IWorg.Com The Irish Wargaming Homepage

well after my unexpected success in Cork here is a brief report:

Army List (from memory):
Later Achemenid Persian, Darius III at Gaugamela
c1: 1 R CvO Ch Inert CnC, 4 I CvS, 2 I CvO, 6 I LHF, 3 I KnI, 4 I HdO - 32ME
c2: 1 R CvO SG, 6 I CvO, 1 I ElO, 4 R ExpO, 10 I PsO, 2 I PsS, 1 I KnI - 24ME
c3: 1 R CvO SG, 10 R SpO, 2 R SpS, 4 I CvO, 2 R KnF - 30ME
c4: 1 R CvO SG, 4 I LHF
Train: 8 I BgI
Stratagem: Unusual troops
Standard reg PIP allocation: c1, c2, c3, c4

The basic list design question with Inert LAPs is how to maximise the
PIP efficiency of the army given the relative paucity of Reg troops to
take advantage of the SG's +1 PIP. Hence the Reg SpO feature more
heavily than some might expect. I deploy these in a thin line with the
SpS as a reserve and then use the SG's PIP to turn/contract/expand
them to somewhere useful/out of harms way. c4 is designed to really
just use the Cv SG as a skirmisher since it normally has no other PIPs,
the LH allow him to deploy in one of the flank zones.
That gives me 2 commands with fairly mobile troops and good numbers
of PIPs. I was really happy with the 6 LHF in the CnC's command as
often the CvS just trudge forward and in that case the LH can try to
nip around a flank. c2 generally uses most of its PIPs on the non-
impetuous Exp at the start of the battle and the Ps and Cv later on.

I am still not 100% happy with this list and no doubt I'll have a lot of
fun experimenting with the LAPs as it has many options to choose
from.

Game 1 vs Willie Coughlan, Ltr Carthaginian
Willie was using his 8 Exp El Zama list, I messed up deployment as
I didn't hide my Bg enough and emphasised the open side of the
field, which of course my munted perferred but his Exp loved. Luckily
I used my Sp as a delayed command and they arrived on bound 1
so rather than hide them I deployed them 3 deep and took on the
Exp (IMO Exp are a lot worse vs foot than in DBM). This worked so
well that Willie did a feigned flight with them to pull them out.
Unfortunately for him I just let my Sp go sponno since being
broken up made little difference vs troops that don't overlap
you. Elsewhere I threatened his low PIP die LH command with
CvS and we had some maneuvering of my Exp/CvO vs his
HI/Ps. Net result was that I killed a lot of Exp but was just starting on
his juicy stuff and I'd taken a fair amount of casualties when time
was called after 3 hours. Result 15-10 to me.
IMO 3.5 hr games are a lot better for
ensuring results, especially as this was our 1st 400AP DBMM event
and hence we had no blitiz and a lot of people (including me!)
are having to work moves out carefully rather than just doing
it automatically. FF should not work on Exp (IMO).

Game 2 vs Greg Mann Classical Indians
Fair amount of terrain in this game and the board was almost cut in
2 in the old central sectors. We both deployed on the more open
flank, I wanted to put my CvS/LHF over there as I though Greg
would find it hard to respond to that, My Sp were the "centre"
(even though on the open flank) and my Ps deployed to take the
central Rocky Hill that was going to be important. My Exp/Cv
hung around behind that hill to threaten either side of the rocky hill.
Greg had tons of CvS chariots, some El, a fair amount of
BwO/BdI and a mountain Indian ally. In the first half of this game I had
the worst PIPs I have ever experienced with an Inert general, eg for 3
bounds in a row I rolled at least 2 1's and no high numbers. Of course
this didn't happen on the first turn so I started to put my plan into action
and then ground to an almost complete standstill. The CIs started
to out-maneuver me and sent a force of El/LHO/CvI to trap my
CnC/CvS/LHF against the board edge as more El bore down on
my Bg/KnI. My Exp were able to blunt the advance of the CvS
protecting the El's flank so Greg concentrated on cornering my CnC
instead of pushing the El towards my squishy bits. In the centre
I was starting to cause some damage with the Ps coming over
the hill into the Bw, followed by the Sp who had re-deployed there
(thank god for the general's +1 PIP!). I managed to make it awkward
for Greg to really nail my CnC through a combo of poor PIPs for
him and use of the ability to move straight forward while TZ'd.
My troops were also better so his only real chance was if he got into
my rear or flank and frontal contact. Time slipped on and the
3 hour game saved me, this was I think 13-12 in Greg's favour.

Game 3 vs Tom Worden's Huns (Attilla)
I tried to close the board down with terrain and got nice flank
protection on my side of the board but his side was a bit of a
billiard table. I decided I had to be aggressive so I lined up
my Sp 1-deep (except the SpS), my CnC's CvS/O and the El/Exp
then I held a DH with my Ps. The c2 Cv were in reserve and c4
skirmished on the far side of the DH protecting my flank.
Had 3 commands and I picked on the low PIP die one which was
in front of my CvS/O. While denying the others much opportunity
to attack anything except Exp or Ps upslope on the DH. It was
still a very touch and go fight as I was thin to deny him flanks
and he was 2 deep. My partial second line was mainly LHF so
if anything started to go wrong it would be very eek. Luckily
I was winning the close combats and as he got broken up I started
to cause casualties after only losing 1 CvO myself. He then began
to re-deploy another command of LHS in support, but I was only
1 LH away from disheartening the command I had been battering.
In order to maximise my chances I put 2 generals into the line,
so I had 3-4 combats at good odds and I only needed 1 of them.
Of course none of them worked and in Tom's next bound he managed
to kill both generals!!! I was now in real danger of collapsing, but
luckily my commands were huge so I wasn't disheartened and my
troops were able to handle the 2 more turns I needed before I
managed to get the final LHS to dishearten the command (in fact
it went straight to broken). We played a bit further but I couldn't
re-group to make another attack and he didn't risk a mad charge
to see if he could tip me over. Final result 15-10 to me.

game 4 vs Richard Aynsley's Mo-Mo thingy with the CvS DBEs
Richard was massively ahead of me and only needed 2VP to secure
the 1st place, in addition while the 2 of us are fairly evenly matched
he has the better overall record in our normally very tight games.
He also has a very aggressive, fast style of play so I knew there
was little chance of him turtling up vs me. As the underdog I had nothing
to lose and every chance of not placing if I didn't win very big so I
didn't really feel any pressure despite it being the top table. We always
have nice games too, so that would help!
In short I think the game's result came down to the following factors
1. As per DBM, don't stand in front of sluggish but frontally powerful
troops, the best fight against them is to not fight them but instead
to slow them to tactical moves and threaten their flanks while evacuating
all troops that are initially deployed in front of them.
2. Exp are fantastic against Kn, Irr Kn doubly so as they can't get
out of the way. (El aren't too bad either :-)
3. Richard came out to fight and made a game of it
4. Richard made a mistake by re-deploying some LH(F) from his KnF
commands to try and threaten my flank, this had worked well for him
in other games _but_ the lack of LH protecting the KnF was crucial
in terms of the free reign it gave me with my Exp. My Reg CvO SG
acted as a skirmisher from c2 and practically neutralised the LH himself.

It ended 25-0 to me. To be fair Rich had 1 chance at 2-2 with a quick-kill at
my c4 SG due to silly aggressive play by me on that flank and if it had
come off then he would have got his 2VP easily.

All great games, thanks again to Willie and Rich for organising and umpiring.
We will have an Open 400AP 2-dayer in Dublin in the 7-8th March, the Finn Mac
Cool Cup, as practice for the Celtic Championship (http://www.iworg.com/celtic)
on April 17-19th. Nice to see 2 GB visitors in Cork and the overall numbers (14)
equaling our best past numbers for that event at the height of DBM.