Trophy.

Another exotic army, John Sandercock's New Model Army in the West Indies, came second on 40 points.

Last year's winner, Mark Robins of Victoria, won the competition again this year with the same army English Civil War Royalist, 1642 - which begs the question: why did the Royalists lose the civil war? Mark took out first place with an unheard-of perfect score of 60 points.

Well done Mark!

Further details of competitors and results can be found at: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~nwa/cancon2000/2000results/html.

Thanks to Essex Miniatures Australia and Grumpy for the trophies and prizes and to Craig McGarry for organising and umpiring the competition. I'm hoping the magic of the Renaissance, the gentlemanly nature of the competition and the lure of the largesse will see a few more players grace the DBR Competition at Cancon 2001 to take Renaissance wargaming into the new millennium on a high note.

More CanCon 2000 Convention Coverage

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