Last Friday night’s game at Jims illustrates my “ability” well. We are starting a new campaign based on the Punic War period. My empire of choice is the Ptolemaic kingdom. Battles are to be fought in DBM, FOG, or BBDBA. My first battle occurred when I invaded the neighboring Kyrenian Greek kingdom. Howard West was assigned as my opponent, and we set up a DBM battle. Jim recorded dice rolls for the game as a test.
I rolled 76 combat dice for the game.
20 were 1’s! I lost 16 elements in the game, which I surprizingly won.
Diceman rules!
Here is Jim’s campaign report for the playerr:
The Ptolemaic army under Ursinankten Ptolemny advanced into the land of the Kyrenean Greeks. They were met by the Kyrenean field army in the dry badlands southeast of the Kyrenian capital. Ptolemny brought 10,000 pikemen, 8,000 thureophoroi, 1,000 Thracians, 1,000 Galatians, 1,000 Nubians, 30 elephants, 500 light horse1,500 cleruchs. The Kyrenean leaders emptied the city of hoplites, fielding some 15,000, supported by 3,000 thureophoroi, with Libyan chariots and light foot accompanying them.
the battle took place near Lake Nyad, with the Ptolemaic right and Kyrenean left resting on the lake. Ptolemny had little surprise for the Kyreneans, having dragged some 40 galleys along partially assembled. The galleys were quickly put together and launched on the lake, and seriously discomfitted the Libyans, who spent a great deal of time trying to stay out of bowshot of the lake.
The main battle saw the Kyrenean left and the Ptolemaic right march resolutely forward to engage. Soon a pushing match developed, with the Kyreneans having the upperhand despite the theoretical advantages of the [ike. The problem lay on the inner flank of the Ptolemaic phalanx, which was not supported by the thureophoroi of the Ptolemaic center. Also, the Kyeneans sent their entire force of cavalry around the
Ptolemaic left, which was hanging in the air. This move was slowed almost to a crawl by poor orders.
The Ptolemaic left proved to be the deicison point of the battle. The local commander waited until the enemy hoplites were a hundred paces away, then launched his 1,000 Galatians and 1,000 Nubians in an assault at the junction betweemn two Kyrenean columns. Protected by the Nubians, the Galatians hacked their way through the hoplites, slaying hundreds. A group of 500 turned inside and cut deeper into the Kyrenean center formation while the Ptolemaic cavalry, which had been waiting on the hill that supported their center, charged into the other end of the Kyrenean center column. In a twinkling of an eye the advance was turned into a rout, Kyrenean hoplites streaming away to the rear. On the Kyrenean left, the space cleared by the Ptolemaic galleys proved decisive. The Ptolemaic right wing thruephoroi turned the flank, and as the Kyrenean general and Libyan chariots moved to close the gap, caught the Kyrenean general and his bodyguard and slaughter them after trapping them against the Libyan chariots.
The Ptolemnies lost some 4,000 men. The Kyreneans lost some 6,000, the Libyans, about 1,000. The Kyrenean army retreated into its capital.
