I ran my first game of DBF at Dad's War Room, club in Hull on Wednesday evening. I brought six 100pt armies to try out. We had three players, plus myself. None of us had played DBF before. I had played Hordes of the Things, and the others were more familiar with Warhammer, and Mike had played WRG 5th Ancients a long time ago.
Connor had bagsied the Dwarves, Mike took the Lizardmen. Aaron observed and assisted, while I acted as Umpire and dispenser of rules. I didn't feel up to playing and adjudicating. The armies were my venerable Hordes units relisted for the new game.
Traditional Dwarves
- The Low King, Hero General on foot.
- Blades x8
- Spears x2
- Crossbows x3
- Artillery x1
The Dwarves are all Peter Pig miniatures. I bought them ready painted and based about thirty years ago. So far they remain undefeated in Hordes of the Things!
Lizardmen
- The Lizard King, Hero General mounted on a dinosaur.
- Lizard Champion mounted on a dinosaur as a Great Beast.
- Lizardmen Warriors, Warband x6
- Lizardmen Mobs, Hordes x6
- Lizard bows x4
- Lizard Cavalry x4
The Lizardman army had been based for Fantasy Rules! so all elements apart from bows are on 40mm squares. Warband 6 figures, Hordes 8 figures. They look very impressive enmasse.
The Dwarves got to defend and picked terrain as two hills, an are of woods and an area of bad going. The hills were placed either side of the centre line to form a valley of death, with the woods and bad going on either flank. Strongholds for both armies were placed centre of their baseline.
Connor deployed his Dwarves in a scatter of one or two elements across the open ground behind the hills. He placed his General and artillery near the stronghold.
Mike formed his Lizardmen in a huge block six warband wide with the Hordes forming a second rank immediately behind them. He placed his bows a move in front of the block and divided his cavalry to either flank. His general sat at the back, but his champion joined the cavalry on his left flank.
The Pip dice was the first revelation for the players. They were used to Everyone moves, everyone shoots, everyone fights. Having to choose which elements to move or prioritise came as a novelty. There was some discussion how tis might work in Warhammer, and comparison with Bolt Action's Dice drawing. As it was, Connor's Dwarves usually rolled well for pips, whilst Mike rolled a 3 more often than not. As his Hordes are unwieldy, his Lizard phalanx did not move much after the first turn.
Conner sent a few of his blades forward piecemeal to attack the Lizard bows. He lost one element to shooting before he could cut through them. The bows were caught between the attacking Dwarves and their own warriors. They recoiled when they could, or were cut down. This may have emboldened one Blade who charged into the mass of lizardmen, pushed back and pursued the first warband. Then he found himself surrounded on three sides by angry lizardmen. The vice closed.
The second lesson was all about flank support, overlaps, and not charging in on your own.
Mike's limited pips meant he spent most bounds reordering his warbands to counter the latest Dwarf charge. Or making a gap to move his general forward. When he had pips spare he launched cavalry raids around the flanks. These were met by small groups of Dwarves closing the gaps between hills and bad going. For some reason, both players mostly avoided putting elements on the hills and tended to move round them.
Connor often had enough pips to move the elements he wanted, but rarely organised group moves until the end game. If he had any pips spare, he would advance his artillery to try and get a shot. He did manage a couple of shots with little effect, but they did stop a cavalry unit in contact.
Both sides had lost 4 or 5 elements. Neither was near breaking point and the Lizards could afford to lose a few more. It was getting near going home time. Both Hero Generals had made it to the front of their armies, so they charged!
The Lizard King won by one point.
A bit of a pickle - The Low King along with two elements of Dwarf Spears tackle a detached group of Lizardmen Warriors. Because of their facing, the Lizards are unable to support each other. While the Spears have advantage of uphill and Shieldwall.
