Imperial Roman Civil Wars in 'Double-based' DBA

The plan was for Steve to come around on a Thursday night when my wife was away, for a rare opportunity to cover my dining table with wargaming figures, and to continue our Peloponnesian Wars campaign. I couldn't resist showing Steve some of my collection, however, and he very courteously suggested that we use my Imperial Romans for a 'double-based' DBA game. It was simplest to go for a Roman Civil war game, so we did.

We decided that Steve would take the part of the ruling Emperor, being equipped with the general most Emperor-like in appearance, and giving him both the 'regular' looking auxiliaries and an element of Praetorian guard. We decided I would play the usurper, supported by some mutinious legionaries and a motley bunch of rebels, ie. auxilaries 'scraped up' from various sources including Spanish and Gallic armies.

For our first battle, I rolled up as defender. I laid out a road across the board with a town (BUA in DBA-speak), and a hill on one side of the board and woods and another hill on the other. Steve choose his side of the board and I got the side with the road and town to my left of centre and a hill just in front of my deployment area on my right. Steve had the second hill on his right flank and the woods on his left. I garrisoned the town with legionaries, no doubt mutineers with promises of payment from the usurper, who the Emperor had come to crush and the usurper had rallied his forces to relieve.

View from Steve's side of the board.
Steve kicks the game off by advancing his battleline.
I do the same. With my auxilaries/rebels taking the hill to me front, while I send my light horse off to the right.
Steve advances his infantry, leaving his cavalry behind the line. He moves his auxiliaries to secure the hill on his side of the battlefield, and his praetorian guardsmen to cover the flank of his legionary line.
With a fairly poor PIP score, I just extend my line with some of my auxiliaries.
...my artillery force a recoil with some long range fire...
Steve now straightens up his line which threatens to outflank my own...
I try for a better position on the hill on my right flank ...
...and advance an element of cavalry up my left flank...
...Steve gets a very good PIP roll enabling him to seize the initiative...
...which he does by charging my auxiliaries on the hill, and also catches my light horse napping too close to his auxiliaries...
...and advancing his whole line..
...swarms of his auxilaries overwhelm my light horse, element destroyed!!
The tough Praetorians smash a unit of auxiliaries on the hill...
...while my auxiliaries to the right of the hill are pushed back...

...my whole right flank is looking on the verge of collapse...
...I pull the auxiliaries back to form a line while my general races his mounted bodyguard to rescue the right flank...
...Steve wheels his auxilaries to be in position to outflank my line...
...view of my centre...
... I manage to get my general in place to stop the flank overlap on my line...
An element of legionaries charge my exposed auxilaries....
...supported by the Praetorian guardsmen....
...and the whole left side of his line advances...

...the Praetorian guardsmen push my auxiliaries back down the hill...
...I advance my legions, with the town's mutinous garrison rushing out to get in on the action ...
...I reform at the base of the hill...

...and my legions push back Steve's legion on the right of his line...
Not a great PIP roll for Steve!

Which he used to charge back in...

...but it proved a great moment for me to throw a 6 and Steve a 1!!! His legion broke on mine!

Steve swept his legion around, forcing my legion to turn to face...
...which I pushed back...

...but Steve pushed back in and moved up his cavalry...

...My doughty legionaries forced them back again...

...Meanwhile on my left flank my legions advanced crunching into Steve's auxiliary archers in the woods and his artillery....

While my other legionaries follow up on the element they have just pushed back..

I smash Steve's war machines...

...and slaughter his archers....

...ripping a huge hole in his line...

...although his legionaries bounce mine back...

....Steve goes back on the offensive following up with his legion and sending cavalry into my flank in the scrappy fight that has developed in my centre...but he keeps not rolling enough PIPs to get his right flank into action!

My legion is made of very stern stuff and repels them both...

...now its my turn to try some encirclement and my two victorious legions turn to attack the cavalry...
,,,and smash them completely....and that means that I have destroyed four elements in a row...having been two elements down earlier in the game, I've completely turned it around and I've won!!! Panic spreads threw the Emperor's army and it melts away...

A scary black beast comes to inspect the battlefield.

And so on to the next battle. Emperor's army retreats and regroups. The victorious usurper marches his forces after him, determined to claim the Imperial purple with a second crushing victory.

I got to set up again, this time with simply a road down the centre, single wood and single hill in the centre on each flank.

I deploy with four elements in column ready to use the road, the rest in line...
Steve puts most of his troops into a double line...
He kicks off the battle, advancing his auxiliaries on his left flank...
I use the road to get my auxilaries moving to take the hill on my left, and march my legions forward, I also advance my whole line...
Steve's auxiliaries move into the woods..-
Mine take the hill...
Steve's whole line advances..
His auxiliaries surge through the woods and attack mine..
...but mine push his back...
Our main battlelines square up...
Steve advances his right flank...
His artillery drive back some of my auxiliaries...

I race some light horse to reinforce my right flank...
...and steady my line...
Good PIP roll from Steve...
In goes his auxiliaries again, streaming out of the woods...
...and forward goes his line...
...I drive his auxilaries back again into the woods....
...and its my turn to get a high PIP roll, its now or never to seize the intiative...
...so hoping a small overlap will count in my favour I order my whole battle-line to advance and charge! Crunch!!!
On the right flank my light horse destroy an element of auxiliaries...
...and drive the other element back into the woods...
...but my legions do not do so well, three elements are driven back (fortunately despite being overlapped on two sides my one element that stands survives Steve's counterattack)...
...as are my cavalry....
...and on Steve's turn so are my auxiliaries...
...on my next turn I only have enough PIPs to send my legionaries back in again...
...again despite having an overlap I'm driven back...
...although this time I also drive back the Praetorian guard...
...and the unit in the centre has a drawn combat and remains locked in hand-to-hand struggle..
....as do the legions on the right...
On Steve's turn he commits his cavalry supported by auxiliaries, now it's my turn to be overlapped and the left flank...
....and my auxiliaries are destroyed...
...and another element of legionaries are pushed back...
...then another...
...and another, until our lines stand separated.
At least I get a good PIP score...
...which means there's nothing for it but to commit my last reserves, including an element of cavalry and my auxiliaries charging down from the hill to own big push all along the line...
...and also on my right, where cavalry and auxiliaries all charge in, with light horse attacking Steve's auxiliaries in the flank. So overlapping on one flank, flank attacking on the other, will this attack be any more successful?
View of the whole battle line locked in combat. What a scene!
But again the overlap fails to pay off....
...and Steve's auxiliaries on his extreme left hold firm, too...
...and again his rock hard line pushes my own legions back...
...and smashes an element of my legionaries...
...then on Steve's counter attack another, this element which previously survived being overlapped on both flanks not being so lucky a second time...
...then the 'coup de grace', also overlapped on both flanks, my cavalry cannot survive a crushing 5-2 dice roll!
This marks the end of the line for me, once the dust is cleared it is obvious that my main battle line has been shattered. My imperial ambitions in tatters I fall on my sword, as Steve's legions cheer 'Long live the Emperor!'