This week's game saw the second return of an old friend - DBR. Many years ago - perhaps 15 or more - I really liked it. I have always enjoyed DBR on a smaller scale - around 20-30 bases - but I have no strict limit. For several weeks/months I have been dropping the name 'DBR' as regularly as I can without pushing the issue. One player, Ian - my opponent for this game also - has been driving very hard for months to play more renaissance gaming. This has found support but few of us have such armies and no-one can really agree on rules - but that has become endemic over the last twelve months in our group - and I cannot claim to have not taken an active part in this process.
I had proposed a solution ... an eastern renaissance match up ... but in DBR.
It didn't happen straight away ... but we are a club of varied tastes which plays many games.
In any case, the second DBR game occurred with my medieval Turkish army pressed into service as Safavid Persians while Ian ran his Later Ottomans as ... Ottomans. We played with 300 points and 2 generals each. I like to play a relaxed version of the rules. Time period was around 1550.
Ian played a defensive game with his main battle line of cavalry, janissaries and azabs while he pushed forward akinjis on each flank. My Persian Shah decided to advance slowly in the centre while using a stronger force on each flank of Turkomans, light infantry and feudal cavalry.
The Turkish Pasha hoped the massive bombard - that 100 oxen had dragged to the field - would disrupt the advance and battle groups of the Persians. It didn't.
Above is one of my flanking forces swinging about the hill after they had dispatched the akinjis - one of whom had fled off and lurked in the background.
The main Ottoman battle line were held steady by the Pasha's orders.
Prayers and cries echoed across the plain but there was little movement in the centre.
On my other flank I had also driven away the akinji force and now eagerly trotted to meet the azabs. My men knew Allah was with them and were sure of victory. They were deluded.
With the flanks secure it was time to advance in the middle. The Shah felt sure he could crush the Turks with an attack on three sides. He would see the vile Pasha flayed alive before the sun set.
And battle was joined ... arrows flew, horses whinnied, scimitars flashed and men screamed blood curdling cries. The lines of sipahis surged back and forward with only a base or two lost. The generals of both sides were influential in keeping the lines in place. The superior class of many combatants also aided this.
Meanwhile, Ian had been forced to order some of his centre cavalry onto his left flank to meet my advancing thrust. For several turns the struggle surged back and forth before additional light troops turned the table by providing an overlap.
The guard cavalry from both sides clash again and again.
Iranian cavalry have cut through the janissaries but behind the azabs have annihilated the advancing left wing. Their bows did what arquebuses could not and scythed through the galloping horses at longer range. If the azabs could swing onto the Iranian flank the battle would be lost.
Not quite a final image but an overview. The Ottomans broke first but the Iranians were only two bases away. The azabs were certainly the surprise packet of the evening - Bw (I). The Persian right hook pressed into the Turks and took the last couple of bases but not before the Shah fell in the thick of the fighting. But this was masked but the whirl of dust and noise of battle and it was not until later that the Persian force withdrew mourning its brave leader. The Turks had lost many men - especially their janissaries - but these would be replaced and this defeat would be avenged.
Both players enjoyed the game and I'm sure the Ottoman invasion will not be delayed for many weeks. My memories of DBR were justified and I have found the recent games just as enjoyable.
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