15mm Achaemenid Persians DBA++ (BBDBA)Army Review

Started way back in the day when I was but first reading about Marathon, Greeks in Peril, Salamis and Plataea (circa 1997) I realised with uncanny foresight that I needed to paint Persians as well as Greeks .. to my horror I also chose the largest DBA army project in the sense of number of figures (with all the options) to paint, Early Achaemenid Persians - maybe I should have started with Libyans (as in they are mostly 2Ps). The figures I sourced at shows seemed to come from all manner of manufacturers which seemed fitting of the Persian army (see below, the old school Xth Legion Spara Bara (middle row), supported by a front line of Xth Legion Taka Bara (front row), with the newer Xyston miniatures (back row) along with a unit from Chariot Miniatures): 

The respect opponents give the Persians is not from their infantry though, it is their cavalry arm that is feared, excluding the novelty Scythed Chariots (as I have never seen them work on a tabletop). Cavalry is one thing but Cavalry (3Cv) with Light Horse (2LH) is a horrible proposition for spears (4Sp) to face (see below, a Xyston Scuthed Chariot (front row), Xth Legion Cavalry (middle row) and Xth Legion Scythian Light Horse (back row)): 

I am quite proud of my Xyston paint jobs, 28mm detail on 15mm figures, beautiful figures which deserve a good paint job (see below, Xyston (2Ps) slingers (front row), Xyston (3Cv) Cavalry (middle row) and Xyston (2LH) Scythian light Horse (rear row)):   

Next to my Xyston Darius III and his Apple Bearers the (4Sp) Xyston spear who are tasked to guard his life with their own. To be honest my heresy is that I make little distinction between Early and Later Achaemenid Persian (it is just that I do not have many, as in one DBA Army of Macedonians to field against them for now), the only fact being that there is not much call for (8Bw) Spara Bara in later times (see below, going left to right (all Xystn) Light Chariot, Apple Bearer Spears and the start of a Hoard - shield designs all hand painted): 

Chariot Miniatures still hold their own as shown by this rear block of (3Cv) Cavalry to the rear left and the small (but perfectly formed) Spear (4Sp) on the "other side" of Darius (see below, the Persians sure bulked up the body count in their armies):   

Xyston Taka Bara (3Ax) looking much more fierce than their Xth Legion counterparts (see below, note that Xth Legion were passed onto Gladiator Games, who in turn passed the molds onto Magister Militum as per my last recollection): 

Not quite the DBM mass of an order of battle but filling out a BBDBA game, aka three sets of DBA Achaemenid Armies .. left, middle and right (see below, still more "silver legions" to fill out the ranks, particularly overdue are some Xyston Thracians and Egyptian Spearmen to join the ranks of the Persians): 

But of course now there is also now a War Tower to add! But I still need to paint my unit of "Combat Camels". These boys need a little TLC to be expanded in 2021 and who knows Alexander may too be reinforced so that they can "rumble" together. 

DBA Version 3: Athenian versus Early Achaemenid Persian (Part 2 of 2)

After another round of infantry combat the centre looks a mess. A unit of Persian 8Bw Archers finds itself overlapped and fighting a hoplite line [1 to 5 in the Greek favour] and finds itself forced to make a fateful roll (see below, the meance is in the methodical approach of the hoplite battle line with mutually supporting stands):

As per many a historical result the Persian dies (see below, Greeks 1 - Persians 1, with the Greeks in an overall far stronger position trying to overwhelm the Persian 4Sp):

However - as it seems to be the way with all versions of DBA - you can never guarantee the win where you think you should be able to expect it (see below, the Persian 4Sp at a reduced attack value of 2, repulse the massed hoplite phalanx of supported 4Sp of attack value 5 - a sorely "missed opportunity"):

Meanwhile the Athenian 3Bw (I know they are based as 4Bw but don't tell the OrBat Police) spot a target of opportunity (see below, even better because they are hitting the Persian Bow on their rear they don't get to shoot back so the Athenians can ignore any adverse results):

This results in a spectacular success (from an unexpected Athenian source). This flank now looks ripe for Athenian exploitation (see below, Persians 1 - Athenians 3, the writing seems to be very much on the wall for this one):

The Persian archers have a very unsatisfactory time against the hoplites - that could have been because I forgot to award them a +1 tactical modifier for their double base (see below, a lot of arrows in hoplite shields perhaps but nothing much in a tactical [useful?] sense):

The Persians only real hope comes from a cavalry attack led by their General. The Persian Light Horse have already "closed the door" on the Athenian cavalry, so the Persians have a chance to turn the tables on the Athenians. As Sun Tzu puts it, "to get the best out of your troops put them on 'perilous ground' so that they have to fight for their lives" (see below, "good dice" [for the Athenians] and "poor dice " [for the Persians] or it is "death" for the Athenian cavalry):

It seems that the "gods" have favoured them "this day" and it is (unexpectedly) the Persians who recoil (see below, it is the Persian who is shaking his head in disbelief this turn (see below, the Persian cavalry chooses to recoil 40mm, simply because he can):

It is now the Athenians turn. The hoplites come forward on mass "to crunch" and "crunch" they did  (see below, hoplites love fighting poorly armed "Hoards" and "Archers" - doubles always seem to come along like clockwork):

Big gaps start appearing in the Persian line and the Athenian hoplites have the inclination as well as movement to "close the door" on the Persian troublesome 4Sp (see below, the Persian battle line has fragmented in many small unconnected fighting bodies of men, fighting desperately for their lives the Persian 4Sp seem a "lost" cause):

The Persian 4Sp are killed which seals the battle as far as DBA is concerned. Looking at the right hand side of the Persian line "escape" is only thing on the minds of the Persian infantry. How is another matter (see below, an imposing line of hoplite spears face them):

After a brief heroic counterattack the Persians collapse in a heap (see below, their surviving horse may get away but the bulk of their infantry would be doomed - so not silver lining for the Persians here! Greeks 4 and Persians 1 therefore Greek decisive win):

A "good" battle to get a feel of the rules. As it was a gentle play test of a "stand-up" fight without searching out tactical tweaks the result was as expected .. that's not to say all Greek versus Persians should be a forgone conclusion as the Greeks had a deep hatred of the Persian horse. It was well respected for and good reason. It is a long time since I have had these ancients 'out of the box' and I was pleased to see how well my paint job had stood the test of time.

DBA Version 3: Athenian versus Early Achaemenid Persian (Part 1 of 2)

I wanted some hands on practice with DBA Version three. So a friend and myself played through a simple Early Achaemenid Persian versus Athenian hoplites. It was the Athenians who were the aggressors - they must be meddling with the Ionians again, so the Persian chose a gentle battlefield that suited cavalry. Two small hills to assist in defence and two "ploughs" .. which disappeared as "1" was not thrown on the first PiP die roll (see below, both armies were horseshoed in their deployment - Athens top and Persians bottom):

A little bit of a shocker, I thought I was well endowed with Persians but I was a "hoard" [7Hd] short so I 'borrowed' one from the Spartans. This means there will be some extra painting to be done for DBA 3 which in itself is not a bad thing. The Persians below are all Xyston, beautiful figures and I tried to labour the love and attention that befits 25/28mm on these 15mm beauties. (see below, incidentally these are Xyston's Later Acheamenid Persians who would have fought the likes of Alexander - they recently [or rather since I have painted mine] have brought out true SparaBara which I undoubtedly must invest in at some point): 

I found myself performing strange gymnastics with the Persians, by shoving the light horse on my flank to the outer zone. leaving a gap for my 3Cv to fill up later. This all seems a tad geometrical and artificial but the way in which the rules push you (indirectly) to play - I have big hopes of converting these DBA armies into the simple Alexandros tactical battle system but more of that another time (see below, my creative deployment [I kind of hate myself for doing this], in the background you can see my Irregular Miniatures stockade camp - populated by Psilio pretending to be camp followers, I need to base up some civilians here): 

The Greeks (more from Xyston - but sporting the fabulous Little Big Man 15mm Ancient Greek Hoplite Shield Transfers) have a simpler time of it (see below, another stockade camp can be seen in their rear - and a less pronounced horseshoe formation [deployment] to expand out from):

The Armies:

• Athenian: [3Cv, 2LH, 3Bw, 4sp(Gen), 8x4Sp]
• Early Acheamenid Persian: [3Cv(Gen), 3Cv, 2LH, 4Sp, 4x8Bw, 3x7Hd, 3Ax]

The Persians try to fan out their army. Not a problem with the mounted, but the foot look a little laborious (see below, the Persian infantry certainly don't want to be mixing it with the Athenian hoplites, their hope is that their Cavalry have successes on the flanks of the Greeks and it's game over before the heavy infantry clash):

The two battle lines approach with both sides desperately trying to "fill out" to get that overlap advantage (see below, the Greeks are slightly ahead with 10 bases in position compared to the Persian 9):

The Greek attempt a bold and adventurous outflanking move with their Light Horse [2LH] against the Persian right (see below, the Greek 2LH flanks the defensive stance of the Persians):

The rest of the Greek battle line advances to almost touching distance (see below, they [the Greeks] also survive the first of many arrow storms - shield [i.e. hoplon] and hoplite armour preventing serious damage):

Locking horns the battle starts in earnest as the battle lines clash - just as the hoplites wanted it (see below, with a basic value of 4 from the 8x4Sp the Greeks have the advantage in infantry against 3Ax value 3, 7Hd value 3, 8Bw valueu 2 with only one 4Sp value 4):

The strange combat is the Persian 8Bw [value 4] versus the 2LH [value 2] with the mounted at a distinct disadvantage (see below, the horse will have difficulty disengaging getting out of bow range): 

Good Persian dice and poor Greek dice mean first blood to the Persian as the Greek Light Horse is doubled and dies (see below, Persians 1 - Greeks 0):

Meanwhile the Greeks bounce the majority of the Persians back in hand-to-hand melee, without scoring any kills (see below, there may be opportunities on the following round but the initiative lies with the Persian commander and his important PiP roll):

The Persians are looking desperately for their cavalry that has massed on the left flank to do something decisive.

Ancient Naval Rules circa Salamis .. "Bring out your triremes"

Drawn by a long, long term interest in replaying the Battle of Salamis and a fifteen year unfinished project of wargaming "The Greeks in Peril" DBA 15mm campaign (including the naval side of things) I gathered my things "old and new" to hand regarding ancient naval (see below, something old, something new, something borrowed something blue):

Listed out:

• Naval Wargames Rules Fleet Actions by Richard Nelson (War Games Research Group 1973)
• Poseidon's Warriors Classical Naval Warfare 480BC-31BC by John Lambshead (Osprey Wargames 2015)
• Naval Wargaming From Ancient Galleys to Modern U-Boats by Paul Hague (Patrick Stephens Limited PSL 1992)
• Trireme Tactical Game of Ancient Naval Warfare 494BC-370AD bt Ed Smith (Avalon Hill 1970)
• Salamis 480BC The naval campaign that saved Greece by Willian Shepherd (Osprey 2010) for background reference [yes there is ton's of other stuff too]
• And somewhere is a dusty draw there is a copy of David Manly's "Greek Fire and Roman Fury" to tinker about with
• Addendum to when the above photograph was taken: Also of interest see: http://www.rodlangton.com/ancient/ancframe.htm, Ancient Naval Wargame Rules by Martin Johncock and Rob Langton (published by Langton Miniatures 1998)

Or rather for me, something very old and borrowed, something new, something old, something very old again and something relatively new'ish. Having said this it does not appear to be a "in vogue" period, more something people try once or twice, but perhaps I am currently wearing "Greek coloured glasses". The little models are "something old and bestowed from a friend" too, Navwar 1:1200 triremes (see below, they were lurking unpainted in a friend's "lead mountain"):

They do look cute if I do say so myself and then being happy I started to "border on madness" when I decided to 'dot the whites of their eyes' and give them a traditional "Greek Eye" (see below, you may have to 'click on the picture for a close-up look to even see it .. albeit rather blurred):

Cannot see it it? Neither can I, let's try another go (see below, er perfectly visible from six foot away .. why am I bothering, I guess because "It is there!"):

The "painting tray" is currently filled up with my "first fleet" (see below, note I have moved onto "circular disks" as they are (a) more practical .. they fit onto small hexagon battle sheets better and (b) less "sea-scaping" required .. something that always drives me bonkers .. aka I never think I am doing it right):

At least "these" (see above) should provide a means of testing out the rules mentioned above ('when finished' so don't lose that momentum). I know there are alternatives larger (1/300 and 1/3600), smaller [representing squadrons better] and some rather more expensive (see below, Outpost Wargames Services, http://www.outpostwargameservices.co.uk/ from their 1/3600 range, which I like but I seemed to be doing more "sea" than boat and these may suit David Manley's rules better):

Watch this space in 2017 lovers of Greek rowers and trireme rams ;)

Extra bit: Inspiration found on the web http://wabcorner.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Galleys%2FLongships%2FWatercraft