Old Dominion Military Society: April 2009

The Die is Cast - an upcoming DBA Tournament, to be held in the month of June.

If there is enough player interest, I would like to run a DBA tournament during the month of June. As this tournament will stretch over four weeks, it is similar to a mapless campaign. Each battle will follow the normal rules of DBA v2.0 for terrain selection and set up. The referree (Chuck) will provide a number of pre-made playmaps for the typical terrain types of armies of this era. The games will be played in 15mm. If you want to play but don't have an army, then let me know and I can gladly lend you one. The tournament has a handicap/points system to determine the winners (four trophies, provided by me), but the players only need to be worried about playing games. As many as possible, and wherever is convenient for the players (at home, at the Hangar, at the Battle Barn, etc).

Tournament Name: The End of the Republic

Tournament Theme: The final century of the Roman Republic and the first century of the Roman Imperium saw warfare involving some of the most colorful empires and leaders in all of history. This is an exciting time to wargame, and the variety of armies really lends itself to a DBA tournament.

Description: Beginning with the reforms of Marius in the Roman army (107BC), and leading through the following two hundred years, some of the most colorful military leaders would battle in and around the Mediterranean basin. Leaders such as Marius, Jugurtha, Boudica, Vercingeterox, Agricola, Mithradates, Cleopatra, Sulla, Pompey, not to mention Julius Caesar and Marc Antony make this a very exciting period to wargame in. The Roman Legions are just the start. There are exciting armies to command ranging from the Numidians and Ptolemaic Egyptians of North Africa through the Gauls and Germans of Europe, and the armies of Pontus and Judea in the east. All of the classic troop types represented in DBA are available here. There are chariot armies, pike armies, warband armies, and blade armies. A ripe field for tournament play.

Rules:

Each play must submit, via email, a preferred army list, from the DBA Version 2.0 rulebook (Feb. 2001), chosen from the list presented below. This list is (broadly) the Marian Roman army, the Early Imperial Roman army, and their enemies (with the exception of the Middle Imperial Roman army). This army choice must be emailed to the referee (Chuck) no later than the end of May. If you don't have an army in 15mm to play in this tournament, then ask, I have plenty to lend.
Beginning with the first week in June, each player has the opportunity to play in as many DBA games as they can arrange. Each other opponent in the tournament can be played once per week. Specific standings will not be posted until the end of the tournament, but it is in the player's best interest to play as many games per week as practical. Playing other players who have a "winning record" also pays off. Defeating a weak player may not be worth as many points as losing to a really good player. However, all games are worth points - nobody can lose points by playing.
There will be four awards given. Two for the top two players, in a run-off battle - these are chosen by having highest total score. Then the player with the highest win/lose ratio. Finally, the player who plays the most number of games.
Required paperwork - each week, each player must turn in a list of all games played, and against whom, and who won. It is sufficient to say "Brian played Dave, and Brian Won". This should be emailed to the referree at the end of the week.
The reason that turns are oriented on weeks, rather than on Thursday nights, is to give players an opportunity to play on the weekend. Each week starts on a Monday, and ends the following Sunday (so all games play Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday count as in the same week).
Final handicap of each player (at the end of the tournament) is equal to the number of games won, plus 1. So (example) if a player plays a total of eleven games in the tournament, and wins six of them, then at the end that players handicap will be equal to "7".
Final score of a player will be determined by the handicap of other players he played against. For each game played, a player gains the other player's handicap in points if he beats the other player, and he gains half the other player's points if he loses to the other player.
Calculation of handicap and points will be done by the Referee, so players only have to keep track of who they play, and who wins each game (this information is turned in each week, as mentioned in number 4 above).

Awards:
Four awards will be made, with trophies, to be labelled with the winning player's names, and to be displayed at the Hanger and on the ODMS website - these include "Dicatator of Rome", "Magister of Equitum", "Orator of the Senate", and "Tribune of the Plebs".

In the end, the two player with the highest total scores will be awarded the status of "Consul of Rome" and will play each other in the final battle.
The player winning the final battle is awarded the title of "Dictator of Rome".
The player losing the final battle will be awarded the title of "Magister Equitum".
The player (other than the Consuls) won has the highest "handicap value" (i.e. - highest win/lose ratio) will be "Orator of the Senate".
The player (other than the Consuls or Orator) who plays the most games will be awarded with the title of "Tribune of the Plebs".

Schedule:
Week 1 1-7
Week 2 8-14
Week 3 15-21
Week 4 22-28

Winners will be announced and awarded with suitable laurels the first Thursday evening in July (July 2).

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Coming Soon - Williamsburg Muster website update

May/June Game Schedule

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Alea Iacta Est - an Age of Rome DBA Tournament

Spring Fever - this weekend

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