Reading List (Update)

Book I: The Spartan Army: 

Reading more about Sparta is simply fascinating. The more you read, slowly the more you realise how little we actually know and the bits we tend to focus on (or rather I should say "I focused on") namely the cultivated depiction of "The 300" and all events surrounding the Persian invasion, are the exception rather than the norm. Greek unity was the exception, out of context from the general flow of Greek history, as the Greeks were a quarrelsome lot who spent most of the time fighting each other. I found Lazenby's book (see below) a medium to hard read but was worth it for the post Peloponnesian War information, as in Sparta's fall from grace. "Hubris" always seems to be the bane of the Ancient Greek civilisations (see below):

Book II: The Soul of Battle (Thebes/Sherman/Patton)

Following on from Sparta's history was the ascent of Thebes by the hands a brilliant general called Epaminondas, who in Victor Hansons "The Soul of Battle", takes war to Sparta. I knew about the Boetian victory at Leuctra (371 BC) but I was unaware of the follow up campaign by Epaminondas to march throughout Sparta laying waste to its territory and creating the political security for the Helots to free themselves from Spartan rule, thus destroying in one swift blow the previously untouchable Spartan power base (Helots doing all the work for them and they can train for war) for all time. After Epaninondas, "The Soul of Battle" goes on to describe two other historical "marches" by democratic armies. I traveled with Sherman through Georgia (which stirred some ACW Wargaming interest) and I am presently starting Patton's journey (which begs for a 1/300 US Armoured Division to play with) through the Reich. Plenty of happy reading ahead (see below):

Next - Book III: Greek Lives: 

Now I have cleared up to the ascent of Thebes and before I attempt to start reading a pile of books marked Alexander (and behind them another pile of books marked Rome [2015?]) I intend to take a reflective look at the Greeks through Plutarch's "Greek Lives" (see below):  

Seeing as Alexander is the ninth Greek it seems to be a good transition book to link the two periods together.

A nice plan but let's see if I get distracted ;)

DBMM (4 of 4): End Game (Rome v Chinese)

The battle reaches its climatic end-game. The power of the blades is self evident as the Roman Legion blows a hole and a half in the Chinese Center (see below):

The only hope for the Chinese is to pull back victory from the jaws of defeat by being victorious on the flanks (and quickly). To this effect the well placed Chinese (Fast) light horse charge in for their place in glory or infamy on the far Chinese Right Flank. It is do or die time for the Roman cavalry (see below)

At the same time the Chinese Left Flank tries to press home its advantage, however no matter what they try the break through is somewhat elusive, losing two (Fast) light horse in the process (see below):

And quite frankly, it just gets uglier and uglier for the Chinese Center, but they are "just to say" holding it together above their morale breaking point  (see below):

Then the Roman Allied Warband blows away the "archers" and the Center will be clearly lost next turn (see below):

The whole Chinese Army (Left, Middle and Right Commands) are teetering on the brink of collapse. Even the favourable cavalry action on the Chinese Right is a damp wet squib, as the Chinese bounce off dejectedly (see below, the Roman Cavalry will dine well recounting the story of that mini battle):

The Chinese Center morale breaking point is now past and it is game set and match to Rome. It was an enjoyable game and well played to my Roman adversary!

DBMM (3 of 4): Furious Fighting (Rome v Chinese)

The Roman army proved its metal and rebounded into the fray. The Romans showed that they too could hurt at a distance as they had a wonder weapon, the mounted ART(Fast) that could even shoot over friendly troops directly in front of it. The first blow caused a stand of Blade(I) to recoil and thus opening up a very dangerous "gap" that could be exploited as an overlap by the advancing Roman legionaries. The Chinese C-in-C (me) at this point was really regretting choosing the "cheaper" of the blade options. Quantity not really helping when you had a looming gap in the line (see below):

The the Roman wonder weapon went one one further and removed the Blades(I) rather demoralising the Chinese commander. This seems to be the fate for inferior (I) troops. Once they are bested their morale can go down and without the metal of the ordinary (O) troops they can self destruct (see below):

The Chinese were still hoping to win on the wings, although the rough ground seemed to make it a rather messy combat. On the Chinese Right Wing the Chinese lost a Light Horse stand to rather indifferent dice rolling, but still felt confident that their numbers would eventually tell on their Roman adversaries (see below):

In the Center things got very horrid, as the Roman blades made a huge mess of the Chinese "quantity" making the Roman "quality" a clear significant telling factor in the combats (see below):

Over on the Chinese Left Wing things again were looking more positive, though again the terrain was making progress happen much slower than The Chinese C-in-C would have liked. I was regretting moving the center forward, perhaps hanging back would have been the more prudent option (see below and previous the photograph):

Back over on the Chinese Right Flank the situation looked more promising now as a stand of Chinese Light Horse (Fast) had positioned itself in the rear of the Roman position. It was about to make a telling attack, or so the Chinese C-in-C (as in me) hoped (see below):

Note: Those who play DBM/DBMM/DBA on a regular basis more be rather puzzled that fast moving light horse are not "closing the door" or performing devastating "attacks from the rear" more often. Well "if truth be told" there is a "house rule" in play that states that before you can attack from the rear or close the door, you must have started from behind the flank of the attacked stand. I have to say I don't fully endorse the house rule, but at least it is the same for both sides. It tends to make for more ponderous flank attacks.

DBMM (2 of 4): Advance and Action on the Flanks (Rome v Chinese)

The Chinese "long thin line" advances en masse (see below):

An early archery strike killing a warband stand fills the Chinese player with hope and the Roman with a sense of dread (see below):

Likewise a stand of Roman auxilla die hard in face of an arrow storm, these pointy things seem awfully dangerous (see below):

The Roman cavalry facing the Chinese Right Flank line out, but err into the range (24cm) of the Chinese massed bow (see below):

They too fall victim of "the arrow storm from the east" (see below):

The omens are looking good for the Chinese, can their luck hold when the fighting becomes up close and more personal?

DBMM (1 of 4): Three Kingdoms versus Middle Imperial Romans

The battlefield was set with the Three Kingdom Chinese determined as the aggressors, the Romans therefore have the advantage of a small defensive hill and rough ground offering some protection to their flanks (see below, Romans top of picture, Chinese bottom):

Looking from the perspective of the Chinese Army, scanning the Roman lines from left to right, facing the Chinese Left is a small band of light horse and auxillia, seven stands in total (see bellow):

The Legion(s) dominate the Center. Nobody in their right mind would run up the hill at them. Eight stands of blades (four of them superior), four psilloi, sixteen warband (the versatility of the Roman Army is on show here to pick and chose a variety of allies, massed on the right hand side of their centre as the Chinese looked at them)  with the "talking point" of the Roman "order of battle" a Scorpion on a cart (Artillery[Fast] in DBMM terms). This gives it the ability for it to shoot from the rear over friendly troops (see below):

The Roman force facing the Chinese Right is another small band of cavalry and auxillia, again just seven stands, held back in a slightly 'refused position' (see below):

The Romans (like the Chinese) have paid for three commanders, one result of which is the two small Roman flank commands will need to be virtually annihilated (unless they lose their General) before becoming demoralised.

The Chinese left is a massed bow (seven stands) and cavalry force (three cavalry and two Fast light horse stands), with a token element of blade (one stand) and auxillia (one stand). Its function is to envelope the Roman flank before the legions can inflict telling damage (see below):

The Chinese Center is a massed blade (though notably of "inferior" status) and auxillia (again of "inferior" status). The Chinese have gone for the concept of quantity over quality, thinking that troops overlapping do the killing better than more expensive stand-to-stand match-ups. Will this strategy produce the goods though? (see below):

The Chinese Right Flank is a mirror of their Left Flank, bar the fact they have an additional extra "one stand" of Fast light horse. Again a swift enveloping action is hoped for (see below):

The hard part of DBMM seems to be 'building the army'. Some would say this is the curse of the 'points based army battles' as opposed historical re-fights, based on actual orders of battles.

I see it as a mini-Sudoku brain teaser myself. You never seem to 'get it right' the first time and there is always changes to be made based on battlefield experiences.It will be interesting to see how right or wrong I have got the above.

"Form Line of Battle" : Napoleonic Naval Small Squadron Action

A small Royal Navy squadron of HMS Thunderer (74) and HMS Canopus (80) spots a suspicious pair of sails on the distant horizon (see below):

The sails turn out to be a small French squadron of two ships Le Franklin (74) and the Commerce de Marseilles (120) obviously intent on conducting a secret mission for the Emperor (see below):

Despite being out gunned the Royal Navy commander decides on a aggressive strategy of cutting the enemy (French) line, so the fittingly named HMS Thunderer leads the charge. HMS Canopus and the Commerce de Marseilles have exchanged fire resulting in "sail and mast" damage to both. As HMS Thunderer blocks HMS Canopus' line of sight to the French flagship Canopus turns her attention to the Le Franklin (see below, British squadron at top of photograph, French bottom):

The ambitious "breaking the line" manoeuvre goes somewhat awry as the captain of HMS Thunderer miscalculates the relative speeds of the two ships and impales herself on a ship twice her size (a crew of over a thousand Frenchmen compared to under five hundred British sailors). This meant interested reading and re-reading of the collision rules (see below):

As a wargame the battle had to be left unfinished, in rather a shambolic state, with the French flagship being entangled with the small British 74 (HMS Thundered). HMS Canopus and Le Franklin meanwhile continued their exchanges of broadside upon broadside, leaving both in a state of mutual "de-sailing and de-masting" (see below):

Chances are the Le Franklin will succumb to the continued attention of HMS Canopus as both ships become static floating fortresses, the rate of fire from the British being better. However if HMS Thunderer cannot untangle herself from the French flagship ultimately the battle will be lost to the French.

A 60:40 probability to the French methinks ;)

PSC Russian AT "Chain of Command" Supports

Further to the Italeri offerings the PSC have a nice duel option kit with the 57mm and 76mm AT guns being available as alternative variants. The number of guns in the pack are nice too, as in four (see below):

The Zis 3 76mm AT Gun and servants (see below):

The Zis 2 57mm AT Gun and servants (see below):

I must confess I was slightly taken aback with the length of the 57mm AT (Zis 2) Gun's barrel. It must have had a heck of a mussel velocity but just did not pack the punch to trouble a Panther or Tiger, so it was replaced by the Zis 3 76mm gun.

Correction: Please read comments for the "real" reason ;)