Uriah in the lists

Since its very inception the Marshal Petain Club have been big fans of army lists.  The Club Secretary, Hannibal Parka is of course a cunning Carthaginian, and used a well oiled machine raised from a very dodgy list.  He faced the solid wall of the Republican Romans of Quintus Whitmorus, another army list that was a bare approximation of its historical reality.    

Luckily all these armies had to contend with were the less than efficient Celts of Uriah the Gaul.  I was allowed far too much cavalry, no chariots, and had to take masses of very inferior spearmen and poor light infantry. The army lists were, by and large, hugely fictitious.  These were of course WRG 5th ed lists... and seemed to delight in condensing centuries of military development into a single list.  The Chinese army list alone was a thing of wonder!

The rules favoured regular and well armed troops, with a focus on form rather than function, and the rubbish that the Celts could deploy were frankly not up to it.  Uriah the Gaul was roundly and routinely defeated.  Historically correct you might say, but the fact is that the much vaunted points system simply did not work, and I would argue that it never has worked.  Not that this ever daunted me, I have sufficient enthusiasm to see me through the vicissitudes of uncounted games of massacre the barbarian.

15mm Gauls... and why not!

 The arrival of the DBA stable of games gave the Celts a boost.  Turns out all those javelin light spear light medium rubbish infantry were in fact warband... and dangerous little buggers they now were.  The Celts became Mighty.  No longer could you beat up the Gauls with impunity, now they could easily beat you back.  So dangerous were they that an online conspiracy ensued pressuring 'the Phil' to do something about them. Change the factors, change the destroyed result into a recoil, change their points value!  So many "experts" gave their opinions that I think some of those guys actually believed they had been there on an ancient battlefield and were reporting what they had seen.  I suspect that they were lobbying for their favourites, and it worked.  

Soon the barbarians had been neutered, and the forces of regular righteousness, tournament gamery and army listery were once again in control.  They missed the point as always.  The Celts were never a choice for someone who gamed merely to win, but they were always fun.  Generally I am a solo gamer and the “tournament” attitude leaves me perplexed.  I genuinely don't understand why anyone would choose an army only on the basis of whether they thought it was a game winner or not.

The points system in army lists has always left me a little cold.  Whatever the prejudices of ancient writers it seems clear that those “rubbish” Celts of mine could amass huge numbers of scary individuals, pretty much unrepresentable on table.  To the Rebublican Romans the Gauls were a much feared opponent, but the early lists graded troops on their weapons and armour types, a game in which the Celts would always come off worse, and come off worse they did.

Luckily when the DBM lists appeared they were far more researched.  Actually they set the standard, and are still worthy of some study.  I went back to these, and to my own reading, for my Bronze Age project.  There are still some armies out there that only a solo gamer could love!

Larry the Libyan with his new wheels...

A case in point is the Early Libyan army.  Points system or not I suspect that they have never won a tournament.  “Winners” is probably not a noun ever used when discussing the Early Libyans.  “Characterful” describes them better, although I doubt that is a real word.  An army of ill armed, naked tribesmen are probably doomed against the Egyptian professionals.  That only makes them worth playing in my book.

Larry's boys in their new dip

Whilst I did some work on the points system of Lion Rampant for my Bronze age games I actually prefer the DBA idea of having a fixed number of groups.  Function should triumph over form, and given the right terrain even the Libyans can be dangerous.  The Early Libyan tribes are the first of my armies ready for battle.  Their army list has seven groups, and I settled for seven groups as the basis of my lists.  The lists contain Generals and groups.  For Sword and Spear rules these represent the units and generals needed.  For Chariot Rampant only one General is needed and he will be part of his own bodyguard group. (the others will be Captains and additional characters)  I will publish the remaining lists in a separate post, but as a taster here are the Libyans:

1 × General in chariot.

1 or 2 x foot Generals.

1 x fierce foot, Libyan Swordsmen, 12 figures

1 x javelinmen, 6 figures

3 x Archer Skirmishers, 6 figures each

And;

2 x Archer Skirmishers, 6 figures each

Or;
Two groups of Sea Peoples, under a Sea Peoples Allied General

Uriah reclaims his Mighty Chariot

Uriah, a horny Helmet,
Sherden Hero, in his cart,
Trundles along,
Propelled by flatulent wind.