Donal and I played a historical match-up between the Abbassids and

Zanj Revolt. My Zanj comprised:

Command 1 (Red) 36 MEs/Dishtn 9.5/Break 12.5/Shtr 18.5

C-in-C (Brilliant): Irreg Bd (F)                            40

10 Picked Swordsmen: Irreg Bd (F)                           50

8 Ill-armed Men (Clubs): Irreg Hd (S)                       16

12 Ill-armed Men (Stones): Irreg Ps (I)                     12

7 Arab Tribal Cavalry: Irreg LH (O)                         28

2 Arab Archers: Irreg Bw (I)                                6

2 Mixed Flocks: Irreg Bg (I)                                2

Sub-total                                154

Command 2 (White) 30 MEs/Dishtn 8/Break 10.5/Shtr 15.5

Sub-General: Irreg Cv (I)                                    15

14 Arab Spear/Swordsmen: Irreg Bd (I)                        58

8 Arab Archers: Irreg Bw (I)                                 24

4 Arab Tribal Cavalry: Irreg LH (O)                          16

2 Mixed Flocks: Irreg Bg (I)                                 2

Sub-total                                113

Command 3 (Black) 32 MEs/Dishtn 8.5/Break 11/Shtr 16.5

Sub-General: Irreg Cv (I)                                  15

13 African Spear/Swordsmen: Irreg Bd (I)                   52

2 Crossbowmen: Irreg Bw (O)                                8

8 African Archers: Irreg Bw (I)                            18

6 African Light Archers: Irreg Ps (O)                      12

4 Large Oared Boats: Irreg Bts (I)                          4

Crewed by:

4 Ill-armed Men (Clubs): Irreg Hd (S)                       8

2 Mixed Flocks: Irreg Bg (I)                             2

Sub-total                                123

Stratagems: Ambush                        10

Total APs: 400

Total Elements: 110

Total MEs: 98

Defeat Level: 49.5

Key terrain on my left comprised a river flowing from my left table

edge (entering about one third in from my left corner) to the

Abbassid right rear table edge (about one quarter in from Donal's

corner). In my right centre was a full FE marsh. To the right of this

again were a full FE of scrub and then a half FE of scrub.

Thanks to the presence of the river on the left and the marsh and

scub on my right, which between them formed a giant defile in which I

could deploy my army without fear of exposing their flanks, this

terrain was ideal for the Zanj.  I deployed C3-2-1 from left to

right. C3 and C2 formed up at a right angle to the river, with

swordsmen, either in a single rank backed by double ranked archers,

or as double ranked swordsmen. C3's boats were in the river with C3's

Ps and C2's LH in reserve behind the main infantry line. C1 formed up

on the right in front of the marsh with the Picked Swordsmen (led by

the C-in-C), backed by a second line of Horde in the marsh. The

Psiloi were in ambush in the scrub on the right, backed by the LH in

single column ready to advance around the far right.

The restrictive nature of the terrain severely limited Donal's

attacking options, making even a flank march problematic. He

therefore deployed his army for a frontal attack. It comprised three

commands A, B and C deployed from his right to left in that order. A

and C each comprised Irreg Cv (O), Irreg Ps (O) and Reg Sp (I). A

also had some LH. B in the centre comprised Irreg Cv (S) and a few

LH. His tactical set-up was to deploy all commands with the Cavalry

(and in B's case the LH) up front, initially in column, ready to

deploy in a first attacking line. Curiously, in view of the fact that

I plainly had three commands on the table, his spearmen were deployed

facing his side table edges, as if he was expecting a flank march.

A's LH were the only Abbassid troops on the far side of the river.

The Ps were in second line reserve. Six elements of army baggage were

on his rear table edge.

As befits a big but low quality army, my plan was of the

simple "advance and grind down anything in your way" variety, with

any fancy manouevre stuff to be carried out by the brilliant C-in-C

and his slightly more manouverable command. From his deployment,

Donal's was pretty obvious - "Advance and crush the rebels!"

In spite of the presence of a Brilliant C-in-C, C1's PIPs were dire

for the first few bounds. C2 and 3's were average to good however.

Because their angled deployment and slower movement, this PIP pattern

suited me, enabling me to bring them up into line with C1 just as the

Abbasid cavalry approached.

In a prelude to the main clash, a few of B's LH killed one Bd (F)

when they hit C1 from the flank just before I dressed up the line.

However, they lost two LH in turn as they were hit by impetuous Bd

(F) from the front and flank locked by the end of C2's blade line.

Elsewhere, I moved C3 and C2's bowmen through the swordsmen to shoot

up the Abbasid cavalry. These made an instant impact by shooting down

two Cv (S) in the centre to bring that command within 1ME of being

disheartened. A also suffered mounted losses, but these did not have

as big an impact on the command's ME level as Cv (O) count only 1 ME

each.

Donal continued to press his mounted attacks in spite of these

initial setbacks and was rewarded for his determination in the

centre, where B's Cv (S) proved especially effective against the Bd

(I). On his right however, A could make little impact and was

gradually ground down by superior numbers.

On the right, C's Cv enjoyed a significant overlap advantage as they

advanced on C1's double ranked swordsmen. However, a timely PIP roll

of 6 doubled to 12 by a brilliant stroke enabled me to form a longer

and more cohesive line. I was also able to spring the Ps from ambush

against the outer flank of the Abbasid Cavalry, which forced him to

dilute his main attack by telling off a few elements to guard the

flank. As a result, the Bd (F) enjoyed a slight advantage in the

ensuing combat, inflicting a couple of losses for just one of their

own.

A second consecutive PIP 6 by C1 (doubled by the second brilliant

stroke) then allowed me to send the LH on a rapid on table flank

march, which enabled them to squeeze between his Cv to the the front

and infantry to the rear to threaten both his defenceless camp and

the rear of his attacking commands B and C.

Although all three commands on both sides were in almost continuous

combat from early in the game, both sides proved more resilient in

combat that would be expected from DBMM. As time ran out at 11pm, the

situation was as follows:

In the centre, both Zanj Command 2 and Abbassid Command B were

disheartened. As most of B comprised 2ME troops which ignore the

effects of being disheartened, this meant Donal had the advantage

here. but it was only a slight one because with B just 2ME off

breaking, it was not in a great position to exploit.

On my left, Abbassid Command A was on the brink of being

disheartened, while Zanj C3, having only lost 3.5ME was still in good

shape.

On my right, Command C had suffered the least losses (4ME) of the

three Abbasid commands. However with a cohesive line of Bd (F) to

their front and LH and Ps threatening their rear and flank, their

position was precarious.

As the game stood, the Abbassids had lost 20% of their troops with

one command disheartened, while the Zanj had lost 10% with one

command disheartened, which translated into a 14-11 in my favour. Had

the game gone on, I would have fancied my chances. It has to said

however that we played for four hours without a decisive outcome, so

I can't claim that if we had been playing in competition I would had

time to secure a decisive win. It was therefore a fair result.

Coming to the game with low expectations of the Zanj, I was quite

impressed with their performance. Cheap, massed Bw (I) counting just

half an ME in a big command are nasty for Cavalry and virtually

expendable to boot. It is no coincidence that Donal's chief success

was as a result of Cv (S) getting at C2's Bd (I).

The two brilliant stroke proved highy effective, saving C1 at a

crucial point and then putting its LH behind the Abbassid lines in a

single PIP roll. The nice thing about the Zanj is that as a low grade

blade and bow army, there comes a point when there isn't that much to

spend APs on other than making the general brilliant.

The river also proved to be very effective as a strategic flank guard.

This was a terrific game. As often happens, a hard fought draw can be

much more fun than an easy win. I am no expert on the Zanj revolt,

but it seemed to me that the game had a nice historical feel. From a

competition PoV, neither army is a tournament tiger, but within the

context of their contemporary opponents, they provided a balanced and

interesting match-up.