Battle of Issus DBA 3.0 on 8 1/2" X 11" board

Wednesday nights game was the Battle of Issus using modified (movement distances halved due to scale) DBA 3.0 rules  and played on a piece of paper ( 8 1/2" X 11" board) using Plastic Mesh armies.

Initial deployment. Top of the screen are the Persians. Cavalry and Light Horse on their right wing, the Scythed Chariots, Spears flanking the Persian leader Darius III with his chariots, and Psiloi on the Persian left flank.  The Macedonians on the bottom of the picture have Parmenion's cavalry on it's left flank. The sarissa Pikes (phalanx) are deployed in the center. Alexander and the Companions are on their normal right flank with Auxilia to their left.

                                       A look at the Plastic mesh Macedonian sarissa troops

                                                                 The Macedonians advance.

                                Alexander attacks the Persian Psiloi across the Penarus River.

Having destroyed the first Psiloi element Alexander turns to battle the last Persian Psiloi. The Persian spears and Macedonian Pike prepare to engage. Darius III does not rush into the Macedonian trap in the center but waits to face Alexander.

            The Cavalries engage on the left side of the photo. Darius prepares to face Alexander.

Mixed results with the cavalry battle, but the Persians turn the tide when their Spears defeat some of the Macedonian Pikes in bloody fighting in the center. 

Darius and Alexander face off and the Macedonians finally get themselves better organized with rear support against the Persian Spears.

Darius recoils, his supporting Psiloi are finally eliminated and the Macedonian Sarissa prove their power when properly organized.

As with history, in a very close battle, Alexander defeats Darius III and prepares to chase him across the Middle East.

Frank has been my gaming opponent for over 45 years. I have asked him to play some strange games and playtest many of my crazy gaming ideas. Playing DBA on a "piece of paper" board has to rank right up there. However, it did work and was a great deal of fun. I'm not sure I'm ready to try a miniatures battle on a 4X6 index card, but who knows.

I spent some time looking at the pricing of both 6mm & 15mm DBA armies, this week. Continuing to use Plastic Mesh at under a $1.00/army is a very attractive way to go. Please look back through this blog for details on making your own Plastic Mesh armies for DBA play.  How to ... Needlepoint Mesh Armies