I have had this article on the computer since before Christmas and had rather forgotten about it -
I came across my old copy of DBA wedged between some Osprey books on my bookcase and I sat there wallowing in nostalgia - I bought them when they first came out in 1990 (that's 29 years ago !!!) and our group played them constantly for years and I amassed lots of 15mm DBA armies of various eras, we never bothered with the various new editions which I think didn't improve the game , then as things happen I moved on and ended selling off all my armies .
Then I came across a copy of The Sumerians by Leonard Wooley for 50p at a charity shop -
I also saw and won very cheaply several boxes of plastic 1/72nd figures - so I was back into DBA .
I painted up two Sumerian DBA armies using these figures and re-read the rules , which there are not a lot of , but rather badly written - they read like a insurance document .
The war carts were a nightmare to assemble needing lots of pins to hold things in place . I used the 25mm scale basing system which needs a 4' x 4' table .
Spearmen and shield/pavise bearers , what I like about the Sumerians that there is hardly anything known about their methods of warfare , we know they used ass drawn chariots and close order spear armed infantry and that's about it .
These are some of the very few contemporary illustrations of Sumerian warriors .
The opposing General flanked but skirmishers and Guti tribesmen . Behind them is the armies camp a homemade Ziggerat .
The other flank of the army , the great thing about DBA armies is that you only need twelve bases/elements per army and Sumerians are very simple figures to paint up .
Their first battle, skirmishers ( called 'Nim' - flies ) engage Guti highland tribesmen holding a patch of woodland . I'd quite forgotten how quick and simple DBA was to play , in my opinion they probably portray ancient warfare as well as any other sets of rules and a lot easier to learn and remember . I'm going to paint up some more of the figures so I can field the other variants of the army .
Fantastic looking game! I like what you've done with the Sumerians.
ReplyDeleteThey are rather nice figures and very little flash always a plus with plastics .
DeleteI particularly enjoyed the campaign rules and had some grand campaigns playable over a couple of days. There were some desperate battles with six or seven elements defending a riverbank and the like.
ReplyDeleteHappy days!.
Yes I think the original edition was the best .
DeleteWhat a nice nostalgic revisit. The DBA were hreat for buying armies of just 67 or so pieces or dragging back out old 25mm metal armies, I remember the rules started a real resurgence in Ancient interest.
ReplyDeleteYes just painting up 12 elements was always a great plus .
DeleteNice little armies!
ReplyDeleteWas it so long ago? We did play for a while when it was new but soon found ourselves looking for ways to employ more of the already existing troops including changing the scale so each "stand" was actually 4 stands or 25mm troops and all the moves etc in proportion. By '95 we were on to Armati.
Yes time flies ! , the great selling point was that you could get about 4 games in an evening and so few figures to paint up .
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