Although last year at De Bellis Columbus DBM players outnumbered DBA by about two to one, this year there weren't enough participants to get their tourney off the ground. So, on Saturday, Big Battle DBA absorbed two of their participants (as we scoured our figure boxes to piece together armies for them!) to bring the field to eight. Normally, I allot about 2:15 to 2:30 per round for 36-element BBDBA. The games at DBC this year ran quite a bit longer, and we finished nearly two hours late overall for the tourney.
One of the players we absorbed was Jeff Fletcher. He used the army I'd brought to play if an odd number forced me to -- the Seljuk Turks. I warned him that 24 light horse on a 4'x2' board would have a difficult time of it. However, their makeup seemed to suit his style, as Jeff won two games and tied one. His tie was against John Lawitzke's East Franks, who also went 2-0-1. Since Jeff had been ahead significantly in their game when I was forced to call it on time, I awarded Jeff the tournament victory.
Jeff had less trouble in his first round, as he matched up against his Ottoman Turk brethren fielded by John Loy. Jeff won this game with a 84-16 score. His second round game against John Lawitzke's East Franks was a marathon, but Jeff was ahead 31-21 when I called it. And the final game, vs. at that point 2-0 Keith Finn, also proved to be a marathon. Keith's Saitic Egyptian, with Early Hoplite and Neo-Assyrian allies, were unable to stand up in the end against repeated light horse charges.
* Note: We allowed some unofficial allies to be fielded so that we could assemble a few extra armies, as we took in players from the cancelled DBM Tournament.
Jeff Fletcher pulls back after another assault on Keith Finn's Saitic Egyptian battleline. Eventually, Jeff's Seljuk Turks broke through and defeated Keith's Egyptians for the championship.
In an earlier round, Keith's Saitic Egyptian battleline was able to defeat Bob Bogg's New Kingdom Egyptian with Syro-Canaanite allies.
Dylan Fraser advances his Later Hoplite Greeks Phokians with Athenian allies against Bob's Egyptians, as well. Bob was able to turn back Dylan's Greeks and win the battle.
Dylan's Greeks try to hold the hill against Aztec warbands. The Greeks held, but their center collapsed when their cavalry -- led by their commander and chief -- tried an impetuous charge and failed.
Finished with his deployment, John Lawitzke prepares for his East Franks to move out against Jenny Torbett's Ancient British.
A closeup of John Loy's Ottoman Turkish army, using Venexia miniatures.