Slitherine

Division A

Schweetness101 - Andalusian 756-1049 AD defeats dkalenda - Byzantine 988-1041 AD 48-23

the map was heavily in my favor, where my side had a large open plain, flanked by dense forests that were in turn protected by mountains, and all of that behind a severely disordering stream. With superior firepower from massed archers + rough equality in lights I was able to motivate dkalenda to advance. Here we are right before our forces met:

https://imgur.com/A443CDK

and after a few turns of fighting i had sprung my obvious but unavoidable flank units from the woods to surround the byzantines:

https://imgur.com/daBUebz

and the final scene here

https://imgur.com/kz83WEA

the klibanophoroi and varangians ran rampant, routing quite a few of my units and going the whole game without so much as a disruption between them, but that wasn't enough to carry the day when all their supporting skutatoi, offensive spears and cheaper thematic lancers had melted around them.

In all fairness this game was probably decided at deployment and map roll with such nice terrain advantages for me.

gg to dkalenda.

SnuggleBunnies wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:02 pm In a way it's odd that Early Middle Ages has larger armies than Classical, when historically I imagine it would generally be the opposite based on what we know of army sizes.

Based on my interest in pregunpower armies and I am sure I have read a few hundred books plus numerous magazine articles over the years on these armies, Snugglebunnies is exactly right. I would propose just to be more historic, next season Classical has large armies while Early Middle Ages has medium. Plus it would be an interesting change.

Harvey

Division F

Geoffrey P Smith (Lydian 550-546 BC + Greek Allies) won against Brenmusik (Slave Revolt 73-71bc) 60% to 42%

The battle surged to and fro over an increasingly blood filled ditch, either side could have won here, but the Lydians edged ahead. The staunch backbone of the freedom fighters : the 'well armed slaves' made a valiant comeback, and it seemed the Lydians were unable to muster the strength for a coup de grace. However the relentless attrition from missile troops & repeated cavalry charges wore their esprit de corps down before the less motivated; 'poorly armed rabble' could rally.

Thanks for a stimulating game Brenmusik, I enjoyed being able to discuss slavery in the context of ancient civilisations too.

Cunningcairn wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 9:59 pm

Schweetness101 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:46 pm I'd also like to see large battles for classical antiquity, because although medium size is fun they tend to feel more like large skirmishes than full battles. It looks like most people prefer a balance of sizes across eras though. Perhaps if classical antiquity was made large one of the others that are 1600 could be dropped back to 1200. Maybe just to mix things up.

Yup I agree. With pike and warband armies the Classical section would feel better with more points. Probably the most logical section to go down in points would be the Biblical section as it has many cheap troop types.

yes pike armies especially, with medium size it feels like you can't really afford a substantial pike line.

SnuggleBunnies wrote: ↑Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:02 pm In a way it's odd that Early Middle Ages has larger armies than Classical, when historically I imagine it would generally be the opposite based on what we know of army sizes.

yeah this as well, larger classical armies would feel more historical than large early middle ages armies, but I do like EMA battles large as well. Maybe try:

Biblical: Medium
Classical: Large
Late Antiquity: Medium
Early Middle Ages: Large

DIvision B

schmolywar - Arab, Conquest 629-637 AD defeats paulmcneil - Polish 966-1057 AD with Viking 900-1049 AD allies - 50 - 10

Division A

SnuggleBunnies (Vikings) defeats dkalenda (Byzantines) 54-29

https://youtu.be/pKh_8baBpEU

GG

I might be more in favour of leaving Classical at medium, putting Late Antiquity at large, and Biblical at medium and see how that goes. I think from an organiser's point of view it is not a great idea to keep changing around the points every season, though.

I also think people tend to forget the amount of time and energy that has to be put in to play the Digital League. You have to complete nine games just to finish one section. Some players play in almost all the sections and they love doing that. Other people can only invest x amount of time and energy. I only play in one section most seasons.

As one poster said, large battles do draw out the game and take more time. If it was a knockout tournament then medium or large battles wouldn't make that much difference.

Division A

SnuggleBunnies (Hebrew) defeats dkalenda (Urartian) 66-55

https://youtu.be/Lf2-l6aTB7M

The most dramatic turnaround I have ever managed. There was a long stretch where I was down more than 20 points, at one point 14-39!

GG dkalenda, I was succumbing to despair midway through...

(3-1)

Division F

random27 - Slav 500-599 AD with Germanic/Gothic Foot Tribes 260-599 AD allies beats Stormcrow - Frankish 496-599 AD with Visigoth 419-621 AD allies Result : 48-12

Stormcrow wasn t lucky with his charges.Well played

Division D

bomber23 (Germanic Horse Tribes, Carpi) beat Doyley50 [Dacians] 52-22

obsolete

Geoffrey in Div F has two wins now.. just so you don't lose count. Great job with everything. Thanks.

Division E

Aetius39 - Macedonian 328-321 BC defeats Barrold713 - Carthaginian, Hannibal in Africa 202 BC with Numidian/Moorish 341-56 BC allies 40-8

The map was mostly a flat plain with a few low hills. This was really good for the Macedonian Pikes; less so for the Carthaginians. Carthage was enticed to come down from a small hill and amid the skirmisher fight, the main lines slowly came into fighting. The medium infantry was no match for the pikes, and Macedonia prevailed. GG to my opponent and good luck in the rest of the tournament.

On his return to the FOG2DL after a long absence, Ludendorf has remained unbeaten throughout the season with his Hannibal in Africa army to win Division A of Classical Antiquity. Well played Ludendorf.

Division F

Warg1 (Arab City) beat gioe07 (Byzantine) under Rule 6 (one month had elapsed since the challenge was made)

Division B

Macedonczyk (Byzantine with Arab, North Africa) beats Schmolywar (Arab, Conquest 629-637 AD) 43:11

As a veteran of Arab Conquest use, I knew there would be a tough fight. Additionally, I was surprised when I saw the opponent's position (25 veteran spearman, skirmishes, no horses, no medium foot).

The map made it a little difficult to set up the units but a rough terrain on the right wing helped in the fight:


This forced a tactic that made the game not thrilling: The Lancers blocked the VS, the other horses circled to pull as much VS as possible off the main line. Everything else was shooting at them. To attack VS only when disrupted or close to autobrakes.

Final map:

Division B

rexhurley (Carthage) defeats Trogilus (Thracians) 44/15

open field not a lot massed peltasts can do