Triumph! Mini-Tournament

Everything was ready for the continuation of our DBA campaign "The Rise of Rome". Due to illness and other absences, only three players were present on day X instead of the six needed. So we decided to play a mini-tournament according to the Triumph! rules by WGCWAR instead.

We played a round robin with three armies from the 7th and 8th century AD (army lists see here) 

- Western Slav (with the "fortified camp" battle card)

- Carolingian Frankish (no battle card)

- Italian Lombard (no battle card)

and 75 minutes playing time per game. Each player receives the victory points from the game for the tournament ranking. The winner of a game receives an extra 15 points.

Game 1: Carolingian Frankish vs. Western Slav

Terrain: Arable

Number of Terrain pieces: 5

Tactical Advantage: Carolingian Frankish 

Western Slavs advancing from the left. The Carolingians are blocking the passage between the small forest and the piece of rough terrain.

it's a thinking man's game

both battlelines are already battered but continue to fight bravely 

The game was extraordinarily exciting. Both sides suffered losses without gaining a decisive advantage. Finally, both armies even surpassed the threshold of 16 points in the same round! The Carolingian Frankish won the game by a very narrow margin of 18 points to 17 and they are awarded the 15 surplus points for their victory.

Tournament standing:

- Western Slav                17 pts

- Carolingian Frankish    33 pts

- Italian Lombard             0 pts

Game 2: Western Slav vs. Italian Lombard

Terrain: Arable

Number of Terrain pieces: 6

Tactical Advantage: Western Slav

Italian Lombards (bottom of the picture) lined up against Western Slavs on a battlefield with an awful lot of terrain pieces

My Lombards had two knights ready to crush the opposing slav heavy foot. Good plan, but poorly executed ..

.. both lombard knights elements plus the knight general set aside as casualties ..

With the Lombard battleline disintegrated, the Slav general attacks and sacks the Lombard's camp

The game ends with a glorious 23 (+15) to 9 victory for the Western Slavs!

Tournament standing:

- Western Slav                55 pts

- Carolingian Frankish    33 pts

- Italian Lombard             9 pts

Game 3: Carolingian Frankish vs. Italian Lombard

Terrain: Hilly

Number of Terrain pieces: 4

Tactical Advantage: Italian Lombard 

Italian Lombards (lower part of the picture) vs. a massed Carolingian Frankish army

The early phase of the game was marked by a remarkable lack of command points (PIPs) for the Carolingian general: with dice results of 1 - 1 - 1 - 2 in the first four moves, the Carolingian army could not develop as desired and remained stuck in its narrow formation.

Knights are impetuous and advance immediately when an opponent retreats. This causes the battle line to disperse. It is not uncommon to find an element of knights isolated in the midst of enemy troops.

The Carolinians can never really make up for their deficit from the first phase of the game. When light Lombard cavalry then conquers the Carolingian camp, the game is decided.

The Lombards win the game by 19 (+15) points against 6.

Final tournament score:

1. Western Slavs              55 pts

2. Italian Lombard             43 pts

3. Carolingian Frankish     39 pts

It was a great day with lots of fun and exciting games. Many thanks to our hosts for the hospitality and the catering! Also the miniatures were happy to be on the battlefield again 👍