Ancients in Burton Doubles 2016

The range of armies in the competition was surprisingly wide - we had supposed that everyone would pretty much pick League of Augsburg Anglo-Dutch (for its large number of suAncientsr all-shot units) or the Louis XIV Frenchies (for their pretty uniforms and general all round joie de vivre) however some surprising entrants distrubed the array of French and Dutch. Austrians clearly had something going for them, and the Ottoman army looked like an interesting choice too - both would no doubt feature lots of good quality armoured cavalry, a good choice against the generally weak mounted options available to most armies in the later book of lists

What's Going on Here Then?

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L'Art de la Guerre hint - text goes in this block

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Post Match Summary from the Triumverate Roman & Jewish Commander

So, the forces of Rome have triumphed, not only in this Cannae-like reconstruction, but also in the overall tournament. This clearly means that all is now right in the world, and ancient wargaming has a warm, happy and fruitful future now that the cold northern wastes of Brittanium have been brought lovingly into the international continental bosom of L’Art de la Guerre.

Here the brave Legions of Rome, and the (arguably braver because they have not as much high spec equipment) Legions of Judea put in a very solid performance against a wall of screaming iron-clad horse and camelmen. But this was not just a victory of strength of will and fastness of sword. No, indeed, we outfoxed our opponents by correctly predicting both the makeup and the disposition of their army, which allowed us to throw proper soldiery up the hill and into the teeth of the arrowstorm of their archers. Once this strategic bastion was captured we could start harassing the flanks of both sets of enemy forces, setting the scene for a roll-up not witnessed since Cleopatra was unwrapped from her carpet for Sid James’ delight in Carry on Cleo.

To play a game of such vision and genius is satisfying, but to sit back and look at the weekend in which we maneuvered huge armies made up of perhaps FOUR times as many manoeuvre elements as we used to do in the dark days of FOG was greatly edifying in the extreme. This added complexity and granularity are welcome returns to those of us who did not veer towards the dark side of DBMM and have spent an over-long interregnum in a world of 12-element battles. I look forward to many more competitions in the world of ADLG, both here and as part of the global network of players that even now is coalescing around this simple yet elegant ruleset.

Hannibal's Post Match Analysis

You fortunate dog, you witless cur, you do not realise by how little you missed the asp-kiss of death from these desert dwelling nomads! Time and time again you committed troops to equal, or at times worse combats – like against the camelphracts – and somehow, with a degree of fortune that you surely do not deserve, you came off best.

Your opponent had the misfortune to use an army that was designed for more open terrain than this cluttered field between a river and the edge of the known world, which rendered his units of LH almost useless against your unimaginative and uninspiring wall of men with shields – is such a victory something to be proud of? I suppose in this element-based game at least an equal matchup of this nature does have choices still to make, when in the dark days of FoG this would have been all but done and dusted in a matter of 3 combats, of which your ability to influence the result once battle was joined could not be more limited if you had been kidnapped, tossed into an amphora and shipped by the long overland route to Tashkent whilst the battle here raged.

I fear that victories such as this will force you further overseas and into a form of exile in which you will continually battle against the legions of ADLG players already present in France, Belgium, Spain and even as far as the unknown USA – as surely no-one in the UK can handle the humiliation of facing your hairy and boil-festooned arse when looking up the final standings in the overall league table many more times than this ?

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